Monday, March 16, 2015

My Brain is in Fail Safe Mode

Yea - that's what I feel like today. I don't know if it's just a special Monday feeling (not really all that special, but whatever...) or what but I woke up with a headache and even though I slept a gracious plenty last night and didn't even wake up multiple times in the night...it is only 10:29 and I'm on my second cup of coffee and the struggle is real. I think my body is already revolting against the week ahead - but that story is for next week...once I've survived this week.

Wearing my sassy new pants & trying to force Spring to come with sandals. It kind of worked...

Panera for lunch? Yes please.
I'm getting back into the swing of the whole working 8-5 thing (or in my case, 8:30-5) and that means waking up before 7 every morning, packing lunches (sometimes) and not getting home until 5:30 every day - and also learning that while it's a good idea to take Tasker Rd. on the way to work, that is NOT the ideal route home - because oh my at the traffic! The work flow did lead me to discover the joy that is Panera Rapid-to-Go, which is basically the most brilliant thing ever in life. You order online, pay online and when you go in, your food is ready and sitting on the little shelf waiting on you. The quickest, easiest thing I've ever done as far as food is concerned! I'm probably a little too excited about it...but then again, I'm still just really excited by the fact that I live so close to a Panera. It's the little things people.

Getting in my mid-week cuddles.

Cutest bunny rabbit I ever did see. 
If you've read before, you know that my Mom and I have gotten involved in a book club at Long Branch Plantation - which we love. Long Branch; as we've discovered, has so much going on and all through the month of March they are having speakers come each Thursday night and talk on different topics. This past Thursday a gentleman spoke about the life and friendship between John Mosby and Ulysses S. Grant - and my Dad was fired up to go listen, so I decided to tag along - I love going to Long Branch and there was wine involved, so that was a winning combination. The speaker was actually really interesting and I enjoyed listening to him talk about the Grey Ghost of the Confederacy; his talk may have been helped by the setting, sitting in an antebellum mansion that survived the Civil War certainly provided an ambiance.

I do love Long Branch - it's beautiful in every season.

A little wine always makes things more enjoyable - hehehe.

Sunset from the porch of Long Branch...

Lanterns lining the walkways.
Weekends definitely mean more when you work all week - they are something to be cherished and enjoyed; especially sleeping late, that is truly one of my favorite things. I cannot even stress that enough. I went to see Cinderella on Friday night and it was truly just lovely, I enjoyed it so much. I did not enjoy the annoying punk kids sitting behind us who couldn't keep quiet for the final 25 minutes of the movie. I love kids but even I have my limits...I was thisclose to throwing my metal food dish at a kid's head. Yikes!

Lovely movie. Prince Charming is...well, charming.
Saturday was supposed to be plagued with rain all day - it wasn't rainy all day, but it wavered somewhere between full blown sunshine one minute and innumerable clouds the next - very schizophrenic weather, to be sure. We spent both Saturday and Sunday perusing the countryside visiting our favorite local stores as well as some thrift/antique stores that we go in from time to time (my Dad goes to them more often than my Mom and I, ha-ha). I must say, I discovered something in one of the stores on Saturday that completely captivated me - a palace door from Switzerland, circa the 1700's! It was only (only...hehehe) $4,500 but I was completely enthralled with it. Who was the woman on the door? Why was she important enough to be painted on the door? Who was the man in the picture she is looking at?? Also - how does someone come to be in possession of a castle door from 1700's Switzerland?? I like the quirky and different things, to be sure!

Owls everywhere - I could have bought out the shop!

The castle door - seriously - I was (still am) completely enthralled. It'd certainly make a conversation piece, right?

Less than a month to go!

Sunday afternoon explorations in Sperryville....

Trying on a hat & stepping back in time - my Mom said this didn't even look like me!

Spring - she is a coming!
So - there you have it. Another week has flown by...there are only two weeks left in March! What in the world is up with that? Time truly does fly by - and I don't think it has anything to do with how much fun you're having; although I'm having quite a bit.


Friday, March 13, 2015

Friday Fun - 50 Questions

I haven't done one of these in a really long time; you may see this and think "oh Lord, not another of these posts...but yes...another one of these posts, because every now and again I think they're fun! And who doesn't love fun on a Friday afternoon?

  1. Where were you 3 hours ago?- Sitting at my desk; scanning some files.
  2. Who are you in love with?- Myself! Ha-ha! 
  3. Have you ever eaten a crayon?- Nope. Gross.
  4. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?- Yes, my Proud Air Force Sister keychain
  5. When is the last time you went to the mall?- Does an outlet mall count? I went to Leesburg Outlets last Saturday...
  6. Are you wearing socks right now?- I am not; I'm trying to force Spring to happen, so I have on sandals.
  7. Does your family have a car worth over $2,000?- Yes...
  8. When was the last time you drove out of town?- That would also be last Saturday...to go to Leesburg...about 45 minutes away...
  9. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?- I have not but I'm going tonight!
  10. Are you hot?- I'm not; I'm actually quite pleasant...
  11. What was the last thing you had to drink?- Coffee...at 2 PM. Delicious.
  12. What are you wearing right now?- Old Navy skinny jeans, a blue tank & a mint green cardigan...with sandals. Again, I'm pushing for Spring...hard...
  13. Do you wash your car or let the car wash do it?- After the snow has left my car looking a hot mess, I'll let the car wash handle it.
  14. Last food that you ate?- An Arby's chocolate croissant, courtesy of a co-worker. Oh my, it was lovely.
  15. Where were you last week at this time?- Sitting at my desk, at my job...
  16. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?- Yes! I bought 2 pair of shoes, 2 pair of dress pants, 2 tops and a rain jacket. Lovely.
  17. When is the last time you ran?- Ran...not sure. Walked? Monday!
  18. What's the last sporting event you watched?- Maybe the Super Bowl (rigged) back in February??
  19. What is your favorite animal?- My sweet Watson, of course!
  20. Your dream vacation?- London!! My countdown app tells me that dream will be becoming a reality in 288 days. Fingers crossed.
  21. Last person's house you were in?- My parent's house...does that count since I currently live there??
  22. Worst injury you've ever had? I was a big fan of splitting my head open as a child...did it twice, so probably that.
  23. Have you been in love?- I believe so.
  24. Do you miss anyone right now?- Most certainly. I miss different people in many different ways...
  25. Last play you saw?- Frankenstein
  26. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?- I obviously don't have one since I'm 30 and still single. Suggestions?
  27. What are your plans for tonight?- I'm going to see Cinderella and then I plan to coerce my Dad into watching at least 2 episodes of House of Cards...because he needs to catch up!
  28. Who is the last person you sent a MySpace message or comment?- I don't know that I've ever sent a MySpace message...never got into that.
  29. Next trip you are going to take?- I'm going on a short road trip to Monticello in May...
  30. Ever go to camp?- Yes! Camp Garaywa for four years as a kid and two more as a CIT
  31. Were you an honor roll student in school?- I was - I was a smarty pants.
  32. What do you want to know about the future?- I'd like to know that I'll be happy.
  33. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne?- Crabtree & Evelyn Himalayan Blue
  34. Are you due sometime this year for a doctor's visit?- I need to be, I haven't been since sometime last year when I still had insurance....
  35. Where is your best friend?- In MS...
  36. How is your best friend?- I do believe my best friend is doing just fine; fairly happy with life.
  37. Do you have a tan?- I don't. I'm pale as the winter white snow that is melting outside.
  38. What are you listening to right now?- the contemporary christian station on Pandora
  39. Do you collect anything?- Willow Tree figurines, owls...
  40. Who is the biggest gossiper you know?- Hmmm...I shall name no names. ;)
  41. Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over?- Oh yes...for not wearing a seat-belt...which was ironic since I had a seat-belt on...
  42. Have you ever drank your soda from a straw?- Well of course.
  43. What does your last text message say?- I need to say shit sometimes.
  44. Do you like hot sauce?- NO.
  45. Last time you took a shower?- Last night...
  46. Do you need to do laundry?- I don't, all my laundry is good to go!
  47. What is your heritage?- Scottish, some English, some Indian....
  48. Are you someone's best friend?- Indeed I am.
  49. Are you rich?- By some people's standards - yes. By other's standards - no.
  50. What were you doing at 12AM last night?- I was fast asleep.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Watson Wednesday - The Eighth


He loves the snow - I'm hoping we won't be playing in it anymore till at least November...

Monday, March 9, 2015

The Snow has got to Go!

Well - another week has come and gone; hopefully this will be the last week that snow was a huge part of the forecast, I'm really hanging on tightly to dreams of Spring. This week the temperatures are supposed to hang out around 50 to 60 and I can get behind that 100%. The week started off warm enough but it took a pretty fast dive into freezing as it progressed. Even though I say I'm tired of snow, it's somehow a little less annoying when you actually get a snow day...but I'm getting ahead of myself...

My daily news email - I did lots of things between House of Cards episodes this past week too!


Sitting the the smallest cell phone lot I have ever had the pleasure to sit in...& the metro roared overhead every 5-10 minutes...
So - as mentioned last week, I was supposed to be going to MS for a week but that didn't really work out. I missed seeing all my favorite people but I enjoyed my lazy week at home too! I spent a huge part of the weekend watching "House of Cards" third season and so when I drove into DC on Monday to pick up my parents from Reagan, that was pretty much all that was on my mind - especially when I parked next to a black Lincoln town car with a diplomat tag. That will make no sense if you've not watched the third season (and none of this will make much sense if you've never watched the show at all). Monday was a really lovely day and I drove into DC a little too early...I was sorely tempted to sit at Gravely Park until my parents text me to come get them, but I just occupied my time sitting in the cell phone lot and perusing on my phone - the sun was out and it was almost 55 - I just enjoyed being warm, ha-ha. I also rejoiced in the fact that I'd driven in DC traffic (which wasn't so bad) without freaking out...since my wreck, I'm not the most stable of drivers.

\All the way from New Orleans through Lindsey & to our house. Yum!

Watson meets Fudge - a bear from when I was very young, discovered in Lindsey's boxes; she sent him home to me!

I have never met a more rotten little guy than W - he loves to snuggle in his blankets.
I started my new job on Wednesday - and I could not be more thrilled about finally having a full time job; what's more I'm thrilled to have THIS full time job. I think the company and the people I will be working with are an exceptional bunch and I'm so glad I was chosen to join this team. I have to tell you though; there is nothing like starting a new job to make you feel completely stupid! New jobs are always interesting because it's like starting all over again...and usually learning something completely new. That is certainly the case for me because I know absolutely nothing about wealth management...but I guess I'll learn, right? I know one thing and that is that I absolutely hate to feel slow and stupid and starting new jobs always make me feel that way, so adjusting to all these new things will take some time...and until then, I'll just have to keep telling myself that it's alright and I'll figure it all out soon enough. *sigh*

Not pleased with me because I'm about to leave him at home all day....

My new job - first day! 

Sweet baby #3...I sure do love her precious smile & sweet fat cheeks!

Sweet baby #1....I sure do love her curly hair & sassy attitude!
Alright - I know the title of this post is the snow has got to go...and it does, but snow can actually be alright if you have a snow day! To my great surprise, even though Wednesday was only my first day on the job, I got a snow day on Thursday - so when I woke up at 6:30 to see fat flakes of snow starting to fall, I was able to be secure in the joy of knowing I got to curl up and be cozy! I took tons of pictures of the snow because 1) I was at home all day and took Watson out several times; plenty of opportunity for picture taking and 2) I'm fairly certain that this was the most snow I've seen in my thirty years of life. They called for 5-8 inches: it snowed from 6:30 in the morning till almost 8 at night - there was over 8 inches of snow. In some places there was at least a foot - no kidding!

And so it begins....

This tree seemed covered - but that's a laugh. At this point it hadn't even been snowing 2 hours!

Watson says "let me sleep now, I'll go conquer the white fluffy stuff later..."

My snow dog - attacking the drifts before they got too deep!

This was heavy snow - nothing light & fluffy about it. Because of that, the trees almost immediately became weighted down & looked absolutely gorgeous.

Trademark snowfie!

Still exploring, even though the snow is creeping up under his belly now!

Lovely snow-covered bushes!
Have you ever shoveled snow? If not - oh Lordy.I wouldn't exactly add it to a bucket list or anything because it's not a miraculous experience. It finally quit really snowing (it came down on & off until almost 8) here around 4 and so I decided I'd go out and try to dig out my car. That first involved digging a path to my car to begin the process - surprisingly the snow wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be, but it wasn't light! I had grand plans to try and build a snowman but the snow wasn't cooperating all that well and honestly - after shoveling a path, digging my car out, helping dig my Mom's car out and salting the walkway - I only wanted to go sit down and take a deep (not frozen) breath.

There is a car in there somewhere....

The snow is a bit deep! 

Oh irony - hehehe!

Friday night sunset.
The weekend seemed like it passed in a blur - I feel like part of that is because I'm now gainfully employed full time and so the weekend seems shorter than it did before I was "free" all the time. I barely made it to 10 PM on Friday night; I don't know what was going on but I could not hold my head up and as soon as it hit the pillow, I just passed out cold for almost 9 hours. After a ladies meeting on Saturday morning at the church (with delightful breakfast included - yum) my Mom, my friend Rachel and I shopped the afternoon away at the Leesburg Outlets and thankfully I actually managed to stay awake until at least almost 11 on Saturday night! Sunday was an adventure because I intended to meet my parents at church around 10:45 but when the time came to head out to church, I couldn't find my keys. After searching high and low, I realized my keys were in my parent's car - already at the church! And they're my only set of keys,so instead of scooting down the road to church, I put Watson's leash on and we scooted around the neighborhood in the sunshine!

Shop til you drop!

Another selfie in the snow - I do love them!

Begging like a champ - but that's not exactly a new thing, right?

Exploring the melting snow on Sunday morning!

And as the snow melts...little streams pop up everywhere!
So - temperatures this week look to not go below about 50 - maybe Spring is getting ready to...spring? I sure hope so, because as much as I've enjoyed my first "real" Winter, I think it's about time for a glorious mountain Spring!

Monday, March 2, 2015

Not the Week I Thought

The last week of February - well, there was less snow than the previous week. I can at least say that much...not to say that there wasn't snow, ha-ha. This week unfolded much differently than originally planned but it was still a good week.

My parent's snow creatures...because they aren't really people, are they?
I had big plans to go to Mississippi for the week but the closer Monday got, the less likely that trip became. After 48 hours of no food and not feeling well, even though I was on the mend on Monday I still wasn't feeling grand. The weather along my route was not exactly a glowing forecast and let's be honest; the South doesn't really handle ice and snow so well. The chief reason though? If I'm being honest, I still have a lot of issues with driving since my wreck back in November - and that anxiety, combined with still not feeling 100% and the possibility of inclement weather...well, I just decided that I'd be better suited to stay at home in Virginia. The letdown of that decision was that I didn't get to spend time with my wonderful little sister nor did I get to see my friends...but looking back, things all turned out the way they should have.

My first real meal after almost 72 hours of no real food.

Walking the dog on Monday - first time out in the 9+ inches of snow from the weekend - my foot disappeared into the snow.

I found this jolly blast from the past courtesy of Timehop.
The joy of winter - as soon as one sickness passes, another comes along to take it's place. Tuesday seemed to be the only day this week that I really felt like a human being, which I suppose worked out since it was really the only day we had something to do. Monday night I was over the stomach bug but still so apprehensive about actually eating real food that I had Tums for dessert; which isn't that always delicious? By the time Tuesday night had rolled around, a raging head cold had firmly settled itself from the neck up so I was drinking NyQuil like a person doing shots. I did enjoy our Tuesday outing to Ikea to fetch Lindsey's last minute furniture requests and have lunch at Bonefish Grill...but once that stupid head cold settled in, I was glad I didn't have many commitments for the rest of the week. I especially liked Ikea because I got to visit my couch and my chair - furniture for a house of my own that is getting closer and closer to being a reality because I start my job on Wednesday! Also - my couch is great for taking a nap; since Ikea is not too crowded on a Tuesday morning, I laid down on my couch a minute and tested it out - and it's still just as lovely as the first time I spied it and knew it was my couch.

Rolling Lindsey's furniture through Ikea - I'm not saying my Mom drives drunk, but I wouldn't put her in charge of one of these bad boys...ha-ha!

The frozen Shenandoah River - brrr!

Not much golfing to be done on this course - you'd never find you ball.

The wee creek running around the edge of the golf course.

A Tuesday selfie - the only day I actually felt like a human.
As I mentioned, my plans for a journey to Mississippi didn't exactly work out and as it turns out, it would seem things all worked out for the best. I felt like I was filled to the brim with illness all week and I wouldn't have wanted to share that with Lindsey; she actually had her own cold. As the week progressed, the plans I had in place for my visit to Mississippi would have fallen through - a friend I was meant to spent the day with later in the week had two very sick little girls, another friend who I was meant to have dinner with came down with the stomach bug (not interested in getting that again - Saturday was enough to last me for a long, long time) and a third friend I was meant to spend time with had a change of plans. All week the things that I would have been doing...well, it worked out that none of those things would have happened. The funniest part about all of it? It snowed in Mississippi - more snow than I think Mississippi has gotten in a long time, so even my plan to escape the snow wouldn't have worked, ha-ha!

Watson tries to climb every pile of snow he can - all the way to the top. A good lookout point maybe?

I finally took him on a ride in the "new" car - he loved it, basically because it was a ride in the car.

Look at this sweet little face! :) 

They may not be the healthiest thing but they are absolutely delicious.
My weekend was pretty much centered around one thing - the third season of House of Cards dropped on Netflix! Okay, I'm just kidding...I didn't really plan my entire weekend around that, but I did manage to get through the entire season by the time Sunday night rolled around. The weekend was probably one of the laziest weekend I've had since I've been in Virginia; it was nice but I wouldn't want too many weekends like that. There is so much to do and see in Virginia, but it's not much fun to do and see alone, so I just decided to hang out at home, rest and try to kick this cold to the curb...which I mostly did. I did spend Saturday afternoon with my friend Katie and her husband Chris - we watched Despicable Me 2, had some delicious homemade pizza and cheesecake bars and cuddled her weenie dogs! Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon, not a bad way at all.

Oh - the Underwoods. Such an amazing season.

He always thinks he needs a bite. Always.

Cooper & Lola - I guess all puppies love to beg for food!

He hates when we close the curtains - he wants to be able to watch the world outside 24/7

The first day of March? Have some snow & ice!

Making tracks through the newly fallen snow...

Watson says "okay - this has been nice, but when will Nana & Poppy be home?"
So - another week has come and gone. Not exactly the week I thought it would be but a good week all the same. Now we're on to March; can't wait to see what the next few months hold for me!