i did fun things that people might want to read about!!!!! (you're welcome)

so, lucky girl that i am, i got to go visit eric and beth in anchorage. it was a super-awesome birthday(s) gift (thanks again, guys!) that couldn't have happened at a better time.

i arrived on nov 18th, on a balmy, -12 degree F afternoon, and the three of us celebrated my arrival by stuffing ourselves full of yummy mexican food and margaritas. sunday, the most important day of the year (MY BIRTHDAY, duh), i made beth immediately regret asking what i wanted to do on my birthday by dragging her (eric was much more willing) to a bar at 10:00am to watch the redskins play the cowboys. while i won't speak of how the game ended, fun was had by 2/3 of us (although i think all of us would have gladly killed the loud, obnoxious cowboys fan sitting at the table next to ours,). that afternoon a couple of eric and beth's friends came over for dinner and drinks, and i think *everyone* enjoyed that part of the day.

on monday i woke up to eric telling me that bella had been barfing all night, so i should let her out back quickly when she needed to go. i worked on my thesis while eric and beth went to work, and i don't think i've ever traveled 15 feet faster than whenever i noticed bella standing by the back door... everything went fine though, she seemed to have gotten it all out overnight.

on tuesday, despite being set back by a wicked migraine, beth bravely joined me for round 1 of our twilight drinking game. we decided water would be best for movie #1, and after 2 hours of chugging water i don't think i have ever been so well hydrated in my life! eric joined us for movie #2 (even though he's TOTALLY team edward, ugh...), and we switched to beer. the drinking game continued on wednesday morning with mimosas for movie #3, and later in the afternoon eric drove us to movie #4. at that point, the "rules" of the drinking game had mostly devolved into beth and i whisper-yelling "DRINK" at each other...

thursday was, of course, thanksgiving, so much of the day was spent cooking and trying to time everything juuuust right so it's all done at the same time. dinner was around 5, and we were joined by jen, who had also joined us on my bday. i learned the hard way (like i do every year), that just because a plate can fit THAT much food, doesn't mean i should eat that much food, let alone go for seconds. in trying moments like that one, however, i always remember eric's lesson on eating from growing up - "eat fast before your stomach realizes how full it is." such wise words.

post-thanksgiving -food-coma-day (aka friday), eric and i went snowshoeing which is SOMUCHFUN. also hard work, which made me feel ever-so-slightly better about eating and drinking pretty much continuously since the moment i arrived. at one point, i was pretty convinced that we had lost dash-the-dog, but apparently he likes to chase squirrels/rabbits/whatever and so him disappearing is actually quite normal. he eventually bounded out of the woods and totally ignored eric's and my disapproving glares. either way, snowshoeing is fun.

saturday was the exciting sledding adventure which turned out, after all, to be not so exciting. this was actually a welcome change for me, since i was, at the top of the hill, pretty sure that i was going to die from falling off a mountain. i didn't, and that was just fine with me. the hill had tons of bumps on it, the only benefit of which that i could see was a good ab workout from trying to lift your feet over them. all in all, it was fun, if not the death-defying experience that some of us wished it could have been.

sadly, the next day was my last day in anchorage. we watched the redskins game again (at home this time, since they were playing the seahawks it was on local channels). afterwards i took eric and beth out to lunch to say thanks for the awesome trip and sorry for eating/drinking you nearly out of house and home. they dropped me off at the airport for my "direct" flight from anchorage to newark (it stopped in seattle, WTF?!?!). lucky for me, the woman in the window-seat in my row barfed the whole flight. i felt sorry for myself having to listen to her, but i'm still pretty sure that she was MUCH more miserable than me... having gotten about 3 minutes of sleep on the red-eye flight, i decided not to grace my job with my presence on monday, and instead went home and was kinda snippy with anyone who even looked like they were going to talk to me. then i slept 10 hours, and decided that i wouldn't have to kill everyone afterall. positive change, i'd say...

so there you have it. great trip to anchorage! and mom, don't worry, there were *ONLY* two days where i started drinking before 10:30am.

i'm really trying to not let this blog be completely overrun with self-pitying rants about my SRP, but...

ok, so, given the fact that i'd rather be watching football, drinking a beer, and chilling with granger, and instead i'm holed up in the basement (aka, the dungeon) with an IV line pumping coffee directly into my bloodstream, and granger is still really, really, really far away, i guess i just don't have lots of sunshine-and-happiness things to write about.

so instead, you "get" to read about why i'm writing all my posts about how much writing this paper sucks and not writing about other more interesting things.

1. i literally have nothing exciting going on in my life right now, so the only thing that there IS to talk about is this paper. every weekday except thursday, i wake up in the morning, spend 7.5 hours at work, and then i come home and i sit in front of my computer for hours and hours longer trying to finish this darn thing. and on thursday, saturdays, and sundays? on those days i spend the ENTIRE day sitting in front of my computer working on this thing. so, you'll just have to forgive me for talking about how much this paper sucks incessantly until i finish it. have i mentioned that it sucks? because if i haven't, you should know that it sucks. a lot.

2. granger is gone, so i am missing my partner-in-crime. well, ok, partner in awesome-fun-things-happening-whenever-the-@$%^-we-want-them-to. as soon as he's back, and i'm done with this paper (which sucks, if i forgot to say that earlier), i will have my life back, and i will be much more likely to DO interesting things, thereby making me able to WRITE about interesting things.

you know it's bad when the most interesting post on here is about why i'm not posting about interesting things. sigh.

in 2 weeks, though, you might get lucky. i'm going to alaska this friday, which will assuredly be the most exciting thing that has happened to me in a long, long time. (although eric and beth, please, no more mummified creatures or moose on your doorstep, k? thanks,)

happy one month anniversary, sadie!

it's been a month since my mom and i drove to baltimore (well, ok, 30 minutes north of baltimore) to meet/pick up ms. sadie-the-dog. all in all, i love being a dog owner (although picking up poop is not my favorite thing in the world...). what a great feeling to come home to someone who is SOEXCITEDTOSEEYOU that their entire butt wags along with their tail. pretty endearing, if you ask me.

here's sadie and i enjoying a good snuggle:


and i just loved this one. dog's noses are cute!!


welcome to the fam once again, sadie. i'm glad to have you! :)

I'VE MADE PROGRESS!!!!

BOO-YA, list!

1. Finish knitting the scarf for my mom - ok bad start, but whatever...
2. Visit Monica in Charlottesville
3. Visit Eric & Beth in Alaska - NEXT WEEK, BABY
4. Visit Granger in North Carolina
5. Spend a day in Annapolis - probably not going to happen
6. Spend a day in Harper’s Ferry - might possibly happen (we'll see)
7. Travel to a foreign country - canada (CHECK), czech republic (CHECK), and greece (CHECK)
8. Read at least 5 books for pleasure
9. Learn and master a new dish (just ONE!) - i've been all over this one
10. Start learning French - probably not going to happen
11. Take a class in something fun (read: not school related! something like pottery, wine tasting, or cooking) - wine tasting is TOTALLY in that list, and monica and i did that in a big BIG way
12. Be a photographer for a day
13. Go to a cultural event each month
14. Expand my musical horizons
15. Work out 2-3 times per week
16. Lose 10 lbs
17. Finish my MA from American University - december 14th, no later than december 22
18. Get an awesome job that I love
19. Get my own place (where I can have a dog)
20. Get a dog - Sadie, world; world, Sadie

9 down - almost halfway there!