Snow?!

I can't believe this is the second snow we've had in a few weeks. Both happened on a Friday night and want to ruin any chances I might have of a productive weekend. I know we never get snow and I should be happy for the kids to play in it, blah blah blah, but I'm not. ha! I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to driving in it so it just makes me feel like I'll now be a hermit all weekend. Hopefully it won't cramp my weekend plans too much (although it has already killed the 6 mile run I had planned to run with Joelle). Pais says she is having no part of the snow. I don't let her off leash but I knew there was no way she was going to run off the front porch into that snow this morning. She can't even stand rain. On a positive note (yeah I know there aren't any of those yet in this post...) I have lots of school stuff I can do, a new knitting project started, and luckily food and booze in the house should the neighbors and I really get stuck in the house!

Girls weekend 2010

Just about every year me and my high school girlfriends get together for a weekend. We are attempting to ensure this happens every year by doing it the same weekend in February and alternating who the planner is. So far we're taking turns, oldest to youngest. Next year is my turn! It was such an awesome weekend and one I had been looking forward to for some time. These girls are my heart. No matter the distance or time apart we always pick back up and in a matter of minutes are laughing and cutting up like it's 1997 again. There are six of us including me, but there were seven. Almost a year ago our sweet Amanda lost her battle to pancreatic cancer. It wasn't the same without her. We were down at the beach, which was one of her favorite places. I think we all felt her in the winter sunshine and the beautiful views seen from the ocean front house.
I've known all of these girls for at least 15 years, some more. Sort of crazy considering that we aren't even 30 yet. Lots of girls in high school have petty fights and can be down right mean to each other. We were so lucky to have always been kind to each other. Some of my best memories with these girls.....Anchor club dances, Proms, Spring Break at Cherry Grove, Pucking Felicans with Parker, Homecoming, Drafting class, Sleep overs, The Cabin, MD 20/20 (ha!), Road trips in college, NYC visits, weddings, showers, being with Amanda at Hospice and scrap-booking for her, and now babies. I'm so proud of these girls. Three of the six have masters degrees and three are working mothers as well. They are beautiful and talented. Most importantly they know me better than almost anyone and STILL love me. ha! Currently I"m the only one not married. I think they were expecting better single girl stories from me. Sorry ya'll, I'll try to do better next year.
We lounged in our pj's, stayed up late, watched several movies, and had afternoon margariatas (evening margaaritas too!).

Awesome starfish that Becca and Laura found on the beach Sunday morning




This is the kind of view I like to wake up to


Not sure we had enough food.... ; )


At the beach Feb '10



At home Jan '09, almost the exact same pictures. Just different mexican restaurant! The only sad thing about being with them is that time goes by too quickly. It seemed like in a blink of an eye it was Sunday and time to leave. Typically we see each other at home or through quick visits with each other, but I bet it will be next February before we are all together again. I can't wait!

For the love of the cafeteria

Yes it's strange, but I love a cafeteria. This probably started at the mall in Fayetteville at a very young age going to Morrison's cafe. The options were endless. Fried chicken, mac and cheese, jello cut into cool little blocks (sorry mom you jello in Pyrex bowls was not near as exciting. Don't forget the strawberry shortcake. Anything with cool whip still rocks my world. When I lived in NYC I had a friend who worked in a prominent publishing building not far from where I was in school/working. We met for lunch about once a week and I always hoped she would want to eat in her cafe. It was subsidized by the company and seemed way cheaper than our Cosi (another fav lunch spot) salads and bread. The only thing my cafeteria is lacking that made hers hold a huge spot in my heart was that hers had "by the ounze" froyo. Frozen yogurt people! as much or as little as you wanted. toppings too. Yeah it doesn't take much to make me happy. of my favorite things about nursing school and being in the hospital every day is the cafeteria! This cafeteria very loosely resembles ole Morrison's. There is fried chicken on Wednesdays and cool jello and pudding cups. However there are lots of healthy options including a "by weight" salad bar, baked chips, hummus and taboule wraps, bulk dried fruit, nuts, it's all there! I've always been an avid lunch packer. This is for monetary as well as weight watching reasons. My days in clinical are long. We meet in the cafeteria for pre conference and I get an orange or some (affordable REAL) mixed fruit to supplement my Lara bar. Then it's a long time from 7:30 to noon. During this time I'm almost 100% on my feet and moving. So when lunch comes around I happily indulge in the healthy and affordable lunch options that the cafeteria has to offer me. I've decided this is a well deserved treat for these long stressful days. I have seriously considered taking fellow cafeteria lover friends on a field trip there for lunch one day. I feel I should share the love. : )
To continue with this being the most random post....I feel like being in the hospital in my scrubs I'm with "my people". Another nursing friend has used this term with me before. We'll be out to lunch and she sees nurses in scrubs and says they are her people. In the world of the hospital everyone is walking around in pajama like scrubs, going about their daily business, and according to what they wear you know their job. The doctors in one color, OR nurses matching them, techs in light blue, nursing students in white and teal,etc. It makes it very nice and visually organized, which I must say I enjoy. What if at the bank the vp's wore red ties and the svp's wore blue? ha! However as much as I do love my scrubs and their pseudo cast system, by the end of a day in the hospital, I'm barely through my front door when I am stripping off those scrubs. You start to think about where you have been and what you have done during the hours that you were wearing them. Yuck! Sorry no pictures in this post. I did search google images for pictures of pretty cups of jello in cut glass bowls, but had no luck!