Day 135: Carrying a Load and Dropping a Load

Aha:
The Lord has placed wonderful friends in my life.  I have one such friend, who lives way too far away from me, and even though she is going through a really terrible trial, she has still found room in her heart to give me words of encouragement and hope.  The Lord truly is mindful of us and even when our burdens may not be removed from our backs, He blesses us with people who can help carry the load.
You are such a wonderful example and I will love you forever.  Always have, always will!

Ha ha:
Whilst watching The Sing-Off, Clinton came back in from taking Stinky-McGee (aka, Peter) outside.  He started to say something to me but I was trying to listen to my show and shushed him instead.  Later, at the commercial when Peter continued to make the room stink, I turned to Clinton and asked if Peter went poo when he took him out.  He replied, "I told you he didn't go just a few minutes ago.  Weren't you listening?"  I kinda chuckled and said, "No.  I was busy shushing you so I could hear my show."

Day 134: Feeling Lighter

Aha:
I am always a little more thankful this time of year and when I woke up this morning, I remembered why:  Daylight Savings. :)

Ha ha:
Peter kept crying this evening and we couldn't figure out what he wanted.  We found toys he'd been missing, played with said toys, gave him food and water and took him potty.  Nothing seemed to suffice.  I was playing with him on the floor and the cries continued till Clinton asked, "When was the last time he went poo?"  Right at that moment, Petey turned around and stared intently at Clinton, as if to say, "You said the magic word!"  We took him outside and he was happy ever after!!

Day 133: When I Say "Girls' Trip", You Say "Chicago!"

Aha:
My girlfriends and I went to Chicago yesterday.  We knew the trip was going to be costly, but we wanted to make a day of it anyway!  Well, we parked at a garage that said the daily price was $40(!) but figured that splitting it wouldn't be that bad.  Anyway, at the end of the day, we swiped out ticket to pay and the bill came out to $14!!!!!!  We thought there was maybe a mistake, or perhaps there's a discount on weekends or something.  But either way, we each did a little jig while we paid the $3.50 for parking.

Ha ha:
We had a great time yesterday!!  We started out at Portillos for some Chicago-style hot dogs (amazing!).

The restaurant was filled with memorabilia from Chicago's history.

Next, we went to Navy Pier

 
And rode the Ferris Wheel

View of the Pier from the Ferris Wheel

We also rode the swings and thought they'd be "way fun" until we all felt pretty queasy at the end. (pics soon to follow)

After The Pier we walked over to Millennium Park and saw the "famous bean".  I can't believe the crowds there.  What kind of people flock to a metal thing in the middle of the city?  Oh, I guess we do.

After the bean extravaganza, we stopped and rested for a few minutes beneath these amazing trees to enjoy our Chicago-blend Garrett's Popcorn.  Um....YUMMY!!!!!

We shopped on the Magnificent Mile for about an hour or so and then stopped for dinner at my favorite Chicago deep-dish pizza place, Due's.  I ate all of it!

Aside from getting a little lost on the way home, getting "Hello Ladies" from several groups of passing men, feeling like old ladies from our tired feet and aching backs, we had an AMAZING time together!!  Thanks ladies!!  Time to start planning our trip to NY next spring! :)

Day 132: Chocolate Can Cure Anything...Except Root Canals

Aha:
So, this happened on Thursday after I had already written my blog, so I'm including it today.
I have wonderful, intuitive and giving friends.
A friend of mine asked if I was going to go with her to Chicago this weekend and I said that I hoped to, but since I'd been a little under the weather, I wasn't sure.  Next thing I know, she's calling me and asking me to come to the door.  That girl had brought me a chocolate-dipped ice cream cone from McDonalds!  She said, "I know these always make me feel better!"
And you know what?  It made me feel better too!  Thanks for lifting my spirits Jenn!

Ha ha:
I had yet to add some pictures from my Portland trip and thought now would be a good time.

Here I am getting my root canal.  Don't I look happy? (Truth be told, I was trying to smile.)  I was curious what it looked like to have a rubber dam in my mouth and now I (and you) know.

Here I am just moments after having it completed.  I too was trying to smile here. :/

While living in Portland I never made it to Voodoo Doughnuts, so I told my mom and sisters I wanted to go.  Here is their display case.

Here's the menu, I got the Old Fashioned Glaze and the Old Dirty Bastard (raised doughnut with frosting, crushed oreos and peanut butter and chocolate syrup...yum).

Here are some pics from my flight back.  In these next three, you can see three mountains within the frame.

 

Day 131: Head in the Cl-OW-ds

Aha:
Sometimes just seeing one of these is reminder enough that the Lord is real and capable of accomplishing anything!

Ha ha:
I don't know about you other women out there, but when my Aunt Flo comes for a visit, she really makes me wish I didn't have a uterus.  I tell you, the cramps are real killers!
My coworker asked if I wanted her to step really hard on my toe so my cramps didn't seem as bad.  I told her I'd prefer it if she could just punch me as hard as she could in my uterus.  She laughed, but I wasn't joking.
Later, as she was leaving for the day, she said (in a perfectly sincere, but struck me in a funny, way), "Well, I hope your uterus feels better!"
Ha!...but seriously, me too.

Day 130: My Outlook on Outlook

Aha:
As I was getting ready to walk out the door from work, I happened to glance up at my computer screen; I saw that there was one task I HAD to do before tomorrow morning.  I quickly did what I needed to do and left knowing I'd finished everything I was supposed to do today!
I'm so thankful for that extra glance...it saved me a lot of stress and worry!!

Ha ha:
A couple of backward situations from today...
I was trying to show a coworker how to use a meeting tool in Outlook.  I meant to say, "You can click here and invite attendees".  What I actually said was, "You can click here and add invitees".  I guess it's still sorta accurate, but it sounded pretty funny.
Every week I send an updated calendar to the HOT (Hematology/Oncology/Transplant) clinic secretaries.  I have a distribution list for them and all I have to do is begin to type "HOT" into the 'To:' field of an email and it pulls them all up.  Well, I had Office 2010 installed on my computer last night and I guess that it was somehow programmed to insert distribution lists alphabetically.
So today, when I began to type "HOT" it inserted "HOT Leadership Group" instead of "HOT Secretaries".  I sent the email without noticing.
Later in the day I received an email from The Intimidator asking why I'd sent them and my old boss, copies of the calendar.  I was baffled.  Anyway, I figured it all out and sent him (and everyone else) a brief explanation of what happened as well as an apology.
A little later The Intimidator came by my desk and said chuckling, "Thanks for the explanation.  That makes so much more sense!"

Day 129: A Sip of Heaven

Aha:
Plain and simple, I got to come home and sit on the couch and do NOTHING for about 2 hours.  Heaven! (said in a sing-songy voice)

Ha ha:
We went to RR with some friends for dinner last night.  They reminded me of something that happened on a previous date of ours to RR.
As many of you know, whenever I go out to eat I end up drinking at least 4 glasses of whatever I'm drinking.  On this particular occasion, during one of my last requests for a refill, our waitress brought out my drink; as she was about to set it down it began to slip from her hand.  Fortunately, she caught it by sticking her finger down into the cup. As she straightened the glass back up, she flicked the liquid from her finger back into the glass...every last drop.  She apologized for the slight spill and left to go get me a new glass.  Or, at least that's what we all figured she was doing, ya know, after she'd stuck her finger in my cup and then flicked the remnants back into the glass.
But she never did.
Gross.  I guess that's okay though, because my thirst was suddenly gone anyway.