I watch too many romantic movies!

Oh my goodness, Chi...I would've flipped out as well if Ian said "I chopped my finger off" to me.  I mean heck, he said he "crashed his van" on Monday and I was late to work because I was home chatting to him on MSN for a little bit before I left just to make sure he was o.k.

And ladies, I feel ya about the whole boss issue.  Today I asked mine about the March schedule since Ian comes in at the end of the month, and my friends want to throw me a bachelorette party.  Well, long story short, since I'm taking so much time off, he's having me work 3 weekends in a row, so my party won't be until the weekend before Ian gets in.  Oh well.....can't really complain though since if the visa works out for us with applying early, I may never go back to work.  But he makes comments all the time about the amount of time I take off work, and I can't tell if he's angry for real or just joking.  *shrugs*

Anyways, I can't believe it's only 24 days from now, Jamie.   Remember, if you need a good vent or whatever, you know where to find me!

I think Josy's fallen off the earth a bit. :p  I'm assuming you're UBER busy, Jo.

Beth, the soup sounds good.   And working your butt off STILL?  Just remember all the work will be worth it...especially if we get to do that Beatles tour! :p

Carey, I can't believe you're leaving for DC tomorrow and getting to spend a lovely weekend with David.   YAY!

Brittany, I hope you feel better real soon, my dear.  Drink lots of water, eat some soup, and just relax.  PLEASE take care of yourself!

And to the new ladies, you all seem to be fitting in well here and welcome to you!  You'll have to excuse me if I forget names every now and then.

Alright, gonna watch some TV now and putz around a bit on here. xx

Patty- what do you mean "if"??!? LOL We're doing it!! No questions!

Brittany- I've got some extra soup if you'd like some. I'll put it in an envelope for ya. Should be there by Monday!

Hi ladies,

Sorry I haven't been around much...I've just been SO BUSY with school, a weekend trip home, BARACK OBAMA, etc.

To all who asked, Obama-fest was just amazing.  The concert was fantastic.  I managed to get a pretty decent spot there (would have been more decent if I wasn't 5'2"...I couldn't see a thing, but I was very close to the memorial where they were playing). It was actually my first REAL concert.  It was cool to be in such a huge crowd where everyone had one thing in common, but the freezing cold was just way too much for everyone to handle-- including the artists.  I was disappointed by many performers.  But it was still so great to just witness it.

I didn't make it to the Inauguration itself.  I went to the parade instead.  You kind of had to choose between the Inaug. and the parade due to the length of time it took to get from one place to another and through security.  I stood out in the freezing cold for seven hours to keep my good spot.  I ended up about 100 feet away from the road directly across from City Hall.  I met a lot of really cool people, including a 70 year old African-American man named Willie who drove 11 hours from Alabama to see the parade.  He said the last time he was in DC, he was there to see Dr. King, so this was a huge deal for him.  He ended up giving my friend Sarah and I hugs and kisses and told us we were beautiful, and I just had one of those "Wow. This is what it's all about" moments.  So anyway, it was a lovely and cold day.

So I'm still in my post-Obama high, and am happy to say that I don't have living in DC so much anymore, and I'm hopeful for my remaining years in the states.

Other than Obama, I'm swamped with school and work and trying to prepare for my boyfriend's visit to the states on the 24th of February.  It's approaching so quickly!  It's kind of overwhelming!

I have way too much homework to do tonight to catch up on this thread...so everyone who reads this, give me bullet points of what's been going on.  How is everyone? 

I was on the lawn by the Washington Memorial It was amazing to be there but it was so cold, and not cold but wind and wet cold  :\\\'( And when we tried to get out, there was almost a riot and I and several others got shoved into the gates by the police  It was chaos but so worth it to be there.

Oy, bosses can be such pains!  Luckily mine's pretty great, in general, though he did say at my performance review that I should "be more awesome".  Um, yeah, how would I go about doing that, exactly?

I hope those of you/us with illnesses get better...I've had a minor/nagging cold for a while.  Nowhere near enough to make me stay home from work, but just enough that I sniffle constantly and feel fuzzy-headed.

Yay for boys coming to town!  I hope David has a safe/uneventful trip despite the horror of snow, and Jason has a lovely trip in a few weeks.

Beth, can I steal your cooking skillz?  My repertoire consists of pasta and pizza, basically, and I would love to make all the things I've seen on your 365 blog...yum!  It's tough to find time to even nuke something, though, between work, the barn, and my (somewhat feeble) attempts at a social life.

Happy hump day, everyone!

(Oh, and more in line with UKY-ish stuff, I ordered some books on expat life in Britain this week...look forward to reading them!  I also filled out all of my UK citizenship form, though I'm still waiting on my mom to send me documents!)

(Oh, and more in line with UKY-ish stuff, I ordered some books on expat life in Britain this week...look forward to reading them!  I also filled out all of my UK citizenship form, though I'm still waiting on my mom to send me documents!)

If you don't mind, I would love to read your review on those Expat books when you receive them

If you don't mind, I would love to read your review on those Expat books when you receive them

I'd be glad to.    So far I've just read The Expert Expat, Revised Edition: Your Guide to Successful Relocation Abroad, which was fairly good, but a lot of it seemed like common sense.  Granted, it was pretty much entirely (as the title says) about how to actually physically move and then adjust to the culture.  That's frankly the least of my concerns, if only because I won't be moving for a year+.  It was an interesting read, though.

OMG... more appropriately OMFG... I have seen pictures of the finger debacle. Sickness on a whole new level.

And can someone tell me why it smells like cat litter by my desk now? I was only away for two hours in training and now it reeks.

Is it Friday yet? Actually, is it the end of March yet and is my bank account full??

LOL I just took a bite of a bananna as I read your first sentence and I think just my imagination of what the finger looks like has spoiled my little snack

Sorry it is not Friday nor is it the end of March, but it is Thursday and I will be leaving for the airport in T-minus 2 hours and 33 minutes!

LOL I just took a bite of a bananna as I read your first sentence and I think just my imagination of what the finger looks like has spoiled my little snack

LOL!! Sor.

2 and half hours!!! I'm so excited for you!! You lucky duck!

Hi All,
It feels like I dropped off the face of the earth lol...it has been crazy...at work I have been filling in once a week on the 12:30-9 shift so that has thrown me off and this whole past week since last Friday I have been on pager which means from 9pm til 8am I am on call as well as working my regular shift...on the weekends you are on call 24 hours a day...so my body clock is off...everynight this week I have been paged at 12am 1 or 2 and then I can never get back to sleep...

I have been doing alot with plans for the wedding...my mom, dad and Jason and I are going in a few weeks for our tasting...I am meeting a florist tomorrow...and when Jason gets in next week we have to take a 120 question test on Friday night for the archidiocese and then on Saturday we have an hour and half interview with the priest...he interviews us together and then separate and there is a quiz...all of this to get married in a church..and Sunday my bridesmaids and I are going to buy their dresses...so it has been crazy...

and on top of that I am trying to get ready for Jason's visit...and we are going to apply for our visa next week...so I am sorry I haven't been around much...


Patty March is fast approaching...are you all ready? I thought of something to make packing easier...we should get those bags you put your close in and then suck all the air out of with your vacuum cleaner...it will save on space...How is Ian? when does he come over?

Chi chi when you need to vent on here it isn't complaining...we are all in the same boat and we are here for each other...so it isn't complaining...everyone has listened to me rattle on at times without saying anything...so we are here for you lady...

Carey have fun this weekend?

Beth what is up with you this weekend?

Shanthi ( I hope I spelled it right) I would love to hear your take on the books your reading...and it sounds like you are getting started on getting ready to move...


Brittany sorry to hear you were so sick..I really hope you are doing better and I am sure the cold PA weather didn't help....

Becca are you ok? I haven't seen you around lately....just checking

Jamie and Alan how are you doing?

well ladies take care and I will check back tomorrow

Josy- wow! Jason is here next week??!!?? Awesome! Not long at all. Quite a lot going on, though. It will fly by, I imagine!

As for my weekend- tomorrow night, relaxing at home and Sat. working. Sunday I will probably just get errands/cleaning done since it's my first complete day off in a couple of weeks. Oh and running. Supposed to be in the 60s by Saturday! Yippee. I'm definitely not made for this freezing weather.

Working again tomorrow, Beth?  Bah.  I feel your pain though, I'm off tomorrow, but I work Sunday.  We just have to keep telling ourselves "it'll be worth it in the end!"

And Josy, your work schedule sounds CRAZY.  But glad things are moving along with the wedding planning.

I wonder how Carey's doing.

Chi, I shuddered when I read that you saw a photo of DH's finger.  Bah!  I can't even imagine.

Brittany, feeling any better?

Shanthi, you must share reviews of those books.

And...let's see.  Oh, Jo, I know March is fast approaching.  I'm flipping out a little bit about getting everything done, BUT, I'm just going to have to manage my time a bit more and not be so lazy..lol.  I brought some more boxes home from work yesterday, so now I just need to go out and get a bunch of packing tape tomorrow after I go to Pat Catan's to get the centerpiece stuff.  My best friend is upset that I've seen one of my other friends twice since September (my b.f. said "You've seen her more lately than me and I'm mad and you're going to be gone soon!")  *sighs*  I can never win...lol. So I told her she can come over and help me pack one night.  We'll see if she does (I mean, she's married and has a 2 yr. old...time is precious to her).

Definite date for the bachelorette party too.  And I ordered these toothpick flags of the US and St. George's Cross last week, and they arrived in the mail yesterday.   WOOT!  We're going to have the restaurant criss cross them on the plates.

Other than that, just going a bit nuts...lol.

Hey Patty-I completely have been in your situation with my bf...no matter how long you have been home as it gets closer for you to go they start counting every minute and saying you are spending more time with her then me...they become like little children..it is odd..I guess they are just sad because we won't always be right there like they thought we would....

where did you order the little flag toothipicks? They sound great....I could use them with the table cards at the reception...if you don't mind me borrowing your idea 

Beth your weekend sounds great...bring on the warm weather...I am most excited about that...yeah Jason comes in next week and I can't even wait it seems like it is going to take forever for Thursday to get here lol

Ooh, today is 3/3/3 for me! 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days till I go to Europe this summer. Is it weird that I have been looking forward to seeing that on my ticker all week? lol

And freaking woohoo for it being the weekend! Just want to get tomorrow over with then, big plans- gonna clean out the fridge! I've got so many left overs in there right now... I will be happier when it's clean, though. Been driving me nuts for weeks now.

I thought of something to make packing easier...we should get those bags you put your close in and then suck all the air out of with your vacuum cleaner...it will save on space...

hahaha. Josy!! I totally got some of those when I was getting my passport photos done at Walgreens last week!! I was just browsing around and was looking at them and the lady that worked there was like "those work great!". I asked how they would work for packing and she said really well. So I got 2 boxes (4 bags) and we'll see how they work. I've had like 2 other people say that they are amazing. I'll still have to watch the weight of the bags (I tend to stuff bags to the brim and they are usually over the weight limit - although I usually get away with it too!). I'll let you know how they work when I pack in about a month or so. Still need to go get some big suitcases though.