things i want to do this summer

1. pick strawberries

2. jazz in the garden

3. screen on the green

4. tubing on the potomac

5. nats games

6. dc united games

7. canoeing on the potomac
8. go camping

9,673 days

i just googled "how many days have i been alive?" and it turns out that today, may 14, 2012, is my 9,673rd day alive.  the website then helpfully told me that:

 

Your 1,000th day was August 15, 1988!
Your 5,000th day was July 29, 1999!
Your 10,000th day will be April 6, 2013!
Your 15,000th day will be December 14, 2026!
Your 20,000th day will be August 22, 2040!
Your 25,000th day will be May 1, 2054!
Your 30,000th day will be January 8, 2068!
Your 35,000th day will be September 16, 2081!

...and after that we're getting pretty damned optimistic.

so, come April 6, 2013, i'm going to have a 10,000th day celebration! and if i remember, i'll celebrate all the other ones, too!

and you know what, website? i don't appreciate your last statement. in my head, i retorted, "YOUR FACE IS PRETTY OPTIMISTIC!!!" take that, website. take that!

Master Brigit (that sounds wrong, doesn't it?)

so i graduate tomorrow. from grad school. with a master's degree.

scary!

The Gramanator Turns 90 (also known as Eric and Beth's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad travel experience)

these past couple of weeks have been busy with lots of fun things happening.  just about two weeks ago, my granny, the one and only Gramanator, turned 90 years old!  let me repeat, 90. YEARS. OLD. the entire fam (with parties arriving from AK, CA, MN, and DC as well as the local NCers) gathered in asheville, NC to eat, drink, be merry, and then drink some more. 

we got there on april 12th (looooooong drive, but i can't complain), briefly met up at rob and linda's house for a delicious burgers-n-dogs dinner, and then, due to general travel-exhaustion, pretty much everyone went back to the hotel on the early side.  later that evening, eric and beth *finally* made it from AK (did i mention that their travels sucked?), and after some preliminary, parentally-supervised fun, the three of us made our way to the hotel bar to await granger's arrival.  he arrived a little while later, we partook of a few more adult beverages, and then it was our bedtime as well.

friday was The Big Day for the gramanator.  we started off with a short hike to pearson's falls, where a kind fellow-walker took a big group shot of everyone who'd walked all the way to the falls.  after milling and romping about, we all gathered at the start of the path up to the falls for an awesome picnic spread.  

The Gramanator (left) and her sister Mary at Pearson's Falls

after a brief post-pearson's falls respite, we all met up at travinia's restaurant for the main event: the birthday dinner.  my dad, mr. name-anagram-expert, came up with a game where each of us received a letter from "HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMANATOR" (mine was the "B") and had to say something about gram that related to our letter.  then, after each of us went, we were arranged into other phrases ("BATTY HAIRY GRANDMA HIPPO" and "BARGAIN HAM TYPHOID PARTY") before spelling out the real message, with the help of a friendly waitress who held up the final "R" in "GRAMANATOR." i believe gram got a kick out of the whole thing, especially the part where approximately 20 relatively smart people could NOT figure out where they had to stand in order to spell out these messages... although come to think of it, a majority of us are related to HER...

overall, many funs were had by all (even jack and elise, who stayed up way past their bedtimes by being were totally preoccupied watching a movie). some even continued the party back at the hotel, although only eric, beth, granger, and i made it to playing a somewhat-unsteady couple of games of pool in the hotel bar (oddly, the players got even less and less steady as more games were played. no idea why.).

on saturday, i was feeling very much like i had gained back all 10 pounds i had just shed in march, and so was very much in favor of a LONG hike/waddle up looking glass rock.  it's about a 6.5 mile hike (roundtrip), very much uphill for pretty much the entire way to the top, with gorgeous panoramic views from the top. the hiking crew consisted of me, granger, the parents, eric, beth, and nancy.

view from the top of looking glass rock

me and granger, top of looking glass rock

the hike was awesome, and it made me feel SO much better about stuffing my face later that evening on the delicious dips that linda makes (oh my gosh, they're GOOD!)... also, the dinner.  and the drinks, too (have i mentioned i'm on a "diet?"). that evening we were treated to a slide show by rob, who showed some old pictures taken by OLGB (old loveable grandpa bob), as well as some slides of family gatherings over the last 15-20 years. as always, i love rob's slideshows!


the next morning the DC crew headed out. before leaving, we took a family shot that, once again, only included a majority of the family rather than the whole crazy group. it's hard to catch everyone! granger stuck around an extra day and chilled with the moore/rippeys (which is both awesome and terrifying - WHO ARE YOU WITH? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? TELLLLLL MEEEEEEE!!!!!!). the drive back to DC was uneventful, if looooooong, although, again, can't complain too much...

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

I'VE LOST 10 POUNDS!!! WOOOOHOOOO!!!!

starting weight: 170 lbs
current weight: 160 lbs
goal weight: 150 lbs

i weighed myself over the weekend, at home, on an unofficial scale. this is a BIG no-no: i've been trying to use the same one at my gym for more accurate results, but i had missed the 'official' weigh-in last tuesday due to catching The Plague, and i just couldn't wait until today to check my progress. much to my surprise, the scale at home said 160, meaning i'd lost 10 lbs!!! i was nervous to believe it since it wasn't the official scale, however, so i had to wait until today for confirmation. anyway, long story short, i just went to the gym on my lunch break and weighed myself and I REALLY HAVE LOST 10 POUNDS!!!!!

i know i'm only 1/2 way to my goal, but i feel awesome and motivated and i can't wait to reach 150!!!

SITREP*: 20 things to do in 2012

ok, so we're 3 months (or 1/4) done with 2012, meaning that i should probably be at least 1/4 done with my '20 things to do in 2012' list. uh oh... here's how i'm doing:

1. Finish knitting the scarf for my mom - in progress
2. Get an awesome job that i love - starting job search
3. Learn how to coupon
4. Practice my Spanish
5. Start learning French
6. Travel to a foreign country i haven't visited yet - Turks and Caicos!!!
7. Write poetry/fiction
8. Make something (scarf, quilt...)
9. Take pottery classes
10. Take a class in photoshop
11. Get an apartment
12. Make artwork for the apartment
13. Visit Annapolis
14. Visit Monica in Charlottesville - trip planned for May (no dates yet)
15. Visit a state i haven't been to before - see map below for options. it's looking like new jersey and kentucky are only ones within driving distance...
16. Volunteer at least 6 times (1 so far: March 10th, Kenilworth-Bandalong Litter Trap clean up)
17. Read at least 12 books for fun - 15 so far: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, The Missing Person's Guide to Love, Dracula, Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, Enchanter's End Game, Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda, Sorceress of Darshiva, Wuthering Heights
18. Consolidate, organize, and get rid of excess stuff - happening slowly but surely
19. Pay off grad school loans - in progress (saving takes a while!)
20. Lose 20 lbs (current weight: 170; goal weight: 150): in progress (last weigh in: 166lbs)

ok, so i've finished 2 so far (i REALLY underestimated how many books-for-fun i'd read this year!), and i'm in the works of completing a few others (#1, #2, #14, #16, #18, #19, and #20). i guess that's good progress?

*SITREP = short for situation report, which is military speak for "update me" or "what's going on?"

USA part 2

apparently i have been to oregon and ohio, and i totally forgot that i *just* went to colorado last year... duh!