And so Part II of my Treatment Ends

Hello.

All good things must come to an end they say and this is definitely one of those cases. I'm sad to be going back home as I'll definitely miss Suparna and Beth - my physical therapy tag team. They have fixed my arms back to 80% healed and my back to 60% healed...now I'm being set free into the 'wild' to do all I'd like to be doing. This is an experiment to see how my body holds up...only time will tell.

I'm excited to go back home as lots of fun things await - we're heading off to Tahoe for some snowboarding and to Houston for Dylan's dedication and planning to catch up with lots of different people. Also, it will be nice to be back in an office environment - I miss my coworkers!!

Alas, I'll be back to continue my adventure March 18th. I'm off to Linden, NJ to pack up my things and get ready to face yet another United flight.

In the mean time, take care!!!

Things never turn out as planned...

So Valentine's Day ended up being an evening of watching TV with my housemates as their ski trip got snowed out. I had fun never-the-less and since they don't celebrate this wonderful holiday, I didn't feel out of place.

Over the weekend, I got to catch up with lots of old friends...Friday night I went over to Steph's house for an evening of pizza, beer and wine. It was awesome to see her and many people I've completely lost touch with. People brought babies, others were pregnant - amazing to see how people's lives change so quickly. As much as I can't wait to be a mom, I also totally CAN wait - I'm happy without the responsibility for now. However, many of my friends and family didn't exactly plan their children when they happened, including my parents, and here we all are with things working out. So perhaps my plan of living in Cali for another couple years, then moving to NYC for a year and then to Europe for another year before settling down might not exactly come out as planned...only time will tell.

On Saturday, I chopped my hair and caught up with my old stylist who cut my hair from high school through my first post college job. Talk about a long term relationship! I also got pizza with an old friend, Ebony and his girlfriend - nice time. In the evening, I caught up with yet another old friend, Adam Harvey, as he was visiting his parents in Princeton and we met for a late evening snack. My plan to meet up with Bill Bulman fell through as his cell was turned off all weekend - in fact, it still seems to be...or perhaps he's blocked me? Are there phones out there that allow you to set certain numbers that go straight to voicemail?

Anyways, it's Monday and the rest of my office is out enjoying a Holiday off. I planned to work in NYC with Jon but he decided in the last minute to take the day off and I didn't plan anything to do as a back up. So instead, I'm working today and planning to use the 'free vacation day' another time - more constructively. Once again, nothing ever turns out as planned...

In response, I raise my glass (of water of course) to spontaneity!

And a big snowstorm hits...

Isn't it nice how there I was enjoying pictures of my nieces playing in the snow and here I am in the middle of a snowstorm myself? I actually love it. My physical therapy got cancelled, it's Valentine's Day and it's beautiful outside! I just wish I had some winter clothes and someone to go make a snowman with...

I'm not bragging when I say this, but this is the first Valentine's Day I will be spending by myself. No, I didn't always have a boyfriend but on those 'Vdays' that I didn't have a boy wooing me, I would celebrate with other single friends. This year, I'm away from home and even away from my 'home away from home'. The sweet folks I'm staying with are off skiing with their friends for the evening and as I do not have anything that is waterproof, I'm passing on their invite to come along. So, this will be the first time I'll be celebrating 'love' all by myself, and the kicker is that I'm sooo excited!

So far, I've had blueberry Eggos for breakfast while standing up. None of this sitting down to a healthy bowl of cereal crap for me today. Instead of reading the economist over breakfast, I took 15 minutes to read some more of the novel I'm tackling as bedtime reading. It's a true, trashy 'chick' novel called 'In Her Shoes', which you might have seen on film. I refuse to see it till I finish the book.

For lunch, I had half a frozen pizza and a avocado, sprout and spinach salad. OK, I know what you're thinking but I actually like salads; but you're right, that is a bit too healthy! I thought so too which is why I followed up with half a chocolate bar. After all, it is Valentine's Day and that practically means "Chocolate Eating Day". I couldn't let the media down and not participate...

For anyone at the office that's reading this, I did work today between breakfast and lunch, as well as the 2 hour long conference call we had this afternoon. BUT, this evening, I'm signing off at 6pm not to return until tomorrow morning. *I* have big plans...

Originally I planned a healthy tofu, sprout, carrot and broccoli stir fry for this evening but after much thinking, that will simply NOT do. So...I haven't quite figured out my main course but whatever it is that I will eat, it will be followed by dark chocolate ice cream and banana slices, lots of red wine and popped kettle corn. For entertainment, I've got several things lined up starting with 3 episodes of Gray's Anatomy (just jumped on the band wagon two days ago with Season 1) followed by a movie of my choice...yes, MY choice. No one will be around to make faces or sound unenthusiastic about my movie choice or to smirk as I fill up on chocolate and popcorn - my 'feel good' staples. It will simply be awesome...

Robert, if you are reading this, you better start planning next year's Valentine's Day as this one will be VERY hard to top! *smirk*

To all those celebrating, rock on! "Love" truly is worth taking the time to appreciate. To all those residing in my heart, whether you're actually paying rent or not is irrelevant, a big "I love you!" goes out to you all, and a special shout out to Casemonster, the furry fuzzbutt love of my life...oh and Rob too, love you tons!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Weekend # 2

So I'm in Princeton now, chillin' with the parents. Went to see Dreamgirls with my friend Gianna last night - it was good. Jennifer Hudson can really sing! Today, I caught up with some old friends from the King of Prussia area - that was fun too.

You may be wondering who's starring in my slide show above so let me clarify. Daria is my goddaughter in Poland and Dominika is her little sister. They were caught on camera frolicking in the snow and then warming up at home to some music and dancing. Notice the 'off the shoulder' shirt look...lol. Kids are so interesting to watch - it's amazing how much they see and absorb...even fashion trends! Anyways, the pictures put a smile on my face so I thought I'd share...enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Girls Movie Nite

Andrew had his class this evening so Celine and I decided to watch a movie together. The only one we were both interested in and able to see without our other halves was 'Children of Men'. I'm afraid we didn't get it...

We both watched it wide-eyed from beginning to end and I can honestly say I don't have a clue what it was all about...lots of people fighting, no children, one pregnant woman trying to catch a boat...fairly graphic too.

Hmmm...maybe I'll check out some articles on it and they will shed some light. Other than that, not much new...still working, still going to PT. Off to read in bed for a bit...tired...

Love is all around...

So I peek out my bedroom window to see what the night has brought us and I see this! Not only did Andrew clear the snow for Celine but he left her a love note. Two years of marriage and still going strong! Things like this make me happy to be alive...

However, heading outside to de-snow my own car makes me miserable...augh. Only if I had a hunny out here...perhaps it's time I check out the local match.com recommendations. *smirk* Just kidding of course! Well, I should head out and face the chilly wind or I will be late for my PT...happy Wednesday everyone!

Catching Frostbite in NYC

In the wise words of Destiny's Child,
"I'm a survivor,
I'm not gonna give up,
I'm not gon' stop,
I'm gonna work harder
I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it."

These were the words going through my head as I battled the 18F but feels like 7F temperatures of NYC this weekend. My goodness, I cannot even remember the last time I was SO cold! The wind tunnels were simply painful. However, I still cannot wait till I get my chance to live in the city for that year or so! I love all the restaurants, the entertainment, the people...ugh, it was sooo awesome!

If you sit back and check out my slide show above, you should get a pretty good idea of what Chenny and I were up to Friday night into Monday. Fun was had by all: lots of eating, art watching and of course FOOTBALL! One photo I would pay to go back in time and capture is the one I didn't take of Andy sleeping at the bar during the Superbowl...he is simply impossible to beat in the 'lame' department. *grin*

Anyways, back in Allentown and back to work on getting healthier as well as growing a kick ass research portal! Tootles for now...