Flirty Thirties, Sporty Forties

Just thought I better put up some quick pictures from my time in Africa! I just got home last night so I'm still feeling a little swirly in my head and after 2+ days of flying, I still feel like I'm in a plane! Anyhow, I saw some beautiful scenery and will continue to add more pictures, so keep checking back. Me, ready to leave (at the airport in Johannesburg), Jon, Jen and I on some rocks along Indian Ocean, just south of East London, and whatever else I put on here that will show up.

Merry Christmas! Like my shoe tree? You've heard of them before, haven't you?! I'm off to South Africa in the morning -- will put up pictures when I get back. Sorry if your christmas cards arrive late!

Just a quick update. I cooked my very first thanksgiving dinner ever. Well not all of it, just the turkey, dressing, pickles, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and olives. Oh and gravy too. Mom did the red things and the whipped cream and something made out of potatoes. My aunt made a salad and something else. So it was pretty cool. We also got my house decorated for christmas (like my shoe tree??!!), and here's a picture of Carson stretching out on my bed when they were over. Of course that was before he decided the best way to wake me up was to pee on me - which I'll admit was MOST effective!! After that, as an indirect result of washing the comforter was that I got to learn what the back of my washer looks like and where the drain and water shut off are! Aaah - family!

I went back to Pullman this past weekend to see some old friends from college, including some favorite restaurants. It was also fun seeing how much my friend's daughter has grown. I was shocked to see how many changes there had been in the two towns, but I was pleased to see that a lot of them were for the better. It's so much more fun there now that I have a job and am no longer a poor starving college student! Here are some pictures of the sights and the people.

Moni and Sharleen's wedding I went to the wedding of two pharmacy school classmates. I think we all sat in the same two rows for those three years in Pullman, so it was great to see everyone again. We looked a lot better than when we would drag ourselves into class, wearing sweats!! (Lam and her husband, Me, Sharleen and Moni, Nguyen, Sami, Nate and his wife Tashi) The wedding was at Newcastle Golf Club, which has an awesome view of Seattle, Lake Washington, Bellevue, and the Olympic mountains. It was a perfect, sunny day for a wedding, and we could see for miles. The ceremony was beautiful - I think it was Buddhist, as Moni is Cambodian and Sharleen is Japanese. During the reception, Sharleen, her sisters, a cousin, and her mom and aunt performed a traditional Japanese celebration dance, and her sister and cousin later performed a special hula dance for them (sorry, no photos of that). It was one of the coolest weddings I've been to and I just had to post some pictures...

I miss those boys! No new pictures at the moment - just looking at my earlier pictures and missing Bowdrie and Carson! I'm enjoying my weekend off, eating some good fruit! It was hard for me not to go to Seattle or Oregon for the Nordstrom sale, but so far I've resisted! Check back with me next week! In other news, I've been promoted to Lead Pharmacist for ICU, so that's kind of fun. All for today- the pool beckons

I'm hoping Bowdrie can answer the ages-old question - just how many frogs do you have to kiss before you meet your prince, or in his case, Princess! We had a fun day together at the Whitefish city park, going down slides. It seems to be a visual trick because I look puny in this picture but I don't remember it that way! Carson saying "psst, come here, I have a secret to tell you", and sleeping. Velva said he's asking for me, wondering where I went and who will hold him now! Jen's going to love me for that! haha

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - er, planes, automobiles, tow-trucks!! I just got back from meeting little Carson. What a darling little bundle! He loves being held so I made sure to indulge him with that! I love holding them when they're under 7 pounds!! On Friday we took Bowdrie to the park so he could play outside - his favorite thing was the wheel! Oh well! I flew up there, and then drove home with Mom and Dad. Well - most of the way home. It was 100 degrees out and despite all the coolant levels being perfect and the oil being perfect and the fan belt working - AND me turning off the air conditioning for all the hills, the little indicator went up to the red zone. Thankfully we'd cautiously pulled off to this rest area, so we sat there for a while and a nice towtruck driver came to drive us the 52 miles to my place in Yakima - in air conditioned comfort! All 4 of us, plus Lucy (the dog) crammed together -- this is the stuff memories are made of!!! But yeah- what...

My newest little reason to go shopping!! Carson Henry was born at 2:22 PM on June 23rd. 6 pounds, 13 ounces, 19.5 inches long. He's a big hulk compared to how Bowdrie started out, at 5 pounds 7 ounces! Anyhow, yay, he's finally here!! Bowdrie doesn't know quite what to think of him. I imagine he'll be disappointed that he doesn't have wheels, but Bowdrie likes those toys that make noise when poked, so this could spell trouble! haha

My new favorite drug! Lucky for me, I have access to wonderful drugs and my newest favorite is TLE, which stands for topical lidocaine and epinephrine. It completely numbed my owies so my very nice aunt, who came over to help me, could get them all cleaned up without me interfering by passing out or screaming!

I should stick with shopping, Reason #37 I've now had my first wipe-out on a bike, and quite honestly I'm also hoping it's my last one! The railroad tracks in Ballard got me and while the photos don't do it justice, I've got some pretty big "badges of honor", or as I like to think of them - "owies". I was out riding with a friend, and I didn't see the great big yellow sign saying to cross at a 90 degree angle and my bike went out from under me faster than I could prevent. It's a pretty sickening feeling. I managed to get rid of the pebble that was embedded in my elbow, but I've still got some souveniers in my outer arm. The pictures of my knee didn't tun out real well but I've got about an 8 inch section all scraped up there too. I'm just trying to remember to be glad that nothing is broken and my face didn't get screwed up! My drugs are kicking in -- goodnight!

Pharmacy Girls Night Out!! Just got back from our latest night out on the town. We've started to hang out and enjoy each other's company outside of work. This time was at Red Robin, celebrating Colleen's upcoming marraige and mourning Elizabeth, Debi, and Mary's leaving. The one photo is blurry but special -- Stacey and Elizabeth and I have been the ICU pharmacists, and now Elizabeth is moving on. Anyhow, these are some of the great gals I work with and the reason why life in Yakima isn't all that bad sometimes!!