Finally!

I'm finally getting around to updating my blog. I know everyone has been holding their breath until my next post. I've been so busy though I just haven't had time. This time, that's actually true (sort of). I had gotten used to updating during work hours. However, I was really busy at work right before we went on vacation. Things got really crazy last Tuesday, the day we were leaving for South Carolina, and we didn't end up leaving DC until almost 7 p.m. Three hours later, after we had traveled a whopping 55 miles (yes, over a three hour time period) we decided to stop at a Waffle House and have a yummy dinner. Then, I picked up the driving. However, by 1 a.m. I was sooo tired, and we had to stop in North Carolina and sleep.

Our vacation was nice (well, as nice as a vacation can be when it is with family). We got to spend Thanksgiving with some of Robbie's relatives. Then, on Black Friday, we braved a couple of stores for some Christmas shopping. Interestingly enough, the only things that we bought were for ourselves :-D Saturday, we went to Charleston to see some more of Robbie's family, and we went to eat at this really good restaurant called California Dreaming. We then drove through a three-mile loop of an amazing Christmas light display. There were some really cool lights, however the pictures we took don't do them justice. Once I find Robbie's camera, maybe I'll post one or two of the pictures.

This week, I want to go to Target or Walmart or Lowe's to get some Christmas decorations. We are going to go on Saturday and cut down a Christmas tree at a tree farm. I'm so excited. I love Christmas, and I get into the decorating and all that fun stuff. Robbie was telling me about how he used to go out and shoot mistletoe out of trees when he was younger. We probably won't go to that extent, but it will be fun just the same.

I am about halfway through the Dan Brown book Digital Fortress (last of the books that I have read, first that Dan Brown wrote). As was all of the others, this one is good. The characters aren't quite as well developed, but I'm quite enjoying the book. It will probably get sent out to California for Kath to read when I'm done with it (under the guise of a Christmas present).

Anyways, I guess that's all for now. I'll try to be more diligent about updating more often.

What I did on my summer vacation...um, I mean on my birthday

So, I had a pretty good birthday. I got lots of stuff, and I guess I should list what I got so I don't get duplicates for Christmas. So, I'll give a quick list:

• Celtic knot ring
• Terps red hooded sweatshirt
• Terps license plate frame
• mp3 player
• coloring book and art stuff :-D
• foot jewelry (or something like that)

So, anything on my previous list that is not on the above list is still fair game. Some of the things that I remember from memory, without looking at my wish list is: towels, bedding set, anything from Victoria's Secret...I can't remember anything else offhand. But I'll keep thinking about what I want for Christmas.

So back to my birthday...it was good. I got to sleep late. And then Robbie and I went for a walk at Greenbelt Park. We made the mistake of going out to Tyson's Corner for dinner right at rush hour...it took an hour and a half to get there. But we had a good dinner at Rainforest Cafe, and then had cake at Mom and Dad's. I got to talk to my sister when I was opening presents, so that was fun. Otherwise, I guess it was just a regular day. And now I'm one year older (for those of you playing along at home, that would make me 26). But life is good, so I guess 26 is okay :)

Getting old

I'm turning old tomorrow. Or I guess I'm turning older, not necessarily old (my sister might beat me with a stick if I say I'm old). I have felt kind of frazzled today at work. Court went well, because I finally closed a case! Yay! I feel like hard work and diligence paid off! Well, it sounds good anyways. And it's nice to get praise and recognition from judges and lawyers, because it doesn't happen that much. But I always make an effort to turn my court reports in on time (which technically means ten business days before court). Not many social workers actually do that. Well, the judge and one of the attorneys gave me recognition for such a timely court report. It made me feel good. I guess I should feel good because I know I'm doing the best I can do. But praise helps, too :)

I planned to bust my butt and do a court report and social summary from the time court ended (so, say about 12:30) until my home visit, which I have to leave for at 6:30. I was going to get so much accomplished. Well, a coworker called in sick, and so now I have to spend the afternoon taking two of my kids to therapy, which is not a difficult task, it is just extremely time consuming. Therapy is at 4:15, but I have to leave at 3 to go get the kids, take them to therapy, and then take them home afterwards, which burns my entire afternoon. So, instead of getting to work on all of my stuff, I will be busy from 3 until probably about 5:45. I guess I can work from 5:45 until 6:30, but by then I'm just going to be drained, cranky, and tired. I completed my court report, so I'm taking a few moments to just unwind and write before I have to go play chauffeur.

Back to my birthday :) I'm excited. I always get excited for my birthday, although I'm not sure why. It's not because of presents or whatever. I think I just like the attention (hehehe!). I'm taking off work to just relax tomorrow. And when you say it's your birthday, everyone is like, "Oh, happy birthday!" like that's the best thing they have heard all day. But, again, like the praise, it's nice to hear :)

I'm just all about myself today... :-P

Cool website

Mike showed me this cool website where he designed his own stuff for his riding group. Apparently, you can send in your own designs, and this company will make you up clothing and different things with your design. Pretty cool, huh?

Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue

Being Veteran's Day, it seems appropriate to write something about our men and women who are currently and have, in the past, served our country. I hope that everyone in this country thinks about them, prays for them, and thanks them on a daily basis for what they give up for us. I have only really known two people who have served in our armed forces - my brother-in-law and my boyfriend. Unfortunately, I don't remember a whole lot about Mike when he was in the Navy. I know that he spent a good deal of time away from his family, and he was willing to go out and die for his country. Robbie, who has only been out of the Army for a year, has a very real chance of being recalled to assist his country in the war against terrorism. Robbie saw things and experienced things that he would never want to again. He spent five years away from his family and loved ones, and was put in harm's way. He has the very real possibility of being called back up to go to the Middle East, and he would go without question if he were called. How many of us can honestly say that we would, willingly, put ourselves in danger for our country? Sitting here watching Saving Private Ryan, it gives me renewed appreciation of those that serve our country. I am in awe of the strength and bravery that it must take to put one's country ahead of oneself.

Update on wish list

OK, so I guess I should update my blog if I end up getting something off of the Christmas wish list (for example, for my birthday). Well, I really wanted the Toby Keith CD, so I got it for myself this evening. So, that one can come off. I'll see if I can think of something to replace it on the list.

My wish list

With the holidays coming (holidays, meaning my birthday and Christmas), I've been asked to make a list of things that I want. Even though I try very hard to pretend I'm not spoiled, when I try to make a list, I realize just how spoiled I really am. Thus far, I have come up with three concrete things to put on my list: a red hooded MD sweatshirt (I saw one that I liked at the store on campus); a Celtic knot ring like the one I lost last year at the lake house; and an IPod or Dell Digital Jukebox. There are things I always want, such as anything from Victoria's Secret, purses, clothes, jewelry. But, those things are not specific, and thus are not good items to put on a list (so I've been told, anyway).

So I'm sitting here, being a slacker (again), and trying to come up with a wish list. Here's my best attempt thus far.

• A new Terps license plate frame.
• A 2005 calendar.
• The new Toby Keith CD.
• A Barnes and Noble gift card.
• A pair of WARM winter gloves (all the gloves I have don't really keep my hands warm).
• A dressy watch.
• A Victoria's Secret gift card.
• A gift certificate for a massage (such as SpaWish).
• A crock pot.
• A new bedding set.
• Anything else that you think I might like!

I know that most of the time, people don't like to get gift certificates. I, myself, like to be able to get someone something personal. But, when all else fails, gift certificates work.

**Note: This list is in no way requiring that people who do not ordinarily get me gifts to buy me gifts for my birthday and/or Christmas. It is just the product of brainstorming that is being done on my blog instead of on a piece of notebook paper. This list is mainly for my family and Robbie.

Walmart and such

Like I anticipated, I did nothing today. Robbie slept most of the day since he worked all night. I enjoyed the quiet of the house and read into the middle of the afternoon. I got up and cleaned up the kitchen for a little while. Then I read some more. I had planned to wash a couple of loads of laundry, but Robbie woke up and said we could do it tomorrow. And, being the slug that I have been all day, I said okay. So then, I read some more.

I finished up The Brethren. It was pretty good, not as good as some of Grisham's earlier novels. But, it kept my interest and I finished it pretty quickly. I think I'm going to start on Digital Fortress next. I have read all of Dan Brown's other novels, and I'm curious to see how this one ranks.

I need to go to Walmart. That will probably be one of the only things that gets accomplished tomorrow. I'll get up and go to Church, maybe get one or two loads of clothes washed, and hopefully get out to Walmart. I usually go to Target instead of Walmart for a variety of reasons. One, Target is closer. There is a Target that is about five minutes away whereas Walmart is a good fifteen or twenty minutes from my house. Two, Target has more upscale products. In general, I would rather buy something from Target, such as underwear or the like, than I would from Walmart. Third, Walmart usually has scary people shopping in their stores. If you have never heard it, I urge you to listen to Rodney Carrington's routine about Walmart. The most disturbing part about it is that most of what he says is true. But, I digress. As I said, I need to go to Walmart to get some dishes. We have been in this apartment for going on three months, and we have five plates to eat off of. And, two of those plates are my mom's. Same goes for bowls. So, I want to go to Walmart to get a set of Corelle dishes. They are not good and expensive like Pfaltzgraff or Lenox. But, it will give me another four plates and bowls so I don't have to wash dishes so often. I need a few other items that I can get from Walmart (toiletries and the such). But, the main part of my mission is to get dishes. Robbie says that we can use paper plates, but it would be nice to have some sort of set of dishes that we can use if and when we decide to have people come over to our apartment. So, my day tomorrow will prove to be as uneventful and mundane as today was. How is it that every weekend I plan to get so much done, and when the weekend finally gets here, it flies by and nothing gets accomplished?

Roses are...white!

Flowers that were given to me for no reason at all...isn't that sweet? :-P

White is my favorite color of the day

I came home from work today with a headache, and I took some medicine and then took a nap. When I got up, Robbie had gotten me a dozen white roses, I think to make me feel better. He knows how down I get about having all these headaches, and it was a very nice surprise. It made me smile :-D I took some pictures, but when I went to upload them on here (so everyone could see and be envious!) I couldn't find my USB cable. Hopefully I'll find it tomorrow and then I can put a picture on here. I feel so loved!

New name

I'm trying to come up with a better name and/or description for my blog. I'm just not satisfied with what I have (of course is anyone, ever??). However, I'm drawing a blank, and I'm just not sure what to write. I want something cute and catchy, something that will reflect my personality. Oh well. I'll keep thinking.

I'm done ranting...

I will say that I appreciate the comments from Melissa and Eddy. I hear you and appreciate that you defend your candidate. I, however, still believe that Bush has done damage to some Americans, especially the poor and disenfranchised. I see so many people that I work with who would benefit from better health care, better mental health services, better schools. I realize that Kerry had lofty ideals that would have been difficult to fund. However, I agreed more with his ideals than I do Bush's, and I feel that many people are going to remain disadvantaged while Bush is in the White House. That being said, I respect the fact that Bush is going to be the President for the next four years, and I will do my best to support him as much as I can tolerate.

OK, tirade over.

Other stuff...

I lead a dull life. I don't have any plans for the weekend, except to wash clothes and perhaps clean the house. I have another headache, and can not figure out what is causing them. I'm reading a Grisham novel, The Brethren. I think it's a few years old, but so far it's pretty good. I also have a few LSAT study books lying around that I keep meaning to go through. I really need to set aside several hours, take one of the LSAT practice tests, and see what it is really like. I just can't decide if I'm motivated enough to go back to school. Anyways, I think I need a nap. But instead, I guess I'll go meet with my supervisor. TTFN!

Elephants suck!

At least I'm not the only one who is completely disappointed by the election results. (Click here, and here, and here...) I was going to stay away from political discussion on this blog, but I feel compelled to say something. Someone please explain to me what Bush has done that has been so great in the past four years? Please? I'm listening. Because, I haven't seen it. Although I have been accused of it, I don't dislike Bush because he is a Republican. I dislike him because he hasn't done anything for this country. Let me rephrase...he hasn't done anything positive for this country. He has decreased funding for mental health. He has concocted some crazy Medicare plan that has no hopes of helping poor people. He has sent so many young men and women over to Iraq and then given them no chance of making any progress. It seems to be more of a death sentence than a peace-keeping mission. So, I ask again, what has Bush done? I know that some argue that the country would be in worse shape if someone else were in the White House when 9/11 happened. Fine, he handled 9/11 in some sort of okay manner. How about the other 45 months that he has been in office? All I have seen him do is alter the English language during his speeches and...well, that's about all I have seen him do. I'm not saying that Kerry would have changed the face of politics as we know it. But, I think we should have given someone else the chance to make a difference. Oh well. We still have 2008 to look forward to.

Lack of motivation

I don't know what is wrong with me. I feel like the past couple of days at work, I can not motivate myself to do much of anything! I've done some small tasks, such as make phone calls, schedule appointments, and write up a memo. But, I have a big packet of information I need to put together, including a pretty extensive social history, and I just can not motivate myself to do it! It seems like I find somebody else to call or something else to do (including updating my blog) so I can keep putting this thing off. My mom even made the mistake of saying that she sometimes plays (gasp!) Freecell at work, which prompted me to see if it is also on my work computer. Curses! It is! So, that is just yet another thing to occupy my time.

Today, I'm thinking I might need to leave a bit early (shocker, eh?) so I can get to the polls. It sounds like I may be waiting for two hours to cast my vote today, and I'm thinking if I can get there a little early, maybe I'll miss some of the crowds. I'm certainly not missing my chance to vote Mr. Bush out of office. And, who knows...afterall, the Redskins did lose on Sunday...so that means that Kerry should be the winner. I know it's too close to call, but if we all focus our energy on thinking that Kerry will win...well, draw your own conclusions. So, all you Democrats get out there and vote! (I'm sure this is just killing all of my Republican readers!)

OK, I've stalled long enough. Let me go find something else to do...um, I mean, let me go work on that social history :-D