Five on Friday

Friday - one of the best days - in my humble opinion. It has arrived once more and I don't know how your week has been, mine seems like it absolutely drug it's feet to get here! However, it's here and I've got a lovely Fall weekend ready to open up before me. Without further ado - the Friday Five!

One. Fall - My very favorite season has arrived! All things Fall are now 100% acceptable: cozy sweaters, boots, cardigans, scarves, picking out pumpkins, going on hayrides, drinking pumpkin spice lattes...oh man, I love Fall so much! Now, if the weather could catch up with this picture, that would be great. It's hard to wear sweaters, scarves and boots when it's 85!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1680"] Where is This & How Can I Get There??[/caption]

 

Two. Nationals Baseball - Well...it was a less than inspiring week...and honestly, I feel so disconnected from baseball right now! I've had no TV (or at least, no cable TV with MASN) or internet for the past almost two weeks...and therefore, I've watched no games. *sob*

I guess if there was a week to miss out, this past week would have been it. The Nationals only won one of the four games they played - ouch. However, thanks to some help from some other teams (hello Braves...thank you!) the magic number to clinch the NLCS is down to 2! Just 2! The Nationals start a series over the weekend in Pittsburgh and could be coming home on Monday as NLCS winners. One thing is for sure: the Nationals are going to be playing some October baseball!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="864"] October Baseball? I'm Not Shocked...Ha-Ha![/caption]

 

Three. Las Vegas - Y'all; this time in two weeks I'll be in Las Vegas! What even is going on?? I'll be meeting up with my sister to celebrate my birthday (eek!) and I know we will have an absolute blast...because my sister and I always have an absolute blast. So - I ask you blog readers (if there are any of you out there...ha!) that if you know something we should definitely do while in Vegas...or a place we should not miss out on eating...let me know! The countdown is on!

However - let it be known - I will not be riding the miles tall Ferris Wheel because heights + Natalie = someone acting like they have no sense. And really, no one wants to make a fool of themselves, right?

Four. Stitch Fix - I got my very first Fix! And let me just go ahead and confess that I'm kind of in love! There is something so fun about getting a box of clothes delivered to your door, chosen just for you and getting to try them on in the privacy of your own home! I will say I thought for this to be my very first Fix, I was impressed! I think this box was a solid three out of five...and I'll be sharing more about that next week! Just wanted you to know that my initial thought(s) are: love it!

Five. Moving Posts - Which apparently is a thing you can do here? I've been wanting to update/upgrade my blog for most of this year but I hated the thought of having all of my older posts...seven years worth....just stashed somewhere else! So, hopefully within the next couple weeks I'll be able to get some help from the Word Press team and get things organized here! Thank you for sticking with me through the transition - hopefully I'll get it all together soon! Or perhaps; much like life, it will always be a work in progress!

So - that's the Five for the Friday! I'm linking up with April over at A. Liz Adventures, just like I always do. If you have a blog, feel free to link up as well! It's a great way to find new blogs - maybe you even found my blog that way? Until next time - have a good weekend!

Growing Pains

If you're reading this...well something will become very obvious to you. I've moved!

I mean - obviously I literally moved about two weeks ago - this is a different kind of move and yet it could be just as much of a struggle as the literal move, ha-ha! There won't be any fighting with manual can openers or lugging boxes up and down stairs; the only muscles in danger of being strained are the muscles in my brain!

I decided to make the move over to Word Press because I'd like to potentially get a little bit more serious about my blog. I love writing on my blog...but I felt like perhaps I could do...more. And just maybe I could do it better. However; as with all journeys that involve trying to better something...there will likely be growing pains. Blogger was easy...Blogger didn't provide much of a challenge...but Blogger limited what I could do. So; I decided to make the jump...

However, with that jump comes having to learn more about all the inner workings of things like HTML code and formatting pages and encoding themes...and honestly, thinking about it just sort of makes my head hurt. So - if you're reading this - bear with me. Know that I'm trying my hardest to get this all worked out and running smoothly.

All of my old posts can still be found at www.natslife6@blogspot.com and I suppose they'll always just "be there"...and that's fine. That's where they belong. All the new will be here and that's good and fine too.

I'll still be posting about my precious puppy dog, my beloved Washington Nationals (the magic number is TWO y'all...just TWO) my travel adventures and all in all...just my life in general. As the header tells you, I'm just trying to share a little bit of my ordinary day to day life...and perhaps find the extraordinary in the ordinary! So - here we go!

Surely anything's possible with enough coffee - right?

 

I've Moved

...And I don't mean the move I made almost two weeks ago...

Please check out my new blog location at www.natyouraveragestory.com and bear with me as I figure out things at my new site!

I Hate Carrying Boxes of Books...but Man, I Do Love the Books...

I've come to the realization this past week that books - namely boxes of books - weigh so very much. And I do hate lugging them up and down stairs and around corners...and I vow that no one should have this many books and I'll weed them out so I don't struggle like this ever again! But the problem really crops up when I open the boxes of books and pull them out one by one and realize that I love each one so and they smell amazing and each one has this different world that I can get sucked into by just opening it up...and yes...Houston we have a problem.

Watson tried & loved Kale. I then googled Kale + Dogs & apparently it = NO. Oops!

Monday mornings require a coffee mug as big as your head...

Every night this week I honestly tried to make some sort of stride toward getting things more "organized" and making sure things didn't look like they were just flung about at random. It's definitely a process and if there is one thing I got honest from my Mom (okay - I got a LOT of things honest from her...) it's that I can't really handle clutter. Everything needs to be in it's place and so that makes moving a perfect nightmare. However - organizing and placing all the things just so after the fact - that gives me a high that no drug could provide (that I'm aware of...having never been one to really try the drugs and such...) and it is is fantastic. Granted, all that ambition to get things in their place usually meant that by the end of the night I was sweaty and exhausted...which makes for good sleep...but I don't really love to sweat, ha-ha.

Trying to settle this little creature in...

Just wait...you'll see a pattern forming...

To die for cheese & sausage dip...and some pretty spectacular fried ice cream...YUM.

This past week was Restaurant Week in/near "our" town and so on Tuesday night my Mom and I scooted over to the Winchester Walking Mall to try out one of the multiple restaurants that were participating. We chose the Mexican restaurant on the Walking Mall; called El Centro, and we were not disappointed - the food was delicious! For $30 (plus tax and tip, of course...) we got a delicious cheese/bean/sausage dip for our appetizer, a sampler plate that had two tacos, two enchiladas and two burritos with rice and beans for our meal and a glorious serving of fried ice cream for dessert. It was all so delicious and we practically waddled back to the car! Of course, once we got home we took Watson for a stroll through the neighborhood but that was about all we could muster up the energy to do. So - Tuesday was sort of a bust when it came to the whole unboxing and organizing scheme. Oh well.

Although...I did manage to hook up my TV and DVD player...which was a huge accomplishment; at least in my book!

Tuesday night neighborhood vibes...

Post book hauling exhaustion & puppy dog moral support...

Of course I watched some Disney goodness while unpacking boxes...

I thought I'd be really industrious on Wednesday night and really just dig into the boxes in the garage and find those that belonged to me and lug some down the stairs. Well; I found boxes alright, boxes of books! I like to think I'm super strong and hardcore, so I snatched four boxes of books (yes - four... And that's only the tip of the iceberg) along with a couple containing dishes and mugs and started going up and down the stairs. On that last box of books, something felt a little "off" in my lower back and it was all I could do to make it down the stairs with the books. I ended up just laying in the floor while the dog sniffed and licked my face... I wasn't hurt, mind you...just worn out from all the book hauling. I managed to recover - shocking, I know - and got books out of the boxes and onto shelves. I also opened up my box of mugs and it was like seeing old friends after a long time... I LOVE a good mug and it's evident because I have quite the collection. I love them all and was so happy to see each and every mug again!

Mail madness...

Perhaps he's settling in?

Friday morning views - holy crane!

Friday (and Thursday for that matter) dawned gray and gloomy and stayed that way most of the day. The work day was shortened on Friday (yahoo!) and so I came home and spent some time wrapping the dog in blankets and taking pictures...because who doesn't love a cute dog wrapped in a snuggly blanket? Ha! Really though, my Mom and I ran some errands and then went back to the Winchester Walking Mall for supper on Friday night. Post dinner and pre dessert, we perused two new shops that have landed at the Walking Mall and both had so many cute things and I fell in love with the second shop - so many unique and wonderful gifts! We stopped in at the gelato shop to grab a cone of gelato for dessert and discovered that a group was playing/singing Frank Sinatra and Jazz music in the open air theater and so we took our gelato outside to enjoy both the music and the food! It actually started getting chilly while we were watching and it absolutely thrilled my soul - come on Fall - I'm ready!

Doing his best Jon Snow impression...hehehe...

It's really hard being a pup - as proven here. 

Jazz and gelato - not a bad start to the weekend!

Did I mention I also managed to hook up the DVD player and TV in the living room? Because I did...I totally did! Honestly, I'm still not sure how I managed to do it...but it worked, because we were able to watch a movie on Friday night! If that's not winning, I don't know what is! Ha-ha!

Saturday = Spa? Yes please!

Gorgeous flowers!

Saturday was the long awaited Spa Day for my Mom and I - a treat that has been many years in the making for me. When I was around...I don't know, maybe fifteen, my Mom promised that one day she'd treat me to a Spa Day and Saturday was that day. And it was glorious! We both received an hour long facial, an hour long massage and a pedicure...and let me tell you, I felt like a noodle after it was all said and done. It was wonderful and I'll say over and over again: thank you so much Momma! Thank you! We ate a snack-like lunch at the house later in the day and I did something I certainly never thought I'd do: sat in the closet with my dog because he was absolutely terrified by the nail gun that was being used to put up the floor to ceiling bookshelves in the library. Bless him. I think the little guy has had quite the week....

I honestly think he's convinced he's human - hence the seated on his bottom, legs stretched out position...

Can you spy the frightened pup peering around the skirts?

No persuading this one to emerge. 

My Mom and I met up with our long time friends Angie and her daughter Rachel to have supper and visit before picking up my Dad from the airport...at 11ish...blegh. We ate some delicious food at Chuy's (yahoo!) and then went to our friend's house to chat and have some coffee and tea - it was a really nice way to spend the Saturday night - even if it meant we didn't get home until almost 1 in the morning after finally getting my Dad from the airport and driving home! Yikes!

I dodged the 9 AM service at church and slept in a little longer...seeing as I didn't get to bed until; you know, after 1 in the morning on Sunday morning. However, I did suit up in my Saints t-shirt for the second service since my church is currently doing a sermon series on friends and this week was about who was on "your team". I can say with 99.9% certainty that I was the only person in that church wearing Saints colors; although given how the season has started for the boys in black and gold, a better name would be the "Aints" *sigh* I'm no fair weather fan though...so we trudge along and hope for a win next week!

Who Dat Nation - Represented in Northern VA by me, ha!

Sugar Rush - Party of One. Yes Please!

I got out of church in time to pick my Mom up from church and we went over to the IHOP for brunch. I got my very favorite Cinna Stacks pancakes and I'm fairly certain I've never gotten them before and seen this much icing on one stack of pancakes! I was buzzing off of this meal for hours...and it was delicious and divine and now I can't eat something like that for at least another month! HA! Sunday afternoon and evening was more of the process of getting things out of boxes and into their proper places...and yet again, by the time the night was over and I was sweaty and exhausted! However - my place is starting to come together more and more each day - so I suppose that's a success! 

After a shower and some dessert, Watson and I both decided we were done for the evening and crawled into our respective beds (my dog does not sleep with me - sorry - nope) and the weekend came to a close!

Mousse cups? Certainly!

This dog. He's unique for sure.

Oh yea - this is the house - ha-ha! At least, as much of it as you'll be seeing for now...ha-ha! Happy Monday!

Five on Friday

Friday is here and as always - what a delightful thing that is! I don't know if I've ever welcomed a Friday with anything other than absolute joy...and I hope that is always true! Life is full of ups and downs but I try (some days it's much harder than others) to find some measure of joy in each day. 

Five on Friday is so good for that! While all five things on my list today might not be bringing me joy at this moment, they have brought or will bring joy at some point - right?

One. The Spa - Indeed...tomorrow is spa day! And I'll confess that at the age of almost thirty-two, I have never had a massage or a facial. That will all change tomorrow when I spend a blissful piece of my Saturday being pampered: a facial, a massage and a pedicure! I'm going with my sweet Momma and while I can't wait, I'm a little worried that by the time it's all said and done, we'll both be too blissed out to drive home. Ha!

Two. Nationals Baseball - It was a good week to be a Nationals fan! The Nationals have won 8 of the last 10, won 3 of the 4 games they played this week, have a 10 game lead in the National League East Division and the magic number to clinch the National League East is just 7! Tickets for the National League Division Series went on sale this morning at 10 AM and the post season is becoming a reality for Nationals fans this year!

Some high points of the week would have to be the games against the Mets on Monday night and Wednesday afternoon. The Nationals put a pretty good walloping on the Mets on Monday night; winning the game 8-1 behind some serious offense on the part of the Nationals...which even included a homerun from our starting pitcher, Mat Latos! Wednesday's game was another absolute gem from Tanner Roark - he took the game through seven scoreless innings for the ninth time this year! The Nationals got on the board with the one and only run needed to win the game - Wilson Ramos murdered a baseball in the seventh inning and that was that.

Friday Fun Fact: Daniel Murphy; with hits in all 19 games versus the Mets (his former team); tied the longest single-season hitting streak versus one team in the divisional era (since 1969).

Three. Fitness - Which has completely failed this week. I'd like to blame it on the move...and even though that's passing the buck...I'm going to do just that; blame it on the move. I feel like I did enough physical exertion between 7:30 on Friday the 9th and we'll say...11:00 on Saturday the 10th to count as about a week's worth of exercise. Good grief. I have never sweat so much in my life! I think I was soaked about five times over in my own sweat...and if that's gross or TMI...well, such is life.

Along with the moving came some really "unhealthy" food. Including pizza on Friday night and donuts (why are donuts SO GOOD and SO BAD) on Saturday morning and then yesterday I went to the grocery store to get something to cook for supper...and y'all...Halloween candy is of the devil. No pun intended. And the elliptical is in the storage room and in between opening boxes, breaking down boxes to put them in the storage room and just generally doing unpacking and organizing...getting on the elliptical has just not been even slightly appealing.

So...I've decided to get through the weekend and get back to the whole fitness thing starting on Monday! Which brings me to....

Four. Stitch Fix - Have you heard of it? The concept is quite simple: you answer the style profile questionnaire and you're assigned a stylist; you can leave your stylist a note about something you are looking for or if there is something coming up in your life you want something special for. About a week later...you get a box with five items; shoes, clothes, jewelry, handbag(s), a fix could be all clothes or a mix...you never know until you open your box.

If you choose to keep an item (or two...or three) the $20 styling fee you've already paid goes toward your purchase and if you choose to keep all five items, you get 25% off! If none of the items are right for you, you just return them in the postage paid envelope that's included in your box and you're just out the $20 styling fee. You can schedule your "fix" for every 2-3 weeks, every month or every 3-4 months...whichever is best for you. My first fix is set to arrive next week...so I'll share more about that later.

In the meantime - if you're interested in trying Stitch Fix out, you can use my referral link and give it a shot! https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/9219429

Five. This quote...because truer words were never spoken.

"I always wanted a happy ending... Now I learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity." - Gilda Radnor

I hope you have a happy Friday and an even happier weekend - look for joy in everything!

So Far....

Well...the new house is still very new. So new that I'd really rather not share pictures just quite yet. I have a very particular idea in my head of how everything should look and since there are still boxes piled in the garage and furniture still to be delivered and pictures still to be hung...you get the idea, right?

It's certainly a work in progress but I want it to have progressed a little bit more before I share pictures. Honestly - bare walls and random pieces of furniture aren't that thrilling anyway!

What is thrilling is living without the things you take for granted....and where this post is concerned, that means an electric can opener..cable TV and dependable US Postal service! Oh TV! I'm not sure yet when TV will return and so perhaps I'm pining for it a little bit more than I normally would? Who am I kidding? I love to watch TV and being without it for almost an entire week has been slightly torturous! 

I'm getting ahead of myself...as usual...

Dinner - Brought to you by: Determination

I like to think of myself as resourceful. I'm not MacGyver or anything...but I can handle some things...sometimes. Vague enough for you? I offered to make Seven Can Soup for supper on Monday night and when my Mom mentioned that the can opener had yet to be un-boxed, I waved that off and said I'd just use the handheld can opener. It was fine! Totally fine! Only five of the seven cans had to be opened with it and I'm tough - it was not a big deal.

I got home and set out my cans, just fiddled around a little bit and let some time pass because I was waiting on my Mom to get home from DC (airport run)...and planning to have the soup ready around 7, at 6:30 I set out to open the cans and start the soup simmering. What should have taken about five minutes tops proceeded to take thirty. I'm not exaggerating in the slightest. Y'all - I never want to see a manual can opener again.

I don't know if it was defective (although given that my Mom attempted to use it Wednesday night and promptly threw it in the trash...) or I'm just too conditioned to use things that are easier...it was a fight from the very start. I would hook the thing onto the side of the can, give it a turn...and it would make it perhaps a fourth of the way around the can and stop. After battling it out with one can, I just figured that can had been particularly finicky and happily set about on can number two...which is picture above.

The next thirty minutes were nothing less than a sheer battle of wills: it was me versus the cans and I was going to win! I uttered prayers, mumbled under my breath, wiped sweat from my forehead and may or may not have stuck a finger or two into the jagged open edges of the can(s) to try and pry them open. In hindsight, I see that was a risky move...but I'm still here...no blood was spilled. Supper was made. Some of the beans looked a little strange after being shaken and prodded out of the random holes in the lid of the can...but we all ate...and I have never been so happy to see an electric can opener in my life!

Success!

Now - for the most important thing - TV! I'm just kidding...sort of... I mean; y'all, the Nationals are currently playing for October. You know, the post season? The playoffs. They've won three of the four games they've played so far this week (Sunday-Wednesday) and I haven't seen a one. Cue all the tears. I know you're really feeling for me. If ever there were a need for the hashtag "first world problems" this would be it.

The news on the street (literally - my Dad stopped on the street corner and talked to our neighbors) is that Comcast had a monopoly of sorts on the cable in the community but our corner of the community was not yet developed enough for them to have reached out to set anything up. What?!? Honestly, how do people make it without cable and internet? Inquiries have been made and apparently it's coming very soon...but soon does not = TV. 

It's weird to sit around with no background noise. I suppose from my time living alone in my house, I always had the TV on...even if it was only for background noise...and so I now find it so strange to not have it! I knew if I was going to start un-boxing things, I really needed some form of entertainment to help move things right along...and so on Tuesday night, I was seized with some sort of wild determination to get my TV and DVD player hooked together somehow. I might not have cable, but I would be able to watch a movie or TV show on DVD by God...I was going to do it! So...Tuesday night I plopped myself in front of my TV, pulled out all the cords and untangled them, thoroughly investigating what would need to go where and attempting to plug red into red...yellow into yellow...etc and so forth... 

There was one end of a cord that I couldn't find a plug for anywhere. Not on the TV. Not on the DVD player. However, everything else plugged in and after some maneuvering, I thought I'd stick a DVD in and see what I'd accomplished. Considering I had a random cord that wasn't plugged into anything...I assumed I'd committed an error somewhere along the way but I crossed my fingers, whispered a brief "please Jesus" and flipped the "Power" switch. And Lo - a miracle occured, the TV popped to life, there was sound and picture and it all worked and was such a crowning moment of acheivement for me that I screamed "I DID IT - I DID IT!" so loudly the neighbors might have heard. It was a sweet, sweet victory indeed.

I still have no clue where that one cord goes though...

Oh mail...

Last but not least...the super reliable US Postal Service. Eek! You see; I suppose I like to challenge the system, I'm a rebel like that. So on Friday night I discovered a book called "The Washington Nationals A-Z" and I felt that I needed it...so I clicked "purchase" and was assured it would be delivered to the new address on Monday, September 12th. Easy peasy! Done and done! I could always use more random Nationals knowledge to spout off to people who (for the most part) don't care.

Sunday morning  I heard the delightful little "ping" of my phone and saw a message telling me that my package from Amazon had been delivered! It was odd because...well, it was Sunday. And it wasn't supposed to be delivered until Monday. I figured Amazon was on it's game and so I marched out to the front porch expecting a box.... There was not one. I walked down to the mailbox expecting a box.... There was not one. I'm fairly certain I looped the house because the message said the package was left "on or near your front porch or mailbox" and as this is a new house...I wasn't sure where they might have left the package. Long story short - no package.

I waited until Monday had come and gone and sent a sweet little email to Amazon about how I'd not received my package. Honestly - it was a sweet email - that's not sarcasm. They assured me they'd send another one toot suite (my words, not theirs) and it would arrive on Wednesday. No harm - no foul. It's all good. So, on Wednesday I got another little text saying my package had been delivered...but by the time I got home, I'd forgotten about it potentially being the mailbox and just assumed it would be inside. It was not...but as I was setting my purse down, the doorbell rang...

A kindly neighbor was on the porch with a package - it had been delivered to her and she lived at 102 Emperor Drive...as opposed to our address - and she wanted to give me my package and introduce herself. We all chatted a minute and I thanked her; opened my book and checked it out, went on about my business. Later in the evening I went out to take Watson on a walk and remembered my Mom mentioned she hadn't checked the mail...so I popped open the mailbox. Do you want to guess what was in the mailbox? A package from Amazon, containing the exact same book! Ha!

So - anyone want a copy of "The Washington Nationals A-Z"...any takers?

Watson Wednesday

Trying to sort out the new house...

I have to say - I've been impressed with my little nugget - he seems to have taken to his new surroundings with ease. While the day of the actual move was probably not his favorite; since then he has seemed to settle in well.

He is loving exploring all the new walkways, roads and paths that are laid out around the house - new territory is so exciting! Since houses are still being built near ours (very near ours...) there are people around each morning when we go out walking and he wants to meet each and every one of them.

We had the pleasure of meeting some neighbors last night who were both so very happy to meet Watson and even told us that he could use the bathroom in their yard anytime - it would just serve as fertilizer! Ha! While I appreciate the sentiment; I think I'll keep his little poop bags on hand for our walks from now on. 

All in all, I think Watson is going to like his new home. If the last few days are any indication, it looks like he's already enjoying it just fine!

The Lost Weekend

It's like the Lost World...but instead of raging dinosaurs there are towers of boxes threatening you at every turn. Aching muscles and a back that feels thrown out of whack creep up on you...not unlike dinosaurs crouching in the jungle foliage. The Lost Weekend is like the Lost World...but different...you know?

That's such a weak analogy - and I'm drinking coffee out of a mug the size of my head - so you'd think that much caffeine might help brain function, but maybe not. Oh well. The big move happened this past weekend - hence the title - and the jumbled analogy and crazy brain business. A big move taking up most of the weekend coupled with Monday morning = low level of brain function. Ha-ha!

The only Monday picture...which just makes me hungry.

I have no pictures from the beginning of the week...except a picture of the spread of chip and dip(s) that my Mom and I chowed down on at Chuy's. I spent a large part of last Monday (which was Labor Day) morning doing actual labor; in the form of painting a TV stand a brilliant shade of red. Once that was all said and done, my Mom and I took Lindsey to the airport to fly back to the great state of New Mexico and we traversed the Beltway to get to Ikea. Apparently everyone thought going to Ikea was a great plan for Labor Day because I've never seen so many people in one place! I thought I'd found "my" couch at Ikea...but then I sat on it...and it was not comfortable. And they wanted $199 to deliver it. So I ended up leaving Ikea with a lamp and three picture frames. No couch.

However, all was not lost since Monday evening was also when my Mom and I discovered Chuy's and I think I elaborated on that in my Five on Friday post. It was delicious. It was yummy in the way that I've thought about it all week. Writing about it makes my mouth water and the food was so delicious that I'd happily crawl into the car and drive the 45-50 minutes back to Woodbridge to eat there again. It was good y'all. Did you get that? Delicious!

Taking a moment for himself...

Wednesday was a wild day - in so many ways - where do I start? I guess by saying the day was wild I completely skipped over the not so wild moment where I found my couch and ordered it. Hallelujah! On sale, exactly the style I wanted and so super comfortable. Win! So; that will be delivered in the next couple weeks, can't wait to relax on it. Once the work day was over though...things got nuts. 

After getting semi-soaked picking up pizza in a thunderstorm on the way home, I decided to quickly (spray) paint the other small piece of furniture that I needed to paint and be done with all that. It didn't take long and once it was complete, I gently moved it inside and thinking nothing of it, went upstairs and got into the bath. And after relaxing just a bit, moved one of my feet from where it was propped on the wall of the bathtub and saw...a perfect red footprint! I began looking around me and saw that there were several perfectly placed red footprints all over the bathtub...which meant I had to get out of the bathtub and clean it...and then get back in it to actually bathe.

Did I mention that after all this, Watson and I were accosted by an overly excited Golden Retriever who thought that when I picked up my seventeen pound fighter (seriously...he thinks he is fierce) and tried to walk away that meant to jump on me and bark louder. It was good fun I tell you. Good fun.

Thursday afternoon...trying to take in the overwhelming amount of "stuff"

Watson clinging to his dragon in the midst of all the boxes & chaos.

Friday dawned much too quickly...something I'll probably not often repeat...but it was the start of the moving and well; moving is a headache, let's all just agree on that. After work, several family friends came over to eat pizza and help load boxes into the truck...and I never realized how much "stuff" one family could have until this move. Good grief at all the things. *sigh* I also saw boxes and things that belonged to me that I haven't seen in over two years! That is the one thing about this move that I am (still) looking forward to: getting to see my things again after all this time!

After a very sweaty evening loading boxes into the Penske truck, I took a shower, watched the Nationals beat the Phillies courtesy of a walk-off homerun from Trea Turner in the bottom of the ninth and crashed! I knew Saturday would dawn far too early and last much too long...

Moving Help - It's not what it used to be! ;)

A brief moment of respite.

Around 8:30 on Saturday morning the moving started in earnest - unloading boxes into the new garage, loading furniture onto the truck, carrying things up stairs and down stairs, realizing I have more clothes than any one person has a right to own... I made multiple trips up and down the highway between the "old house" and the "new house" loading clothes and shoes and random things and dog paraphernalia. Oh yea - and the actual dog - who handled it mostly like a champ; except for some crying early on Saturday morning. Bless his heart.

After finally getting everything unloaded and into the house (or at least into the garage) and getting important things like beds put together, my family and our extended "friend family" loaded into cars and went to finally...finally...eat supper at almost 9:00. Y'all - I went out in public wearing stretch pants, with no make-up on, drenched in multiple layers of sweat. It was a cute look and there are no pictures to mark the occasion because well...I honestly hope that one day a nice man will love me and a picture of that moment in time might really kill that hope, ha-ha!

I wish I could have laid down in the closet & slept too...

When there are more people in the car than you realize...someone has to ride in the trunk...

Sunday was not spent in the holiest of ways - even though we were all pretty worn out, there still seemed to be so much to do. There were certain things that had to be unboxed so that life could have some sort of routine once the week started again... Supplies had to be bought to organize and allow for storage... Curtains needed to be put on the bathroom window because flashing the new neighbors is not really how you want to introduce yourself, am I right?

Happily, a sweet friend and her son brought us supper on Sunday night and helped me put my desk together and after much work on everyone's part, the house as a whole looked something like a place where people live. Albeit with still a lot of boxes in the garage. Oh well - it's all in one place, right?

Yoga Dog doing poses in his new surroundings...

So - I guess it wasn't really a lost weekend - but it sure seemed like it went by awfully quickly. And while I feel like I have a lot to show for it, I also have really sore legs and my back feels like it belongs to an 80 year old...not an almost 32 year old. Whoosh. Moving = not for the faint of heart...or body. 

All's well that ends well and now it's on to making new friends in the new community and seeing what life at Lake Frederick has to offer!

Five on Friday

I'm honestly not even sure if it's actually Friday...is it? I'm kidding...sort of... This whole week has felt like it's been flipped upside down and wiggled around. No work on Monday (what a joy!) meant that Tuesday felt like Monday...actually; Tuesday was the "Mondayest" Tuesday ever. Thursday our office closed early, which made it feel more like Friday than anything else...and now it's actually Friday...and really, I just want to take a nap.

Is your head spinning yet? If not, then read on for the Five on Friday! 

One. Winner Winner...Not a Chicken Dinner - This is kind of "old news" at this point...but I guess it's not for the blog world. I booked myself a LuLaRoe Pop Up Party for late October and for doing so, I was entered to win a closet full of LuLaRoe. Well, last Friday I found out that I won! I don't know what a closet full means...three pieces? Five pieces? More pieces than that? I have no clue! I do know that it means free LuLaRoe and since I'm falling in love with that stuff, I can't wait to see what's in my "big ol box" at my party! And yea...that whole "big ol box"...not my words, my consultant Mackenzie's; which - exciting!

I'm kind of in love with this stuff!

Two. Chuy's Y'all - Have you ever read The Boo Mama Blog? If you haven't, go read it...but also...Sophie (that would be Boo Mama) mentions on the frequent their favorite Mexican restaurant, Chuy's. Well. *deep breath* I have been to Chuy's and my life has been changed...for the best and better.

Monday after traversing the winding halls of Ikea, my Mom and I decided to give the Chuy's nearby a try...because we figured if Sophie raved about it on the regular, it was probably quite delicious. Well. *deep breath* I think I can speak for both of us when I say that it was wildly delicious and wonderful; we mentioned on Thursday that we'd both have hopped in the car and drove the forty-five minutes up I-66 to get to it in a heartbeat. So...now I've been dreaming of Chuy's all week and hoping for a return visit as soon as possible.

It's a Happy Hour Nacho Trunk. Seriously. I die.

Three. We Are MOVING - Or perhaps the more appropriate phrase would be "Jesus Take the Wheel..." because that whole moving business is happening this weekend. Yikes! There are boxes stacked up past my head in multiple rooms of the townhouse and my dog has reached full on panic level (eep...) so that means that the moving truck is nigh. I had the brilliant thought this morning that maybe I should have just boarded the dog for the weekend...but that ship has sailed...and so we will sojourn on as is. Here's hoping there are no major muscle strains, body parts injured or crushed by large pieces of furniture and all moods stay kind and complimentary.

Like I said: Jesus Take the Wheel.

Instead of clutter & boxes...look at these things that will be my living room!

Four. Nationals Baseball - This week was fairly alright for Nationals baseball. Certainly there were two losses to the dreaded New York Mets (they signed Tim Tebow y'all...don't even get me started on that...) there were more wins than losses and the Nats swept the Braves. A sweep is always good fun and now the Nationals magic number to clench the NL East is only 15.

The bad of this week was that Stephen Strasburg's triumphant return from the DL (disabled list) was cut short when he only made it through three innings before throwing a wild pitch, wincing and leaving the mound with his glove covering his (wincing) mouth. The diagnosis is a flexor mass strain and there is no timeline for his return...so if you think of me, then pray for Stephen Strasburg's arm. Ha!

I do love the baseball.

Five. Fall - As in the season...and not that I "fell" off the fitness wagon this week. I only sort of did...but I feel like with all the packing and lugging and shifting I've done and will do, it balances itself out, right? So I'll leave you with some funny and fun Autumn memes that I stumbled onto last night. I'm ready for the cooler weather...it can arrive anytime and I'll be perfectly pleased.

Happy Weekend-ing y'all! Have a splendid time and hopefully it will at least feel like Fall in your neck of the woods...because it won't here!