My return to the blogosphere

Sorry for my absence. I know I'm probably the Ginch-iest Christian there is so I avoided blogging over Christmas. I know I'd go off on some rant about commercializing a sacred day and how I don't see any significance in Christmas trees or ornaments and that would just have ruined everyone's Christmas.


The UPS man came to visit yesterday and I was stupid enough to answer the door looking like a mess and a half! SO EMBARRASSING! I thought I could hide behind the door and just take the package, but nope...I had to sign for it! UGH...I won't even describe how awful I looked. You'd be scarred.

Tomorrow is NYE. Last NYE I was standing directly under Big Ben with my buddies Hannah and Andrew...in the cold...for 3 hours. Then we floated (yes....floated because our feet never touched the ground) in a crowd in the snow 1.25 miles to Victoria Station. That was a year to remember. 2010 was a year to remember in genearl. Graduation...sister getting married...moving to a new city, starting a new job, living by myself for the first time. Big changes. Can't wait to see what 2011 brings! (I'll try not to let the fact that I hate odd numbers get to me this year!)

Best tip I learned this week...

My dad told me about this MSN article: 8 Surprising Habits Ruining Your Health. #1 is pretty disgusting...dust mites and nast inside your pillows! GROSS! I threw my pillows in the dryer this week and now they're all fluffy and dust mite free! I can sleep in peace!

Memoirs of a Knee

I'm writing a book. Not necessarily now. It might happen when I'm 80. Actually, it'll probably be funniest when I'm 80....maybe when I'm recovering from a knee replacement. The book will be a memoir of my knee's life experiences told from my right knee's point of view. I can already see it on the bestseller list.

The said knee has been through some traumatic experiences in it's short life so far. I can't remember what it went through as a child, I'm sure it had rough days when I fell off my bike or fell rollerblading or when it had it's first encounter with hydrogen peroxide.

College was probably even rougher on my knee. One fine day my Freshmen year on the quad, I borrowed a friend's shoes to go inside the student center to use the loo, but these shoes were too small, so when I was returning to my circle of friends, I tripped on some gravel and my knee took a hit for the rest of me. I tried to play it cool like any Freshmen would, but the blood oozing down my shin blew the cover of all my lies "I'm okay, really, I'm fine." (hint....when I say that I never mean it).

I'm honestly getting tired of people asking, "What's wrong with your leg (or knee)?"! Okay, I get it! I have an ugly knee! This traumatic experience my Freshmen year has scarred me. The wound didn't heal (I probably needed stitches in the first place). A few weeks later, I was home chasing my little brother around the dining room table, dove for him, and the wound reopened with carpet burn (leaving a little blood on my mom's white carpet...no worries, rubbing alcohol does miracles!). I can't remember every time I've fallen since then, but let's just say I'm a pretty regular klutz. My knee wound has had rough days. Sometimes it would swell up really big, then other days it would be "fine".

Junior year was a rough year for it. I went skiing over Jan term (let's just say skiing won't be my key to getting to the Olympics). I got back to the cabin after a long day of skiing (and falling) and found my long johns all bloody from my poor knee! Weeks later Step Sing practice began. The crazy dances of step sing require you to kneel or fall suddenly to your knees...not okay. I also took Karate that semester (again...another activity I'm not skilled in). In Karate we had to sit on our knees and bow before and after every class and do some stretches on our knees. All this made me develop fluid in my knee (aka, it swelled up so big I had kiwi stuck in my knee!). I went to "MedHelp" because I hate making appointments and waiting in waiting rooms (yeah, I know, I'm a spoiled doctor's kid). I'm not so sure if the doctor there made a good call in draining my knee and stuffing it. He essentially opened a wound that will never heal.

It's been ugly and purple every since, and my leg modeling career has gone down the drain. Senior year I got bad tendonitis in this knee and could've sworn it was connected to the ugly scar. X-rays and MRIs thought otherwise...actually, they couldn't see anything! I went to plastic surgeon (something I never thought I'd do). He said if I had surgery I'd have to keep my right leg straight (PERFECTLY straight) for 6 weeks. That means no driving, no climbing stairs, no jumping, swimming, running, no fun or independence for 6 weeks. Nah, I'm good.

Friday night I was walking down the street with my friends, stepped off the curb the wrong way, and I knew it was coming...the slow-mo fall. There was nothing to grab on to except the ground beneath my feet, so I did. In perfect slow-mo fashion, I dropped to my knees as if to say a prayer to Mary in the middle of the Dallas streets, then caught myself with my hands. "I'm okay, I'm okay," I laughed as I popped back up! "Whew, I knew that was coming. It's been a few months since I've fallen so I should've seen it coming." "MONTHS?" The girls I was with said?! "More like years since I've fallen down!" What can I say? I'm clumsy. I need to go to finishing school...I'm not finished yet. My main concern was that my jeans had ripped...nope! Great! Next, was I bleeding? The left knee was great....but surprise surprise, the right knee was gushing! Some strangers walking by (who luckily hadn't seen me fall) offered a pack of Kleenex. We didn't have any band-aid so the Kleenex worked until we got home. This fall was exactly like the fall at Cinque Terra (minus the gorgeous scenery). I have a nice pic of me and my friends with the cute little village of Vernazza in the background and blood running down my leg. That's one for the scrapbook.

So, to answer the question of what's wrong with my knee....read the book when it comes out in 60 years, written by a poor old battered replaced knee. (It'll be a tear jerker).

The Wonderful Weepies

I shouldn't have been surprised, but The Weepies concert was amazing. It was in this adorable old theatre- Lakewood Theatre- that smelled like the west end London theaters.

I know it shouldn't be too much to ask, but these days I think its rare to find a band or singer that sounds as good (or better) live than on a recording. The Weepies sound even better live! I couldn't believe I was finally seeing the faces that the amazing voices belonged to!

The Weepies singers are a married couple (Steve and Deb) and they're so in love! They have 2 sons, ages 3 and 7 months (and they're touring as a little family!) I think the picture on the left is when they first met 10 years ago.

I love it when artists tell stories about how and why they wrote their songs! Every time Deb would tell a story, Steve would look at her and smile, and she would do the same thing when he talked...and sometimes they would just tell a story together. She'd start, and he'd say, "Can I set the background?" and she'd say, "of course!" so he' tell half the story and she'd jump back in. Too cute! I'm a huge fan!

On a different note...I tried to teach myself how to knit my Freshmen year of college (because EVERY Samford girl knits!) It didn't really work out. But I'm trying again! Right now I'm attempting this hat. Then I'm going to try making a cowl scarf (like the ones Gap has right now). So far I've only messed up a little bit on the hat...but I think I recovered my mistake...maybe? I might just have to butcher this first one and then try it again!

The Grandest Surprise

Remember a few weeks ago when I made a list of things I was looking forward to? In that list I said the week after Birmingham but before the Weepies there was a surprise that I couldn't tell you about.

It happened.

Four of my high school friends and I piled in the car and hit the road at 7:30 AM on Saturday morning to drive to Lubbock where we surprised our dear friend Audrey for her birthday!!! The 5 hour car ride to west Texas (I thought) wasn't that bad. The girls I rode with went to college 1.5-3 hours from home- so a 5 hour ride through the flat cotton fields of west Texas was a little much, but I reminded them that our trip to Lubbock was only half the distance to Samford! Granted, you hit more big cities going to Birmingham...we only got Abilene, Tye, and Post (none of which are considered 'cities' to me).

We surprised Audrey at lunch- she had no idea, which is always my favorite part. I'm a surprise ruiner for myself. I somehow always get suspicious and figure out when I'm going to be surprised, and if I don't figure it out ahead of time I get really upset that everyone knew something I didn't. I'm such a party pooper!

I'm glad we could rescue Audrey from her law school studies for at least a day! It was good to be back with old friends. I had never been to Lubbock or seen Tech, so it was good to see where she has spent the last 4.5 years of her life!

My throat is a little sore from belting out 90's and Disney music on the long ride back to Ft. Worth. I'm glad I have some friends  I can completely embarrass myself in front of and they don't even care because they're just as embarrassing!!

This is our "frat pose"

Happy Birthday weekend Audrey!!!

'Tis the Season

I love Fall...I do, but there are 2 things I HATE about it getting cold.

1. Getting a cold. I woke up at 6:30 this morning feeling great. I bounced out of bed, was going to get to work early....things were going great. By 9 I just couldn't think straight and I was so tired. Throughout the day my head started hurting more, my throat got dry, and somehow a billion cotton balls found their way inside my head! I left work a couple hours early to "work from home"...does it count if I dreamt about work??

2. Dry Skin. I only noticed this problem after London but my skin cracks really bad in the winter. Thank goodness for the amazing goodness of Bath & Body Works Shea Cashmere Hand Lotion!!

I actually went to the grocery store to load up on Zicam, Advil, and Mucinex to try to kick this nasty cold, BUT Bath & Body Works is right next to Tom Thumb! So I got to solve both of my cold weather worries in one trip (well...the cold isn't exactly SOLVED but I should be on the road to recovery).

I have a lot of trouble going into a store and walking out only with what I went in for. For instance: Sunday night I went to Tom Thumb for cheese and milk- that's it. What did I walk out with? Cheese, Milk, Tilapia fillets, yogurt, jello mix and bananas. Today I went in for Zicam and Advil and I got some Reeses too (I'm sick, I deserve them, right?). I went into Bath and Body Works for this Shea Cashmere goodness and I walked out with that AND 3 amazing Holiday scented candles (that I can't actually smell right now because I can't smell anything). I got Homemade Cookies (that I hope doesn't make me crave the actual thing!), Autumn, and Twisted Peppermint.

Love the holiday scents...hate the cold and dry skin!

New Friends

Just when I thought I was turning into an introvert and it was impossible for me to make new friends, I sit down by Michael on the plane to Birmingham. I'm not really one to strike up a conversation with a stranger on a plane. I always thought that was weird, but I know now that I just hadn't met the right stranger yet. 

Michael is in the Army, married, and has a baby on the way (due in April-ish). Our conversation started when I asked, "Are you coming or going [from war]?" And therein launched our 2+ hour conversation. He actually wasn't coming or going, he was going to training for the weekend. He had been to Iraq and by summer he'll be in Afganistan. 

I (probably like most Americans) avoid thinking about the fact that America is at war. Or maybe it's just that we've been at one war or another for my entire life, and we've been at war in the Middle East for the majority of my formative years, and just I've become numb to it. Honestly, I think the media does a poor job of telling American citizens just exactly what's going on. I'd wager that the average American couldn't tell you the difference in the Iraq and Afghan wars- why each started, and what our mission is in each. Actually, I couldn't honestly tell you before I sat down by Michael. 

I learned a lot in those 2 hours. I learned about why the wars started, what we're trying to do, why that probably isn't working, what we probably should do differently, what it's really like in infantry, what our soldiers are going through physically and especially mentally, and then we ended with a great talk about women in infantry. When we landed, the lady sitting in front of us said, "I was trying to sleep but you two were yacking away the whole flight!" We both felt bad for a mili-second, but then he said, "Sorry- it's a public flight!" Haha

He was on my return flight, but got bumped up to first class so we didn't get to talk any more except at baggage claim. A friend said I should get his address and have a soldier pen-pal. I'd feel weird about that. I also feel weird about saying cliche things to strangers. I should have said something along the lines of "Congratulations on becoming a daddy come spring" and "Thank you for serving our country," but I don't say things like that (at least not without feeling fake). I think he can tell just in my showing interest that I was more than just interested in his service- I genuinely appreciated it. I hope he knows that. If not, then this will be more formal "thank you": I truly thank all the men and women of this country who fight for us each and every day while I go and sit behind a desk and live my life in a comfortable denial that we're even at war. 

At baggage claim, Michael said he'd be making that same flight back to Birmingham a lot and asked if I flew it every month. I told him I probably wouldn't go back until May. He said, "Well I hope I'll get to see you again in May." I made a new friend! Meeting him reminded me that our soldiers need our support whether or not we support the politics behind the wars. These men suffer physically and mentally for us. I can't really express my gratitude.