Crumley gets a bath

Joe and I took this video last week of Crumley getting a bath. He hates bathtime and was hiding under the table when he knew what was about to happen. This was my pick for best documentary short.

Blueberry Muffins

So yesterday Jeni blogged about these blueberry muffins. They sounded great; I love blueberry muffins. Then I went to the grocery store today and saw "buy one, get one" for cartons of fresh blueberries. It seemed like a sign to me. So this is what I'm doing. The house smells amazing and I think they taste amazing, too.

A little bit of news

I've noticed that I blog less and less lately. Maybe it's because I don't have as much extra time anymore or maybe it's because I have nothing much to say. Probably a combination of both.

My mom went back to the doctor today, two weeks after her radioactive treatment and she still can't go back to work. So she will be off for another week and will go back to the doctor again next week to get the verdict. I'm sure at this point she's getting restless. She's used of talking to people every day and getting out and about. Some ladies from her church surprised her by painting her beauty salon yesterday and today. It's something she's been wanting to do but has never been able to get around to it. I am so grateful that my parents have so many people who care about them and are looking out for them.

On my agenda for the weekend is formal dress shopping. Yes, apparently I need a ball gown. Joe has a ball every year that he has to attend for work so I will be going this year. I think I hate formal dress shopping even more than swimsuit shopping...if that's possible. The dresses never seem to fit right. I didn't even like trying on wedding dresses and finally just selected my dress from online before ever trying it on. I am tempted to do that with this ocassion, too, so we'll see how it goes after I try on a few this weekend. I thought I'd at least get an idea of the style. But the event is just a few weeks away so I'd better get with it. (Nichole, you're good at dress shopping...you may need to be my stylist.) Of course, wearing the gown, getting all dressed up and having a night on the town is usually fun...it's just the getting there that I don't like. Figuring out which dress, what shoes, how to wear your hair, what jewelry...I just feel unmotivated to figure it out. I have also realized that the older I get, the less and less makeup I wear. Most days I barely wear any at all...when did I decide to not like shopping and not like makeup? Maybe it has something to do with shopping for pants that never seem to fit...

I am missing the documentary film festival in CoMo this weekend so I'm trying to push it out of my mind. Hmm...that means exactly one year ago, I got engaged.

Pizza and a movie

I'm not a fan of Chicago-style pizza, so I don't have as many pizza options around here as you might think. But today we went to a great pizza place that I've been wanting to go to for awhile...since about the time I first moved here. And we'll be back!

We also saw Coraline in 3-D today. I can't remember the last time I saw a 3-D movie...or if I even ever have. It was fun. Good movie. I wasn't looking as forward to it as Joe but really liked it.

So that was our playtime for the day. Now the dogs are getting baths and we're cleaning and doing laundry. Grown-up life continues.

Happenings

I went to hear a speaker tonight talk about the benefits of eating meat from grass-fed, grass-finished animals, particularly cattle. I joined my husband on a whim and it was actually very interesting. The downside is that after the talk, I don't want to eat meat at all...maybe that isn't a downside. Anyway, if you get a chance look up some information about his company.

My mom went back to the doctor today for a scan. Her radioactive idoine has successfully attached to the thyroid left in her body (there was some thyroid left as it wasn't all removed as originally thought) and she will have to do another round of treatment in 9 months. She is still in isolation.

Also my mom found out today that her regular cancer doctor has cancer. She has been my mom's doctor for more than 11 years and my mom follows up with her on a regular basis. It's so sad that she now is going through what she's helped so many other people overcome. This woman is amazingly kind. When I got married, she saw my announcement in Columbia, recognized my last name, cut out the announcement and mailed it to my mom.

Joe is still suffering a bad foot from an injury that happened almost a year ago. He had more x-rays this week and it's wrapped and in a boot for at least a week. Hopefully it finally heals.

That's all the news for this week...just in case I don't blog again, don't forget to watch the Oscars on Sunday!

President's Day...and love

Just about a month after starting my new job, I already get a day off tomorrow for President's Day. I've never had President's Day off before but I fully welcome the time off. Already, I feel like I've truly deserved it! I have big plans to sleep in, go grocery shopping and I might just go to a movie by myself...maybe a chick flick that I might not get around to right now otherwise. Joe will be working.

Also, I have so many magazines that have been sitting around with recipes inside. I finally bought a cute binder and am putting the recipes that I want to try or have tried and liked inside of it. Finally I will recycle my magazines and get rid of some clutter in the process. This is a project that I've been putting off for months but finally started on it today. This will also make life much easier when I'm searching for a recipe from a magazine...no more sifting through 4 or 5 magazines trying to remember which one it's in.

The other big news (and most important) is that my good friend, Dorian got engaged yesterday! I'm so excited for her. She and her fiance make such a great couple. You can check out her engagement story here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last night I hailed a cab after work and met Joe at Navy Pier where we saw Macbeth at the Shakespeare Theater. That's right. I saw Macbeth on Friday the 13th. I was a tad bit concerned but not concerned enough to not go. Joe has been foaming at the mouth to see this particular production, which they set in present-day Chicago. So when I found "buy one, get one" tickets, I knew we should snatch them up. The theater itself is beautiful and I really enjoyed the show. I liked the modern spin.

Tonight we're going to dinner. The last two years Joe and I have spent Valentine's Day apart so it's fun for us to actually be able to celebrate this year. I have been craving crab legs for about forever now so I think I may finally get my heart's desire. Happy Valentine's Day!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow my mom starts her radioactive iodine treatment for her thyroid cancer. She won't be able to work for a couple weeks, can't be around anyone under the age of 18 for three weeks (which obviously includes my niece), has to sleep in a separate room from my dad for awhile, can't prepare food, needs to be six feet away from dad while in the same room, etc. So, as you can imagine, it's not ideal. But it could be a lot worse. Mom will have to do another round of the radioactive iodine treatment in another six months to a year. Just keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I'm sure she'll be doing a lot of reading but I know she'll get bored.

Nothing Much

It was actually warm enough for me to wear a skirt today. This was quite a momentous ocassion and it is supposed to be even warmer tomorrow. I didn't think Chicago weather would bother me much since I was used to cold, Missouri weather. What I didn't take into consideration is that while there are some bitterly cold Missouri days they don't last the whole season like it seems Chicago's bitterly cold days do. It's just one snow fall after another...

I sign up for almost every news alert under the sun at work because I put together a weekly e-newsletter and am always on the lookout for relevent news headlines. So today I received this headline in my inbox, "Jobs Report: It's Worse Than It Looks." The article goes on to say that the economy almost certainly lost more jobs in January than the 597,000 reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics due to the way they imput their data. Anyway, I find this mind-boggling and stressful. My church just started a Career Networking Group open to the public led by professional career counselors and human resources folks in an attempt to help with resumes, networking, etc. I love this idea. It's one example of a way that a church can be relevant and do something to serve the needs of the community. And in church yesterday we were asked, by show of hands, how many people have either recently lost their jobs or knew someone that had lost their jobs. The show of hands was truly frightening. (Side note: one hospital here is laying off several hundred and another hospital here is laying off at least 450 and eliminating several hundred more jobs through attrition.)

On my way to church yesterday my car died at every stoplight. And there are a LOT of stoplights between my house and church. Finally, I figured out that if I put my car in neutral I could prevent it from dying. On the way home, without using neutral, my car didn't die one single time. Now, I'm not a mechanic but I don't think this is normal. So my husband will be taking me to the train and picking me up each day until we get this fixed. I don't have the energy to think about it right now...in a few days - maybe.

Girl Day

I met Alison and her friend, Celina at a Chicago favorite for breakfast today. After that we went back to Alison's place and decided to paint on canvas. I would share a picture of my art but if you saw what Celina and Alison did and then saw what I did - you'd probably laugh. So I'm just going to say that I had fun hanging out with the girls today and channeling trying to channel my creative side.

I then met Joe so we could get our taxes done. The fact that we got married this year and were filing jointly was easy. But the fact that I had no IL income and Joe did and I had MO income and Joe didn't was throwing off the computer...or our tax guy. Which makes me cringe a bit because I want to get it right - obviously. But we finally left our paperwork and will go back in a few days after our tax preparer can figure out why the computer wasn't letting him do what he wanted to do...we'll see.

We've also been seeing movies in preparation for my favorite day fo the year - the Oscars! Last night we finally saw Benjamin Button. Joe was pleasantly surprised as he wasn't necessarily looking forward to it. (The makeup and special effects still have me amazed!) Last weekend we saw Milk - really good - and The Wrestler. (Good story/acting but a bit too violent for me.) So now I think we just have two more to see and we're done. I think we can handle that.