finding a gym is so not easy

ok, so after the broken fibula and physical therapy, my plan to join a gym was put on hold. i am being released from physical therapy this week, so i am have been on the search. i have called so many gyms, it is ridiculous. ok, so i started with the ONLY gym within a 5 mile radius of my house - mt. island fitness - they were $60/month with no pool next i called peak fitness they were $30/month, but 20 miles away from my house and no pool, then i called the YMCA in charlotte $60/month - crazy. so today, i remembered that a personal trainer that i had used at my gym in raleigh recommended a gym in charlotte - embassy sports club. i called them today, they are located uptown. the location should have been a sign that they would be expensive, but i had no idea how expensive. i called them and they said $95.99/month plus a locker fee, something about a small one was $30, medium $45, and large $60 all per month as well - that is like average $150/month for a gym membership - excuse my language here, but are they going to wipe my a$$ too. i mean, my gosh. what the heck. so clearly, i will not be using this gym. so, i've decided to go with the belmont ymca, as they are $50/month and only about 4.5 miles from my house, only three exits away, going towards gastonia. i am so excited to have found a gym. let the quest to lose weight continue. woohoo. i'll keep you posted on how it is going.

a lucky crunch

so, thursday, i landed in charlotte, finally home after 4 visits this week - and i call my grandmother and my mother - my two phone calls that i make everytime i land somewhere. my grandmother is always worried about me, and she knew i was exhausted from how much traveling i had been doing this week. she said, "i'm glad you are home, please be careful, be safe driving home." I was like, "i'll be fine. it is like a five minute drive from the airport to home." well, aren't those famous last words. i get on billy graham parkway, and i am at a stop light.... there is a white ford windstar in front of me. the light turns green.... i see the car start to go, and i am putting something in the side door of my car, and happened to look down... and when i look back up, i realize that i need to hit the brakes and super fast. tooo late... crunch. i rear-ended someone... yikes. i get out of my car and the lady is hispanic... she is making sure i am ok??? what the heck, i am the one who hit her. she looks at the damage of her car, the bumper seems to be a little dislocated and the paint is removed in some areas (two main areas) and says, it is ok... i am late for work, we don't need to call the cops, and gets back in her car and drives off. i am in total disbelief. this does not happen. i mean, really. i figured, i was screwed the moment she got out of the car. i mean, if it had been my car, i would have called the police. luckily for me, my car escaped with no damage and i didn't get a ticket. i figured that she didn't have a license or insurance and thought that by calling the police she would get in trouble. her loss. my blessing.. God is so good. it is like my friend holly said, it is my time to catch a break. after the blown out tire, and only being pulled over twice and having two pink memories to show for it... i deserved a break.

and let the insanity continue

so, the travel started back up this week, it might be a different year, but same old craziness at the airports. tuesday, i gave blood at a blood drive at my parent's church, and then had all of 53 minutes to get to the airport get checked in, i got there with only 13 minutes to spare, talk about living on the edge, i even got nervous that i was going to miss my flight.

i boarded my plane to atlanta with no problems, well apparently there was some sort of delay, but i slept right through that, and then boarded my next flight to monroe, louisiana. i arrived in monroe, louisiana around 7:30pm all excited about the new 90210, all to remember that i am in the central time zone, and that by the time i would get to my hotel, it would be long over, as the prime time shows start at 7pm there, so stupid. so, i decided to go to cracker barrel - i love that place, i do not eat there very often, but decided since it is right beside of the hotel i stay at for this site, i would enjoy some good ole chicken -n-dumplings, yum. i get to my hotel, all to remember that this is the city, in which, the water feels like baby oil. may sound strange, yes, but it is true. apparently, a gentleman told me they have, "soft water." he described it, saying, "you'll feel like you haven't gotten the soap off of you, like you are greasy." well, he is pretty much right, that has got to be one of the worst feelings. i mean, when you are washing your hair, you feel like no matter how long you stand under the water, you still have soap in it - that to me, feels like you've defeated the purpose of washing your hair, you know?

this morning i head to my site to conduct a short SIV, mainly to train the site on a system we use - and the coordinator is enrolling a patient in our study. i am not supposed to see patients we enroll - and of course one of the machines, our study requires, is not working. i had to pull the machine out of the room where the patient was and try to fix it, it was a disaster - all to find out it was truly broken... the poor patient was stuck 4 times, her fingers are going to be so sore tomorrow.... finger sticks are no fun! then the coordinator went on with her day, and basically forgot about me, remember i needed to train her on a system - the whole purpose of my visit. she finally came back to the monitoring room, to eat lunch... what the heck?!? i had all of 30 minutes to train her, as i now had to leave for a flight to houston. what a crazy day.

so, i board my plane from monroe to houston to finally get to florence (stupid, yes) and this woman gets so mad at me. so, i'm sitting in the bulk head seat - which means no bags under the seat because you don't have a seat in front of you. so, i had to put my computer bag and purse in the overhead bins. well, this older lady (60+) had put her long trench coat in the bin above, but it was taking up the whole bin. i politely ask her if i could put my stuff up there as well, she said yes. well after i put my stuff, she said, "did you just cram your stuff on my coat," i said, "no, actually it has plenty of room. it won't be wrinkled." she then says, "i saw you pushing your purse back in there, and i won't have my coat smashed in there and wrinkled when we land, so just give it here, i'll keep it on my lap." talk about pissed, that indeed she was, and i could care less, because i can't have my stuff with me, it is a federal regulation. she was overreacting, to say the least. then i get told that i am not supposed to have my turkey club out when we take off, what the heck?!? i mean, you are totally allowed to have food on the plane, and i have never been told to put food up during takeoff, whatever, i got to eat after we got 10,000 feet in the air. i wanted to look at the flight attendant and say, "my turkey club doesn't have an on/off switch!"

now, i am sitting here in the charlotte airport, about to board my florence flight, tired as all get out, just wanting to get to a bed. i won't arrive in florence until 11:35pm, and then i have to get my rental car and drive to the hotel, fun times. such a long day. this will be my 4th visit of the week, and whew i already need another vacation., haha.

alright, have a great thursday everyone.

happy new year everyone

i hope everyone had a great new year. i plan to update my blog tomorrow night with new stories, and i promise to do better for the few of you who actually read it, haha.

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!!!!!!!!!!