Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Currently Reading
The Da Vinci Code
By Dan Brown
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Family dynamics...I know every family has them, but it seems like mine has been a little more, well, dynamic lately. Unfortunately not in a good way. What do you do when someone you care for so much becomes a totally different person in less than a year?

On a separate note, the sermon this past Sunday was about the DaVinci code. I don't feel like I can really talk to people about it without reading it, so I just bought the book today. I've heard it's quite the page turner - another testament to the fact that the book is fiction. We'll see...

Monday, April 17, 2006


Currently Listening
No Angel
By Dido
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Ok, I swear this will be my last tooth-related entry (unless something ELSE happens... ). I was feeling better after going in for "emergency" dentistry Saturday. However, yesterday after church was over, Jamie mentioned that I looked swollen. So I look in the rear view mirror on our way to brunch, and holy cow - I had one huge chipmunk cheek! And when I smile, it's totally crooked, which is kind of funny. Hey, if you can't laugh at yourself in a situation like that, what can you do?!

Anyway, I went in this morning and things seemed better. He gave me a Rx for some antibiotics to take over the next 10 days, and I'll be back there for my follow-up appointment in another week or so. Then it will be on to the next tooth to have the root canal re-done on. Good times!

What a great Easter Sunday - it was one of those days that I love being part of a huge church like Grace. They had the orchestra, choir and even dancers with streamers (Deby, I totally started laughing!!). It was awesome; not as obnoxious as it may seem. And then later there was an international children's choir, although I can't remember their exact name. They are orphans who tour the US to raise awareness for their organization. They were so stinkin' cute! And they sang I Am a Promise, and the girl that sang the solo at the beginning was so good. I was totally crying - ridiculous, I know, but I'm such a sap!

Another beautiful day in MN. My tulips are starting to bloom...I'm so proud! I've never planted anything not in a container before. We're about to grill and hang out on the patio, and then we'll take Tucker for a walk after dinner. I am the first one to admit that I hate Mondays, but what a great way to start the week.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Currently Listening
U2 - The Best of 1990-2000
By U2
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My tooth drama continues...

This morning I woke up with one of the side effects from the Vicodin - nausea/vomiting. So much for my 16 year streak of not throwing up! Anyway, it was miserable, because I couldn't keep anything down to take more medicine, and because I couldn't take any medicine, my teeth and whole right side of my face were in incredible pain. So Jamie called the on call dr. for me, and we went in to meet him at the clinic. I felt really bad about having to make him come in on a Saturday, but I am feeling better now. And at least I should now be able to enjoy Easter Sunday!

Monday AM I'll go back to see the dr. that I saw at my original appointment last Tuesday, and have him re-evaluate at that point.

On another note, we have finally started to meet more of our neighbors now that it's nice out, and are hosting a neighborhood barbecue next Friday. It should be fun!

Friday, April 14, 2006


Tuesday I had an appointment with an endodontist - he needed to re-do a root canal I had about 8-10 years ago that my dentist (not the one who did the original root canal) didn't feel comfortable doing. Things seemed fine, he found the problem and fixed some of it, but we had to schedule a follow up appointment for a couple of weeks from now. Well, Wednesday night, all day yesterday, and last night I have been in some major pain. Not only in the tooth that was affected but also my whole upper right side of my mouth.

So I called this AM to see if they could get me in, but they are closed due to Good Friday. I had to call the on-call dr, who prescribed generic Vicatin (sp?) for me. Well, I took it, and it hasn't really helped at all. So I just called the dr's pager again to see if we can set something up for tomorrow morning in the office, as he said another alternative is to open up the tooth (again) and put medicine in it directly.

I'm not sure if it's just because I feel like it's affecting my whole face, or what, but I am in so much pain I just start crying every now and then. Hopefully I can get in so my whole Easter weekend isn't ruined...

Monday, April 10, 2006

Currently Listening
Dwell in the House
By Ron Kenoly
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I love having a great weekend!

Friday - dinner and some quality time with Jamie

Saturday - ALL day scrapbooking event, 9AM-10PM. I was there as a SU! demonstrator, so I did a make & take for about an hour, and then also answered questions people had about SU!. But the majority of the day was spent doing my own cropping, and hanging out with my mom! I'm so glad she was able to come with me. And it was definitely worth it, as I had a lot of orders, including 3 new customers, and will probably be doing two parties in the next few months because of it. Much better than the last time I went.

Sunday - an AWESOME palm Sunday service, seeing friends at church, then having other friends over for lunch to tell us about the meeting they had with a birth mom - who asked them to be adoptive parents!!! Some of you know how long I have been praying for this situation, so it is incredible to see things actually happening! Then a nap (!), a walk with Tucker, and a great workout.

So today was back to work. It was a good day - I was able to leave at about 3, run some errands and then take Tucker for another walk which he loved. It is SO beautiful today, 77 degrees!! Gotta love it.

Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Currently Reading
My Sister's Keeper : A Novel
By Jodi Picoult
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Today was my final weigh in for the "Drop it Like it's Hot" contest at work and...(insert drum roll here)...my total was15 pounds. Although the gym didn't do their weigh in until the third week of January, so I had lost almost five pounds by then. So since the beginning of the year I am at about 19 pounds! My body fat percentage is down about 4% if I remember right, and I also lost a bunch of inches - the person that did my measuring is supposed to email me all the info in the next day or two. They won't know who the winner is until next week, as people have until the end of the day Friday to do their final weigh ins. They determine the winner by some magic formula using weight, body fat and inches. I think I mentioned in my last post that I'm certain I'm not going to win, because the winner at the half-way point was already at 20 pounds! Good for him, though. I'm certainly not going to be mad at someone for kicking butt at losing weight!

Lost is coming on - gotta run. LOVE that show!!!

Monday, April 3, 2006


Currently Listening
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
By Sarah Mclachlan
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Well, today was an incredibly interesting day, but I'm very glad to report that I still have a job. Whew! My entire team is still in tact, and I think all of my friends in other areas of the company are safe as well. I'm sure productivity throughout the company was extremely low...it was SO tense the whole day. They called us all together again in the afternoon to regroup and at that point I think most people were pretty checked our for the day.

So I came home around 4:00 and Jamie and I walked Tucker since it was so nice out. Then we went to the gym and I kicked it into gear - I had a really great workout! I have my final weigh in for the "Drop it Like it's Hot" contest at work on Wednesday. I know I'm not going to win, but it was definitely good motivation, and enough to make it a habit now. I've lost almost 20 pounds since the beginning of the year! Now if I can just keep it off this time... Dinner is calling; a very late dinner tonight.

Sunday, April 2, 2006


Currently Listening
Films About Ghosts: The Best Of...
By Counting Crows
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Here were some highlights from my week off:

  • Going to Duluth last week to visit Jamie's family for the weekend (Amy is pregnant again...)
  • The outlet mall in Albertville
  • Taking Tucker to the dog park with his best buddies Scooter and Chompers, and my friend Sarah
  • GREAT episode of Lost on Wednesday - even though that's not really tied to vacation.
  • Meeting Diana for lunch and having a good talk
  • Emptying out all the boxes from our upstairs closets that have been there since we moved in (which was last August)
  • Going to Ikea to buy a bookshelf (and about 5 or 6 other random things that we HAD to have...happens every time at Ikea!) for the books we unpacked. It's really tall.
  • Hanging out with friends at Andrea's spa party
  • Lunch today with some neighbors that we found out go to our church - they're so nice! Hopefully this will be the start of a nice friendship.
  • Paying down the credit card with tax money!!!! SWEET!!! (that thing will be paid off sooner than later...)

Back to the grind tomorrow. There's a mandatory meeting tomorrow morning...I'll be curious to see if it has to do with the layoffs that we know may be coming for some folks. I'm cautiously optimistic that my position will be ok. Maybe it's because I've been laid off before, but I'm just not too worried about it. Jamie took a personal day off tomorrow, so I'm slightly jealous, but hey - if I didn't go in tomorrow, I'd miss my favorite class at the gym!