Ironically

I hate it when people just post pictures to a blog with no commentary. OR they are clearly missing big bits of life (ie she flew home to Seattle and isn't saying anything about it. WHY NOT!?).

So I flew home. And kitty and I both survived. I am not sure Shupa (Flora/my Dad's cat) is going to make it through. He seriously wants to be friends and little miss (Mei-Mei) is not about to have any of it. Again. It's a replay of last holiday season.

I am having a good time, even if I have managed to percolate a cold/sinus infection of some sort. So I far I have seen mostly my parents and Declan and Mary Alyce a couple of times. I really, really need to throw in my cousins (Riah and Jerusha, and kiddos!) and Robin (and Lorie Mae). Especially with the kiddos I feel like I am missing huge chunks of their lives. They are completely different. I am sure I won't even recognize Sheep cat from our brief introduction last year (yeah Gaby!).

So now I photo dump. And they aren't even mine! These are the hike my dad and I and his idiom class students went on Sunday. We had SOO much fun. I really enjoyed it. It did take a while (long while) to completely thaw out.

Seattle here I come . . .er Thursday

I am so excited, I feel like I am rumbling from the bottom up (That may be my upset stomach from three cups of coffee though. Damn the free office coffee!). I am freaked out about money (Christmas and travel are never just the cost of the ticket) but I soooo pleased that I will be able to see my friends and family soon. I have never been away from "homebase" for so long. It's been an entire year since I last touched Washington (State of) soil. And while I have become accustomed and happy here in DC, there is a large part of my heart (Declan, Mary Alyce, Riah, Jerusha, Robin (and Lorie Mae), Hillary, Danielle, Mary and Marc, Aunt Janet, the list continues . . .) is bound to Seattle peoples. I am missing milestones, birthdays, first steps, first games. And all the non-milestones, the reading to kiddo at night, being available when a helping hand makes the difference. I am missing all of that too.

I am not moving back. I wish I could say I have a plan that makes that even remotely a possibility. Job economy being what it is, I don't forsee changes in the future. The only change even close will be school (keep me in thoughts and prayers; turn circles under the moon if you think that will help). Unless something alters, it won't be Seattle school even.

I have been lucky and blessed to be able to see my parents this year, even without going to Seattle. And Hillary! (I figure eventually even Dad will be forced to come visit me in DC if I have to stay long enough).

I guess what I am saying is: Life may be different; I can't make moving to Seattle a priority right now. But I am awfully glad to have loved ones like you (you know who you are) even when you are far away.

And in two days, most of you will be a heck of a lot closer!!

Flying home with the kitty

I am flying to Seattle on the 18th (Friday) to visit the family and see all my friends. This should be wonderful! I am so excited to have some time away from work (though I will miss somethings in DC). I promise to return to updating my blog with info and pictures as the new year rings in.

Samantha sleeps

Samantha is sleeping through Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic Nantional Conference. Even if you don't like him, it is a completely rousing and inspiring. But apparently not inspiring enough to keep my political science major roommate awake.

Yes, it has been a while since I posted. And much has happened. I will give a more lengthy update soon, but I am well. No, I don't have an idea about what I got on my MCAT. And yes, I do have a job, hopefully starting sooner rather than later. And yes I have some really wonderful pictures from lengthy time in Seattle including a wonderful hike on Mt. Ranier that was fantastic! I can't wait to do it again.

Ok, so I haven't written in a while. . . .

A friend told me today that I am being "elusive." Well I promise I am not trying to be mysterious, just noncommittal. I had a brilliant plan which included being employed by now. So far that really has not happened. So I guess I just need to focus on MCAT without employment in the short term. Ugh!

In all fairness to me, I have been sorta busy. After all I finished my program at Georgetown. I am considering retaking one class, but overall feel a sense of accomplishment for the last year. This week has been filled with getting one of my best friends married off in style and some sanity (face it Robin, neither of us have been able to claim that one in a long time!) I did some of the ritual maid-of-honor duties which I shared with Christie, Robin's sister. I welcomed Joshua very nicely to the family and then threatened his life if he ever hurt Robin. All in a days work. The flowers were immensely lovely as usual from my mother and Merissa. While I have little desire to join the family business, it is always fun to see a project that large come to completion.

In lew of writing, any other events over the last two weeks can be told in the following pictures as well as the videos. Enjoy.

Weekend in pictures (partially!)

Bradley and Brittney's wedding went off with out a hitch (except the two that were supposed to get HITCHED! Haha! I crack myself up). My pictures are totally incomplete, so please no one see this as me playing favorites. It was just that a whole bunch of pictures did not even come out because the camera did not like the variable lighting. Anyone with pictures of this event is requested to give them to me. Please?

It was a great weekend to be in Seattle. But wow was that really, REALLY quick trip. I feel like I have whiplash. Oh well! Back to the grindstone.

Post Script. Small thanks to Declan and Mary Alyce for getting the Aly and AJ song "Potential Breakup" permanently stuck in my head. I can't get it out!!

Travel out

I am about to conclude that travelling and PMS are a bad combination. In fact, I believe I have proved to myself (and hopefully not anyone else) that PMS and coexisting with anyone else is a bad combination. I am sitting waiting in BWI airport. I think I can conclude that I hate it. It is a totally unfair judgment, I admit, but my day already at 4:45am is completely crappy. Shall I start at the beginning so you can feel either: a) annoyed with me for sharing stupid problems in excruciating detail or b) uplifted since your life is so much more together and lacking in day-to-day problems.

This day was destined to be bad, really. I putzed around last night, aimlessly killing time as I failed to focus on the important task of getting sleep after Samantha left around 7pm. Finally around 1 am, I drifted off, preparing to wake up in less than 2 hours. Unfortunately, it wasn’t my alarm waking me up, it was the shuttle calling to tell me that they were going to be 35 minutes early. Pulling out my great eloquence (ha!) I told the driver that he would have to give me at least 10 extra minutes to be ready, definitely underestimating, give that I wasn’t even dressed, let alone double-check packed and ready to walk out the door. I pulled it out, and took great satisfaction in not answering the two calls the driver made as I walked out the door, listening to my cell phone ring out Carrie Underwood’s Before he cheats. Anger girl-done-wrong music notwithstanding, I bumbled out the door into the cold with my bags. The driver got out to open the back for me and I tried to put the handle of my broken check bag down enough to fit easily. The telescoping handle, ridden with problems for the last trip as well, broke in two completely. The Eddie Bauer logo and nicely proportioned interior lining notwithstanding, the bag is piece of crap. I have had another, cheaper bag longer and the handle still works fine. The seams are coming apart from overlarge packing and criminally negligent baggage handlers, but the bag still rates better in my book. I guess I will throw away the nice looking one after this trip and just duck tape the old one.

I reached BWI at 3:55am, almost 2 ½ hours early, which didn’t set me up for enjoyment. Nor did the fact that the entire Continental Airlines counter was completely unmanned until 4:15am. Nor the closed security checkpoint. It looked completely desolate until they rolled up the gate, and there were 25 or so TSA folks, laughing, joking, generally not paying attention to the people going through except when they failed to understand requests over the hubbub. It took close to 5 minutes for the guy in front of me to understand that his laptop had to be completely out of its case because the woman kept telling him and then calling to her friend across the room about something or other. Have fun at your job, that is wonderful. But pay attention and don’t be so damn cheerful at 4am. Or if you must, do it at less than a yell from everybody, please?

So now I sit, waiting, until very recently completely by myself. Thankfully an “Irish” food place is open by the gate selling egg sandwiches. At least my stomach is not completely eating a hole in itself. Which is good because I am going to be getting on a small, extremely loud puddle-jumper to Newark in 35 minutes (hopefully, anyway). I hate flying cheap flights. They are generally completely bizarre conformations, sending you on little planes to nowhere, when you know the same company runs a completely respectable more convenient flight. From somewhere way more normal. Like DCA. Which is not out in the middle of nowhere.

Mostly I am tired and peevish. Which is not the way I really want to be going into a joyful family weekend.

Travelog swift and silly

As always at the last minute of a personal trip to see friends, there is a scramble to cram things in. And I tried. I was not, however, willing to sacrifice my last sleep in day of the vacation. People were busy scurrying around. I slept in. It was wonderful. Mom and I went to lunch at Taco Time. When my plans for last minute coffee dates didn’t come through, I cashed in my mani-pedi gift certificate from Christmas then ran to get my hair cut. It was wingding running. Pretty fantastic. I think, for now, that my hair look pretty good. It’s always nice to feel like at least you are looking well as you start a new year.

We celebrated Mom’s birthday two days early so I could be there. We had dinner at Buca di Bepo. It was great. Lots of tired jokes were made by everyone. The pictures can’t do justice to the laughter around the table.

This morning I didn’t wake until my Mom woke me despite my cell phone alarm. It was . . . sketchy. Silly me. It was snowing as Mom and I left the house, with some accumulation. The traffic, even at 6:30 am was clogging up on I-5. Yet everything all seemed smooth. (Are you waiting for the other shoe to drop yet?) I checked in, got through security in record time for Sea-Tac, and was waiting patiently. I checked my phone left on silent and noticed I had four missed calls. That is a large number, especially for roughly 7 am! My father and mother had called separately to inform me that I left nothing essential . . . except my keys! Luckily I was set to arrive early enough to as the super to let me into my apartment with the spare set. Dad fedexed the keys overnight. Silly Lili. Thank you, Dad.

Almost the end

Its just two days now until I return to the school grind. I can't say I am looking forward to it, but I am finally getting some "vacation" feeling time in. And here are the pictures to prove it.

Yesterday I took in the Seattle Wedding Show with my friend Robin who is getting married, as well as her mother and a friend. I can't say that I ever want to willingly do that again. What a nightmare. By the end my stomach hurt from bad (and a few good) wedding cake testings. There were a number of cool flower vendors. These represent just few of the pictures I took.

REI buying new hiking boots and renting snowshoes and poles. ToWe did cap the day well with a dinner at Claim Jumper, a place designed for overeating. Then Mom and Dad and I went shopping. Dad and I ended up spending close to two and a half hours inday we tried them out at Gold Creek up Snoqualmie Pass. It was great fun and very beautiful. I throughly enjoyed the chance to get out and about. I feel better today than I have in a while.

Isn't it funny. . .

You get the day off (or three weeks) and everything speeds up. Sleeping in is the only way to go. But my first day was long and enjoyed lunch (Thai food) and dinner (Korean food) with my parents and then Merissa and Rodney. It was great fun. I will post more pictures when I can. But truth to tell, I haven't even finished up my Christmas cards yet. Everything takes more energy when you are on vacation.

But school is done. We'll see how I survived, it but it is over at least!