Etsified!

I've got a shop on Etsy now! Not much up yet, but I'm trying to get at least one thing up every day, even though that's a little difficult when you're working on a limited startup budget!

M's Boutique Chic-- tell your friends ;)

Or something?

So I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted in Memphis, which was sad, but c'est la vie. I got pictures with some of my favorite people, so that was good :)

Friday was good, I wandered around campus and ran in to a bunch of professors and friends, walked a WHOLE lot which was probably good for me since I kept bouncing from place to place with friend after friend! I do miss that about Rhodes-- if you're ever bored, all you really have to do is just walk around campus and you'll run in to a good number of people!

Thankfully, the sick went away pretty quickly after Wednesday night. My stomach was a little rocky for a few days, but I powered through-- nothing's gonna keep me from Central BBQ!

Friday night we went to dinner with Jan and Marc and then helped them pack, showed Jan all the stuff I picked up for the boys, and hit the hay!

Saturday morning I got up early and went in for an early lunch with Sophia at Central, then headed over to help out with Bid Day and ended up getting tons of balloons for them at Party City! It was great to see the girls again, and my friend Mary ended up going AOII!! I was SO excited! (still am, in fact) After that, I headed back down to Southaven and chilled out for a while before Wayne and Amanda came over. My back went out so we missed going to Sophia's birthday party and seeing Megan (my globe-trotting Watson Fellow friend; because two Megans are better than one), but it was really great seeing those two, especially Amanda since she lives in Seattle now!

Sunday we got up and had to head back home since there had been some issues while we were gone. Jeremy's birthday ended nicely, even if the True Blood finale was the worst season finale ever, and we went home to start our work week!

Here are some pictures, surely there will be more after this weekend's race and general friend hanging outs.

Balloons filling the Panda!

Me and my Grand Little Jill!

Me and the balloons in the Panda

Me and my Rose Buddy, Lissa!

GOBAMA!!!!

I'm watching Obama's speech on the Health Care Bill and I'm definitely tearing up. Now, part of this may be that I'm faint from not eating/throwing up every bite that's hit my stomach, but the other part is that I am SO PROUD that I helped put this man in office.

Under his bill, it would be illegal for insurance companies to drop you when you're sick-- this means that if you're in college and have mono and the flu and bronchitis and you take a semester off, your mother's insurance can't boot you to the curb (you know, just a random example... don't know anyone like that...) leaving you with a 105 fever and no option to go to the emergency room. Insurance companies also couldn't deny you coverage because of pre-existing conditions, so if you have a history of arthritis in your family, they couldn't say, "Sorry, there's a possibility you could die of RA when you're 70, we can't help you out-- also, that wrist that was re-injured in your accident post-surgery, we're not going to cover any future therapy on it." Preventative care, such as (oh, I don't know) A COLONOSCOPY, won't cost you... (hold please, I'm pulling out bills and calculating) $1500.

There will be a required health care law, with a hardship waiver and a requirement that any business which does not provide insurance to contribute to paying for insurance. If you are unable to get insurance and you have to make a trip to the ER, it's covered.

He also dispelled the myths that the new system would drain our economy, called for malpractice revisions (thank GOODNESS since I can't disagree with the Republican side that it plays a part in driving up healthcare costs-- I mean, if someone can sue you at the drop of a hat, what's to stop them from doing it?), declared that the public option would not be available to illegal immigrants (to which there was a strangely resounding, "NOT TRUE" from one side of the aisle-- to which Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi gave them the "how rude" look), and said, "If you spread rumors and untruths, we will call. you. out."

He also just said "silver bullet" which kind of makes my B-movie side happy.

Also, on an unrelated note, as pleased as I am with post-election McCain, he still looks creepy. Snake-like. Shudder.

I've totally worn myself out now-- I really hope this stomach thing ends tonight so I can a) actually eat and b) not lose another day at work before we take off for Memphis!

Ciao for now, more from Memphis!

"We did not come to fear the future, we came to shape it. I believe we can still act, even when it's hard. I still believe that we can act when it's hard, I believe we can replace acrimony with civility." -Big O (I'll post the rest when the transcript is posted, it's a really great sentiment and something that is required for us to be a great country once more)

(and O finished in time for Glee!)

Labor Day Weekend!

First three day weekend (and probably the last) of the school year! It's about the only three day weekend we get off work since the rest of the school holidays aren't ones parents necissarily get off, so we have to work full days on those.

Friday we went and hung out with Emmy, went to Taco Mac and got some yummy wings (even though our overall service was decent, the cooking was questionable) and then went back to her place and watched "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist" which was really cute. I don't know who played the drunk chick, but she was SO good! We dropped by the K's on our way home and hung out for a short while there, then headed home to get some sleep.

Saturday we got up early to go to race number pickup for Jeremy and Michael out at the Galleria. There was a whole little carnival type thing set up for the kids that was a lot of fun. Jeremy talked Julian in to the big slide, and I taught him how to shoot a wrist shot at the Thrashers tent! We finally headed out when Julian started getting grumpy and tired and Jeremy and I stayed and watched Violet while Michael took Jules to Dragon*Con-- since she crashed out pretty quickly, we watched "Iron Man" (IMO, the best superhero movie yet) and chilled on the couch. Then we just kind of hung around, watched some "30 Rock" and drank some wine!

Sunday we were going to go to OBC for services, but mom had swine flu (maybe, really, possibly actually did?) so we decided it was best if we stayed in-- there are so many old people AND little kids with all the adoptions there, no sense in us getting them sick (since we thought maybe we'd been exposed to it, or at least what the K's had last week) so instead we looked around the weak Labor Day sales. Jeremy did find some AMAZING deals on tools-- if he hadn't gotten the discounts he did, it would have cost him almost twice as much!! Now I can let him buy me a real engagement ring ;) since he's bought what he needs for work. I shopped around, got some more stuff at Target and Michael's for crafting and the wedding, a couple of tank tops at New York and Company.

Monday was Jeremy's 10k which he ran with Michael in under an hour (which was just for fun for Jeremy, but a new record for Michael!) and ended at White Water! We went in and I actually got to ride some of the rides this time, and had a lot of fun. Can't wait to go next summer!!

Well, my elbow is kind of hurting, so I'll just leave you with some pictures from this weekend. Ciao for now!

Julian-- not so much with the wrist shot

I don't knooooow about this, Jeremy!

Me and Jeremy taking Vivi on Lazy River

Vivi and her favorite "uncle" ever!

Julian's long weekend treat-- a popsicle.

Hel, Stel, Jess, Bess-- AOII is the best!

Faith, Hope and Charity <3

India's dress pretty much rocked

The whole chapter (including a Pi Chi!) before being Escorted!

New babies with their pledge banner!

Seniors!

Juniors!

Sophomores!

NEW BABIES!

"I don't know, I just figured I could do it by myself?"

(aka, India being goofy)

Hope you've all enjoyed this picture post-- we've got a big weekend coming up, so I'm sure it'll happen again! Thank goodness it's Friday!!!

Re-mem-mem, re-mem-remember, AOII, sisters together

Laughing, singing, doing whatever, we have fun when we're together!

Thursday started rush for us and it was SO much fun! The girls did a really great job, we had fantastic return numbers, and the room looked fantastic-- I'm even borrowing some of the stuff for the wedding! They had cute little red paper lanterns and mini chandeliers that were too pretty. I didn't go last night, but I did go today for Philanthropy and I was really proud of our girls. We apparently always have trouble competing with Breast Cancer Awareness (ZTA's philanthropy, I think), but I feel like they really pulled off a touching and pointed argument for ours-- Arthritis Research! Preference Party is tomorrow, and I'm soooo excited-- I can't wait to see how they do it here! I was also pleasantly surprised to hear one of my favorite AOII songs for the exit number, it's the one in the title line :)

This week was long at work for some reason-- probably because it started with the tan van supposed to have been ready for the afternoon run and then it wasn't so we ran all over the place and had to switch vans around and were late for some schools and Sally had to use her car to go pick up from Avondale and ICS... it was a total mess. Argh! And it's like the kids know when you're having a bad day; they decide to do everything they know they're not supposed to do! Then, Friday, right as I finalized the deposit, one parent walked in with a check for payment! Blargh.

We also got a chance to go to the children's consignment sale and pick up some stuff for Valerie and the now two boys that they're adopting from Africa in a couple of months. We got two car seats for $25, and tons of clothes and toys, enough to last them a month or so in cold weather in Indiana and a couple of things that will work under coats and that they'll hopefully fit well enough to take back to Singapore with them as well as some nice clothes for church and whatnot.

Hope everyone's weekends have gone well, and I'll post more when I know more :)

Indeed

Well, last Saturday Jeremy got here and we've been trying to squeeze him in ever since-- we both just have too much stuff! I've got him a few hours a week at FBC working with me, but there's also a possibility of an opportunity at the Goodyear in town which obviously isn't exactly what he's looking for, but might pay the bills for a while. We're thinking that if he gets that, we'll look at some of the 1 BR apartments (carriage houses, in-laws suites, etc) around town because we need at least a little more space. Plus, the 1BRs around here have been on the market for so long that we might be able to talk them down a little in rent!

Work was kind of crazy this week, but it went smoothly, and hopefully will continue to go smoothly. I didn't get the job at Emory, which isn't a surprise (someone who was laid off in my mom's round of downsizing applied for it, so she had immediate preference), but I'm up for another one which would be great. It'd be really hard for me to leave AS, but I think Richard kind of understands that I do need to find something that will pay more of the bills.

Friday I racked up at a clothing swap with Meg, Sarah, Stacy, Amanda, Chris, and Tracy. It was a lot of fun, I really love Stacy's house, and it was great to go have fun with them. Michael and Jeremy watched Watchmen, which I'll have to watch on my own now, but c'est la vie. Yesterday, we went for Wade and Iggy's birthday dinner with our new second family, and then on to Iggy and Wade's to stomp muscadines for wine!

The pictures loaded in reverse order, but here are a few!

The grapes post-stomping-- tasty!

I'm wearing that stylish t-shirt because Violet puked all over me-- twice!

This is what 41 pounds of Muscadines looks like!

Violet loves Jeremy! Not that we're surprised :)