Uneventful

So my weekend was perfectly uneventful...and I loved it!

Friday night, I grilled out with some girlfriends from work. Yummy chicken and roasted vegetable kabobs were served. Saturday, Michael and I spend a majority of the day cleaning out his closet. Not only has he lost weight on and off over the years but he's held onto some pretty interesting pieces of clothing. Needless to say, he is no longer the owner of a "Cosby Sweater" nor is he sporting anymore pastel striped shirts (circa 1992 is my best guess.) He even managed to let go of some UNC t-shirts. I was impressed.

The rest of Saturday we cleaned some more, watched some movies (Netflix "watch online" is awesome) and otherwise just hung around the house. The kids were entertained with their friends and we were left to relax on our own. Sunday was capped off with watching the Bears beat Denver in a preseason game (Sorry Tool!)

The weekend was quite lovely. I definitely appreciate an unplanned weekend every once in awhile, especially since next weekend we are off to Aaron Lee's wedding in Cleveland and "Meeting the family" Round Two.

Except this time...its his turn! (Cue evil laughter)

Family Meeting

Thanks for the nudge Sue :)

So, last weekend Michael and I ventured up to Lake Gaston to meet the Fussell side of his family. Fussell was his mom's maiden name and she was one of 5 siblings. Lake Gaston is only about an hour and a half from Durham but we didn't leave until 7:30 or so and decided to take the back way there.

We arrived at his Uncle Preston's beautiful lake home and were greeted by an eager bunch who provided us with hugs and refreshments. We sat around chatting with his aunts and uncles and a handful of cousins. The two of us lucked out and were given a room at the main house. His uncle had rented a second house a few miles away for overflow (other cousins and their spouses/girlfriends/boyfriends). We stayed up late that night chatting with his cousin David (they were close growing up).

We awoke the next morning to a seemingly beautiful day. His aunts and uncles had cooked a yummy breakfast and Michael and I took a walk down to the dock to see the lake. Unfortunately a huge storm came across the lake (it was cool to watch ) so we were forced to retreat indoors for much of the day. Luckily his family LOVES games so the day was spent playing poker (I won), Sequence (great game) and Left, Right Center. All day long I sipped Sweet Tea Vodka...yes, its vodka infused Sweet Tea...so yummy!

That evening we were treated to another yummy dinner including BBQ, pizza dip (imagine Skyline dip but with mozzarella, pepperoni and sauce instead of chili and cheddar) and of course tons of leftover birthday cake. I have learned that Michael's family has alot of August birthdays so there was tons of cake to go around.

Apparently I wasn't the only one imbibing throughout the day because by the end of the evening, Michael's' aunts were toasty. I apparently passed the "meet the family" test because they still liked me when they were intoxicated!

We made it an early night since we were traveling back to Durham the next day to have lunch with my parents. We were awoken to the smells of bacon, sausage and pancakes...again, the aunts and uncles cooked. It was a great weekend and I returned home to a friend request from Michael's cousins wife, Sarah! (They liked me, they really liked me!)

Here's a pic of the lake...it doesn't do it justice!

Birthday Wishes

37 years ago today, on August 25th (not the 15th like I wrote in my calendar) Michael John Smith was born.

Lucky for me!!

Happy Birthday Babe!

Meeting the Family

So this weekend we are off to Michael's uncles lake house. When I say lake house, I mean huge, gorgeous home that happens to be next to a lake. It's only about an hour away on Lake Gaston which I am learning is a popular get away spot for Raleigh/Durham folk. This will be my first meeting of his family so I am anticipating meeting some aunts and uncles as well as a few cousins. I did some baking and I am bringing along some cowboy cookies to share. I am excited and maybe a little bit nervous :)

Michael has met my parents once. They came in for a visit on Father's Day weekend. On Friday we stayed in for a dinner that my dad and I prepared. It went well, lots of small talk, etc. For the next evening, the plan was to take them out to a fancy Father's Day dinner. Well, I ended up getting sick and my parents went out while Michael stayed in with me. Needless to say, the evening didn't turn out quite how I expected.

I am hoping this weekend goes much better :)

Many years ago today...

...a little girl was born. Now she's a mommy and I hope she knows how loved she is by all those around her.

Happy Birthday Fish Face!

I got exceeds!!

So, yesterday I had my first yearly review. I was hired a month too late for the cut-off last year so this was my first opportunity to show off my stuff to my supervisors. Working for a large institution is still a little different for me. In a small organization, your boss hears how you do through other staff, the grapevine, etc. In a large place, that doesn't always happen so in our review we need to basically sell ourselves and give supportive information to prove what we have done.

The baseline is to get "achieves" meaning that you do what you are supposed to do and you do it well. The next step is "exceeds" meaning you go above and beyond your duties and you have taken time to develop programs, present on a topic, etc. Well I went for it and I got exceeds. So I should be super excited...and I am BUT "exceeds" is usually followed with a raise.

It has yet to be decided whether raises are happening this year and if they do they will be minimal. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to get "exceeds" and even more grateful to have a job!

But the raise would have been nice too...BOO!

"Frelen"

So yesterday was the hottest day that we have had so far. It was upwards of 100 degrees...not the kind of weather one wants to spend quality time in...especially exercise time. Well, in punishment at Crossfit, we had to do “Frelen.” It is a combination of two benchmark WODs one of them being called Fran and one being Helen. We warmed up with some kettlebell work and moved onto the main WOD. This was to be done in under 15 minutes (I finished in 16...oops).

21-15-9

Run 400m

Thrusters

KB Swings


In layman's terms, we run 400m, do 21 thrusters and 21 KB swings. Then we run again and do 15thrusters and 15 KB swings, etc. Needless to say in the heat this was miserable. I am sure it doesn't help that although I am consistently working out, I am eating like crap. I need to get back on the wagon!


(Feel free to insert motivational support in comments...I need it!)

I'm Yours!

Janel, Laura and I at Jason Mraz Concert

So last week I attended my first outdoor concert in NC. Although the venue was nothing like Ravinia, it definitely had its perks. It was smaller so you could pretty much see the stage from any seat. It had super drink selections and yummy food. The downsides were that you cannot bring in your own food and they limit your beverages to one sealed, bottle of water.

Michael and I...it was a tad warm outside :)

We went to see Jason Mraz at the Koka Booth Theatre in Cary, NC. One annoying thing was that the concert started at 6pm which meant I needed to leave work early if we wanted to get decent lawn seats. Cary is known as the Containment Area for Relocated Yankees...and we know how the can be :) Due to these disgruntled neighbors, concerts must be over by 10pm. So, I am sure the neighbors were not happy when Jason Mraz egged on the crowd to sing his hit, I'm Yours as loud we we possibly could.

Laura and Mel enjoying our view!

He is a great performer and his setlist was great. It included a crowd pleasing rendition of Lionel Richies All Night Long as well as my personal favorite, Lucky (normally performed with Colbie Callait.) Here are a few pics of the night!

Entitlement

[en-tahy-tl-muhnt] noun
1.the act of entitling.
2.the state of being entitled.
3.the right to guaranteed benefits under a government program, as Social Security or unemployment compensation.

Sometimes I would like to explain to my patients that they are NOT entitled to funding for the rest of their life. I am sorry your child WAS sick. I am sorry that your life WAS put on hold. I am sorry that you HAD cause to worry BUT its been a year, and your child is well, and happy and active and a NORMAL kid again. You do not have an excuse not to work and I do not have any money to give you to pay your bills because you had another baby you can't afford. I am a social worker not a money tree!

Thank God its Friday!