Making my way down the hill

This weekend, Bella and I are heading to Raleigh to pre-celebrate my birthday and Father's Day since Paige will be off with Paul and his dad next weekend. For the first time in awhile, I am actually all packed (except to change my clothes and pack up my toiletry items) and ready to go. We should be pulling out of the parking lot by 7 (7:30 is probably more realistic) with an estimated time of arrival in Raleigh by 9:30/10. :D

What's on tap for the weekend? Paige is cashing in her Christmas coupon so I'm heading over to her house to paint my old room and the hallway (she wants her house on the market by end of July). The COLLEGE WORLD SERIES (CWS) begins tomorrow at 2pm with Cal-State Fullerton/Arkansas and LSU/Virginia at 7pm. Sunday, UNC plays Arizona State at 2pm and Texas takes on Southern Miss at 7pm. I haven't decided my pick for the Sunday afternoon game...we'll see. Back home in Omaha!

Sunday, I'll be back heading back to Charlotte.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll come back and two days later, it'll be my birthday! :D

P.S. It ended up that I don't have a peritonsillar abscess but I do have tonsillitis.

Weekend Preview

Friday night after Adina gets into town, we'll be here:

and sippin' on this:

Saturday, we're going here with Bella:

Before we hang out here:

We'll root, root, root for these guys against those Tarholes:

Adina, Brent & I have a date with these guys Saturday night:

And, when everyone is gone, I'll be left with this:

It's shaping up to be a kick-ass weekend. Hope everyone has a great one! See ya next week!

YAY ECU

The ECU PIRATES came from behind to beat the USC Gamecocks 10-9 in 10 innings last night to win the Greenville Regional Championship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, the PIRATES will take on the UNC Tarholes in the Super Regional this weekend.

*I wish I hadn't gotten tickets to No Doubt this weekend because I would so be rolling to CH...sigh.*

Memorial Day Weekend in Charlotte

Paige was in Charlotte Friday night - Saturday afternoon for another round of bridesmaid dress shopping with Leah and I. First, we went to The Bridal House on Old Statesville Rd. (right by my house) and found two possibilities. Then, we picked up Leah and went to The Wedding Mall. After trying on many, many dresses, we found "the one". It's pretty perfect..chocolate brown and turquoise with beautiful bronze sequins that look like fish scales. Perfect for a November wedding!

(I think the tag should have a disclaimer on it for parents of girls going to prom because it was a tight squeeze on but slid right off! Ha!)

JUST KIDDING!! These are the two possibilities for bridesmaid dresses, both in a teal/peacock color, both by Alfred Angelo: The first one is a chiffon/satin trim mix, halter dress that would need to be hemmed to the knee. This could pose a problem, but given the price of the dress ($109), it makes it seem more reasonable. The second one is strapless and satin (without being "bridesmaidy satin"). It is also $109 ($128 at a shop in Concord). (For Leah & I, we would only pay $94 + tax because at TWM, there is a $15 per person fee to try on dresses...)

Neither one really fit either of us..ah, sample sizes. So it was hard to tell if either really was that flattering on either of our body types. The majority vote at this point is for the second one. I REALLY like the purple dress (but don't know that it would be that pretty in teal) because I prefer the halter to the strapless style, but I think the second one would go better with Paige's dress (since it's satin with chiffon stripes). Any votes?

After TWM, we went to Mecklenburg Bridal but didn't find anything new. Then, we drove out to Gastonia to Poffie Girls and came up with nothing. I put about 100 miles on my car driving around Charlotte/Gastonia. I am making a mental note for if/when I ever get married and the duties I will force upon my Maid/Matron of Honor. ;)

It rained all weekend, leaving me completely unmotivated. Brent came down Sunday night and we went to Stooly's. Monday, we laid around and watched tv, went to the store, got pizza and wings & I taught him how to play SCRABBLE. He had never played before...so we played 3 games while watching The Bachelorette. I won 2-3. :) It was a great, uneventful weekend..except for all the rain. Hopefully the next two weekends will be rain-free! :)

Pirate Update: Despite losing the conference championship, ECU will host a regional this weekend. GO PIRATES!

I wish my life was exciting...

Sometimes, I really wish I led an exciting life..one that isn't so weighed down with routines. Since I moved to Charlotte, my days have pretty much been the same, more or less..although they did get more exciting/hectic/stressful/happy since I brought Bella home.

After the past few weeks, I will say that I think this year will be a year of change. My friends and I are growing up, our lives are going places we never expected them to go and we're having to make decisions we've never had to before. I can only expect that my relationships will be more fulfilling and honest, now that I don't have "that guy" in the back of my mind/heart. I think life will be better...hopefully I'll make some girl friends. No one will be able to replace Adina, Hannah or even Joanna & Jackie, but we're all so spread out and somewhat disconnected. I've sent in my membership application for the Young Affiliates of the Mint and that excites me, not only for the social experiences but for the exhibits (hello, Andy Warhol?!). Plus, I plan on getting a tan this year, one way or another...mostly so that I'm not a ghost when it comes time for Paige's wedding. I've never been one to care (plus, I always say I won't get skin cancer later since I don't worship the sun), but a little color wouldn't be so bad.

What else? I guess I'll end this post with some GREAT news! ECU swept Memphis last weekend and won the C-USA regular season title. The Pirates are 41-15, 17-7 C-USA and are ranked in the top-18 in ALL 5 major polls: #15 Baseball America, #16 ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll, #17 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Rivals.com and #18 Collegiate Baseball. This week's rankings mark the longest active streak ranked in at least one poll at 14 consecutive weeks, since the 2004 season when they were ranked 17 straight weeks. In 2001, they were ranked on at least one poll the entire season, at 19 weeks. Tomorrow, ECU heads to Hattiesburg, Mississippi (Southern Miss) for the C-USA Baseball Championships and will face UCF (8th seeded) at 5pm. GOOOOOOOOOO PIRATES!!

Busy Week

This week is certainly a busy week. On the work side of life: myself and another co-worker (who started the same day I did) are part of the county's efforts to save money and avoid layoffs and as a result are being redistributed downstairs?. We start Monday, yet we have no idea where, what, for whom and how. So, I'm using this week to tie up any loose ends (make sure files are closed in the system and filed away; organized my open files & in general, cleaning & organizing my desk/office) so that everything is in order come Monday.

On the personal side of life: I finally get my cyst removed tomorrow (on my lunch hour no less!). The doctor better not waste my time tomorrow (last time I had to wait 20 minutes just for him to come in, I could've had it out last time)...Can you feel my frustration?! Poo on specialists!
Bella goes to the vet Friday to find out if her mange has healed or if we have to continue with the needle/suringe routine. My hope is that it hasn't gotten worse....

This weekend = Chicago with Brent. Our flight leaves at 6am Saturday morning for Chicago. We take a turbo plane from Chicago to Champaign (Did you know the University of Illinois has its own airport?!). There's a reception and a basketball game where the school will recognize the players at halftime and then apparently, the party begins! I am really excited, and happy to be apart of this aspect of Brent's life...but I'm NERVOUS! For one thing, I'm the world's worst packer--even for overnight visits + we're flying and there are rules involved. Like, I thought, 'I can pack it all in one suitcase and then I can just take it with me and not have to check it.' Then Brent tells me that the type of plane we take from Chicago, they don't allow luggage in the plane, you only get your purse and coat. Yikes! AND the other thing...I'm meeting his family (parents, brother, sister-in-law, etc.)...I'm nervous! Wish me luck!! :)

P.S. Props to the ECU Baseball team for sweeping Monmouth last weekend on the opening weekend of NCAA Division I play. :) YAY PIRATES!

NEWS!

Thursday night...

Brent asked me to fly out with him at the end of the month to Champaign, IL for his induction to the Parkland College's Hall of Fame. His team, in 2002, was the NJCAA National Champs and is being inducted that weekend. Even though it is a quick trip, it is a BIG deal because it involves meeting his parents and other members of his family. Eek! But, I am so excited! So, at the end of the month, I'll be on a plane to Chicago! :)