Countdown

BULGARIA!!!

May 10th, 2010 I depart for Washington D.C. I will arrive in BULGARIA by May 12th! That does not give me a lot of time to get everything in order but it certainly can and will be done. I can't really describe how it feels to finally have real, concrete answers. I was so tired of people asking me questions without having any answers, now people can ask away!

Please Hold

I got a phone call Tuesday from the Peace Corps. I had a nice chat with my placement officer and we went over a bunch things in order for him to place me where I am most needed and useful. At the end of the conversation he asked me about my timeline and if I would be available earlier than my early June nomination. I told him I could do that, so he told me I would be leaving May 10, 2010! In other words 7.5 weeks! I think I was able to sputter out a few words of thanks and appreciation before hanging up, but I am not totally positive about that. The country will remain somewhat of a mystery until I actually receive the invitation that he said would be here by Friday. Of course as any good Peace Corps applicant knows you can figure out the country pretty easily with a little research. I am keeping my lips sealed until I know for sure!

I can't believe in a matter of hours I went from practically giving up all hope that I was going to make my June departure to leaving an entire month earlier than expected! I think this is going to be really great for me, and with any luck I will make it the entire 27 months! I say luck because sometimes leaving isn't your choice, life still happens. I hope to be able to post very soon where I will be off to, so keep checking back for updates!

Dovizhdane!

Nobunny knows Easter better......

This is always a hard time a year for me, I love all things Easter candy! I load up on candy and then ration it out for the months following Easter just so I don't have to go through withdrawals. Cadbury is some of the best chocolate around and living in the US this is really the only time of year you can find Cadbury on our shelves. A lot of the other candy now comes around for different holidays (e.g. peeps) but I only enjoy them at Easter time. I hit the store and stocked up on my supply today, I am sure I will do that again before Easter, especially if I hear anything from the Peace Corps.

Just as a side note, as I was searching for photos of the deliciousness above, I discovered that you can by a box of these beauties for $59.99 from Amazon. That is a whole lot of creme eggs!

What a week!

I survived! I had an amazing week, but I am exhausted. Here are a few highlights:

• Spent last weekend with my brother and his family waiting for the new baby to arrive.
• Monday, Henry arrived weighing in at 9 lbs 3 oz.
• Spent a few days of quality time with my niece Ivy
• April came to visit me from Colorado
• Girls shopping trip
• Found the North Face jacket I have been wanting to get in my size, in the color I wanted, at less than half the regular retail price at the outlet mall!
• Ate sushi
• Road trip to Seattle
• Weekend with Becky and April in Seattle
• Green lake
• Piroshky Piroshky!
• Saw Mt. Ranier, the Cascade and Olympic Mountain ranges in Seattle for the first time
• Chicken Wings
• Sunday night dinner with April and the family including the little ones
• A week off of work!

I was sad to see April go, but now I can rest and get back into my schedule. What a week!!!

B.L.P.

Today I want to discuss the Biggest Loser Phenomenon or B.L.P. as I like to call it. I am referring to the unreasonable want or desire to consume fatty, sugary, unhealthy foods while watching really fat people work out. For some reason whenever I watch this show I want to eat unhealthy food and I know I am not alone. What is that? I am watching people literally have fat melt off of them, pushing their morbidly obese bodies to the limit and all I want to do is eat a cupcake. Last season I started craving (and making) cupcakes conveniently on Tuesday nights. So far my cravings with the current season are freshly baked cookies. More specifically choc. chip cookies, I made some last week to enjoy during the show. They were great! I inspired a couple other people to join me, I still feel a little guilty for that. Today I start craving fast food, how funny, I haven't had fast food in over a month I wonder why I could be craving.........oh ya, it's Tuesday, Biggest Loser night! But those contestants sure are inspiring aren't they! Perhaps I need to reconsider my viewing of this show.

B.L.P. hitting a waste band near you!

Dreams..

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you wake up still in the emotion of the dream? A handful of times I have awoken from a dream sobbing! It can take some time to console myself and be reminded that it was only a dream and not actually reality. Those are always the kind of dreams I hate having. It is like all the other dreams, good or bad, follow the rules and stay in your dreams but these seem to be the unruly dreams they cross some line between dream and reality making that emotion feel as strong as anything I have ever felt.
Well a couple of nights ago I had a dream like this except I wasn't crying I was laughing! I was laughing out loud and so much so that when I woke up my cheeks and sides were hurting. I continued laughing for awhile until I finally went back to sleep promising myself I would remember what I was dreaming about, and of course I didn't.

I am ready....

Ok, I am ready for Christmas! bring it on...........oh crap! So maybe it is a couple days to late but I really feel like Christmas now. ha! Well bring on the New year then. That I am ready for! 2010 is going to be an interesting year! I am very hopeful about this year and think it will have a lot of great things in store for myself along with friends and family!

I did have a very good Christmas even though I wasn't really ready for it. I got so many great gifts but the best thing I got this year was a small gift with the most amazing note attached to it from a completely anonymous "Santa". This person left me this gift at my parents home (where I celebrated the holiday). My Mom and I both suspected the same people but she asked them individually before I even knew about the gift and they both had the same surprised reaction and asked the same question. I don't know who it was but if by chance they read my blog I would like to say Thank You! That gift and note along with the anonymity was one of the most generous heartfelt gifts I have ever received THANK YOU!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Bring on the New Year!!!