Novocaine

Hi!

Is it cold where you are?

It's pretty cold here.  I think it was in the negatives the whole time I was out today.

Yesterday I drove through some awesome (not!) weather to get Rhy.  Snowing and strong winds.  Score!

So I really wasn't looking forward to cold weather.  But, hey, it's January and I live in Wisconsin.  It's life.


I had a dental appointment today to take care of a small cavity.

I have finally found the silver lining to getting a filling.

The part of your face that is numb because of Novocaine can't feel the cold.  Score!

Once Upon a Time: A story of two sisters

Once upon a time there were sisters who lived in the MidWest.

They went on adventures to exciting places like California,

Pretty, but yeah, I have no idea...

I really don't remember this...

Washington DC,

Jefferson Memorial from Washington Monument

Reflecting Pool & Washington Monument

Mt. Vernon

Monticello

and Iowa.

Amana Colonies

Amana Colonies

Oh, and Wisconsin.
(like I said, "exciting")

Fort Dells

ditto.

They were even known to take in cultural performance, like the 
Ice-Capades.

Okay, this might be Disney on Ice.

One day, the older sister met a boy, fell in love, and got married.  (well, it took more than one day...)

 Both sisters were very happy.

Before they new it, the older sister was a Momma and the younger sister was an Aunt!  (not to be confused with being an ant, which she was not).

Nathan

Rylee

Nathan

Nathan

oh, I'm just smooshing a baby to my face...

Nathan

baby Trekker

More fun followed, including riding the train,

looking at a light house,

birthday parties,

and bowling.

Eventually, the younger sister also met a boy, fell in love, and got married.

Both sisters were, once again, very happy.

(not at all)

The End

(because I'm sure there is much more excitement to come!)

The end of my Stay-cation

I go back to work tomorrow.  7AM.  Ugh.   I am not looking forward to it.  But, like almost everything in life, work is a necessity.

So, the result of my week off, my stay-cation?

I scanned in 477 slides.  That's at least 12 hours, but probably more like 14.  Doesn't sound like much since I used a full 40 hours of vacation, but I did a ton of laundry in the middle of scanning slides, and I got to sleep in (take that, 5:15AM alarm clock!).  And just think about how much time those 14 hours would take if it was a regular work week.  Get home after being away for at least 10 hours, do I really want to sit on the computer and scan slides?  Not so much.

I scanned countless photos, all while scanning slides - just hopping over the the other computer.

I made dinner most nights, including chicken with roasted veggies, tortellini soup, one-pot lasagna, and meatloaf.  I also crock-potted a turkey breast that we can use for lunch meat.  I love a good crock-potted turkey breast...  I ate breakfast every morning, including a new oatmeal recipe and trying blueberries with lemon Greek yogurt.

I wrote 5 blog posts (not including this one) and shared some good old photos.

I also lost more than 3 pounds.  Probably just due to cyclical monthly weight loss, but still.  It felt nice to see the numbers go down.

Things I did not do:

• I didn't use the treadmill. 
• I didn't organize anything in the house.
• I didn't take those clothes to St. Vinny's, but they are now in the car so I could take them to CAC on lunch.  CAC gives clothes to people in need, for free.  I like to support them when I have clothes to get rid of.
• I didn't craft.  *sad face*  But I really didn't think I would get the time to do any crafts.

And even with all those "I didn't" items - it was a productive week.  I only have about 150 slides left to scan, and I am confident I can get that done.

So tomorrow it will be time to read allllllll the e-mails I've gotten, listen to voicemails from those people who didn't listen to my outgoing message that I would be out of the office, attend meetings, and, in general, play catch up.  Erg.

Jefferson Memorial, 1985.  To the right you can see Dad, wearing what I always called his "Dr. Zhivago hat".

A slide from Mom & Dad's train trip to California.  1988?  1989?

And another slide from their trip.  I love the dark and light areas, but the dark areas just don't scan well.

Me, 1982.  I loved that play pay phone with the chunky plastic coins.  Susana - do you remember this?

When we were in California for Loretta & Andy's wedding in 1982, we went to Sea World.  Tina and I saw the Shamu show twice.  It was so hot that we wanted to sit where the crowd got wet.  We didn't get splashed either time.

3-27-1997 - the day I became Aunt Kristin!  Tina said that Nathan looked like me.  She might have still been on medication at that point...

Rylee and me!  She's just so cute!

Aw, Sprite.  So festive...  meow!

Me, 1999.  For my college graduation, I wanted to have a nice family portrait taken.  I also had some shots of me taken.  Look at how shiny my hair was!

Monica with her Grampa at her 1st Birthday party, September 2000.
Eh, Marcos!  (who all just read that in an accent?)
Love and miss you!