Do you ever get earworms?  You know, when a tune is stuck in your head and you can’t get rid of it.  Well, I need help.  I have the music from Lord of the Rings in my head.  Most specifically the "Fellowship" Theme, but occasionally the theme from Rohan and other parts too.  Basically at any time I might start singing the music, and I think Chris is about ready to kill me.  It’s definitely been over a year since this has been a problem.  I thought it might go away, but it hasn’t.  HELP!

I’m on a break from unpacking.  I spent most of the afternoon trying to fit as many books as possible onto a small bookcase.  The trick is to make more than one stack, and to turn them sideways rather than up and down. 

From last night.  We made pasta with something called "turkey bratwurst" that I bought at the store.  It was pretty good, and I figured it was (probably) healthier than using "italian sausage." 

I got my bridesmaid dress for Leslie’s wedding yesterday.  Well, I’d gotten it before, but now I own it in a size that actually flatters me.  I had Chris take some pictures of me to send her, and I was DELIGHTED that one of the pictures from the back showed some awesome back muscle definition.  I would totally share it but I can’t do that because I’m wearing the bridesmaid dress in it.  Maybe I’ll try to recreate the pose later and show you all. (In your face, JEN!)

We moved.  It’s done. 

And I’m exhausted from moving yesterday then spending the rest of the day unpacking, then waking up and spending all day today unpacking as well.  We got our internet and cable hooked up and spent most of the day waiting for a couch to be delivered…that we finally realized was scheduled to be delivered on Friday instead.  Oops.  I guess we’ll have to stay close to home on Friday.

My parents came through and helped out a ton.  Points for local readers who recognize where this picture was taken!

The cat did not enjoy being moved.  I took her to the new place the morning of the move and she was not happy with me.  Finally today she started really exploring the downstairs rather than hiding in a closet.  She seems to be adjusting well and I’m sure in a day she will consider it home and refuse to go anywhere else.

The truck, parked behind a tree.  It was really hot.  Luckily we had hired people to do the actual moving so we just got to stay inside and chat during the move.

Stuff in the new house, starting to fill up!

Post move, celebratory diet coke.  Name this restaurant for bonus points!

Chris was exhausted.  He did more than I did so he got a beer.  Also I am watching my weight as you know 😉

And the start of our unpacking.  Those are some of our awesome wedding presents—our china, another set of dishes, and of course my Carolina Youth Symphony mug.  That’s just one of many cabinets we have now.

Moving is a ton of work, but the result is always so much fun.  I’ll write more later I’m sure.

I am accepting housewarming gifts from readers, before you ask 😉

Hopefully my Mom and Dad have made it safely to Aspen by now to visit Carrie and then they head to Boulder to visit Leslie. 

This is packing and moving week.  I may not blog as much this week because I’m not entirely sure what the internet situation will be.  As in, there MAY be a day or half a day without internet!  (cue scary, dramatic music, aka the "suspense" ring on my phone.)  I’m currently supposed to be doing some packing while waiting for my parents to arrive.  Tuesday is the official moving day—we have rented a truck and hired some movers to do the heavy lifting (I could TOTALLY do it all on my own, but you know.)

Last night we had a couple friends over for burgers.  I felt like a true underachiever as I served store-bought coleslaw and potato salad, but it just wasn’t practical to make a side on my own.  I also didn’t make anything for dessert which is really rare for me.  I felt bad, but I hope my friends didn’t mind.  They brought homemade sides and desserts that were delicious.

And this guy fell asleep on our table, in his car seat carrier.  I told Chris if he was like that all the time we’d need to see about getting one of our own, but it turns out that’s not all they do, so we are reconsidering. 

He was pretty cute the night before too.  Though I think he makes my arms look fat, so I might need to start holding larger babies for a better contrast.

Probably best to avoid him for a few weeks.  Or remember how shortly after this picture was taken things took a bad turn with some diaper issues.  It’s not all fun and games.

Meanwhile the boys were doing this…

Oh, and the big news I got last night is that my friend Vanessa got engaged!  Congratulations to her and Russell!!  It’s a love weekend—my friends Adrianne (of Chamber Project St Louis) and Derek got engaged a couple of days ago (to each other, to clarify.)

Vanessa: Since she’s not a string player she can wear her ring on the left hand.  And eat ice cream.

Sorry for the totally random blog post, but that’s how it’s going right now.  It’s hard to be focused when your entire life is currently packed up in boxes!  Plus, who am I kidding, I’m always random!

Today is my brother’s birthday—Happy Birthday Jesse!  He is currently in China for the summer. 

Monday night I was under the impression it was July 10th, and I thought China was 12 hours ahead, so I dashed off a quick HB email to him.  A little bit later I realized it was actually July 9th and I was early, so I sent a quick "oh, hai, I messed up but HB anyway" email.  Oh well, better early than late, right?  Anyway, Jesse responded and mentioned that he reads my blog there too, but can only see the text, not the pictures.  I suppose he doesn’t mind—he’s really only missing out on a bunch of cat pictures and the occasional bloodied or bruised leg or foot. 

I don’t see Jesse very often, but of course he was at my wedding.  However, I barely got a chance to talk to him—I thought I would have more time the next day but I didn’t realize he was leaving early.  Oops.  Hopefully at Leslie’s wedding I’ll have more time. 

Now I’ll post some pictures of Jesse, and he won’t be able to see them.  *evil laugh*

Mom and Jesse

 

Jesse, Mom, Dad, me, Chris, Leslie, Carrie. 

Carrie, Jesse at our rehearsal dinner the night before…

Oh, and here we were.  I’m guessing Christmas 1980, since it seems to be pre-Leslie.  We used to be natural blondes.

How was your weekend?  Mine was wonderful.  I was hard at work packing up my house, oh, and I spent Saturday at the pool.  Friday was a fun night as well, had some fun with the girls and hit up every restaurant and bar on Maryland Plaza in the Central West End.  (This is only a slight exaggeration.  I think we went to five different places before I really had to get home.)

But Saturday was for lounging by the pool.  Don’t judge.  You know I usually work hard.  (Okay, you don’t know that, but I swear I do.  Usually.  On occasion?  At least between birth and oh, 23 or so.)

Firstly, I had to take this picture or you wouldn’t know that I was at a pool.  Those are my legs.  And my feet.  If you look closely you can see the blister on my right foot from the day before.  Note to self:  don’t wear new shoes for hours when you plan to walk or stand a lot.

Oh, and before I really talk about the pool, let’s talk about various self-inflicted wounds that I have happening. Friday night I bumped into a glass table and cut my knee.

Do you see?  I was wearing shorts, I promise.  (It was over 105 degrees, shorts are perfectly acceptable going out clothing.)  This really stung, especially in the chlorine.  I like to think that the pool water helped clean it out.

This one is a little harder to see, but those are bruises on my knees from burpees.

Is that any better?  Yes, I know they aren’t dark bruises, but STILL they exist, and they hurt.

One last thing is that there is a lovely bruise next to my pinky toe on my right foot (same right foot with blister) from dropping a jar of peanut butter on it earlier in the week.  To sum it up:  I’m a disaster area.  It’s a miracle I’m still alive.

Okay, I promised to talk about the pool.  I went with my friend Jen to the Cheshire Inn.  They have a pool you can use if you spend $20 on food and drinks.  If you plan on lunch and a couple of drinks this is not a problem.  (Honestly, I feel uncomfortable telling you all that, because I don’t want it to get overcrowded.  So don’t tell everybody you know, okay?)

 

I made Jen take this picture for the blog.  I am not sure why I was making a maniacal face.  Perhaps to distract you from my stomach?

The Cheshire Inn is near the really large Amoco sign.  This is an actual thing.  If you say that in St Louis, people really know what you are talking about.

Self Portrait. 

You have to get there early to claim the good chairs.   We had planned to arrive by 10:30 am.  I was exhausted when I woke up Saturday morning, and I was worried it would be too hot to go to the pool.  As in, I texted Jen whining that I thought I might be too tired and too hot to…lie around by a pool. Yeah.  These are not actual problems.  We decided to man up and go, since we’d been planning it for weeks (I am not usually that free on Saturdays.)

Lunch!  Chicken salad and fruit.  I’m not a huge fan of the green melon (honeydew, I believe it is called), but the berries and pineapple warmed my heart.

All in all it was a wonderful day. 

Saturday night I met some friends at Pi, my favorite pizza place in all of the world.  I made them order a deep dish because I am obsessed with it.  Then I was asleep by 11:30 I think. 

Sunday morning Jen and I "ran" Forest Park.  Even though it was approximately 20 degrees cooler than it has been…it was STILL too hot to really run.  The last couple miles were primarily walking as I thought I was going to pass out.  Lesson learned:  90 degrees is still hot, and I am stupid for not carrying water.

Sunday afternoon I packed a bunch of boxes, and then Sunday night I finally finished watching True Blood season two and started on season three.

I’m not sure why I felt like sharing all of this with you all, but hey, super exciting stuff, right?

And now it’s Monday.  Busy week ahead of packing and getting ready to move, as well as my last week of teaching until mid-August.  What are you up to?  HOW IS YOUR DAY SO FAR?