marley and me

so on christmas night, my cousin, dena and her boyfriend, scottie, and i went to see marley and me. if anyone has heard of the book, you know that the movie cannot possibly end on a happy note. i mean, don't be shocked or mad if i ruin something for you, you should already know this, but the dog does die at the end of the movie - just like in the book. well, this couple behind us... clearly missed the memo. the man got so mad when the movie clearly changed directions from funny to sad, he started using every word in the book (profanity, cussing, you name it) he was pissed. he kept saying, "this was supposed to be a d@&# comedy!" his girlfriend was crying, and when he saw that, that about sent him through the roof. it was mildly uncomfortable for me, as i was the closest person in the theater to this idiot, but i kept thinking, hopefully he'll get over it. well he didn't get over it, in fact, not so much, that he told his girlfriend to get up and leave with him... he wasn't having it....

i personally believe that he was afraid of getting choked up, so that was his coping mechanism, but to each their own - he peaced out.

so, this is a advance warning, please do not go and see it without knowing the outcome. prepare to cry, as i don't know of one person in that theater that didn't at least shed a tear hear and there. it is such a good movie though.

i cannot wait to see confessions of a shopaholic, he's just not that into you, and some others but those are the two that popped in my head right now.

Merry Christmas everyone!

so, i just wanted to take the time to say merry christmas to everyone. i hope each and everyone of you have a wonderful day. remember the reason for the season - we wouldn't have christmas if it weren't for birth of our savior.

so i have a great story about how special my christmas gifts have been in recent years. two very special things have gotten misplaced or given away over the years - Big Bird's Big Red Book and Mall Madness. Big Bird's Big Red Book was my all time favorite book as a child, and my mother would read it to me all the time, every night. somehow, this book was misplaced over the years, and two years ago, moma had it ordered off of ebay and wrapped up for me for christmas. i have it on my bookshelf in my office at my townhouse. when i have children, i will so read it to him or her - i cannot wait. the other thing was mall madness. when my parent's moved in 2006 to the new house, i did not come home to help with the move. my dad was in my room, and thought he would give away some of my games that were in the top of my closet. when i got home, i realized that he had given away mall madness and dream phone - i was heart broken, crushed to say the least. those were my two favorite games of all time.... i mean, we had changed all the names of the guys in dream phone to guys in our class, how cool would it be to go back and look at that in years to come, just for fun. mall madness however, was the best. i am a shopaholic - that game was the best. i mean, hearing, "there is a sale at the 'chtichen' store" was the best. the recorded was the best. or here is another one, "bank closed." well, this morning, one of my parents under the tree was the original mall madness - my mom ordered it for me off of ebay- i was really excited!!! i cannot wait to make them all play again. the thought that my mom put into this gift means everything to me.

as for giving gifts, i got to give my mom the one thing she wanted this year - with help from my dad - we got to give her a trip to the spa with the ladies from the church. i was stressing thinking that it wasn't going to work out, but in the end, it all did, so she gets to go enjoy her day.

i gave my sister a mug i painted myself, i thought she would really appreciate it a little more, but i'm not so sure she did. i hope she enjoys it while drinking her endless cups of coffee a day. my parents got her a coffee maker, since kevin doesn't have one, and she was so thrilled.... so i think we have her covered.

my friend crystal just called and said that she got her boyfriend dusty a bible with his name on it. he had never gotten a bible before, and he loved it. i think that was such an amazing gift that she could give him - he said he was going to sit there in his new chair massage thing and read his bible - he was so excited!!! i think God has great things in store for them.

i also got a bible cover, an ornament, two books, a 1st home ornament, a stocking full of goodies, and some cash!!! i am so blessed.

something that was very special to me that i got this year was a gift from my cousin austin. i got two painted wood panels from him - he painted them all on his own. i cannot wait to hang them up in my house. i absolutely love special, sentimental, meaningful gifts - they are the best. i have put a picture of the two panels.

boxers or briefs

so my mom has been procrastinating telling me what to get my dad for christmas, as she said she didn't know of anything he needed, and then finally she remembers that he needs underwear - well boxers. she says, he likes the soft, cotton kind - he won't wear any other kind. so i go to the store, and go the men's underwear aisle, and wow at the choices. we all know i would have no experience buying such a thing, so i was a little overwhelmed at all the choices, i mean, does he want the new microfiber feel, boxer briefs that are cotton, or what... not to mention,in the back of my head i am thinking, this is for my dad, weird. i would prefer to not know what kind of underwear he chooses and why, haha. i have never seen so many choices in my life - have no fear, i decided with plain cotton boxers that my mom recommended.

i guess women have a lot of choices too, but i feel it is less comical or complicated.

alright, gotta run catch a flight in nashville so i'll be home for christmas eve and christmas day!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!!!!!

sNoW

so, today, after a visit to fargo, north dakota and bend, oregon with no snow, i finally got to see some snow, woohoo. it snowed like crazy in newark, new jersey. my first flight got cancelled, and my next flight was delayed. i had to wait on the plane to be de-iced, that was a first. i wish i was still there, playing in the snow, but i am not. here is my snowball i made, of the snow that formed off my rental car. ok, so it is a baby snowball, i was in a hurry to get to the airport, haha. now, i am in richmond, virginia, all rain here, bummer.

there are some strange people out there

so, i've been kind of absent lately on posting things, but i'm back to traveling lots, so i'll be back to updating this thing. so today, i left out at 9AM for conyers, georgia for a visit. i get to the site, and the coordinator informs me that he has already been trained on the system i am there to train him on, so he basically cuts me off. i tried, but it was hopeless. i pack up my stuff after about 45 minutes, and head back to the airport to fly to newark, new jersey for my visit tomorrow morning. so this is where i encounter some very strange people. while i am sitting in the airport terminal, i smell this foul smell. it is this couple sitting close by me. i had to get up and move. i'm sure many of you are already laughing, as you know how i am about dirty people... i don't do "dirty smells" or body odor. so as the flight is delayed, i thought i'd seen the last of the smelly couple, but you guessed it, i had not.

i am boarding the plane, and looking for my seat, and see the smelly couple sitting on row 20 (they have the middle seat and aisle seat) and yours truly has the window seat. i thought i was going to die. i forgot to mention in the above paragraph that both the man and woman were also very large, so there was no way i was escaping the fumes. so, i get to my little seat, and the lady didn't have the arm rest down, i put it down, and she acts like that is a problem. well, basically it just makes us all uncomfortable... she is spilling out all over the place. i am so crowded, and did i mention the smell is overpowering... i tried to put my coat over my mouth and nose to cover it, but that wasn't helping. the bottom line is, they should have purchased that third seat, as they were almost too big for the two seats - and they should be considerate enough to shower or take a bath before getting on a plane. you know, if someone can afford a plane ticket, they can probably afford soap - so i don't think i am being rude. i pray that doesn't happen to any of you.

another lady i encountered today was an elderly lady who was mad that she had to fly a connection. apparently she is used to direct flights to her destinations with continental. first they booked her in a window seat, which she wasn't having, then she finally got an aisle seat, and it was near the bathroom - well you should have heard this woman and her choice of words in line. she was so mad. she kept saying, this is horrible, this is the worst trip ever... all because they put her in an aisle seat near the bathroom. she was cussing and everything - she was totally pissed, it almost made me laugh.

random story: i parallel parked my rental car tonight in a downtown area. i was going to eat at qdoba. so i was backing the car up, trying to get in the parking space, and i tapped the car behind me, oops... no worries though, no damage to my car or the car behind me. in my defense, i was not in my car (i was in an impala) and it was raining and dark.

alright, more stories tomorrow, probably - i travel to richmond, virginia. have a great tuesday everyone.

random stories

so i love kids, most people who know me, know that i could get married tomorrow and have kids like the next day and be ok with that, but i haven't quite found mr. right... haha. anyway, tonight i had a very unpleasant experience at target. i can handle throw up - for people i know and kids i know - but tonight as i am walking out of target, this poor little girl is so sick in the store. so had just thrown up, and then as i am walking by (probably 5-6 feet away) she "goes" again... she just leans over the shopping cart and goes all over the floor. it was horribly disgusting. i mean, i know there was nothing the parents could do, but it was not pleasant, eww.

my car. so many of you may remember the blown out tire story a few months back. i had gotten a new tire from a discount tire store in the charlotte area, but it was pulling so i took it to a mechanic a few weeks afterwards to get that problem fixed. well tonight, after a month or so of my car making lots of noises, i realized that the "mechanic" i took it to was an idiot. basically they forgot to put all the lug nuts on the wheels, so my tire is going to fall off, so annoying. so, tomorrow i will wake up and take it back to the "mechanic" and have him correct this problem.

my foot. i got the walking boot off yesterday. i don't think my foot is all that strong, but i am trying to be extremely careful. today, i was putting a purse up in the closet, and hand to be on my tip toes, and i turned my ankle over...the bad one...i cried like a baby. i bought a small ankle brace at target tonight, so pray that it continues to heal and that the physical therapy i start soon will help.

tomorrow is my birthday, my favorite day of the year. i am going to my favorite place to eat in the world - texas roadhouse with my family and crystal and holly, woohoo!!! i love all the cards i have already gotten - it is the one day out of the year that i get cards - it is amazing!!!

have a great day!

tackiness 101

so i thought that most gay men had taste in decorating, didn't you? i mean in sex and the city, stanford has a sense of style, haha. well a few weeks ago, i met my gay neighbors, they are very nice. well this week they decided to put up their christmas decor, outside, and it is so not cute. i have a new builder/supervisor to follow up with, because d.r. horton has cut some jobs, so my "cute" builder that i've been talking about is now gone. my new builder is also cute. his name is robert. robert stopped by this week, and was like, "what is up with the wreaths on the end unit?" i immediately started laughing, as even a straight guy noticed how tacky they were. so, i've posted a picture of the tackiness for all of you to enjoy.

also, i thought i would add that my mom and i went to walmart today to purchase some twisty ties to hang my garland on my staircase, and we couldn't find any. we went back to the craft section in an attempt to find something else that would suffice to keep the garland from falling - and there was a gentleman in the craft section, get ready for this... making/sewing a pillow for his dog. now many of you know, that i got a sewing machine last year for christmas, and would love to learn more about it, but this guy knew more about sewing than i could ever imagine. he was talking to the craft salesclerk - and it was pure entertainment for me. my mom and i then got a chance to ask the lady about what we could use to tie the garland up, and this man immediately says, "fuzzy sticks." my mom and i just look at it each other like, what? he then explained himself a little more and he was talking about pipe cleaners. so we bought the "fuzzy sticks," and i have you know that it worked wonderfully. i'd say that this guy saved the day. i don't want to make judgements about this man, and it doesn't matter to me either way, but i'm guessing that no straight man would know about "fuzzy stix." so, in this case, the gay man saved the day.

alright, well i hope you got a little laugh out of my blog post. enjoy the picture. please remember that this is not my house, haha.

the theme is cold

so, i just home today after being gone all week. i've been in chicago since thursday. the wind chill was in the single digits most days, can we say freezing. i love it, but i won't lie... it was very very cold.

i almost missed my flight on thursday, as i have been so disoriented from all my travels to the different time zones this week. luckily, i'd like to say, by the grace of god, i woke up on thursday at 5:37 for a 7:30 AM flight. i made it to the airport, and got to chicago in enough time to take a shower and make it to my meeting.

we were in meetings half a day on thursday and then all day on friday. last night i went out with two of my study coordinators in downtown chicago, they do not allow smoking inside at the two bars we went to, it was wonderful. my clothes did smell like smoke this morning. i don't know if all bars are like that in chicago, but these two were, it was wonderful. we had so much fun, i was home by 12ish and enjoyed hanging out with them.

the food at the investigator's meeting wasn't too bad. it is always interesting for this picky eater to go to these type of meetings though because the meals are buffet style, but it is typically a lot of items that i have never heard of or would never it. they do not typically have items like, chicken pamasean, fillet mignion, or lasagna. they have very strange names for things. for example, last night they had, what i would call macaroni and cheese, but they called it, "penne pasta and white cheddar." i managed to eat enough, but had to rely on the safe options and not the sushi type items they had. they also had some sort of flank steak, but it was so pink, i couldn't barely put it on my plate.

i'm glad to be home for a few days, i have one visit next week to fargo, north dakota and then i'll be home free for thanksgiving. i'll be excited about that!

hope everyone is doing well and has a great thanksgiving.

us airways has lost their mind

so, it has been brought to my attention that us airways will now start charging passengers for pillows and blankets as of december 1, 2008 - what the heck. they already charge $2 for sodas, water, tea, coffee, and juice. $7 for beer, wine, and cocktails - that is ridiculous. i have no idea how much they are going to charge for pillows and blankets, but that is the most insane thing i have ever heard of. i mean, it isn't like they are giving you some nice, comfy pillow.... that pillow, if you can even call it that, is so not comfortable. it is worse than a hospital pillow. the blankets are so thin, you need like 3 to keep warm. i mean, isn't the $1000 ticket enough to cover some cheap little pillow and a glass of water. case and point, next week i fly to fargo, north dakota for the day, and my ticket is $1500 - and they have the nerve to charge me for a glass of water. craziness. i just needed to vent.

oregon trail

so, monday morning around 7:45am i left my house for my adventures to oregon. i boarded my plane about 9AM from charlotte to san francisco and 4.5 hours later, we arrived. i'm not used to this long of a flight, and after sleeping for two hours, finishing a book, talking to the man invading my personal space, and listening to the screaming child... i was so ready to get off the plane. i even tried to stay up until 3:30 am on sunday night in hopes that it would help me sleep on the plane on monday, but i failed miserably. back to the screaming child for a minute, i know children are going to scream on planes, and get upset, it happens. i love children, i'm not usually one to complain about children, but this was hardly a child at an age where crying was acceptable, this child was pushing three if not four, not young enough for this to be an excuse. this child should have been old enough to tell his parents what the freaking problem was, but instead the "terror" just screamed. the parents just kept saying, "shhhhhh." i know my parents would have taken me to the bathroom and spanked my butt, and that would have been the end of that, crisis averted.

i then get on my next flight from san francisco to redmond/bend, oregon - this was a much shorter flight, but still another 1.5 hours, which was torture knowing i'd already flown for 4.5 that day. i managed, slept a little more, and then arrived at the tiny little airport that looked like a log cabin out in the woods with bears on the walls, yikes. so, i have navigation on my phone, and i head to my hotel. i arrive at my hotel, and get all settled in, and then go eat dinner at an IHOP. i tried making myself stay up later last night, in hopes that i wouldn't wake up at the crack of dawn this morning, but what was i thinking, as long as i have a bed, i have no problem sleeping. i didn't wake up til 8 pacific coast time, which is like 11 AM east coast time, i felt well rested to say the least.

so, off to the site i go this morning. the visit went well. after my visit, i decide to go on a little adventure to find something to eat. i see this little japanese restaurant, and think, i'll try that. note to self: i should not try places that are not recommended by the locals. i go in and should have run for the door when i didn't see my usual on the menu, no hibaichi chicken. i ask the waitress and she has no idea what i am talking about. so, instead of looking like a total fool and being totally rude, i settle for the most plain thing on the menu, and order the fried rice and chicken - it says just that on the menu, so i think how wrong can you go. i then ask for my shrimp sauce or white sauce, and she says, i have no idea what that is either. at this point, i am flipping out. i am like, this place is wacko...what kind of japanese place doesn't have shrimp sauce, this is like a staple if you ask me. so, i'm not a happy camper. so, i sit there, kind of worried about how they are going to mess up my fried rice and plain chicken --- and oh my they did.... i think there were more vegetables than rice in my rice and it was absolutely disgusting. the chicken, was not chicken, we will just leave it at that. it also had mushrooms with it, gross. overall, the bottom line was, i couldn't eat it. so, i had no choice but to go over to the local mcdonald's and get a chicken sandwich and fries to eat so i wouldn't starve. so $15 later, i was full. note to self and others, don't try a place in a strange location that you don't know anything about, you'll end up wasting your money.

next i head out on my oregon trail, to get back to the airport. while i may not have had a child with cholera or missing ox, i did see a random lama on the side of the road - no lie. i couldn't believe my eyes. there was a field, and a lama was in the field, then the next field was full of cows, then the next field had horses, and then the next field had billy goats. i felt like i was in the game for real at this point, haha.

so then i finally make it back to the airport, board my flight, make it to san francisco, all for the lady at the united ticket counter to be completely rude, not cool. i have to walk all the way out of security to get my us airways ticket to charlotte, she says, "you are not signed up for a wheelchair." i say, "i don't want one. i just want to know how to get to the airtrain, so i don't have to walk 3 miles in a walking cast." so i walk away from the "meanie" trying not to use a bad word, and ask someone else and find my way... now i sit here, typing this blog message. we are about to board, it is nearly 10 pm in california, i'll be home at 6 AM wednesday morning, and i can't wait, i am tired. good night or good morning to most of you reading this!

asheville bound with my small group

so, gotta love when you bake a cake on thursday night around midnight for the weekend trip and forget it on the counter... sorry girls, once again. i got to the mountain cabin around 4 pm friday afternoon, and got a bed in the party room, woohoo!!!

after we all arrived in black mountain, we got ready and headed to the candlelight tour of the biltmore house at christmas time. i haven't ever seen the biltmore house, so this was super exciting for me. we walked around all those rooms, and i even took one picture, before i was informed that no cameras were allowed, oops.

saturday morning, i awoke around 10 am and of course everyone was already awake, haha - not the morning person here. the girls and i headed to chimney rock! i took the elevator to the top, while the girls took the steps and hiked up to the top. i met them at the top, and we took lots of pictures, some pictures are below. we then proceeded to hike some of the walking trails, especially the one to the waterfall. thanks to all the girls for helping me on the trail, i was determined to make it. i had my foot/leg wrapped in the ace bandage, and the girls, mainly kaleena, held my hand the whole time to make sure i didn't fall or twist my ankle on the logs or holes along the path. then we walked down to the parking lot too, i was tired and my leg/foot was sore at the end, but i'm glad i did it!

saturday night we went to tupelo honey cafe in downtown asheville. we had a good time, the food was delicious and worth the wait.

you would think i am a convicted terrorist

so, today i traveled for the first time with my boot on my foot and the broken ankle... what a nightmare!!! so, i should've just sat down and taken the extra 2 minutes to take the boot off, but i chose not too... i had to stand in the glass booth, while this lady constantly screamed, "i have a female assist (alarm) on lane 4." as i stand there, my stuff is being pushed by others, and i am so annoyed. finally after about 5 minutes of standing there, some women comes up to me, and says, "do not touch any of your belongings, i'll get them." she then takes me to area to swipe my boot, scan my whole body, and pat me down - all because i have a boot on. i have never experienced such a security check/scan in my whole life... i would not recommend traveling with a boot or would advise taking it off if it can be removed.

my sister got engaged this weekend in other news, so the planner in me had taken over. i enjoy planning things, so i think this is going to be fun for me. they are looking at a late summer wedding. i'm excited about being her maid of honor.

i'll write tomorrow about my trip to asheville this weekend, it was so much fun.

have a great week.

my spill on the election

while anyone who knows me probably knows who i voted for, i just need to say my two cents and then i'll feel better about the situation. i feel very strongly about morals and values, so i didn't vote for the candidate that won, but for those of you who did, i respect your decision, and never once tried to change your opinion or make fun of your opinion. in our society, and even by some of my friends, i feel that i was made fun of and made to feel ignorant or stupid for choosing the candidate of my choice, which is so wrong. we live in a country where everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and if anyone takes anything away from this post, let it be that we should all respect each other's opinion. i have actually cried many tears over this election, and how people, my own friends, have made me feel, because i may have chosen to vote differently.

i am having a hard time accepting obama as the president elect, but know that the American people have spoken and this is the candidate that they want as the president of the united states, so with that being said, i will do my best to accept it, as there is nothing that i can do to change it. my problem with respecting this man, is basically for the past 8 years, no one has respected the republican president that has been in office. bush has been treated horribly by the American people. we are supposed to support the president of our country, and the american people in general have not done that. while i may not agree with every decision he has made, i tried not to disrespect him. all of the obama supporters are already demanding that we come together as one nation and respect obama... how can i do this knowing that no one did it for bush and he had many hardships during his presidency. the way i am going to approach this is the golden rule: sounds very child like, but i am going to do unto others, like i want to be treated.. so i am going to try and not say negative things about obama, i will listen to him as the president of the united states, and go on with my life. one thing that i would like to point out though, i will never agree with abortion, so i will never respect any decision he or anyone in office makes supporting abortion. it breaks my heart to know that we kill innocent unborn babies for no reason at all.

to all my friends and anyone who voted for obama - i'm glad your voice was heard on tuesday. i do not want to talk about it, as i feel that it is over. politics are dirty, and i do not want it to come between any of my friendships, so if you read this, you know how i feel, and lets leave it alone.

i will pray for unity for our country each and everyday, as i feel we are going to need it more and more, as our country is going through a very difficult time.

housewarming and pictures,

i had my two housewarming parties this weekend. saturday night was mainly for my friends and sunday was for my family. i am so blessed to have so many amazing friends and such a loving family to help me celebrate having a new home. a special thanks to crystal, natalie, jennifer, and kendall for throwing the party on saturday - i know they put a lot of time and hard work into planning and organizing the party, it means a lot. i can't say thank you enough. thanks to michele for sweeping the floors today to help me get ready for the family party - i really appreciate it. thanks to my grandmother, "mom" for baking chocolate oatmeal cookies and to my moma for baking the cake, it is delicious. thanks to everyone for all the wonderful gifts.

a broken fibula

i just wanted to update everyone, i went to the doctor for a follow up about some headaches i had been having... i decided since my foot was still very sore and tender in this one spot, that i'd have her look at it. they did an x-ray - turns out, i have a broken fibula - for anyone wondering, that is the smaller bone in the bottom part of your leg. the end of your fibula goes down into your ankle bones and that is where the injury occurred. have no fear, i'm fine. i am in a walking boot now. i'll be in the boot for a week, next week i go for another x-ray, fun times.

as my friends have reminded me, of all my falls, this one take the cake... i broke a bone... although i did have knee surgery from one as well, haha. what am i going to do?

i'll update later with some better stories, but wanted to update with the broken bone story for now.

chattanooga and SNOW

i started my week on the wrong foot. i woke up late yesterday and followed mapquest directions to sumter, sc - can someone please tell me why "br" stands for business on mapquest directions??? what should have taken me 2 hours took me more like 3 hours - nightmare. i made up for it on the trip back, 1 hour and 45 min, mom - be thankful i didn't get another speeding ticket, haha. so, quintiles has taken away our navigation privileges with hertz and they want us to use our navigation systems on our blackberries, not cool. the "telenav" system is horrible. every two minutes, it says, "you have no cellphone service. please move to an area where you have cell coverage." why would i move to an area to get coverage when i do not know where i am? someone please help justify this switch? quintiles didn't do their research on this one...i would like to know the monitors who were on the pilot program that tested this system - i think they were afraid to say what they really thought.... let me be part of one of those programs, haha.

so, i flew to chattanooga last night, get in my rental car, and i have navigation. hertz gave it to me, and i wasn't complaining - woohoo!!! so, i put in hilton garden inn and drive to my hotel...get there and the lady says, "we don't have a kelsey morgan staying here" - i'm thinking how did the idiot at quintiles travel mess up this time, especially knowing that i confirm my reservations now... so, she types in my confirmation number and says nope, not us. so, i pull up my confirmation/reservation all to find out that chattanooga apparently has two hilton garden inns, so i've gone to the wrong one, so, now i'm the idiot. so, i get back in the ford fusion - and drive to the other one... i'm so hungry and tired... all i want to do is eat and go to bed... and i'm thinking what will i eat.... you'll never guess what was right beside me.... who knows my favorite restaurant... TEXAS ROADHOUSE was right beside the other hilton garden inn....i was so excited, so that is where i went for dinner, then turned in for the night.

i had a visit today, only lasted about an hour or so...and the site said that it was snowing this morning... too bad i slept through it, i really want to see some snow!!! now i'm sitting here waiting on my tiny little plane. got lots to do to get ready for my housewarming party this weekend.

have a great rest of the week:)

raleigh and wish reunion

so, just to update you all, even though my foot is still very bruised and somewhat swollen, it is doing much better, i can walk normal for the most part and can wear a shoe, major improvements.

so, i went to raleigh on thursday for a regional meeting for work - it was great to see all my friends from the office that i don't get to see anymore. sometimes i wish i still went into an office, but then i think about the joys of working in my pajamas, and i forget about that thought. we had a social event friday evening and i had a blast, i'll post a picture or two when i find my usb connector... i got a good one of my friends doing the YMCA.

also, last night we went out for bay's birthday - always shenanigans. bay always manages to take and/or borrow an item from someone at the bar, so last night it was a pair of sunglasses. the bouncer at the bar threatened to kick bay out if she didn't take the "shades" off inside. i guess that is a dress code violation for inside of this bar. when we got home, holly and i were sleeping on the air mattress. bay has two animals - a jack russell terrier, norman and a blind cat, albert. while i have to say, they didn't bother me as much as i thought they would - let's just say i will never have inside animals. my sleep is too precious for cats jumping/roaming around and dogs moving since their hearing is so sensitive. norman and albert's favorite aunt is back to the fan and sound machine tonight, haha.

today i went to the wish reunion for the make-a-wish foundation at carowinds, it was amazing to meet some of the familes and wish kids that have been granted wishes over the past ten years. i really enjoyed meeting more volunteers - they were so incrediably nice to me. i cannot wait to start meeting my own wish kids - what an amazing opportunity.

off to sumter, sc and chattanooga, tn this week and then the housewarming party this week, woohoo!!! i promise, promise, promise there will be pictures this week, as the house will finally be ready. lindsey will be happy.

everyone have a great week.

goodnite!

pics of the foot

just thought i'd update everyone on my foot, i'm doing much better, getting around much better. the swelling and bruising is horrible and the pain is bad at night after being on it all day, but i think i'll survive. to those of you who haven't seen it, i thought i'd post a pic of the foot, warning: it looks worse than it is.

i'm going to the doctor tomorrow to make sure it is nothing major. so i'll keep you all updated.

i'm going to raleigh for a regional meeting at work this weekend. we are celebrating bay's birthday, i'm getting my haircut by my hair stylist that i love (i haven't found one in charlotte yet), and maybe going to the carolina game.

a loud thump and a swollen ankle

so, i return home today from being gone all week, and 20 minutes later i found myself lying at the bottom of my staircase in tears. so, i was running down the steps and missed the bottom 6 steps... so as if missing the first 3 steps and hitting the wall wasn't bad enough, i miss the next three and land on the hard wood - i felt like every bone in my body was broken and knew for sure that i was dead, haha - clearly if you can still think that, you aren't right?

anyway, i managed to crawl back up the stairs to get my phone, all to realize that i had a land line phone downstairs the whole time - such a bright one, i tell ya. so i immediately call my moma, all kids want their "mommies" when something goes wrong - which brings me to my next point. i always call my mom right when something like this happens, when i am so upset that i can barely form words. she always, always, always says, "kelsey, i can't understand you." i should learn to call her after i calm down, but i just want her right then. haha. so, mom, a note to you, after 25 years i haven't stopped doing that, so i probably won't, just letting you know.

so, i have followed all the guidelines for sprains tonight - to keep from having to visit the wonderful emergency room - although the nice baseball size swollen egg on the side of my ankle has tempted me to go have it checked out several times tonight. i have put ice on it, elevated it, and wrapped it with an ace. i am still going to see the olympic gymnasts tomorrow, so i'll take the trusty crutches from when i had knee surgery and be on my way. just thought i'd update with a funny story about how clumsy i am.

have a great sunday everyone!

a world with no coke and a week of travel with no sound machine, AHHHHHHH

so for anyone who knows me, you know that the thought of ME not drinking coke is enough to make me crazy - and then you are probably thinking, i am glad i am not around her right now, haha. well, you probably know that i inherited moma's bad headaches, so i went to the doctor last week and i started taking this miracle drug, topamax. my friend valerie had told me about it, so i knew about some of the side effects before talking to my doctor about it, so that is where the name "miracle drug" came from. the main side effect that my friend valerie has experienced is weight loss - 37 pounds to date - val, you look great!!! the other thing, which will probably help me the most, is that anything with carbonation taste horrible. so, this is where the no coke comes into play... i haven't had a coke since last wednesday. oh my gosh, i am dying. i just want one so bad. i know the craving will go away, but i love it, and it is like it doesn't even exist anymore. it is a good thing that i like to drink water. the other good thing is at least i'm taking a drug for headaches, so i'm not having the withdrawal headaches as bad as i normally do when i try to stop drinking coke, haha.

next thing, last night my sound machine stopped working in the middle of the night. anyone who knows me, knows i have to have my "round of applause" as crystal calls it, or my "noise makers" as my dad calls it on while i sleep or what, " I CAN'T SLEEP" so i kept waking up last night, no good. i will be buying a new travel sound machine when i get home, so let's hope i can make it through tonight - i am in boston.

speaking of boston, i am here during the baseball playoffs.... no one here is happy as the redsox can't seem to get it together, haha.

another thing, i wasn't going to mention my dating life on here, but i figure why not have it bring more humor to everyone's life. i've gone out with a guy on a few dates, and we went to a corn maze on sunday. just thought i'd pass on the information to everyone. if you are looking for a fun and creative date, it is a great idea. we had a blast. don't worry i'm weird, i'm still picky as always, so who knows when i'll finally meet someone that i'll actually date, but just thought i'd pass on the information about the corn maze.

gotta run, mandatory work dinner again tonight. i hate it when i don't know what i am eating, so wish me luck. last night they tried to get me to eat to veal - negative.

i have the best dad in the world and stupid plumbers

ok, so my dad came up last night so we could go get my dresser that had been on back-order for months, so now my clothes are in the dresser, where they should be. we carried that thing up the stairs, and i'm not really sure how. that was by far the heaviest thing i have ever had to carry.

so, i'm so thankful for my dad coming to do that, when he gets the idea to mount my new flat screen tv, haha. i was really nervous about him doing this, but he insisted that he knew how to do it. he proceeded to hang it, and it looks great! my dad is amazing, saved me $200 that i was going to have to spend to get someone to professionally hang it.

taking a shower in luke warm water that quickly turns to freezing has got to be one of the most annoying things ever. i jump in the shower, and i basically have about 3 minutes max to take a shower before losing all semi-warm water. remember when you were at summer camp, and you had like two minutes to take a shower with other campers at that, well i feel like that camp counselor is standing outside of my shower saying 1 minute to go or 30 seconds left. shaving my legs is relatively pointless, because i can't possibly do that in the time limit i am given. so this brings me to my next point: my stupid plumbers.

i have now had a total of three different people come and no one can figure out why i don't have hot water. i have luke warm water right now, which is better than the cold i had for the first three days, but seriously, how many different people does it take to get this situation resolved. i have a visit today, and joe smo upstairs is calling his plumber buddies to figure out the problem - i need to take a shower!!! this is no fun, there have been plumbers in my house at least two times a week since i moved in. my builder is out of town this week, so this is loads of fun.

my life is boring right now

so, this weekend was pretty uneventful in the sense that i spent the entire weekend pretty much organizing and unpacking so more, fun times, let me tell you. the highlight of my weekend were my visitors, holly beam, susan, and kathryn all came to see me this weekend. holly and went to macaroni grill saturday night, and then watched the carolina football game, woohoo - they won!!! sunday susan and kathryn stopped by after kathryn's soccer game, i really appreciate them driving to see me.

i also tried a new church this past sunday - it wasn't for me. i really like contemporary churches - and this church was traditional to the tee. they had pews, hymn books, an organ, an orchestra, offering time, and the preacher preached for way too long. i will venture out for a new one this sunday - wish me luck.

i will try really hard to post pictures tomorrow of my house.

have a great week. i travel to sarasota, florida with scott this week. i can't wait to hang out and catch up - i feel like i haven't seen my quintiles friends in forever.

atlanta fun and the weekend

ok, so i've been in atlanta for the past few days - fun times. i actually got to see kelly last night which was awesome. we had fun catching up, and i miss her like crazy. i also had the pleasure of meeting my lead on my study, who i thought hated me. she was actually a lot nicer in person and even invaded my personal space and gave me a hug. maybe she won't bless me out next week, haha.

i'm excited about this weekend:)

missed flight and flooded hotel room

so, i get the airport today exactly 1 hour and 12 minutes before my flight leaves at 4:20pm all to find out i left my power cord at home, so i quickly jump back in the car and go home to get it. i return to the airport by 3:30 - and get inside the terminal 37 minutes before my flight leaves. the airline attendant proceeded to tell me that i could get on the plane, but my baggage could not. i'm trying to beg this lady to find a way to get my bag on the plane, when she looks up and says, you can no longer get on the plane, the 30 minute window is up. so, i have now managed to miss my flight, i get put on the next one to atlanta, no biggie, leaves at 6pm. everything seems to be fine, and then i get to atlanta. i received an email saying that someone would be waiting on me with a sign that said quintiles and my name. well, that didn't really work as easily as i thought. i am walking around back and forth inside waiting on this magical man with my name on a sign - i'm thinking why can't i find this man... he forgot about me. how will i ever get to the hotel, knowing the lead on this study hates me. finally someone leads me to a "limo" lot. i'm thinking, why have they set up a limo, i just need transportation. turns out, galleria limo is waiting on me in the limo lot - poor guy was about to give up on me. he thens tells me that the hotel isn't far away, but 45 minutes later, we arrive at the hotel. meanwhile, he can't speak a bit of english - talk about a language barrier. i gave him a 2 dollar tip, and i'm pretty sure he was annoyed, oh well. then i get to the marriott - note hilton properties are much better. i go to room 321 - my assigned room - all to find a room that looks like it has been flooded, there are those industrial sized fans all over the floor, the rooms smells like mildew, everything is off the floor, and the bedding and sheets are piled in the middle of the bed... i'm thinking, what the heck? so, i go back down to the lobby desk and get a new room, and finally i am here. i am tired, so i think i'm going to go to bed in a few.

running an errand for my dad and navigating charlotte

first and foremost, i am in desperate need of a gps system. i know where absolutely nothing is, haha. my dad sent me on an errand today - and i circled the airport twice trying to find it. i would like to clarify that "marsville" is not the same as "morris field" - so it was partly faulty directions from my pops, haha. i didn't mind running the errand at all, but when i got into the woodgroup facility, i had to walk through a warehouse to a man in the "stain department" - and by department, i mean a little closet, with one man in there. i am standing there with the two pieces of wood my dad gave me - and the guy in the closet, we can call "goober" for this story takes a phone call as soon as i walk up to his door. the goober leans back in his chair, props his feet up on a stool, and carries on a 5 minute conversation with a buddy of his, need i remind you, i am still standing their in the "stain department" waiting to give him these two pieces of wood. finally, he gets off the phone and doesn't bother to apologize, just says, ok, can i help you? how strange. regardless, i give him the wood, tell him my dad's name, and then he says, "do you buy chance know his number?" i'm thinking, what daughter doesn't know their own dad's phone number - like i said, goober fit really well for this guy. i hope my dad gets what he wants from goober, because i wasn't convinced of his customer service skills.

i am getting more and more settled in. i have most rooms in working order. i promise to send/post pictures this weekend. i leave for atlanta tomorrow, be home friday.

made it home, moved in, and one happy girl

i got home last night about midnight. already had a false alarm at my townhouse. sorry again holly that you got the 3:40 AM wake up call. hopefully no more of those. i got moved in today thanks to edie, david, dusty, crystal, mom, dad, uncle dean, aunt paula, my sister kendall and her boyfriend kevin, dena, scottie, jamie, and jennifer - wow... i couldn't have done it without any of you. i cannot thank you enough for your help, seriously it means so much that so many people care about me and wanted to help. also, thanks to mom and pop - my wonderful grandparents for making the trip to charlotte to see the place - that meant a lot. thanks holly for coming and going to eat with me tonight, to get me out of the house for a little. i have the most amazing friends and family - thanks to everyone. i am truly blessed.

i am so exhausted from moving, so i am going to bed now. i'll update with some pictures later.

p.s. the heels won today, woohoo!

stuck in memphis

i hate my job at moments like this. i am stuck in memphis, tn and desparately need to get home. i am moving tomorrow, i've only been talking about this for months, and now i am stuck in the airport. the idiot, hispanic, us airways attendant has got to be the biggest moron there ever was. if he comes over that intercom one more time to give us an update - which means we've been delayed again, i'm going to scream. this airport is retarded. please pray that i get home, will update later.

Can you always trust what the pilot says?

So, today I had to fly to Memphis, TN for a two day visit. After getting up at the crack of dawn - try 5 AM - I got on the plane and fell asleep as usual. Then I wake up about the time the pilot says we are 3rd in line to take off. so we're off, and then we're not... we start taking off, speeding up, and then the pilot makes a sharp right turn, in a plane may i remind you. please note: this is the 2nd time this has happened to me... not cool. the pilot comes over the speaker and says, "we got a message not to take off. i'm going to talk to maintenance and we should be on our way soon." now i'll admit that i'm kind of asleep during this time, but the fact that no one was coming to look at the plane, freaked me out. i'm thinking, i want off of this plane, ASAP. of course, they do not give you an option of getting off the plane, so the pilot waits about 5 minutes and says, "ok folks, we have been given the clear again." since i'm typing this email post the flight, you can rest assured i made it here safely, but i was nervous. we didn't have any problems, but if they would have let me off, i would have gladly taken another flight...scary! i'd like to thank God for protecting me today, seriously.

so, my dad, my brother, and one of the guys that works for them started painting my townhouse the colors i chose. i hope lots of state fans come to visit my house and see my pretty carolina blue office, go heels!!! (haha) i move in on saturday, i cannot wait, woohoo! i'll post some pictures for everyone to see.

always sign up for free drawings, this weekend crystal and i went to the southern women's show. we registered for everything. i won a pampering party from mary kay for me and four of my friends - complete with a facial, mineral make up makeover, and a hand treatment. so, crystal, holly, kendall, natalie, and i are being pampered monday night, woohoo.

so, as if winning the pampering party wasn't wonderful, i get a call from another vendor at the show telling me that i didn't win the big prize - a rainbow vacuum - but i did when a $100 gas card, what are the chances. i promise i'm not normally that lucky, haha.

p.s. the gas crisis is a bit ridiculous, but holly and i found some around midnight in charlotte. the best idea is to go super early or really late, so you miss the people out and about during the day... and the ridiculously long lines, like 50 plus cars - we saw that in charlotte.

everyone have a great weekend.

i got the keys

so, i closed on my townhouse today. my dad and the painters start painting tomorrow, woohoo. i move in on saturday - i cannot wait. not much in the way of updates right now, just wanted to let everyone know that i did get to close.

god has truly blessesed me, and i am so thankful for all of my friends and family and all the encouraging and congratulation messages today!

estimated wait time 120 minutes

so, i came up to charlotte yesterday to visit with holly and bayley. we had gone on a little shopping adventure and then planned on going to a nice dinner at mccormick and schmick's and then to downtown charlotte for a night out like old times. well, after we finally got on the road to dinner ( i was driving ), we had quite a little setback. so, i make a u-turn to go the right way on tryon - and i see something in the road. you know you don't have a lot of time to make a decision on whether or not you are going to hit the something or not. since i thought it was a cup, i thought i'll just run over it to keep from swerving in the other lane. well, if i could make that decision over again, i "probably" would. i hit a rock and by rock, i mean a small boulder. immediately i had blown out my tire. so, i try not to flip out, and we pull into the first parking lot that looks "somewhat" safe. we get out of my car to look at the damage, and oh my gosh there is literally a tear in my tire about 3 inches long - it looks like someone took a knife and slashed my tire all the way through. so, lucky for us holly has AAA, so we call them. the guy tells us the estimated wait time is 120 mins. we are screwed. holly gets off the phone, and says, "i just want to make sure i'm reading this right... 120 mins as in 2 hours." Correct. so we call darrell and wendy (holly's parents) to get the number to a tow company. one didn't answer, the other answered and said, "we can probably get someone out there." can i elaborate on this comment for a minute... how is it that someone can "probably" send someone out there. i told the man that "probably wasn't going to work!" who in there right mind runs a business on probably. i was so annoyed, but needed to get help, so i simply told the man that i would be calling someone who would definitely send someone to help us. i'm sitting here, with two of my best friends, in the middle of charlotte, thinking how are we going to get this situation fixed. we then decided - mainly because bay kept scaring us - to call the police to have someone sit with us until the help arrived. two nice officers came from the charlotte police department, and they probably thought i was an idiot. i would like to say that i truly did think it was a cup. i mean, would i really have run over a rock, on purpose? negative. so, shockingly after about thirty minutes, the AAA man shows up and puts the doughnut on my car. we then headed to downtown to fox and the hound because our nice restaurant had stopped serving dinner. we still had a good time considering a small setback, but i'll think twice before running over things again. $160 later, i have a new tire and we are back in business.

3 days to closing, a week exactly to move in!!!! can you tell i'm excited.

big people on airplanes

so, yesterday i flew home from florence, sc to charlotte on another little turbo prop - 10 rows, and cramped quarters. so, i sit down in my seat, 5F (window) and all these people pass me and i'm thinking, yes, i'm going to get these two seats to myself. just as you think that, you see the 400 pound guy heading your way. you are thinking, no, please don't sit beside of me, please don't, plop - he has 5D - no middle seats, so no 5E. i am not trying to be mean, but as uncomfortable as he now is, imagine my discomfort - i've got a man, that i have never spoken a word to in my life all up in my personal space. i mean, really this is so not fair. his arms, legs, and whole body are totally on the part of my seat that i paid for. i managed to scoot over as much as possible, to the window to give him some more room, but no matter what i tried, he was still all up in my grill. i'm wondering at what point do they make someone buy another seat. i know this man didn't mean to be all up in my space, but at the same time, maybe it is time for him to purchase two seats. all of this, while i look at the only person on the plane that got those two seats to himself, a 12 year old boy who is skinny as a rail - i'm thinking, please come sit with me and provide me some personal space and breathing room? all the joys of air travel.

today, i have lots of work to do. and i'm going to see my great, great aunt in the nursing home. she has no idea who i am, but i go in hope that she at least feels comforted by the fact that people, whom she thinks are total strangers, are coming to visit her. my mother and i are heading there while my grandmother is out of town - she normally takes care of her during the week. i'm kind of afraid of the mess we may run into, but hopefully it won't be that bad. i'm sure i'll have a story to tell.

i'm excited about this weekend. so, friday bayley is coming to visit holly and i in charlotte. we are going to have a great weekend, and i can't wait for her and holly to see my townhouse. saturday is the apple festival, i'm excited about that - hopefully i will make it this year - maybe holly and bay will want to make a quick appearance with me. sunday, crystal and i are going to the southern women's show - i cannot wait. we had so much fun last year - don't worry this year we will not be persuaded to do the zoom whitening, haha.

alright, that is all for today. 6 days til closing, 9 days til moving day!!! i can't wait!

three airports in one day

so, i started off my morning at the charlotte airport, and finally i have made "status" with u.s. air so i don't have to pay for my checked bags - that is 30 dollars a trip i will save quintiles. so, then i ask if this means that i will get moved up to first class some, and the lady says, "if you pay the $50 upgrade." what is the point? i could have done that without having status, haha. then i travel to reagan airport in d.c. - nothing major to report there. i drove to bladensburg, maryland - and the doctor had a meeting with some drug reps before our appointment. i got to sit in while these two drug reps tried to sell crestor and nexium - that has got to be the worst job in life. those poor guys got all of 7 minutes of his time, and they even brought him sushi. dr. poochikian interrupted the guys, took a phone call during their spill, and signed some documents for the nurse - all during this precious 7 minutes. can you imagine if that was your job? then the doctor used me as his way out of the meeting with the reps - it was very interesting to say the least. i then came back to charlotte to fly to florence, south carolina. so, i'm waiting at my gate and a gentleman has a seizure - it was very scary. he had no idea who he was, how old he was, or where he was. i felt bad for him because he was at the airport by himself, everyone was staring at him. hopefully he is ok. then i get on the smallest plane i've ever been on, seriously, it had 10 rows, and that is it - a little propeller plane - and we are 9th in line to take off, so i get to hear the roar of those propellers for at least 20 minutes, fun times. we arrive in florence to an airport that is about the size of a walmart, no navigation at hertz, and one very small baggage claim track. i love these places though because the employees at the airport can tell you where anything and everything is because the town is so small.

alright, well i need to do a little work before going to bed, so i'm going to stop typing on this thing. just thought i'd update you on my travel fun for today. 7 days to closing, 11 days to move in!!!

who knew costume shopping and wigs could be so much fun

so, i had my walk-though on friday - my townhouse was 100% ready! aside from a few minor things, the house looked amazing, if i do say so myself. i cannot wait for everyone to come see the place, and to start decorating. i have got to stop buying stuff, it is truly out of control, haha. i was telling holly and crystal yesterday that i haven't been shopping for clothes lately because i've been obsessed with home decor/furniture, haha. once i get high-speed internet back, i'll start uploading pictures with these entries, but for now this will work.

saturday, holly, crystal, and i went to mooresville, not to be confused with morrisville, and shopped for halloween costumes. crystal had "committed" to being a devil - so she bought a red wig with horns - this thing is hilarious. holly tried on several costumes, but the one that i think she should be is jane jetson - isn't that an awesome costume?!?! i love it. i haven't quite decided, but i think that maybe i'll be a pink lady from grease or a girl from the 50s in like a poodle skirt... so with all of our halloween shopping fun, i think i've decided to have a halloween party. i think the plan will be to start the night at my house, and then head downtown to show off all of our costumes. so, if anyone wants to come to charlotte for the weekend of halloween, let me know. you are welcome to come - the only requirement is that you dress up! i haven't finalized anything yet, but details to come soon. last night, in the exciting town of lincolnton, crystal, holly, and i piled into the car and drove to mcdonalds to get a mcflurry - and crystal had the red wig with devil horns on, this was absolutely hilarious.. i wish i knew how to upload the pic from my blackberry, but i don't. we've all decided that wigs are fun - so who knows we might all be in one on halloween. yesterday was a blast.

today was spent mostly relaxing. i finished an entire scrapbook today, isn't that impressive. i had four pages at the beginning of the evening, and now i have well over 20 - super productive today!

tomorrow smarts another fun week of travels for me. i got to bladensburg, maryland and florence, south carolina this week - you wouldn't believe the airline miles and hotel points i'm racking up.

the countdown to move in has officially begun. 13 days to go!!!

"i'll call corporate on you!"

anyone who knows me well enough, wouldn't be surprised to learn that today i wanted to call "corporate" on someone. my builder for my townhouse is full of crap. he takes absolutely no responsibility for things that he does wrong. if i can take constructive criticism, anyone should be able to. today, the private inspector went out to my townhouse to conduct his inspection, and even though the builder promised to have it completed, it was no where near ready. as in... no appliances were hooked up, the floors were still covered, the fireplace wasn't working, the air conditioner wasn't hooked up, and the painters were still there finishing up. the best part is that the builder blamed it on me... that is a new one on me, because last time i checked, i didn't go to school to be in construction management - much less building a house. you know, if i get into my townhouse on september 23, it will be by the grace of God alone. please pray!

in the way of an update: my dad is feeling much better. i wouldn't say he is back 100%, but he is doing more and can actually move around like normal now. thank goodness.

i traveled to virginia today for work - that wake up call at 4:31 is for the birds. i mean, as my alarm clock went off this morning, i thought who in their right mind, would get up this early... i could have just taken a shower in the dark, because it was nearly impossible to keep my eyes open. i have a coworker at my visit today - and that was no fun. he paced the floors and interrupted me, so i will not be volunteering for people to come with me in the future. this was after he didn't print directions to the starbucks where we were meeting, so i had to go pick him up and take him to starbucks. he even interrupted me to inform us that he was going to the bathroom to get a tissue - who does that??? ah the joys of bringing someone along on my visits - this fun will continue!

i wish the weekend could get here a little sooner this week.

happy birthday to my brother Jamie (yesterday) and to one of my 2nd mommas - Edie Carpenter (tomorrow)! have a great rest of the week!

a low key weekend is just what i needed

so, i got home from philadelphia on thursday evening to find my dad in a bad way - he hurt his back, so i played nurse for a few days, with the help of my mother and sister. everyone please pray that he can get back to work soon. hopefully he'll be back to normal in no time, as in, time for me to move, haha! such a loving daughter, i know.

friday night i met up with my friend valerie at bbq-king. we had such a good time catching up, as her little boy davis is starting to carry on normal conversation, and warming up to me. he has always been mostly shy around me because i haven't been around a lot. hopefully now that i'll be living closer to home, we will get to hang out more often and he will become more comfortable around me.

saturday, i convinced my sister to ride with me to value city furniture in charlotte to look for a queen bed for my guest bedroom. we found a few i liked, but i didn't decide on one yet. i then took her by my townhouse - which is almost ready. i cannot wait, seriously, how much longer can it be??? the hardwood floors are down - they look great. another thing we noticed is that my security system has been installed - this will be the most important part of my new house, as i will be living by myself. as many of you know, i get nervous that someone will get me in my sleep. at least i can fall asleep knowing that an alarm will go off - but my dad pointed out that i probably wouldn't here it due to my sound machine or as crystal calls it, "the round of applause."

today, i'm relaxed and have done as little as possible. i spent the afternoon with the family. i rode with crystal to gastonia to take dusty something and then we went to texas roadhouse - that place never gets old.... seriously, it doesn't.

alright, well i know this blog wasn't very action packed, but i thought i'd update it every couple of days. i'll be off to richmond and virgnia beach this week!!!

i hope everyone has a great week:)

Could it get any hotter outside?

So, my day began at 4:47 AM - yeah, you can imagine how thrilled I was when the alarm went off, especially since the last time I looked at my clock it was 2:15 AM. I get nervous that I am going to sleep through my flight, which I have done, just once, haha.

I got off to D.C. with no problems, woohoo! Got to my site a litte early, and headed to Linens and Things. I have been trying to find these euro shams that go with my comforter for my guest bedroom - you would think these things were laced with gold, as hard as they have been to find. Well, the store at the Pentagon didn't have any, so they called the store in Mt. Laurel, NJ - where I am staying tonight. Believe it or not, they had two of them - and the store is one of the few that is closing - so I got an added discount, woohoo.

I should go back and speak of my experience from D.C. to Philadelphia, PA. So, they tell us the flight is on time, and we board a bus to get to the plane... this is where the fun begins. We then sit on this bus for literally 25 minutes, in the 90 degree weather. I mean, one of the worst things to me is being hot, and the air conditioner was conveniently broken on this bus. To all my Carolina friends, imagine the P2P when people were standing on top of each other - but then add everyone's luggage to this, and no air. What you get is this: completely irate, hot, rude airline passengers. Everyone is screaming at the bus driver, the poor guy drives over to the shade in hopes to alleviate the sweating and screaming from all of us. So, once we get on the plane - which I must add - was much cooler than normal, so U.S. Air, I appreciate that.... a gentleman, who could very easily be a pro basketball player sits behind me. I am sure most of you know where this is going... This "gentleman" (I use that term loosely now) had his knees in the back of my seat the whole time - I should have just sit on his lap. Thank goodness that the flight was only about 25 minutes long, or I would have had to go postal on this guy, haha, jk.

In other news, I locked in my loan rate today, woohoo. That leads me to believe that it really might happen this month. The loan can only be locked for 30 days - so we are moving in the right direction. I cannot wait to get moved in, and have no fear, my wonderful friend Crystal is planning a housewarming party!!! I will make sure she has all of your names! I can't wait for everyone to visit and see the new place.

Alright, well I'm going to get some dinner before the premiere of Top Model comes on. I hope everyone has a great night, and I'll update at the end of the week.

Weekly Travels, Townhouse Updates

So, I thought I start blogging, as if I don't stay on the internet enough. I thought it would provide some entertainment to everyone who knows how much I travel for work. If I could just bring some of you with me just one time, you'd probably do nothing but laugh at me and my craziness. Also, I thought this would be a good way for me to update everyone on the status of my townhouse.

So, this week, I travel to Springfield, VA and Hadden Heights, NJ - never been to New Jersey before, so that should be interesting! I went to Boston a few weeks ago, and I felt like a fish out of water with my thick southern accent.

So far, the closing date for my townhouse is still set for September 23, 2008. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if it was Thanksgiving before I get into my house.

Alright, hope you enjoy!