First Communion and more

The picture is from TL's First Communion which she took yesterday. She and her father worked very hard to catch up and I'm very proud of her!

As for our adventures... Easter weekend in SC was fun and warm! We spent Saturday on Lake Seneca with friends jet skiing and enjoying the outdoors--the water was cold as everyone but me found out. Easter Sunday was filled with egg hunts (at church and at home), lunch out and a movie. We spent the evening playing "HORSE" and being crazy.

Last week started out busy and ended quiet. I had a conference in DC and I'm very proud of our post doc and her work which we presented. She won a Scholar's Award. I also participated in a mock grant study section and managed to aggravate all the clinical fellows that were participating. The experiments were crap but I did realize that I need to be a little nicer so a learning experience all around. TL ended the week with strep throat so I had an unexpected couple of days off last week (the one positive about strep is they get on antibiotics and feel better within a day or so). She spent the weekend at her dad's so it was quiet for me but, I bought a new lawn mower which I put together and used! Another thing I accomplished by myself, now I just need a weed wacker and my yard will look all nice and trim.

Our week ahead so far looks uneventful, TL has a softball game this Saturday and we have some yard work to finish. Hope everyone is enjoying the same beautiful weather we are and has a great week.

I'm Back

So, after a long hiatus I'm finally back... It's been a few interesting months and I lost my blogging gene for a little while due to some upheaval again in my life (no, nothing serious I promise). In brief, right after Thanksgiving my Lab Chief called me into her office to announce that she had decided to leave and take a position at Children's in DC. So, for Christmas I was faced with several choices of whether to stay, go to Children's or truly go (like south go). Although my future still isn't decided I will be staying at my Institution but until I get my lab closed and my fledgelings on to their new homes (jobs) where and what I'll be doing is up in the air. I'll keep everyone posted--I have three job offers and another proposal coming down the pipe but I need to finish what I started here first.

On to our adventures! As the national news told everyone December and February were very snowy! I have learned how to keep ahead of the snow, met most of my neighbors and shovelled myself out of tons and tons of snow. Chalk up one more thing that I've accomplished in the past year and a half. Even I got a little tired of the snow towards the end but I did enjoy a few days off in February. TL got stranded at a friend's house for a few days (she and her friend's parents didn't complain) and even she said it wasn't any fun to play in the snow when it come up to the middle of your thighs.

As the weather has warmed up we're off and out doing again. This past weekend we went to Volt for lunch (it's owned by the runner up to Top Chef Las Vegas). The food was great, the service was good (they were very very good with TL) and it was an experience. TL took pictures and just sent me one to let me know she was hungry again. Sunday we walked around downtown Bethesda and sampled cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes (good, but very rich). TL is off for spring break this week and my mother is here to help me with her while she's home. We're heading to visit AM later this week and enjoy some warmer weather.

So, that's it in a nutshell. I think the warm weather has thawed out my fingers and brain so hopefully I will start keeping everyone updated on what's going on!

Happy Easter and safe travels for Spring Break!

Sorry, Sorry, Sorry!

So my apologies to everyone--we had no Internet at the new place until recently and I have been very very bad about updating. We are now back in cyberspace and I'm back to blogging!

The past few months have been busy--the house is sold and we are moved! We have a cute little townhouse that TL picked out and are snug and just about settled. I'm still surrounded by boxes but getting more and more of them unpacked. I may even be able to park in my garage by Christmas.... It has been a challenge downsizing from my big elephant but we're coming along. We have a guest bedroom anytime you want to come visit.

TL has been busy with school and we didn't end up going to The Melting Pot this grading period--but she is now concentrating and I'm sure we will go this time. She loves our new house and is close to several of her friends so she actually can walk to their houses. Now that we're settled we've started going out and doing again. We went to see New Moon on opening day ("it was so heart warming, so heart felt and so heart thumping" was her description). We also squeezed in a hockey game--I got great seats 7 rows up from the ice and there were several fights. I'm glad to have a child who enjoys hockey!! We also managed to hit the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch one Sunday afternoon and toured the Ford Theater. We are hoping to see a play there sometime this winter.

We spent Thanksgiving in Florida with my family and also spent some time with my SC friend's family (I have decided he is AM for future reference) as they in the same area as my cousin. The weather was warm and TL even went swimming. We went to Blue Spring State Park on Friday (no Black Friday sales for us) and were lucky enough to see some manatee as this is their winter home. We started out the day with a "oh mom" and ended up the trip with a "that was really cool" The picture I posted was her on the boardwalk--the tiara is all her!

So, that is us in a nutshell. The craziness of moving and settling and finding everything has kept us busy but we're finally back to having fun again.

Lastly, I had another 6 month check up and still no evidence of disease. We will be celebrating the weekend!

Hope all is well and I promise to get back on track. Love to all!

Birthday Parties, Endings and Sold Signs

Well, I thought last Friday would be a big day but when I woke up on Saturday I realized just how big!

Friday morning was quick, painless and final. I have switched back legally to my maiden name and am no longer a married woman. My mother and the Amazing E were by my side as they have been all along. I was smart, once I realized that there was no way Ted would change his mind about this to put myself in the driver’s seat and hire a good lawyer so the final stages were handled with dignity and absolutely no drama. Others involved in this whole debacle have not been as dignified, intelligent, expedient or drama free and as a result are still married nearly 2 years later.

TL’s birthday party was fun for all. One of her new friends is in a band and so after checking in to the hotel and getting settled (I got a suite so I had a separate room…) we went to watch them and had dinner at Pot Belly (yum). While we were sitting by the pool I got a call from my realtor and we finally got an offer on the house—there’s more to this story but that’s the next paragraph. The girls went to be early (by midnight!!!) and woke up to the cruel joke of an alarm clock that was never shut off by the previous occupant at 7:00. Since they all get up so early for school they were pretty much up soon after. Breakfast was an omelet/breakfast buffet and we ate hearty. The girls played hide n seek and ran around the lake. We packed up and were home by 10:30 to greet my parent’s movers.

Sold signs…so the offer Friday night was good enough to take although still not enough to cover all the costs so I will end up having to pay money to rid myself of this elephant. I end up with nothing from my marriage financially but…I also rid myself of bills, yard work and earned my freedom so it is worth it. The funny thing is that when it rains it pours, Sunday afternoon brought us another offer (cash this time) that although I will end up bringing more money to the table it is “as is” so I have no repair work, appraisals or loans to wait for and on Saturday I can begin to look for a place for us to rent. The closing is November 6th so I will be busy this month.

Our week ahead is bittersweet. My parents are moving back to AZ and although I dreaded their arrival into my home it has worked out much better than I ever expected and I will miss them. The movers started on Saturday and will load up the van today and head west tonight. My oldest nephew will fly into town on Wednesday evening and spend his fall break driving my father across country (they planned this in September so the sold sign just made the reason for leaving real). Don’t feel sorry for my nephew tho—he got a new iPhone out of the deal…. My mother will stay here for a month to help me with TL while I travel for work and now will also help me pack up my house. My friend from SC is driving up Thursday (the amazing man that he is, he will fly home from Des Moines Thursday morning and load up the car and head up here Thursday afternoon!). The original plan was that we were going to work on the house and I had a long list of “honey dos” for him—since the house is “as is” that’s out the window and we plan on playing! I’m having a Happy Hour for him Friday at the house and everyone is invited over to meet him and help us celebrate!

TL is plugging along with school but is also beginning to be challenged which I’m glad to see! Her grades have slipped a little due to homework issues and now I’m back to cracking the whip! The schools allow us to monitor their grades over the internet and she doesn’t get to play the “I don’t have any homework” game anymore. She goes to her father this weekend (she hasn’t been since August so I can’t boo hoo too much—but boo hoo, I always miss her) and they have planned a big celebration for her I’m sure. She is beginning to think this divorced thing isn’t so bad since she gets several birthday parties out of it…

Hope everyone’s week is good—I’m looking forward to some calm someday…

Updates

Well, obviously the fall rush has hit again and I’m back to being terrible about updating here. When I sat down to write this I can’t really put my finger on anything that’s kept us so busy that I can’t write but for some reason we just are.

So, a short recap of the past two weeks:

TL’s Back to School night was fun, enlightening and entertaining. I still think she has a great team of teachers and I think she will be challenged this year. Except for math (she is my daughter after all) she is in all gifted and talented classes (honors classes now) and is still getting all A’s. She loves middle school and the freedom it brings.

We had a great time at the lake celebrating all the birthdays. The weather was simply amazing and the girls had fun on the lake. TL woke me up Sunday morning with a text to let me know that there was a deer (with beady eyes) staring through the window of her tent. Of course only TL would think the large soulful eyes of a deer were beady (she says if you’re really close to them they’re beady!).

TL has started religious education classes with her father at the Catholic Church. She has approached it with her usual zeal and I’m glad he finally did this. She never took First Communion so she attends those classes one Monday night a month and CCD classes on Wednesday nights. She accidentally took Communion at CCD class last week and prayed at least 4 times to say she was sorry. That led to a long discussion about different perceptions of God and my beliefs that God is a forgiving and understanding being that doesn’t pass judgment or punish the sorry. Hopefully she’ll remember this week….

We spent the weekend staying at home for once. I had a PEO function at the house Saturday morning and spent Saturday evening celebrating The Amazing E’s birthday! Sunday was spent running errands, watching football and NASCAR and catching up on everything.

So far this week has been quiet. My new post doc started this week and I always enjoy the enthusiasm and new ideas they bring with them. She studies animal behavior and depression so we are hoping to develop several new models examining the interactions between pain and depression. Stay tuned—we keep growing. We are all abuzz today as The President will be honoring us with a visit. It is a shame that so many people with ugly thoughts live in this world and think it’s funny to post things like polls on Facebook encouraging his death (my soon to be ex-husband is part of that crowd). It makes his visits less joyous and more onerous as the stoic gentleman in suits now patrol our halls and keep us far away from him.

My week will end on a sad note as well as a happy one. On Friday I will spend about 10 minutes in court ending a 20 year chapter of my life. By his choice Ted will not be there which is a fitting end to this story. The day will end with a birthday party for TL which is the best way to end any day. We are staying at a hotel with several of her friends near a movie theater and her favorite restaurant (Pot Belly) so you can guess what we’ll be doing Friday night. It’s hard to believe she will be 11 in a few weeks.

So again, I’m sorry for the lack of attention to keeping everyone updated on our lives. I’ll let everyone know how the party goes. Have a great rest of the week.

Birthday Smiles

Last Sunday was my birthday! Woo Hoo, a whole 45! It was a great birthday and thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes. It was actually a birthday weekend more than just one day.

Friday night was probably the only quiet moments we had all weekend--perfect snuggle time with TL of course. If you notice, I finally finished my chair--and it's sturdy enough to sit in!!! I just need to stain it and it'll take it's place on my deck outside my bedroom.

My birthday was as amazing as always, TL and a friend decorated the house so that when I woke up Sunday morning I would be surprised. She also threw me a party and so I had family and friends over for lunch. I am blessed to have so much in my life.

Our week is already almost half over, how did that happen??? Wednesday night is back to school night and TL is doing part of the evening announcements so she gets to come along. This weekend we're off to the lake to celebrate September birthdays (and 13th birthdays as well).

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week and I promise to post more next time.

What Was He Thinking?

I did not watch President Obama’s speech Wednesday night (I know, shame on me but I was busy wrestling a pop diva into and out of the shower while I tried to set up my father’s new laptop). So, I was shocked yesterday morning when the news began to trickle in about the behavior of a certain Representative from South Carolina (my friend thankfully did not vote for him). How can we expect our children to respect others when people who are elected to represent their citizens can not? There is no excuse for what he did, regardless of the heat of the moment or any other reason—in fact I would have respected his apology more if he had just said he was wrong and it was inexcusable. Even more interesting were his comments to reporters where he basically said, I was told to apologize so I did—one could think that perhaps he made the apology because his parents told him to and there was nothing sincere about it???? Perhaps if he expended as much energy trying to fix the problem rather than heckle the President of the United States maybe he’d get something done.

I have some pretty strong feelings about the health care bill but more importantly I have even stronger opinions about the behavior of people who are elected to represent the people of this country. Their job is to legislate, not whine, cry and throw up road blocks every time something doesn’t go their way. They are not elected to bad mouth their counterparts and walk away from the table just because it’s not what they would do. And finally, it is unconceivable that they would actually stoop to out and out lies in order to “scare” the American public into thinking that health care reform is a bad idea simply because it’s not what “they” want. I’m not pointing fingers at any particular party here either. If you want to see just how bad it is visit www.factcheck.org . We wonder why our economy is in shambles, our children are disrespectful and no one is ever willing to accept responsibility for their own actions? Just look at the people who “represent” us for the answer. Personally, I think they all need to grow up, get to work and fix this mess—if I acted like they do at my work I’d have been fired years ago.

So, what was he thinking? Who knows, but maybe a better title for this posting should be “Stop Whining and Get to WORK!!!”