Booooo Winter!

This just in: It is SNOWING in ALABAMA.

Did hell just freeze over?

Now, some people see snow as a happy thing, a thing to celebrate. "YAY Snow!!!" they say. Not me. I HATE snow. I mean, it's pretty to look at. But I can look at a picture of snow and be more than happy. It doesn't have to actually BE here. But it is :(

I know I sound like a big ol' Scrooge, but seriously. Here is why I hate it so much:

1) Snow is the epitome of winter. I hate winter.

2) Snow is cold. It has to be cold outside for snow to even happen. It is wet, and it gives you frostbite and makes your fingers and toes numb.

3) Snow covers up everything green and alive, and kills them.

4) One of the main reasons that I think people actually like snow is for the snow days. I get NO snow days. In fact, when it's really bad, I don't even get to leave work - I have to sleep at the hospital. And when it's REALLY bad, and no replacements can come in for you - you just have to stay. That happened at my old unit during the blizzard of '93 - some of the nurses were at the hospital for like four days in a row, and never left - they had to take turns sleeping and taking care of patients. This does NOT make me happy.

5) There is NOTHING fun about playing in the snow. See #2 about the frostbite and numb fingers.

So, what makes me even more upset about this whole situation, is that I'm supposed to go into work at like 3:30/4 today for one of the girls, so she can go to a concert tonight. Normally that would not be a big deal, 3.5 hours is nothing. But, I have to pack a bag in case it gets worse and I don't think I can make it into work tonight. In fact, depending on how things look in a couple hours, I may pack clothes for the entire weekend, because if it's really bad, I'll be at the hospital all freaking weekend long. And that makes April VERY upset.

In fact, the only thing(s) good about today? My sweet hubby, and the sweet potato pie I got from Publix. I love that stuff...

Grump, grump, grump, or Can It Please Freakin' Be Spring Already???

It's V-Day! (Ours, anyway.)

I need to start getting ready soon, but I figured I'd do a post first...

I started today out by going to a new (to me) women's Bible study at the church we were going to before I started my weekends. It was really good ... very deep, very intellectual. The pastor led it this week, which he apparently does not do on a regular basis, but we're talking about the Holy Spirit and he wanted to do a good intro on the subject. He is SO wise - there's just a wealth of knowledge whenever he speaks. He's also incredibly nice, he's a good conversationalist, and he totally remembered like everything he knew about Mark from like 4 months ago. So, that was a really nice way to start the day. I'm looking forward to getting to know the ladies in the group better - I'll be able to go like every week (save next week) because of work and stuff, and probably won't schedule myself for any Thursdays from now on.

So then I came home, Mark made lunch (he is SO great, seriously), I watched a few episodes of Modern Family on Hulu with him, and then messed around with scrapbooking a bit. I really wasn't in the mood to do anything major or hardcore, so I played with my new doodle book I got in my stocking this Christmas. It shows step by step how to make cute letters, and has some designs for cute borders and corners for pages or cards, so I messed around with those some. I was surprised how good they turned out - usually I'm too impatient to be any good with fonts, but the step-by-step instructions helped a lot.

I also *think* I know what I'm going to wear tonight... but still not absolutely positive. Here's my dilemma: it is FREEZING. Weather.com reports that it is currently 39 degrees, which I know is a lot warmer than it is a lot of places, but still. I get cold REALLY easily. And when I get cold, I get grumpy, no matter how pretty I look.
And the other inherent problem is that it's next to impossible to be really pretty and really warm at the same time. Like, dressed nicely at least. Mark is wearing this spiffy new purple striped Banana Republic shirt (I LOVE him in purple!), and I will look all blah and yuck. My options are pants (I'm TIRED of wearing pants. I want to wear a skirt or a dress, and look pretty) or my gray wool skirt, which I love, but I don't really have anything to wear on top that doesn't look droll or dumpy or boring. Now, summer clothes, I've got covered. I have everything ranging from sexy fushcia strapless to classy little black dress to fun bright sundress ... the list goes on. But winter? Oh no. April doesn't do winter. So I have... nothing.
What I think I'm actually wearing is probably the gray wool skirt, a black cami, and a cream-colored cardi with shiny fake gemstone buttons - I know, very boring. I could technically wear my denim jacket, but that's not that warm or that pretty.
What I WANT to wear is the awesome fuchsia strapless dress with a gold shrug and my cute new shoes. Or a black shrug and some awesome heels. But I would freeze to death and be grumpy, and I'd just rather not do that.

Soooo ... I should get ready. And stop whining. And maybe I'll post a picture for you guys to see, or something. We'll see....

Adventures in Riverchase

Today was interesting.

I left around 12:30 to run some errands. Items on my agenda: go to the Post Office and turn in my passport application, go to WalMart to pick up my pictures, go to Michael's to get a new scrapbook/paper. I figured this all would take maybe two hours.

At 4:30, I was home.

Passport papers in hand, un-submitted.

Let me explain.

I went to the Vestavia post office first, because that's where I got my original passport. Unfortunately, I lost it when we moved, and it is gone forever. So that's why I'm getting a new one. When I got in line, the lady asked me if I was getting my first passport. I said no. Because that was true.

When I got to the front of the line, she said "This isn't a renewal form, this is a new passport form. We're not doing those today." Oh, well thanks for being clear the first time.

So I look at the little green sheet of paper they have posted to see where the other viable locations are. And then I go eat lunch at Panera.

After lunch, I called the post office to see where they were located. I couldn't find the Hoover PO number on my Google Maps app, so I called a different one, who gave me a 1-800 number to call, which then told me the location of the Hoover PO. I plugged it into Google Maps, and it spit out some directions. Doing good, so far.

Let me stop and explain that my sense of direction is less than stellar. Actually ... let's be frank. It sucks. I don't really have one. That part of my brain never really developed properly ... especially the part which Mark possesses, which can figure out where he is even if he's never been there. I've never understood this. I can get hopelessly lost going somewhere I've been 10 times, if conditions are right...

So, to continue... The post office is supposedly on Riverchase Parkway. I've never been there before. I follow the directions that Google Maps has spit out for me, and lo and behold, a Sign! That says Riverchase Parkway!! Bravo, me!! Unfortunately, the number I was looking for was 1809. The numbers started in the 100's. So, I think to myself, maybe they'll go up fast. Or maybe it's just a long road....

FYI, it IS a long road. It's the longest road EVER. I went the longest way POSSIBLE to get there, I think. I cross 31, and go into this hilly residential area with rich people and nice houses that make me want a house so bad I can hardly stand it. And then, it happens. I look up at the street sign next to me, and I am no longer on Riverchase Parkway. Which is very, very bad ... because by that point, I've been driving for probably 15 minutes on that one road, maybe longer, and I have NO EARTHLY IDEA where I am.

Call Elissa. She's at work.

Call Mark, who is in the library, frantic.

After 15 minutes on the phone with him, we realize that 1)I have gone as far as you can go on THAT Riverchase Parkway. Sadly, there is ANOTHER one. I hate places that have multiple roads of the same name. Whoever decided that must have plotted with the other road-builders, and thought to themselves, "Oooh, wouldn't it be fun to make people get lost!! All the time!! And after driving for 20 minutes in the wrong direction, only THINKING they're going in the right direction, they'll realize - THERE'S ANOTHER ROAD!!! Bah-hahahaha!!" Terrible, evil road designers. Blah.

So anyway, I go back to where Mark told me the post office actually is (an area I'm familiar with), and I STILL CAN'T FIND THE STUPID THING. So I give up, go to WalMart, go to Michael's, and come home.

I think I need my man to find the post office. Because it is a total lost cause with me...

Busy beavers...

Recap of the last few days, and things to come:

On Friday, I had to take care of a few things for work (new job) before we left for Griffin.

So after we left, it was lunchtime. We stopped halfway to Griffin, and got here around 2:30-ish. I helped Nanny and Aunt Patsy cook, and just sort of sat around all yesterday other than that. Today, we went and had lunch with Amanda and Chad and their sweet baby, Hayden. Mark went to high school with Amanda. It was really fun - their house is BEAUTIFUL (made me jealous - i want a house!!), and their baby is precious. Came back, expecting to go play tennis with Thomas, but he was feeling yucky (he has MRSA in his leg, and his pain meds were making him sicky), so we sat around watching horrible B-grade shark/alligator movies all afternoon. Went to dinner, had some wine and really yummy food, came back, played tennis tonight. We're leaving in the morning.

Then on Tuesday I'm picking up Andy and Suzie from the airport while Mark's in class. (As an aside, Suzie has had a crisis with her master's thesis, and basically lost half of her research, and the thesis is due in a month. So. Pray for her.) Wednesday we'll probably catch up a bit, and Suzie will stress about/work on her paper, and then I head back Thursday for my last week of work :( It's going by too fast - I'm not ready to go back to Chattanooga yet...

So excited to see Andy and Suzie. So excited to just about have this chapter in my life done. So excited to start my stint as a housewife during the week and a dayshift nurse on the weekends. So ready to get my house in order. So ready to start running.

Pray that I am patient these last two weeks. I'm going to need it...

Whiny

I'm tired of working, and I'm tired in general, and I want to be at home in Birmingham with my husband and my kitty cat and my new apartment, making it pretty.

But I'm not. I'm in Chattanooga for my work week, which should bring me joy and be a blessing - I have a job, I have a paycheck, I'm doing what I love to do - but somehow, the only blessing I want right now is to get to see Mark. (It's been almost 6 days since I've seen him, which doesn't seem like a lot just saying it, but feels like a lot when you live it.)

Is that selfish? Or wrong?