Day 1524

Despite the loss of my beloved Arkansas Razorbacks to The Ohio State Buckeyes, my quick vacation to New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl was an incredibly fun time. Great food, great drinks, great people...what more can you ask for?!?! It was really wonderful being able to play and catch up with some of my college girlfriends...since most don't live in Little Rock, I rarely get to see any of them during my trips home. Smash, I had an especially fun time spending the trip with you! Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!

Day 1518

Tomorrow morning, super early, I'm flying out to the Big Easy! New Orleans for 25 hours sure sounds good to me!

Sugar Bowl, here I come! Woo Pig Sooie!

Day 1293

Ok, so maybe I was a bit overeager when I promised to get back in the swing of things blog-wise. Things have just been busy around here lately. Good, but busy. I know, excuses, excuses, but that is the truth.

Anyways, last weekend I flew down to New Orleans to celebrate the bachelorette party of one of my BFFs, Chase. It was such great fun, and I'm still in a bit of recovery from the weekend.

Look who we ran into down there?!?! My good friend Jeb, randomly there for another party.



Bride-to-be Chase



Commander's Palace Jazz Brunch...yummy!



The old DC Arkansas ladies (and one adoptee)



Dinner with my favs.

Day 636

There's nothing that eats at my stomach more than the fact that I've somehow messed up and disappointed someone. Literally, my heart starts racing, my stomach goes crazy and at times, I begin to have a panic attack. If you've never had one, then lucky you. Your head starts spinning, heart beats out of your chest and you lose your ability to breathe. Scary stuff.

Many times, this is an extreme, but even little mistakes can sometimes get me going. Case in point: In DC, you have to get Emergency No Parking signs to post on the street you intend to park a moving van. As I was driving by the side street that I parked my van two Saturdays ago, the first time since I moved in, I realized I forgot to take down the signs. No big deal, right? I stopped my car, jumped out and went to take them down. Well, just as I did, the elderly lady that lives on the corner came out of her house to say, "Thank you for finally taking those signs down." But her tone wasn't thanking, it was admonishing. And instantly, my stomach sank.

Silly, right? It was an honest mistake; I thought I had already taken care of it. But the way she looked down at me...well, you would think I had just given her a report card full of F's. Eyes staring down her nose and straight into my soul.

I've been getting these feelings a lot lately, and it's the first time in some years that it's been happening on a regular basis. The thing is, I'm not sure what is triggering it. Maybe it's the fear that in my new living situation (and rent increase), I won't be able to live up to the responsibilities I expect for myself. Maybe I'm just stressed out about the move and my upcoming traveling, and it's just all getting the best of me. Maybe I just haven't had enough down time and it's all building up.

Whatever the case, it's starting to get the best of me. My neck is stiff, my body aches, I'm not sleeping, I'm not thinking straight. I come home feeling defeated, take one look at my house in disarray and have to go straight to bed. Yep, that's right, the house is still not put together. That's the plan for today, to get as much done as possible. That means boxes finally unpacked, closets finally filled and finally making this space a home.

I still am sans couch, and will be until after the Conventions because I have neither the time nor money to deal with finding one right now. And I don't have the materials to put up my maps on the brick wall, but other than that, I'm determined to get it done.

Tonight I'll be heading to the beach with my friend Shelley for a well deserved three days of peace. She's attending a work conference there until Thursday, and I have the week off, so she asked me to tag along to keep her company on the trip. Lucky me, a free place to stay (thanks Shelley's work), otherwise I wouldn't be seeing the ocean this year. I plan to do nothing but lay and soak up the sun. No going out, no checking my Blackberry (well, maybe once or twice)...just laying and letting it all out.

When I get back, I'm treating myself to a 1/2 day at Elizabeth Arden. Well actually, my aunt is--she gave me the package as a thank you for keeping the kids while she and my uncle were in Europe. Ahhhh, spa day. My idea of heaven. Hopefully, this trip and the spa day will rid me of all this blah and finally get me back to normal again. Fingers crossed people, because after this week, I'm non-stop until after Labor Day.

Next week I work, then the following leave for Denver for the Democratic National Convention, then straight to Minneapolis for the Republican National Convention, then straight to Las Vegas for dad's induction, then home on September 8th. Whew. It wears me out just thinking about it.

Oh, quick side note, I'm not sure that I've mentioned Vegas before. Dad is being inducted into the American Swimming Coaches Hall of Fame. Mom, Marissa, Lindann and I will all be there and I am accepting the award on his behalf.

So anyway, here is what I still have to do before I leave tonight...don't be disgusted, I just haven't had time to tackle this mess. Hopefully I'll post some after shots before I leave tonight.

Day 508

I'm back! Sorry about the week-long absence, but I decided not to bring my laptop down to Florida. Seems like no matter what, a vacation isn't a vacation anymore, and I don't even have a family of my own yet! So I ignored my blackberry, my email and everything else for a week. Still, the week was not quite as stress-free as I'd like, but it was still nice to get out of the city for a bit. I did get some incredible pictures to share--I'm very excited that I'm learning more about my camera and am very pleased with this purchase.

The weather was not totally cooperating with us...it rained the first two days and was COLD the third, but finally the sun decided to come out and I got two good days in the sun. On the cold day, my aunt and I decided to take the kids to a Baltimore Orioles game (they do their Spring training in Ft. Lauderdale, and the stadium was literally 5 minutes from my grandparents condo). They played the Florida Marlins, and it was fun being at a Major League game that was so informal--the players were literally sitting right in front of us.

Here are some pics from the game:











And some of my favorite beach pictures...there were so many great ones, but I had such great subjects and scenery, I had to share:





























Back to the real world, and the diet--ugh--in just two days...this weekend I'm going to unwind and rest up...next week the craziness starts again.