Since the dad is worried about whether or not I’m still alive, I just thought I’d post to say Oklahoma was better than I expected, Berkeley Springs was great, and I’ve been knitting like crazy. I think I’m seriously addicted …. Anybody want some women’s size medium wool socks?
(To the sister: I’ve got some fun socks that are shaping up to be a women’s small, I think, after I get them washed. So those will likely be heading your way.)
Depending on my mood in the coming days, I may or may not expound on the trips mentioned above. I feel like I should give Berkeley Springs a proper review, as google analytics tells me that no less than 8 people have found my site by googling for ‘Berkeley Springs’. That almost overtakes ‘cowgirl pants’ as the all-time search-term winner.
The husband and I are preparing for a long-overdue trip to Oklahoma to visit his father. And not only is it Oklahoma, it appears to be in the middle-of-nowhere, OK.
The Sprint coverage map says that we won’t get any coverage at all - not even roaming. So that rules out being able to check my email via phone …
Transformers comes out this weekend, so the husband thought we might treat his family to the show. Fandango claims there are no theaters around; movietickets.com couldn’t find anything within 40 miles. Luckily, a google maps search came up with a theater in the next town over, just 10 miles away - one that isn’t hooked up to the likes of fandango or movietickets.com. Looks like we’ll actually have to drive to the theater to buy our tickets. I have to admit, though, I do like the sound of $5.50 for an adult ticket.
When booking our stay through Travelocity, we had two options. A little googling led me to a couple of b&bs - and abundant camping!
It will be quite a shock to our systems, but it’ll be nice to unplug for awhile. Perhaps without our faces looking down at our email on our phones, we’ll be able to watch the skies for visitors from another world.
June 24th,2009
travel |
3 Comments
The husband and I have been thinking about replacing the basement furniture for months, but we just hadn’t gotten around to doing the research. (You know, dragging the husband into furniture stores.)
So this weekend, I was doing a little sofa research on my laptop, whilst sitting on our decrepit sofa, and I ran across the coolest. couch. ever. And even though it was 8 pm on a Friday night, I told the husband that we were going to Havertys. Immediately!
me: LOOK at this couch! You can turn it into anything you want! <Me shoving my laptop in his face while he’s trying to play wow.>
the husband: Wait … just a … I’m fighting off 8 …. ok, now what am I looking at?
me: it’s a sectional! but you can turn it into whatever you want!
the husband: Um, it says it’s 6 pieces … isn’t that a little bit much?
me: no, each piece is just like one chair, so that’s only 6 seats. Or less, depending on how you put it all together.
the husband: hmm. I see.
me: So let’s go! I want to see it!
the husband: But … we’re watching a movie …
me: You’re playing wow and I’m surfing the internet. Tivo the movie! We can ‘finish’ it when we get back. It’s not like it’s that good …
the husband: Can’t we go tomorrow? It’ll still be there tomorrow …
me: But did you SEE it? I want to go sit on it!!
the husband: <sigh> Ok, let me finish killing this guy, then we can go.
And so we screeched into the furniture store shortly before closing time, and we sat on the modular sectional. And we chatted with Reba, who took measurements for us, showed us their other sectionals, and didn’t rush us.
Saturday morning, we looked at some sectionals at Macy’s and at the Lazy Boy store, and the husband conceded that the first sofa was the best option. So we went back to see our friend Reba, and we made the purchase.
It’ll be here in just a couple of days; and then just look at all the fun we can have!
I love traveling. To anywhere. Especially if it’s somewhere I’ve never been.
The husband loves … making me happy! And so this year will be quite the year of travel.
We started off the year with a trip to New York in February to see the husband’s other woman. April brought a weekend trip to Gettysburg, even though it is just over an hour away. (If you do a ghost tour, skip the Farnworth house tour; also, be sure to get some fries at Hunt’s Battlefield Fries. And if you buy the CD audio-tour of the battlefield, the directions are really good up until about stop 12 … so pay attention!)
May took us to Texas, where we hit several of the hot-spots with the husband’s family: NASA in Houston (which is awesome, I got to sit in old mission control!), a UT graduation ceremony, caverns outside of San Antonio, the Alamo, the river walk, dinner with the husband’s bff, and Schlitterbahn. And all of that in 5 days!
June will take us to Oklahoma, to see the husband’s father. It’s a long overdue visit, and I’ll get to cross Oklahoma off my list of ’states-I’ve-never-been-to’. 
July is my spa trip, and at the end of the month we’ll be heading back to New York. Amtrak is having a fare sale, so we snagged cheap train tickets. And we finally cashed in our Holiday Inn points, so we’ll be enjoying a free stay. And with the show tickets the husband got for his birthday, it’ll make for a fun - and surprisingly cheap! - trip to the big city.
August is Leavenworth to visit my family. Not that they live there, but the dad decided we should have a family reunion some place fun. We’ll be there during the theater festival, and the mom has purchased tickets for us all to just about every play available - so we’ll be doing what we all enjoy best: sitting around …
August also brings us to Pennsylvania to see Taylor Swift.
And September is Italy!
October is still up in the air, but is tentatively local trips to Winchester and/or Charlottesville. Ooh, or the renn fest!
November will find us back in the west with a trip to LA to visit my good friend Mal. Maybe. If he decides he can make it.
And December is just chilling for our very first Christmas at home. Followed by a trip to Disneyworld to ring in the new year. If there’s any travel money left. And if I can convince the husband …
June 12th,2009
travel |
4 Comments
The husband and I are going to Italy to celebrate our 5th anniversary! I just put down the deposit on our trip. And I know our anniversary was like 2 months ago, but as the husband can attest, that won’t dissuade me.
This will be our first fully-guided tour. The last time I went to Europe, I winged everything - but at that time, I had more time and less money. So with less time and more money, we’ll be enjoying a trip where we don’t have to worry about anything after we get ourselves on the plane.
There will be somebody to pick us up from the airport. A giant bus will pick us up every morning and take us to our destinations. All of our entrance tickets will already have been purchased. We’ll get to stand in the ‘group tour’ lines and bypass the long entrance lines. We’ll have English tours arranged for us everywhere we go. And we’ll have a guide with us the whole trip who can help us find husband-friendly eateries! (You know, McDonalds …)
We don’t leave till September, but I can hardly wait! Hmmm, I think I’m going to need some new luggage …
June 12th,2009
travel |
3 Comments
I’ve been dreaming about a spa retreat for months now, and I’ve been saving my allowance. (No, seriously, the husband and I get an ‘allowance’ - that way we don’t feel guilty when we buy silly little - or big - things that are purely for our own enjoyment. It works pretty well for us.)
After doing some research, I finally booked a trip to Berkeley Springs, WV. It is less than 2 hours away, and it is, well, pretty cheap. I expect it to be a ‘quaint’ and ‘rustic’ trip - not quite the 5-star pampering I first imagined in a spa retreat - but I think it’ll be a nice break. You know, from my hectic life of … working 8 hours a day. With no kids. And minimal housework (that’s what cleaning ladies are for!) And plenty of free time to knit and stuff. But, whatever. Even the spoiled deserve some, uh, spoiling …
The 4th of July holiday is soon arriving, and that is when my solo adventure starts. I’ve booked a ‘charming’ room in a B&B, complete with ‘gourmet’ breakfasts and an ‘opulent’ dinner. And don’t forget the claw-foot tub! I’ve booked a mani/pedi at tripadvisor’s second rated Berkeley Springs spa. And I’ve booked a half spa day at tripadvisor’s highest rated spa.
All for the same price as a day at a spa in northern Virginia. Plus, I get several blocks of cute shops to spend (what remains of my) allowance in!
Happy 4th, everyone!
When I was in college, I found a fun little online survey that purported to tell the future of my body. I plugged in the numbers, answered the questions (’mostly sedentary’), and got my results. It had a big warning for me: If I did not change my eating and/or exercise habits, by the time I was 40, I would weigh 140 pounds.
I considered it for a second and decided that at 5′6″, 140 pounds was a perfectly reasonable weight. It is at the top of the so-called recommended weight chart limit, but it IS within the recommended limit. I was perfectly ok with leaving behind my closet of size 2’s and 4’s and building a wardrobe of double-digit sizes.
I’m now halfway there - both in time and in weight. It seems the survey was right on track for me. What I had not considered, however, was that I might not put the weight on evenly. The lower half of my body is now perfectly at home in a size 10. And yet, the upper half of my body has not changed much. I can still make out my rib cage. And so my options are to either start having my clothing custom-made … or to trim down my lower half. (The husband suggested a third option, but having surgery to, um, enhance the parts that have not kept up seems a little extreme.)
I dug out an exercise book I bought a few years back, and decided to see if it held up to what it promised. It classifies people into different body types (hourglass, cone, ruler, spoon) and has an exercise regimen for each of them. I found the ’spoon’ workout, and got to work. (I so prefer the idea of being a ’spoon’ to being a ‘pear’ - even though both are bottom heavy, a pear just seems more sluggish and doomed to its fate. Spoons are much more sleek.)
I took my measurements so that I would be able to track my progress. Two weeks in, I had lost half an inch in my hips. And nothing anywhere else. Half an inch is still progress, so it didn’t dissuade me - and two weeks isn’t much time.
I just hit the 4 week mark and re-measured. Since I started, I have dropped an inch in my hips, half an inch in each thigh, and half an inch in my waist. And, thankfully, nuthin’ up top.
So, 4 weeks in with 2 and a half inches lost in the exact places I want them gone - that sounds pretty good to me. I don’t expect to lose a whole lot more - maybe another 2 or 3 inches total - but that’ll be enough to trim my lower half back down into the single-digits. (Which wouldn’t be necessary if I was capable of putting on weight anywhere other than my butt …)
So if you’re looking to Escape Your Shape, the entirely too excitable Edward Jackowski might just be onto something.
May 6th,2009
life |
No Comments
So the husband and I went in for our allergy testing this morning. While he is no doubt more allergic than I, I do experience some spring-time misery. I spend minimal time outside in the spring to avoid the crushing sinus headache that always hits once I’ve hit my limit; in bad tree-pollen years, such as we had a few years back, just walking to and from the car is enough to do the damage.
Turns out, after 52 scratch tests and 7 injection tests, that I am allergic to nothing. nada. There was no swelling or itching, just cute little pink dots at each of the test sites.
On the other hand, after 52 scratch tests and 3 injections tests, the husband is allergic to EVERYTHING. Trees, grass, weeds, mold, dust mites, and cats. Yeah, cats - like the two little darlings that sleep in the room with us every night, and who are unlikely to be banished anytime soon due to the husband’s general, um, pushover nature when it comes to the cats.
So the husband will soon be starting his allergy shot regimen, going in weekly for the next 6 months, to hopefully be desensitized to all of the ‘poisons’ that are currently plaguing him. After 6 months, he has 4 and a half years of monthly visits to look forward to. After a year, though, he should see a significant reduction in his allergies, and should be able to tone down the meds he needs to take.
I, on the other hand, suffer from a malady known as ‘non-allergic rhinitis.’ Which basically means I have all the same symptoms - runny nose, itchy throat, congestion, sinus headache - but not for the same reason. My nose is extra-sensitive, and anything sets it off. Like, say, huge amounts of tree pollen floating through the air. Or the dust in my office - my coworkers have given up on the ‘bless-yous’, seeing as I’m just a fit of sneezes all day long.
My treatment involves a lifetime of nasal sprays and neti-pots. There is no way to train my nose to give it up already. [sigh] Though, at least now I know I can give up the anti-histamines, seeing as I don’t seem to be having a histamine response. [achoo!] Excuse me.
Sitting at work this morning, I stared at the hibernate crap that’s been driving me nuts for the last week and a half, and realized that I didn’t want to be there. At all.
So I sent out an email (this place sucks, I’m leaving, kthxbai) to let my coworkers know I was bailing for the day, got in my car, and drove to the outlet mall.
Did you know that there is nobody at the outlet mall on a Tuesday morning at 10 am during a recession? It was great, I had the place to myself for the first hour, and it never really got crowded.
Four and a half hours, $319, 3 pairs of jeans, 8 shirts, 2 sweaters, 6 scrunchies, a belt, a set of pajamas and a vending machine Twix later, I was all set. And my arms were killing me. Carrying around shopping bags is a killer on the elbows.
Now it’s time to clear some space in the closet! I think the husband has some things that need to go …
Late last year, b3 asked for my address. Assuming he had decided he was an adult and was sending out Christmas cards for the first time, I gave him the address and didn’t think anything more of it.
I was pleasantly surprised a few weeks later to find a package in the mail. When I opened it, I found a super-comfy long-sleeved t-shirt, courtesy of b3. I was even more pleasantly surprised to find that he had managed to pick the right size for maximum comfy-ness!
With winter currently transitioning to spring, I’ll have to put it away soon. But that just means I’ll be excited all over again when falls rolls around and I unpack all my cold-weather clothes.
