I don't know how it gets better than this...*

Ahem...

I need to clear my throat for this little mini-rant. 

Why is it SO FREAKING HARD for Starbucks to realize that yes, I DO want skim milk and whip cream?  Why is this such a foreign concept to them?

I can't drink whole milk, it makes me gassy and gives me upset tummy issues, and in general makes me very unpleasant to be around.  Hence the skim milk.  HOWEVER, I like that the whip cream makes my drink taste a little richer and better, and I can almost pretend I'm drinking whole milk!  Hence the whip cream.  I have gone to the same starbucks at least once a week since I've moved, and even before I moved, I would stop there sometimes on my way to work.  I order THE SAME THING EVERY TIME.  This should NOT be THIS difficult.  But, every time it's the same argument.  I order a medium mocha with skim milk and whip cream (I also refuse to call it by the stupid "grande" name...REFUSE) and every time they write down non-fat, no whip.  WHY? 

I finally convince the cashier that yes, I want whip cream, and she finally relays it to the barrista to change the order.  But I get my coffee...and there is NEVER whip cream on it.  I finally just gave up this morning and left.  They have finally broken me. 

Starbucks, oh how I loathe you.  And if there were any other coffee shops remotely close to me...I would so be going there instead. 

ARGH!

Anyways, another thing making me sad...Westbrook is no longer an Eagle. 

And this is going to sound stupid, but Westbrook, Dawkins, and McNabb were  my trio of Eagle-ness.  They were why I loved the Eagles so much.  And last season, we dropped Dawkins (which was so STUPID...and I STILL think that), and while I understand from a business sense why they dropped Westbrook this year, I'm still so sad.  All that's left of my Eagles is McNabb...and he's getting old and is already underappreciated which makes me think he's going to be gone soon as well and I have to confess, the love I had for the Eagles in past years just hasn't been there the past couple of seasons.   

A friend of mine wrote it best..."I will continue to hate on a team I used to love.  I understand he is older and broke down, but my hate stems from Andy Reid wasting Westbrook's years here with bad play calling and mediocre football". 

I so agree.

*Taylor Swift

But my point of view's forever changed...*

So, apparently I was a lot sicker looking (and sounding) than I thought yesterday because my boss took one look at me and sent me home.  Where I proceeded to sleep all day and still feel like shit when I woke up today.  So I called my boss to say I was going to be late, and she told me to stay home again (seriously I must sound like shit or something because this has NEVER happened to me before). 

I slept a little longer and I'm currently drinking some lemon tea and I feel a lot better than I did yesterday (still not great...but I don't feel like my head is going to fall off anymore...so it's at least an improvement).  I at least have my laptop home with me so I've been answering emails and reading some reports so it's not completely a sick day. 

Anyways, I did have some time yesterday where I wasn't passed out.  During that time I bought some new yarn (I still had my gift card to http://www.knitpicks.com/ from L that she gave me for Christmas) and since she had also given me my trip to Costa Rica it seemed only right to use that money to buy something to make her.  She loved the hat I gave her for Christmas (but not so much the scarf), so I bought more yarn to make another hat and I'm going to make a plain vanilla scarf that is hopefully wide enough and long enough for her :-) 

On a side note, if you knit and want a good website to buy really good quality but CHEAP yarn...check out http://www.knitpicks.com/.  Seriously.  They're awesome.  They're my favorite place to buy yarn. 

But yeah, I think I'm going to go answer a few more emails and then take another nap. I had best be feeling A LOT better by tomorrow!

*Death Cab for Cutie

The little hand says it's time to rock and roll*

One bad thing about having a roommate...if one of you gets sick...most likely you will both get sick.  Sigh. 

All last week K has been coughing up a storm and going to bed by about 8 (um...I have no room to talk since apparently I was healthy and going to bed at 7:30 myself...but whatever).  I tried to avoid her as much as possible and spent most of my time in my room...like a loser.  I was beginning to feel safe...and then last night struck. 

Ugh I feel so ill!  So not a fan! 

I'm not even entirely sure it's the same thing she had because I don't have a cough, I'm just crazy congested and CANNOT stop blowing my nose.  I also feel ridiculously weak.  As in...if I walk too quickly I run out of air in about 10 steps.  It's kind of pathetic. 

Sigh.  So my lethargic ass is here, blowing my nose every 30 seconds, constantly spraying Lysol around me and using enough hand sanitizer to clean a kindergarten class.  Tell me again how this is helpful? 

However, on a positive note, my mom is finally home from the hospital so I feel much better about that (and I'm sure she feels even better about it than I do haha).  And, apparently L is aiming for favorite daughter right now, because while my mom was in the hospital, L redecorated mom's "craft" room.  And it looks fantastic.  So I need to come up with something cool to do to take back my rightful place as favorite daughter.  Any suggestions? 

Also, I would like to end my boring post with an update on the Winter Olympics.  A - Shaun White is awesome.  I am STILL in awe of his gold medal this year.  And even more impressed with his victory lap.  Insane.  And, USA hockey last night was awesome.  Way to kick Canada's ass.  :-)

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and enjoy your week!  I'm trying to decide if I have the mental and physical energy to go to the gym today.  Even if all I do is a walk a mile on the treadmill. 

Sigh.

*Hot Fuzz

It's not gonna come out like I wanna say it, cause I know you'll only change it.*

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been feeling really blah lately. 

I contributed this to missing home and blah blah blah.  However, now I'm thinking maybe I was just really tired.

I went home last night and fell asleep at 7PM (yes...I am a dork) and slept until about 7:10 this morning.  I accidentally forgot to reset my alarm before falling asleep so I have NO idea how I woke up, but there you have it.  And...I feel great.  No more blahs!  I guess I just needed some sleep?

However, poor little O was practically crossing his legs when I woke up this morning.  Poor little buddy.  I changed up my normal routine and walked him first thing (always fun walking a dog in your pajamas when EVERYONE ELSE in the housing development is also walking their dogs at the same time...but they're actually dressed).  Yay slackerish! 

I did manage to accomplish something yesterday.  I changed my windshield wipers (Ugh freaking EPIC tale trying to change the damn things) last night, and I read "Mr Darcy, Vampyre" which was entirely bizarre and not really what I was expecting.  But I guess it was entertaining enough (and I really like "Pride and Prejudice", so anything relating to it can't be entirely bad right?). 

Now I'm just waiting to see if there are any updates on my mom.

Hope everyone has a fantastic day today!

*Ben Folds

Something inside says there's something better than this...*

I have decided that all mornings should start with cheesecake.  I watched a friend's kids last night and they gave me a cheese cake from their dinner and OMG it is SO YUMMY.  However, I accidentally left it in my car last night when I got home.  So when I saw it this morning I brought it in with me and said screw it I'm eating it for breakfast. 

Sadly, that has been the high-lite of my day today.  But whatever.  All days should start with cheesecake.  (Also...on a completely related note...I am now trying to figure out when I can schedule to go to the gym again...I think I need it).

Anyways, other than the cheesecake, I have found myself feeling inexplicably sad.  I don't know if sad is exactly the word I'm looking for. Maybe more like "blah", but either way it sucks. 

I have found lately that when I go home to visit family/friends in New Jersey I get really happy to be home.  I love being home, and I never have enough time to see everyone I want to see.  Then, I come back to VA and I have friends here and I love them, but I'm still so sad that I'm not still in New Jersey.  This feeling tends to last for a few days, then I get over it, and I'm glad to be back in Virginia, but I think I'm just ready to move closer to home. 

Which, hopefully is happening in September.  But not sure when I get the 100% approval. 

Also adding to my, "blahness" is the fact that my mom is still in the hospital which totally sucks.  It's crazy.  She went in for a knee replacement and her knee is GREAT.  But she's having some sort of reaction/infection somewhere (I'm still not entirely sure what is actually wrong with her) and has been hooked up to a feeding tube and we have no idea when she is getting out.

I told her to stop faking it and just go home.  She didn't appreciate my humor.  I don't know why not. 

Anyways, so that totally blows.  However, I do have a super cool photo of her knee after the surgery (its even cooler looking than her elbow when she broke it).  Seriously.  It's wicked looking.  (And she totally knows I am putting this on here and thinks I'm really weird...but I just think it's freaking awesome). 

(If you want to see it larger just click on the image)

I think it looks like it should be painful as hell...but my mom is tough and said it feels fine.  Maybe I'm just a wuss? 

One thing making me happier is having my dog back.  He's been scared to leave my side for the past two days (apparently he REALLY missed me the past few weeks) and is ECSTATIC to be PLASTERED up against my side at night.  Super cute. 

So, I'm working on not stressing out over stupid things at work today and just trying to get in a better mood.  We'll see how that goes.

*Five for Fighting

"Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody."*

I've been wanting to re-read The Catcher in the Rye for about two months now.  And for some reason, that stupid quote has been in my head the ENTIRE TIME.  So maybe it will get stuck in yours.  (Um, for anyone who hasn't read it, my post title is a quote from there...)

Anyways...

I am currently in the New Brunswick area of New Jersey (man...I sure do get around...).  Anyways, I'll be here for a few days helping out and I'm all alone tonight with no food in the house...so I did something so truly disgusting. 

I went and got a Fat Daryl.  Which is so incredibly yummy...and yet so incredibly disgustingly huge and greasy.  The last time I ate a "fat" sandwich was back in 2003 and yet for some reason I was craving one tonight.  When I went to college, I never managed to eat more than half the sandwich and it was only 6" long.  Now, they put them on 10" rolls. 

I basically just pulled the ingredients out, ate two chicken fingers and 2 mozzarella sticks and maybe 3 fries.  The rest of the sandwich was thrown out (they taste TERRIBLE the next day).  But it was so good.  And now I'm pretty sure I ate my fat content for the year in that one sandwich.  Oh well.  :-)

We're expecting more snow tonight.  I'm getting SO SICK of snow!!! NO MORE!  Please! 

So now I'm wondering how much shoveling I'm going to have to do tomorrow.  Sigh. 

Anyways, almost bed time for me (I'm so lame...).  Just waiting for someone else to show up so I can take a shower.  (I'm supposed to be letting someone in when they get here since they don't have a key...but they're crazy late.  So it's possible the guy who owns this house will get here before K so I can just take a shower and he can let K in.)  Either way.  I'd really like my shower now! 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!  Enjoy the new snow!

*Catcher in the Rye

I don't know where I'm going yet...but I sure am getting there.*

One of the things I don't like about living in VA is the fact I have to drive through Maryland to get back home.  Ugh.  I swear that state is full of the dumbest drivers (ok, VA isn't much better, but argh I HATE driving through Maryland).  I had contemplated looking for a new job near Baltimore until I realized that meant I would have to drive in the state on a daily basis.

Just some examples:

December 23, 2009 (one of the BIGGEST TRAVEL DAYS OF THE YEAR) - I'm driving home, and I sit on a one lane bridge for THREE hours not moving an inch.  I figured it HAD to be some horrible accident and I was trying not to get upset because obviously whoever was involved in that accident had a much worse commute than mine.  Until I realized why we were backed up.  Maryland had closed one of the lanes of the bridge to do maintenance near the toll booths.  WTF?  Is this really the best day to choose to do this?  Argh.  RAGE. 

Today - I'm driving home and we're going 5mph for about 2 miles.  The reason?  A cop was giving a ticket to someone in the Southbound lanes.  Ok, just so you know.  It is highly unlikely a cop is going to run across the four lanes of southbound traffic, jump the median, and then run across the four lanes of north bound traffic to give you a ticket.  I think you're safe driving the speed limit.  ARGH. 

I have many other complaints.  But those are the two most irrational decisions I've come across in Maryland.  And yes, the first one is not really the drivers fault...but it's still the type of traffic I would have to deal with if I lived in Maryland.

However, I will admit VA is also kind of stupid.  For example, it's only February 5 today, and our state is already almost out of salt for the roads.  Not to mention we got snow over a week ago...and some of the roads STILL haven't been plowed and the schools were closed for a week  We got like 6 inches.  Just saying. 

Anyways, now that I've bad-mouthed two states (I'm efficient like that), I guess I should say I'm in Delaware right now and will probably get snowed in for the weekend.  We're expecting about 18" or so of snow up here.  I'm curious to see how long it takes them to get plowed out.  I'm guessing it will be quicker than a week.  :-) 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

*Five for Fighting

So sing while you have time, let the sun shine down from above*

So, the trip...

Seriously, it was such a lovely vacation.  I'm not normally a hot weather, beach person.  When I go on vacation I tend to like going to visit cities (like New York, London, Edinburgh, etc).  I'm not a big fan of being hot and sweaty, and seeing spiders bigger than my hand (yes, that happened again in Costa Rica)  However, Costa Rica was beautiful, and as I mentioned last post, it was so relaxing to just sit around the pool/beach all day, so it was a nice change to my normal vacations. 

L's in laws own a house in Costa Rica so we stayed there for the week.  It's a cute house with an amazing view! 

Ok not sure why these aren't all lining up together...but you get the idea. 

You can see the ocean from the terrace of their house, but it's even more amazing looking from the beach itself. 

 The water is SO CLEAN (and warm), and the sand was so fine and white.  I can't believe how beautiful it was. 

I ate like a ROCKSTAR when I was there.  I didn't have a single BAD meal.  L's inlaws are some amazing cooks.  They managed to make plain spaghetti and tomato sauce taste like something from a five star restaurant.  For the most part we just ate in (didn't go out for meals very often), but I did manage to try some local cuisine.  This included some really yummy ceviche (we ate the Costa Rican version obviously), and some amazing drinks.  Just look at how pretty they are!

Then, the one morning we went out to breakfast, we were joined by some monkeys.  Here is my terribly unclear picture of the monkey.  It's the weird black thing on the top left portion of the picture.

So, you're probably tired of seeing all these pictures, so I'll end it on a final view of the monsters my niece and nephews in Costa Rica. 

Could they be any cuter?

*Ben Folds

Words can only hurt you if you try to read them. Don't play their game.*

I'm still working on the trip pictures, but Costa Rica was AMAZING and I had a wonderful time.  Unfortunately, my camera broke, so I'm having some issues getting the pictures off my camera and I'm so sad I need to buy a new camera.  Argh. 

I went with my sister L and her kids (and her husband joined us half way through the week).  So, I love my niece and nephews, but after spending a week with the three of them I definitely know I am not ready for kids of my own. 

However, my days were crazy relaxing.  I woke up every morning at 5 with the nephews and hung out with them for an hour until everyone else woke up.  We ate breakfast and got dressed for either the beach or the pool.  Hung out at the beach/pool for a few hours and went back for lunch and little H's nap.  After lunch, I usually took a nap myself until little H woke up.  Then back to the pool for the afternoon until dinner time.  And by 9 every night I was in bed (usually even before 9). 

So, I slept a lot and when I was awake, I spent my day in the pool or ocean (or sleeping by it).  And best of all, the resort was in the middle of the rainforest so everything had shade EVERYWHERE so I didn't get burned!  I managed to turn a slightly darker shade of pale...yay me!

I also managed to drink some yummy pina coloda (omg the bartenders at the resort were quite generous with their pour...I had some yummy pina coloda flavored rum). 

Seriously, it was such a wonderful trip. 

Unfortunately, I returned to 14 degree weather in New York and then my train back to VA was cancelled because of the 10" of snow back in Richmond, so I had to find a new train home.  Always fun.  I miss the warm weather.  :-(

Anyways, since I can't post any fun vacation pictures...I'll post some pictures of the fun things I bought. 

Spoiler Alert - if you are in my family or a friend getting a gift from me and don't want to see it ahead of time...stop reading!

So, for my roommate and my sister:

These awesome shot glasses.  They are the same...this shows both the front and back.  I really like them.

For my mom and dad:

This yummy Costa Rican coffee. 

For R:

This awesome beer koozie.  I love the beer logo.  Not entirely sure why (and the beer itself was pretty good too!)

And for myself:

This awesome purse that I'm scared to bring to work because it's going to get so dirty and smell terrible.  So I'm going to save it for a little while. 

And this awesome shot glass...that is randomly made of wood so I'm not sure how good of a glass it will be...but it's still cool looking.

*Zoolander