Playing Catch-Up

It has been quite a while since I blogged.  We were so busy, working literally around the clock, the last two weeks at the shop I just couldn't find the time or when I did find the time I was braindead.  So...here's a quick assortment from the last few weeks:

Chicago vs. Philly for the Stanley Cup.  Really?  Boo.  Game #1 is tonight and all I can say is I'm hoping for a resurrection of the Broad Street Bullies.  What an epic collapse on the part of San Jose.  That, I think, is the most shocking series this year--even more so than the collapse of the Caps.

We worked our asses off and still didn't make the deadline for the show.  Shit happens.  Took me two whole days of sleeping to recover from the 5-day run there at the end.  The car will be spectacular when its done, though, and I learned just how far I can push myself before going insane.  It is truly strange what yur body and mind does after that amount of time with no sleep.  The third day is the best because you actually get a little high.  The fourth day is the hardest because any time you stop you pass out.  So you have to keep occupied every second which can be more difficult than it seems.  I cleaned the hell out of the Charger though.  My Sonic Scrubber really came in handy!  A big shout out to our guys and their families who sacrificed so much to help!  And also to Mom and Dad who busted their asses, too, to help!  Not to mention a few select friends who pitched in.  All you guys rock!

Did a little shopping for my upcoming birthday this week.  I really think I was meant to be born super-rich because the one thing I'm truly good at and that brings me the most pleasure is shopping.  Since I'm not super-rich I have worked to develop a highly sharpened deal-o-meter.  I never pay full price for anything and can spend hours seeking out the best deal.  Due to my extreme dislike of actual people I prefer to shop online, but I've found that makes the shopping compulsion worse because you have literally unlimited options and can compare things across a braod range of stores, some that might not even exist in your town.  Sometimes I'll browse online and then go out and buy the item in persn, but only after extensive online research.  I've got this thing honed down to a science.  Or sport.  I prefer sport.  Shopping is my sport.

My pepper plants not only survived but have started sprouting peppers.  I'm so proud!  A few are almost ready to be picked and I can't wait to see what they taste like.  I lost the cilantro plant to a weed and one pepper plant to bugs, but I still have basil, chives, parsley, leeks and 5 peppers.  On Monday I plan to FINALLY plant the garden at the shop.  Its a good think I haven't planted it yet because of all the rain.  Had I planted it when originally planned it would have washed away in the flooding.

We are going out tonight to celebrate my birthday (a week early).  We are going to Knoxville for Kirby's hockey tournament next weekend, on my actualy birthday, and I plan to par-tay down with Cheryl Saturday night.  So, we are doing my birthday dinner with the parents tonight at Lime.  I'm looking forward to a pitcher of sangria or two.  Since I'm NOT getting to go to D.C. for my birthday this year as originally planned, I still wanted some sangria!  We'll see if the nice folks at Lime can compete with the sangria masters at La Tasca.  I have hope!  Then we are going out to Red Door East for a bit.  Due to my lack of time to plan and this being a holiday weekend, not many people could make it out but that's fine.  I'm not a huge fan of birthday (or other) get togethers with tons of people because you can't socilaize with that many people anyway.  Not in any quality way.  We haven't done anything for my birthday the last two years, so I'm ready to do it up big time, across two weekends and in two cities, this year!  I'm finally "getting old" so this might be my last big throw-down!  For a while anyway!

And speaking of my birthday, I can cross one thing off my "Bucket List."  You see, Kirby is not the best gift giver.  I have to give him kudos for creativity with the first birthday of mine we celebrated together, since he had known me just over a month.  Even though I have not yet had the opportunity to USE what he got me yet, it was a really nice thought and showed he was actually listening to me when we talked about things.  (It was hockey pads...I said I wanted to learn how to skate and play hockey, and it would be nice to have the pasd when learning to skate so it wouldn't hurt when I fell...but we still to this day have not gone ice skating for him to teach me!)  But on the whole he just isn't good at coming up with ideas--not just for me, but for everyone--occasionally he has a good idea like painting the ghost flames on my Dad's motorcycle helmet for Christmas last year, but for the majrotiy of gift-giving occasions I'm the one who comes up with the idea and does the shopping.  Which kinda sucks when it's my turn to get a gift.  :)  He asked me the other night what I wanted and I said I really didn't know.  I didn't know.  I hadn't given it much thought yet.  He never has time to shop, anyway.  Well, yesterday someone sent me a link to a bunch of Manolos a stylist was selling on eBay.  For cheap.  Serious cheap.  There was only one pair in my size and they were leopard print, which I LOVE.  So I asked him if I could bid on them for my present and he agreed.  I WON THE SUCKERS!!!  So...I can cross "own a pair of Manolos" off my list now!  Best part is...we got them for 1/8th the retail price, so not only did I accomplish an item on my list, I accomplished it at significant savings!  Go me!  I told you shopping was my sport!   

I'm back to being a blonde again.  Last appointment we got it fairly blonde but yesterday we got it all the way back.  I had to go blonde again because I wanted to see what I thought about it AFTER having been a brunette for a little while.  I'm really kind of stuck.  When my hair was brown I preferred the way it looked blonde, in pictures, since that was my reference point.  Now that its blonde again I prefer it brunette, but in person.  I've always thought I don't really look like myself in pictures--I guess that's called being unphotogenic--but I've always felt a disconnect between what I see of myself in pictures versus real life.  So, I prefer being blonde in a picture, but brunette in person.  I also think I look better in pictures with my contacts in but silly in person without my glasses.  That was the issue with my nose, too.  I never thought my nose was THAT BIG in person but in pictures it always looked HUGE to me.  Fortunately, since that was a drastic move on my part and not cheap either, I like the way my nose looks now both in person and in pictures.  It could still be a tad smaller, in a perfect world, but it also seems to fluctuate in size now.  Strange, I know, but there are days when it seems bigger at the tip than others and I think it has to do with internal swelling from allergies and sinusitis since the days where I'm most congested my nose looks bigger and when I'm not congested (like, never) it seems smaller.  Go figure.

I'm done with acupuncture for the time being, and the overall result has been positive.  Some of the issues haven't really changed much but I have noticed some improvement in my overall energy level and IBS.  I haven't noticed any change in my allergies or sinusitis.  The knot in my back is completely gone, but my neck and back are not completely pain free.  It is a noticable improvement though.  The one thing that is the most shocking is that I have been 100% migraine free since my first appointment.  My main triggers--stress and lack of sleep--have been present in abundance over the last month, so I should have been getting them with some regularity, but I have not.  It is truly a miracle because I have gone 13 years looking for a solution to my migraines, and this has been in so far!

That about wraps up the last few weeks.  Hopefully I can get back on schedule with this thing now, and with my life in general.  We have a few weeks that are going to be pretty laid back, in comparison, and then the car show schedule kicks up in July, so I'm sure we'll be busy with that.  I should have some interesting observations from the shows, though, since it will be our first time going to most of these and some are pretty big national shows.  Not to mention any time Kirby and I travel together, there's always some adventure involved!