Curated By Shelley

Well..its been a long week. Mom had surgery on Monday to revise the scar's and work done from some earlier procedures. As good as I've been feeling...taking care of her has been a bit much for me. When she laid down this afternoon for a nap I decided to take one too and didn't wake up til she woke me up 3 hours later! Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight. So now I'm all packed for tomorrow...I shipped a box yesterday..and dad shipped the computer so hopefully those will be there by next Tuesday. Which should work out great since I fly to PA to do my househunting on Thursday. My suitcases are packed SO full! But I love being able to have most of my new stuff with me right away when I get home. IT was mostly books I shipped and lets face it...I can only read so many of those at a time! I expanded my knitting skills this trip to include "felting". If you are not sure what that is....have you ever shrunk a wool sweater in the wash by accident?...

Look what I got for Christmas!!! Too bad I'll only get to play with it a few days before I head to PA to househunt and meet new work people. As soon as I get back the movers come!!! Better start planning my going away party! Probably will be the 20th or 21st of January as when I leave for Portland that next Monday I'm probably gone for good. So sad! I also got lots of books, some DVD's and some of my collectible shoes. Hope your Christmas's were all wonderful! I head back to CA on Thursday!

I just got approved for my mortgage! I still need to find a property - but I'm actually approved - not just prequalified or preapproved - so I can shop with confidence and will be able to close in as little as 10 days once I find someplace! Maybe my stuff won't have to sit in storage too long afterall!!! And-if on some off chance I actually find a better mortgage elsewhere (which I haven't so far in all my looking/talking to banks) my current lender will meet it or let me walk away at no cost! I'm so excited! Now I just need to find a place!

Okay...so now that I'm a week post op and starting to feel better I'm BORED to tears! Mom finally decided I was okay enough to drive so I took her to work today so I could have the car. But then my little sister couldn't go out because she had to clean her rom and my dad never called me back about lunch! So I made our peanut butter cookies and some fudge for Christmas Eve (we do dessert at our house with our family friends after going out to dinner). Then mom and I had dinner at CPK and now I'm at home printing of real estate listings that my realtor has been sending!

Minus 6 degrees when I woke up this morning! Hope its warmer tomorrow!

You Passed 8th Grade Math Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct! Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Don't get on an airplane 5 days after you have your appendix out. At least not if its a 4 hour flight. Was not fun! At least I'm home now getting some TLC.

Well, thanks in part to Beverly (for picking mom up in the airport) and in part to Dad (for giving mom a ticket) mom arrived safe and sound in Oakland on Thursday night. My guest room was a wreck since I've been trying to get organized before the packers come - probably the week of Jan 16. So we had to clean that up so she had someplace to sleep. Yesterday consisted of lots of errands and chores to get me ready to go home today - although it did start with breakfast at Panera - always a good way to start my day. Oh! And a stop to Old Navy where a bunch of stuff was only $10! Then to the bank, post office, and Kinkos before returning home to do laundry and pack. Now we are just waiting for Amanda to pick us up to head to the airport. I'll be blogging from Chicago so talk to you soon!

So Sunday night about 11pm I started to have this sharp pain on my right side. When I started throwing up I knew I was in trouble. I called the urgent care center Monday morning as soon as they opened and upon describing my symptoms - they insisted I head straight to the ER. And so my trip to John Muir Medical Center this week. After a few ultrasounds, some bloodwork, and a CT scan I had a visit from a very nice Greek surgeon who insisted my appendix was to come out that very night. After a few tearful calls with my mom (believe it or not - she was the one crying - and none too happy with me that I didn't call her sooner since by the time I did talk to her it was too late for her to get on a plane and be with me for surgery) I called Amanda to come sit with me until surgery - and Michelle called her mom to drive down from Sacramento. Amanda and I had great fun sitting in pre-op for nearly 4 hours as we watched patient after patient come in and get to go into surgery before me. Of c...

More details to come, but I officially was offered and accepted my promotion today. I'll be moving to Harrisburg, PA sometime in late January early February. Good news is, a raise, small territory (like my old one before I started going to Oregon) and I'll be able to BUY a house - well a townhouse. But still exciting! Bad news is not getting to see you guys all the time! I can't imagine being without all of you so close! I'm expecting LOTS of visitors!

Thanks to Beverly for the horseback riding photos! Now the rest of you can see what a beautiful day it was!!! Well...made it back home after (of course) the typical travel delays last night. But since I was just going to be in the "office" today I decided to sleep in a little bit. Now that I've gotten a little bit caught up on stuff since I've been out all week I think I'll run out for a haircut (noticed a lot of split ends this week), stop at UPS (damn UPS man came three times this week - after 8pm when the office was closed so no one could accept my package and now I have to go there to pick it up before they send it back!) and eat something! By the way, if any of you need a romantic getaway. We stayed this week at the Inn at Langley in Langley, WA. It was amazing. And probably the best part was the food. The chef is also the general manager - and not only did he make us amazing lunches (and have phenominal breakfasts brought in - we're all dying to know whe...