Not always the girlfriend I want to be

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a very patient person. Although I try really hard to be a good girlfriend (and friend and daughter), I'm not always very good at it.

Saturday I was a GREAT girlfriend:

I had really wanted to go to D.C. over the long weekend to meet some of Bryan's longtime friends, one of whom is moving overseas in a few weeks. That didn't end up happening due to the rigors of school, so instead I decided to treat us to some time at the salon. We both got manicures and pedicures. Bryan had never done it before, but always said he wanted to. It was very relaxing, and it was nice to just sit and do nothing for 2 hours. I also got a haircut. After seeing the haircut results, Bryan declared I was having a "pretty Tia day" with the blow-dried and styled hair, and freshly painted fingers and toes.

From May 2007

After the pampering, we went to Sinbads, a yummy Lebanese restaurant on Park Ave. We were having a good time just hanging out, so then we decided to walk around the local mall. We managed to make it out without buying anything (except an iced latte that we shared). Of course, for us a fun day together always involves a trip to Target, which we did :) Then on to Big Lots, which we left empty-handed, but still enjoyed hunting through the junk. I did find some of those cool stick-on tiles, which I think I might use to remodel the upstairs bathroom while Krista is gone. More pictures to come if that actually happens.

So although D.C. didn't happen, we still had a very fun day together. It is rare now that we get entire days together of fun, with the demands of school, housework, and work. I agree with Bryan that 3 day weekends are great because you get a "throw away day" where you don't feel guilty if you get absolutely nothing accomplished :)

Sunday I was an OKAY girlfriend:

I left BK alone to study most of the day. Our time together consisted of grocery shopping and buying the stick-on tiles, but that was okay with me. He made a yummy mish-mash dinner (leftover steak things that were rolled with carrots, spinach, and cheese, a bit of steak-ums, sauteed onions, served on a hoagie roll with cheese on top) while I put the groceries away. I happily started on the bathroom remodel while he studied.

Monday I was a CRAPPY girlfriend:

After declaring in the morning that "4 hours of studying was the goal," I was upset that I had to go to a friend's BBQ alone (in the afternoon). Not only was I alone, but I was the only person there sans their S.O. I pointedly avoided telling people that he choose the gym over having a good time with us. I left the party early (just as an awesome game of kickball was starting), in hopes that the now 6+ hours of studying would be over and I'd get some time. Not to happen, the studying went on all night, and the next thing I know it was 9:30pm and he was already sound alseep in bed. It sucks getting no time on a day off. So of course I was bitter and angry, as only Tia can be. Of course though, he's no dummy, and today I get a sweet text at work and immediately feel guilty that I would even feel remotely upset about him working hard to do well in school. Maybe I'm just upset because I think he's smarter than he thinks he is, so I don't know why he'd have to study so much!!! Heck, if I had a brain like he did I'd be over 100k right now :)

Anyway, in an effort to keep myself busy and stay out of his way, I did get the bathroom done.

Before:
Nasty green paint and ugly 1960 floors.

From May 2007

From May 2007

After:

From May 2007

From May 2007

From May 2007

I'm really happy with the way it came out. I already had the paint, and the "tiles" were only $30. A pretty cheap remodel if you ask me! Too bad the yellow tile has to stay.

So maybe the moral of the story is a)I can do a pretty quick and cheap "design on a dime" and b) I can be a great girlfriend only 1/3 of the time :) Hopefully that's good enough for him, at least for this year ;) After school, maybe I can bump it up to at least 50%!

Li-loc Festival

People in this town don't know how to pronounce lilac. They all say it like lie-lock. I thought the word was lie-lack. Anyway, we went to the Lilac Festival last weekend. It was beautifully sunny and the girls came along with us.

Bryan's first visit to Rochester (for my house inspection) was during the Lilac Festival last year. He'd probably kill me for posting this, but here is us exactly one year ago. Who knew that now he'd be living here!

From Lilac festiva...

Us this year....6 year old Lani takes some pretty good pictures!

From Lilac festiva...

From Lilac festiva...

The girls and I went on this silly little train ride.

From Lilac festiva...

Bryan went on the slide with Lani

From Lilac festiva...

All in all, it was a fantastic day. Sunny, flowers that smelled amazing, fun with the girls, and that night we had dinner at Sherri's with a former nursing student. You NEVER turn down dinner at Sherri's, and we were not disappointed...flank steak, corn on the cob, crab cakes, salad, fresh bread...yum!
This week the "kids" started school. Here is them on their first day.

From Lilac festiva...

Although the nursing obsession that has overtaken our house (books on every solid surface, 24/7 talk of class/teachers/schedules/classmates that starts the minute we wake up and ends the minute we go to bed) I'm proud of both of them for trying something new and jumping into this wholeheartedly. From their talk already, I know they they are both going to do fabulously and be awesome nurses! The quick overview is that things are going well so far, but they both have some adjusting to go with being students again and catching up on some new lingo. I didn't realize how much they were fish out of water until last night they asked me what q12h PO means (every 12 hours by mouth, for those who are wondering).

In other news, I have already turned in my notice at Harris. Steve called me about 2 weeks ago out of the blue to make sure I wasn't moving back to Portland. Although I'm not, I did bring up the idea of working from Rochester, and last week he called and said that would work out! So starting June 11th I'll be working from home and telecommuting. I'm excited to be back with them. My co-workers at Harris are amazing, but they are sending more than half of them to another location as a part of the restructuring, so my team will no longer be a team. I was also working on a project I hated, with no end in sight for at least a year. It is nice to go back to work for a company that is familiar and that I loved. I have learned the hard way - if you find a job you love, DON'T LEAVE IT! It will be a bit isolating to work at home alone, but hopefully it's not a long-term thing.

My mom gave me a bird feeder for my birthday, and we finally hung it up over a week ago. I'm known now for squealing with excitement in the morning while making my coffee and seeing what new creature has found the feeder. I LOVE seeing new kinds of birds there! Who knew how much wildlife is living in the suburbs. The list to date:
- sparrows (the main eaters)
- starlings
- goldfinches
- doves
- cardinals
- squirrels
- chipmunks
- mice

Back to Black

Yes, I really like Amy Winehouse. If only I hadn't read that she is a jerk in real life then I'd really like her. But for now, since I'm driving BK's car, I'm happy to have a CD to listen to that isn't "angry driving music" from his days in Portland traffic.

I've been so busy that I haven't had time to catch up on blogging in a long while. I enjoy reading everyone else's blogs so much that I figured I'd better get cracking. My picture uploading skills have been lacking lately, so for now you'll just get the update on the drive cross country.

For those of you that have done the drive, I highly recommend the "northern" route (Montana, South Dakota, Wisconsin, etc). It is much prettier and much more populated than the more central route. While I wasn't thrilled to be taking a week of vacation to do this drive (which now will end up being a $1000 vacation, since I'll owe it back to Harris), it was the least painful of the trips I have taken, which was due to the combination of a happy relationship, nice spring weather, and not having pets in the car to constantly worry about overheating.

We got to see Mt. Rushmore. It was really neat, and nice to get out of the car for awhile and walk around.

From XC drive

From XC drive

From XC drive

The town near Mt. Rushmore was probably the worst shit hole I'd ever seen. Every building was either a pawn shop, a check cashing store, or a casino. Dingy hardly covers it. While staying overnight there, I was "treated" to a night at the Motel 6. Let's just say I know why hotel numbers only go UP from 6! Smoky "non-smoking" room, filthy shower, bed that sloped to the middle, so we ended up basically sleeping on top of each other, no hair dryer, and no shampoo. It was awful. Now I know that ALL Motel 6's suck. When my mom and I stayed in one in Chicago, the shower had blood in it. Yes, blood. A Motel 8 is only $20 more, and SO much nicer. Needless to say the girlfriend won out, and the next night we stayed in an 8.

From XC drive

We also tried to go to this corn palace. I don't even remember what state it was in. Unfortunately, it closed at 5 and we were there at 5:15. It does look like it's made from corn at least on the outside.

Bryan at Custer's Last Stand. Okay, so the truth is this is at the kitchy little gift shop outside of it. We were too cheap to pay the $10 to actually drive into the Custer's park area. C'mon Mt. Rushmore was only $8!

From XC drive

The last day we decided to muscle through and drive for 21 hours.

From XC drive

With the help of our Starbucks we're showing off here that we got around midnight, we drove and drove and drove and drove and got to Rochester at 4:45am. Wow you find some really random things to talk about at that time of morning!

Now we're getting settled and I'm learning how to adjust to having people in the house all the time (Krista moved in now too). The kinks seem to be pretty small though, and mostly consist of me saying "Bryan, where did you move the ________" I swear he is obsessed with moving things around, or throwing them out (mom, he reminds me of you!).

Click here for more pictures of the drive and the lovely trip home.

More life updates soon, as there actually is quite a bit to talk about. For now, at 8:45pm, I have to get back to work. :( I worked late tonight, and now have to work from home. I hate it. But updates about that will be soon to come!

Productive weekend!

I got SO much done this weekend, and now, at 8pm on Sunday, I'm tired! Here's the rundown:

Saturday I cleaned like a mad woman! I realized I'm not the best housekeeper when I thought "I should take a picture of this!" I do generally keep things clean, but this weekend I also mopped the hardwoods and the kitchen. Here's my room (soon to be Bryan's room too) all clean.

From April 2007

From April 2007

In these pictures you can also see his new Ikea dresser and the newish curtains I bought. I tried to make some to "save money" and then ended up at Target, spending way less.

Sunday I got up bright and early (8am, early for me on a weekend!) to wash and wax my car before the day of fun with Sherri and the kids. Here is what happened when I dragged out the hose for the first time this year :(

From April 2007

Yes, I had kept it in the garage, so it didn't freeze. I have no idea what happened, but I quickly felt like the smart homeowner. "I'll just use my handy duct tape on it and it will be good as new." Here is the result.

From April 2007

It's a good thing my dad knows nothing of the internet, or he would be shaking his head at my stupidity! For now I just used it leaking, and the wash and wax are done. It was a beautifully sunny day and was nice to be outside.

Then I went to Sherri's, and she, Lani, Cassie, Peter and I went to Simply Crepes Check out the menu. It was fabulous, and Sherri kept saying "this is my new favorite place."
My food (after I started cutting it up!)...nutella, raspberries, and grand marnier sauce.

From April 2007

Lani got a traditional fruit one:

From April 2007

It was really good, although mine was technically a dessert one :)

Then we walked along the canal, and Lani and I fed the ducks (Cassie refused because she thought I would throw her in the canal!).

From April 2007

We then had ice cream, where I realized with much chagrin (and much too late), that I cannot eat a cone with braces :( It is just too painful and I am unable to bite anything like a cone (or a clif bar, or rice krispie treats, or just about anything!). I can eat them if I tear them into little pieces, but that wasn't going to happen with a cone full of ice cream. Oh well, Lani happily took and ate the rest.

I then felt the urge to get some plants, since it was so nice and sunny today. Here is the result so far. I clearly didn't buy enough mulch!

From April 2007

From April 2007

For now, the white picket fence had to go, since you couldn't see the new mulch and the flowers. I'll put it up once everything dies. In the new section are some annuals, and two rose bushes that I bargained down to 50% off of each of them :) There are also some mysterious things that are just sprouting, so I'll give them a chance and see what they are, and the bushy plants were already there. On the right is what I just learned is a forsythia bush. I'll plant a few more plants over there and mulch it soon.
Anyone who really knows me knows that I have always wanted a magnolia tree. I think they are so beautiful. I finally bought one! It will wait for Bryan to plant it in the back yard though. It is going to need a decent sized hole!

From April 2007

In a tribute to Portland, I also bought a rhododendron, a purple one. It will be planted on the side of the house soon. I ran out of steam, and my plastic hand shovel doesn't really do the job very well!

From April 2007

That's the update on my weekend! Next weekend is home to Portland and then the drive out here, so there won't probably be any more posts for a couple of weeks. I'm so excited to go home and see my family and the dogs, and to see my new "nephew" Sebastian Bradley who was born April 23rd!

I should also add that Bri (and her boyfriend Rich and his friend Donnie) left for Portland today. I wish them the best of luck in my favorite city, and I will forever be grateful to Bri for stepping in and taking care of my house and my pets so I could put my thoughts and energy towards my dad. Even though she wasn't around much, I'll miss our sometimes VERY long chats, and I hope her mom sees past her anger of Bri living with a boyfriend and gets to know Rich for the good guy that he is.

Spring part 2

I was motivated to put together the swing today (it also folds down into a bed). I'm loving the 78 degrees today!

From Spring

From Spring

From Spring

Spring!!

Last week snow, today sunny and 70! It was so nice. It also means that the lawn mowing has begun...belch! I did at least get the back done today.

I put together the new furniture I got for the Florida Room. I love it! I got the pillows and the enormous candle at Pier One today. They were having a great sale, and those 4 pillows retailed at $30-40 each, and the candle was $50. I paid $25 for all of it! Now to decide where to put the new 3-person swing. I think that project will wait for Bryan though.

From Spring

From Spring

From Spring

We also got new bikes today. I was going to get my old one all fixed up, but the bikes were so cheap at Target. These were only $53 each, and I negotiated 10% off of one of them because it had a slight chip in the paint. Yeah! Now to just convince Bryan he can't ride without a helmet :/

From Spring

For those that have been asking, I'll be heading out to Portland May 5th, spending the 5th-8th at home, then leaving Tuesday around lunchtime with Bryan for the drive back to Rochester. I guess I feel I need to do this drive annually! Bryan was smart though and suggested we take a different route so I can see something new, so we'll be going more northern (Washington, Idaho, Montana, one of the Dakotas, Wisconsin, etc). May will be a nice time to do the drive though, and we'll have lots of good tunes. We should start taking bets about how long it takes before we run out of conversation! I'm excited to have him out here though, and I know he's ready to get school started. But first, I need to continue on with my cleaning and organizing to make room for him!

Sun and Wegmans

Today was sunny and 60. Hallelujah! I wasn't in the mood to go to the gym today, so instead I decided to walk to Wegmans (3 miles RT) to get a few groceries. The walk was beautiful, and I was jammin' to my iPod (still quite possibly the best gift I have ever gotten!).

Wegmans recently won the best grocery store award by the Food Network (it was up against Trader Joes and Whole Foods). As a side note, while I do like Wegmans, I don't miss it in Portland. However, I do long for Trader Joes when I'm in Rochester.

While I was there, I got this, which Bri eats all the time:

Pesto Bruschetta Chicken Breast
Boneless chicken breast cutlet topped with Pesto, 3 cheeses, and roasted & fresh tomato.


Holy divinity it was good! I had that with some steamed asparagus and broccoli in a hollandaise sauce, and some strawberries. Yum! I felt so healthy that I decided to have a Coke :) Probably the first soda I've had in a month or so.

Nice weather, lovely walk, yummy dinner, new Grey's Anatomy tonight, finished up a report today for a bitchy client, and tomorrow is Friday. Life is good. Not long until home!