Stripping, Swimming, and Traveling

Somehow, despite being off work for almost two weeks, I haven't had much time to blog. Hopefully this post will catch you up a bit on my recent adventures.

My last day at my old job was Monday the 23rd. I had planned to work until Friday the 27th, but they said when developers leave, they usually ask them to leave immediately. I guess they're afraid of sabatoge or something. I would never to that (clearly!) so I was a little shocked when they said that. But, the more I got to thinking about it, the more I thought "Cool, more paid time off!" (they're required by law to pay out the full two weeks). They let me stay for a week after I gave notice, but I did get four unexpected days off. I originally planned to use the time to do fun things, but I've been planning to strip the wallpaper in my dining room and then paint this summer. I decided I'd much rather strip wallpaper when I'm off work than after a long day at the office. I did go blueberry picking with my cousin one morning (super fun and super cheap! I'm looking forward to eating the berries I froze all year long), but then I started the wallpaper job. The first picture is "before". It was taken a couple of years ago.

Stripping wallpaper is definitely not my favorite chore!! My back and shoulders begin screaming pretty much as soon as I pick up a scraper. Fortunately, this room was easier than the hallway that I did last summer. It only had about 2 layers of wallpaper on it, instead of the 5 or 6 that the hallway had. And occassionally, I was able to grab a piece and rip off a huge section of the outer paper and the backing! That made the chore go pretty quicky! Unlike last summer, the walls are actually in decent shape. I should be able to avoid having to do a skim coat of drywall mud before painting! Yay! I'm totally excited that my house is finally wallpaper free!! WOO-HOO-WOO!! The picture below is of the wallpaper-less walls. Once I get the paint done, I'll post a picture of the finished product.

After finishing the wallpaper project, my mom and I headed to Omaha for the swimming Olympic Trials! Oh my gosh! It was a blast!! We saw tons of world and American records! Swimming has gotten so fast in the ten years since I retired! But, it was cool for me because I still know a few of the swimmers that made the team and still just love to watch the sport! I jumped up and down with excitement when a fellow Northwestern grad made the team in the men's 100 back. Imagine me excited and then multiply that by about 10! That's how excited I was! This picture is of the awards ceremony for Michael Phelp's 400 IM. Notice the Micheal in yellow letters behind him? That was some cool sort of falling-hologram-thing (that's a very techincal term!) that spelled out swimmers names, events, USA Swimming, and even did a picture of the Olympic Ring logo. Very cool!
After four days in Omaha, my mom and I drove back to KC on Thursday and then turned around and flew to Hartford, CT with my dad first thing Friday morning! I got up at 3:15 a.m.!!! I'm used to getting up around 5:15 or 5:30, but anything in the "3s" is EARLY! After arriving in Hartford, we rented a car and I drove four hours north to Middlebury, VT, where a good family friend of ours, Erica Hill, got married. Mark drove up from Philly for the weekend and we had a GREAT time!

Middlebury is a picturesque quaint New England town, nestled in the mountains of Vermont. It's so green up there. The Middlebury campus has a big "green" in the middle, with old stone buildings around it. The wedding was lovely! Good food, great company, and fun dancing made for an awesome evening!

And then yesterday, I started my new job! It's going well so far, but I'll share more about that in a future post.

This might be the best family photo we've taken in a while!

Good Friends

This past weekend, I drove to St Louis to visit Nanci, Aaron, their daughter Becca, and our friend Marissa. Marissa flew in from Minnesota for the weekend. Nanci, Mariss, and I were in the same sorority in college and have stayed close friends (side note: I'm having a hard time believing that my 10 year college reunion is this fall. How can 10 years possibly have gone by?). Nanci grew up in St Louis, but she has lived in Israel, North Carolina and Connecticut since college. I jumped up and down with excitement (and clapped, too!) when she and her husband decided to move to St Louis a couple summers ago! I can make it from my house to hers in 3 and half hours. SOOOO great!

Becca is 11 months old and is just the cutest thing. She smiles, laughs, and is very easy going. Mariss and I think she looks exactly like her daddy. It's funny, because Nanci doesn't see the resemblance.

Anyway, we had a great weekend!!!! It's so fun to be with friends that have known me for so long. They know all my back history, so to speak. Even though I only see Nance about once a year (we talk on the phone all the time, though) and Mariss once every couple of years, it's always like no time has passed when we're together. When we get together, we mostly just sit around and chat. And that is totally cool. I love friends like that. No agenda needed. Just being together is enough.

We did make an excursion to the Missouri Botanical Gardens on Saturday, though. I've been wanting to see the gardens ever since my brother was in med school at Wash U in St Louis. He told me they were great and he was right!

Valentine's Day Party

As a single girl, I've spent many Valentine's Day's as an adult alone. This year, I decided to change that and host a Valentine's Day dinner party for my fellow single-and-awesome female friends. I just inherited good china, crystal, and flatware from my grandmother, so it was a "fancy" party. I wanted each of my friends to feel special. The evening was a success: good food, a beautiful table, and lots of fun!

Jill's Story

Last weekend, my friend Jill got married at Oak Alley Plantation in Lousiana. Since there were only 22 people at the wedding, it was a fabulous weekend of spending time with Jill and Maher, telling stories, laughing, eating, chatting, and just generally hanging out.

I met Jill in college. We were in the same sorority but weren't especially close. I lost touch with her after college until she moved to KC and she randomly called me up one day. Since then, she's become one of my best friends.

Some of favorite Jill memories:

~Eating at Sweet Tomatoes. Mac and cheese, yogurt with sprinkles, brownie muffins...yum, yum!

~Road trip to Yellowstone! Best road trip ever, in my book. Jill taught me to embrace spontaneity (okay, embrace might be too strong a word) but I learned to let go of my agenda and just go with the flow.

~Smushed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!!

~It really is ice!

~Jill introduced me to antique Red Wing crocks. I now own two of them and have a couple hundred dollars less in the bank. :)

~Cruising for depression era glass in Omaha.

~FindYourSpot.com. Hickory, NC here I come!

~Swinging on her front porch, drinking wine, and talking about our hopes, dreams, and fears.

Jill, I love your assertiveness, your humor, your love of things with character, your vulnerability, your sense of fun, your adventurous spirit, your organization, your reality...you. I am so happy that you have found your home with Maher.