Welcome Back

Gosh I'm terrible at sticking with this thing.

The last year has been a fun one. Andrew started his clinical rotations in May and has been busy working in the hospital and visiting clinics in the Pacific Northwest. He's trying to network and find a job, studying for his boards - in November - and enjoying his last eight months in school!

I'm still working for the eye doc and am enjoying progressing in the field. I applied to take my certification exam and we'll hear back in the next few weeks I imagine.

Guess I better start studying too.

I recently took up watercolor painting and am trying to stick with that a little bit. Plus the gym. Plus crocheting now that it's cold again. Plus the normal struggles of trying to balance keeping a house clean, eating healthy and sleeping. I fail miserably every week it seems.

We bought a new car in January and it's pretty sweet.

Ran my first half-marathon in June (and ended up in the ER with an ischemic bowel and acute colitis).

I got a tattoo in July.

That's about it for the last year... we don't change much. Just "work and school." That's my catchphrase. Whenever someone asks "What's up? How have you been?" I respond with "Oh you know, just work and school."

Andrew and I are homebodies and proud of it.

Here are some pictures of the last several months (starting WAY back from our October trip to Montana)

I need to learn more about blogging, I would love to restyle this into a more contemporary look but until then, this'll have to do. 
Also, I plan to continue updating.

Temporary Hiatus

The last few weeks have been so crazy and it's only going to get worse. I simply do not have time for chores, tv shows, my cats... and my blog. I try to fit in the gym where I can and I haven't even seen my husband since Sunday.

This is how my typical day goes until after the play is over:

In the morning I can either wake up early and go to the gym or decide not to workout that day. (I had been going after work but our rehearsals now start at 5:30 and I can't do that anymore. Andrew is gone before I even get up.)

I get ready for work and pack three to four bags depending on the day: I used to pack a gym bag too. I have my purse/bag that carries things like money and water and glasses and tampons etc.- I need to make sure I've got what I need and only what I need in there. Then I have my lunch bag that really has about three meals' worth of food in there. I need a breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks - so I pack a lot of food. I have my costume bag with things like shoes and nylons and extra socks etc. that I'm not leaving at the theatre for lack of space. And then I have my makeup bag which holds obviously makeup, a mirror, hairspray, towels, wipes, bobby pins etc...

I am a bag lady and I live out of my car. Basically.

I try to get some chores done before I leave for work because Andrew is in surgery lab and won't be home to do them. So I vacuum, change catboxes, try to keep the bathroom clean etc.

Go to work, work a full day.

Go to rehearsal. We are supposed to be done at 10:00 but usually it's more like 10:30-10:45 and by the time I get all my crap and back on the road to Pullman, it's close to 11 or later.

Then I get home, if I'm disgusting and have full makeup on I'll hop in the shower... and Andrew is usually in bed already.

Get into bed around 11:30-12:00 depending on how long my shower was and if I'm eating a snack before bed... so figure I go to sleep sometime after 12:30. Last night it was 1:30.

And get up sometime the next morning to do it all again.

Oh and I'm sick. No surprise.

You can't wear your body down for weeks and expect it to just keep up.

So, in approximately 10 days, I will get to see my husband, perhaps talk to my family on the phone, get some actual sleep, do laundry at reasonable times, work out with my coworkers, play with my cats and eat a real hot meal that has been prepared, not packed.

I know that there are Montana stories and pictures, Halloween party stories and pictures, Guys and Dolls stories (no pictures)... but it is all going to have to wait.

Sorry!!

*Shameless plug*

Guys and Dolls at the Kenworthy in Moscow November 1,2,3 & 8,9,10. Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30, Sundays at 2. Tickets at the box office or Book People of Moscow for $15.

If you want to see a show - that hopefully pulls together! - and feel like supporting a local theatre, come check us out : )

K, bye!

Good Week Bad Week

So this last week has been one for the books:

I started training as an ophthalmic technician, which means that I'll work up the patients, assist the doctor, and do diagnostic tests etc. I trained on Monday and Thursday (and got moved up to full time to keep up with my billing responsibilities... so yay! As much as I LOVE having Wednesdays off, I know it will make Andrew happier to bring in a little more money). On Fridays we typically have our optometrist in the office but she was out at a convention, and our ophthalmologist is usually out on Fridays too but we had four emergencies walk in and we had to call him in. He didn't have his usual girls with him to help because they also have Fridays off (the techs work the same schedule as their docs)... so I got to help!

I worked the patients up, figured out how to run the diagnostic machines, put in the eyedrops, took their visual acuities, and held one lady's head in place for fifteen minutes while her retina was tacked down via laser - which isn't painless. Nothing like getting thrown to the sharks on effectively your third day!

But I had fun.

What wasn't fun...

Wednesday night I woke up at three in the morning and Andrew wasn't in bed, the hall light was on, and I heard a heavy sigh come from the bathroom. I asked "Babe, are you out there?" to which Andrew replied "Yes, can you come look at something for a minute?"

I thought "Great, somebody broke in, or he has a boil or something he wants me to examine..." I got up and walked to the bathroom and stepped in a huge puddle of hot water. The floor was covered, the rugs were soaked, and the sink was spraying scalding hot water all over the bathroom! Apparently one of the cats turned the hot water faucet on, which is separate from the cold water, and it doesn't gradually turn on. It's kind of an all-or-nothing sink. The apartment was drenched so we had to mop things up as well as we could at three in the morning, and all the next day Andrew dried out the bathroom carpet and washed all the towels. What a mess! We have no idea how long it had been going, but we were so thankful it didn't happen while we were away or at work!

Also: I went out with some friends this weekend and got hit on by dads here for WSU's Dad's Weekend. They actually bought us drinks and asked us to go to the game with them the next day. Um, no. No thank you. Flattered, but please just leave us alone. Not all girls here in Pullman are looking to be picked up, lol.

And lastly, this week we got a new couch - for forty dollars. Can't beat that : )

It's a little worn and has some stains, but it's so comfortable. It actually has support, lol. The old one it's replacing has been passed around my family for the last several decades and was pretty much shot. I included some pictures to show you the comparison.





What an upgrade. We'll miss the blue couch... kind of.

Well, Andrew and Gregory are waiting for me to go to bed so I guess that's my cue.
Good night, everybody!