The Country Mouse Will Survive!

Hello friends!  Is anyone out there??  I seriously don't blame anyone who has abandoned my so-called blog!  What kind of blog only gets updated once a month??  The answer would be a really boring one!  I have so much fun reading other people's blogs and my hope for mine was that it would be just as fun to read.  Well, let me tell you something friends....new job + grad school + no sleep = half dead country mouse that is hanging on by a thread! 

I can't even begin to tell you how tough school has been this semester.  This semester has made last semester look like a walk in the park!  I am supposed to be finishing a 25 page paper right now, but I was in desperate need of a diversion for a few minutes.  You can only write about a human resource strategy for globalization to India for so long, right??? ;-)  Thankfully, there is a light at the end of the tunnel as the semester ends for me on May 8!  And I will have a WHOLE MONTH before summer school starts!  HOORAY FOR ME!!  Yes, please clap, jump up and down, throw a party, have a cocktail, make a toast, etc. in honor of the country mouse surviving this semester!  Well, I haven't completely survived yet, but I'm hoping for the best over the next few weeks! ;-)

My new job is going great and all of my co-workers are wonderful.  It is a very small, family-like atmosphere and the office is only 2 miles from house!  As much as I adore those three little chickens I nannied for, I am glad to be back in the good old adult working world.  I am definitely a much better babysitter than a full time nanny! ;-)

Well, its 11:45 and I have many pages left to go on my paper, so I need to get back to the salt mines.  I hope that all of you are doing great and *hopefully* I'll have the time soon to actually have a real blog, not a spot on the internet where the only thing I post about is how I don't have time to write posts! ;-)

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!   

The Next Adventure

Well, its been a whole month since I last blogged and I have quite a bit to fill you in on!  I know I've said repeatedly that I am going to pay more attention to this neglected little blog, but between work and school I just can't seem to ever find the the time to sit down and write a worthwhile post.  I'd rather write about something interesting than tell you how many times I was spit up on during the day or how many diapers I changed. ;-) 

Speaking of diapers and spit up, the biggest piece of news I have for you is that I have decided to hang up my nanny hat and return to the good old corporate world!  I have taken a job with a Human Resources consulting firm here in DC and I start on Monday, March 22.  I accepted the job a few weeks ago and today starts my last week of nannying.  It was a very difficult decision considering how much I adore these three precious girls that I have taken care of for the past six months.  But, I knew deep down that this new job was an opportunity that I could not pass up.  I am definitely going to miss my little chickens very much and it will be hard not seeing them everyday.  Between all spit-up, diapers, time outs, screaming, hugging, and laughing, we've had ourselves quite a time together! ;-)

So, here goes the country mouse onto the next adventure in her life in DC!  I will be back to update you on my first day at work next week!

Have a wonderful week!

The Country Mouse vs. The Snow

As you all know, the nation's capitol has had quite an experience with snow...LOTS OF SNOW...so far this winter.  I have loved my first experience with "real" snow and hope that it snows maybe once or twice again before winter ends...just so long as it doesn't snow 20-30 inches again!  DC is so beautiful after a fresh snowfall and I didn't mind tramping through multiple inches of snow to take lots of pics of the three big blizzards we've had.  I loved sitting in my apartment curled up on the couch just watching the snow fall through my windows.  There is something so romantic and whimsical to me about a snowy day.  Unfortunately, the days following a fresh snow are not so romantic and whimsical!  The beautiful snow eventually turns to nasty, brown mush and then it all freezes into big solid blocks that make walking quite a challenge.  Speaking of walking, guess how I got home from work the other night?  Yep, I walked....all the way from Chevy Chase, MD to Georgetown.  Altogether I walked about 5 miles through piles of nasty snow and ice patches.  I know what you're thinking.  Why in the heck did she walk home from work when DC has a metro system and zillions of cabs?  Well, DC metro system and its cabs were NOT functioning properly by any means on Friday!  My car was still encased in ice and snow, so I rode the bus to work with no problems.  The ride home was a totally different story.  I spent TWO HOURS on one bus and we only went ONE MILE.  When we arrived at the next stop where I could catch the last bus to Georgetown, there were hundreds of very unhappy people waiting for buses that were obviously not coming anytime soon.  And wouldn't you know that there were probably ten buses on the side of the road all with their "Not In Service" signs lit up.  Ugghh!  So, I decided to walk a little bit and just grab a cab home.  Just grab a cab, simple, right?  NO.  Every single cab I flagged down just flew by like I didn't even exist!  By this time my hands and feet were feeling slighty frostbitten, despite being properly covered in boots and gloves.  I resorted to the fact that I had no choice but to keep on walking.  So, I started walking down Wisconsin Avenue and saw two guys waiting at a metrobus stop who appeared to be just as frustrated as I was.  I told them that if they were waiting for the bus then they better not hold their breath because it wasn't coming anytime soon.  One of them said he was headed to Georgetown and he offered to walk with me.  I know this sounds like a possibly dangerous situation, but he was a very nice young man and assured me that he was not a creep!  So, we started walking and I was so thankful to have the company and the protection from real creeps who might have been lurking around!  He was just as nice as he could be and thanks to him my walk home was not nearly as miserable as it could have been.  But, by the time I finally got home my hands and feet were swollen because they were so cold.  After a VERY hot shower I finally felt normal again!  Needless to say, that long walk made for a very good nights sleep.  Unfortunately, I had to wake up early Saturday morning to start walking again to class through the ice and snow.  Thankfully class is not five miles away!

Now, I swore on Friday that I would never set foot on a metrobus again as long as I live.  After pondering the idea of paying someone to dig my car out, I decided to take on the task myself.  I paid some guys to do it last week and it just ended up snowing again and my money went right down the drain because I never even moved my car!  My only problem was that I do not own a snow shovel and there are none to be found in this city because they've all been bought.  My landlords were out of town this weekend and I didn't have access to theirs, but I did manage to find just a regular old shovel in their storage room that connects to my apartment.  I figured it was better than nothing, so I decided to give it a try.  All I have to say to you is:  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SHOVEL HARD, ICY SNOW WITH A GARDEN SHOVEL!  You will pull every muscle in your body and be completely immobile when you wake up the next morning.  Obviously, you can't make a very wide path with a garden shovel, so you do probably four times as much shoveling with a regular shovel!  But, I was determined to get that car out and by george I did!  Of course now that I spent all those hours shoveling and working so hard to get my car out, I don't want to move it and lose my parking space!  Parking spaces are precious around here in all this snow because most people haven't moved and the snow piles have made spaces even more limited.  So, I have decided to keep my precious space for a little while longer and try the bus one more time tomorrow.  Keep your fingers crossed for me that I don't have to walk home from Maryland tomorrow night! 

And Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!

Just Can't Live Without It

I have several blogs that I "stalk" on a daily basis.  Most of them are friends of mine and I love checking in and seeing what they are up to every day.  I've noticed a few posts recently centered around "things I can't live without" or "a few of my favorite things."  Some of you may hate things like this, but I love to discover new things to try that others reccomend.  You never know when you might stumble upon something new that you might not be able to live without!

So, I came up with my list of things that I currently can't live without.  Here are the top ten:

1. Hunter Wellington Boots - I absolutely, positively could not have survived all of the snow without these boots.  Rain, snow, sleet or shine, these boots can handle whatever the weather brings!

2.  Nature's Path Flax Plus Pumpkin Raisin Crunch - If you like a really crunchy cereal and the flavor of pumpkin, then you have to try this cereal.  I am addicted!

3.  Vaseline Intensive Care Cocoa Butter Lotion - Not too greasy, no fake cocoa-butterish scent and it is CHEAP!  I have even been using it on my hands and it works wonders for my extremely dry skin!

4.  Thesaurus.com - Brilliance!  No more stopping in the middle of paper writing to flip through a bulky thesaurus.  I just keep this open on my browser when I'm writing and with the click of a button I can look up all the words I need to.  A grad student's dream!

5.  North Face Metropolis Coat - I can't say enough great things about this coat.  I don't know how I would have survived all of this crazy winter weather in DC without it!  It is so lightweight and not bulky at all, which makes wearing it over layers super comfortable. 

6.  Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Half Bottles - This is my absolute favorite white wine!  If you like sauvignon blanc, you must try Kim Crawford!  Actually, I haven't tried one New Zealand sauvignon blanc that I do not like.  I'm a huge fan!  But, I always end up wasting some of the wine because I never drink a whole bottle in three days, which is how long wine experts say you are supposed to keep it (after opening) before it starts to oxidize and lose its flavor.  I ran to Whole Foods the other day before the last round of snow and lo and behold, there was my Kim Crawford in...half bottles!  A half bottle is just the right amount and none of it goes to waste.  Perfect!

7.  Flannel Button Down Shirts - Super feminine?  No.  Super stylish?  No.  Would I wear one on a date?  No.  But, do I love them?  YES!  So comfy, cozy, and easy! 

8.  Aquaphor Healing Ointment - This pretty much speaks for itself!  If you've never tried it, do yourself a favor and run out and grab a tube.  This little miracle can fix anything from chapped lips to wind burn to dry skin to whatever ails ya!  Well, whatever ails your skin that is! 

9.  Diane Birch - I am by no means a music junkie, but I do love it when I hear a great new singer or band that I've never head before.  Diane Birch made an appearance on Conan the other night (might have been a rerun) and I immediately downloaded her new album onto my ipod.  She has a very Carole King-ish voice and I don't think there is one bad song on this album.  If you like Carole King (which I do!), then I high reccomend checking out Diane Birch!

10.  Clarisonic Facial Brush - My life was truly empty until I discovered this amazing little gadget!  My friend Lauren talked me into buying one and I have to tell you that it is worth every single last penny.  I have been using for about two or three weeks now (once per day) and my skin has never looked better!  You can order either a regular or sensitive skin brush and I chose the sensitive skin, just to be on the safe side. My skin is smooth, soft and blemish free!  I just wish I had bought one sooner!

 

Just Another Morning in the North Pole

I Think I Have a Bad Case Of....

Just Another 10-20 Inches...Blah, Blah, Blah....No Big Deal......

Did I move to Fargo and just not realize it until today???

Issued by The National Weather Service

Baltimore/Washington, MD
3:04 pm EST, Mon., Feb. 8, 2010

... WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE... SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS... 10 TO 20 INCHES.

* TIMING... MID-AFTERNOON TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

* TEMPERATURES... TEMPERATURES NEAR FREEZING AT THE ONSET TUESDAY AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE UPPER 20S TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.

* WINDS... LIGHT SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS TUESDAY BECOMING NORTHWESTERLY 15 TO 25 MPH WEDNESDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THE COMBINATION OF SNOW AND STRONG WINDS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS.

There isn't enough room around here for 10-20 inches of snow!!!!

Snowpocalypse 2010!

Now I'm Really Eating My Words!!!

OK, this is getting just a bit comical, don't you agree??  We currently have this in DC:

And now they are predicting this:

Issued by The National Weather Service


Baltimore/Washington, MD

3:15 pm EST, Sun., Feb. 7, 2010

... WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH... IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE... SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS... POTENTIAL FOR 5 OR MORE INCHES OF SNOW.

* TIMING... MID TO LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

* TEMPERATURES... TEMPERATURES AT OR JUST ABOVE FREEZING AT THE ONSET TUESDAY AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE MID TO UPPER 20S TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.

* WINDS... LIGHT SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS TUESDAY BECOMING NORTH- NORTHWESTERLY 15 TO 25 MPH WEDNESDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.

Maybe I shouldn't have paid those guys to dig my car out of the snow this morning???

This is a joke, right??

Issued by The National Weather Service


Baltimore/Washington, MD

2:10 pm EST, Thu., Feb. 4, 2010

WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM FRIDAY TO 10 PM EST SATURDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM FRIDAY TO 10 PM EST SATURDAY.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE... HEAVY SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS... STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 18 TO 24 INCHES.

* TIMING... SNOW WILL BEGIN MID-MORNING FRIDAY... AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE RAPIDLY FRIDAY AFTERNOON... WITH HEAVIEST SNOWFALL OCCURRING BETWEEN SUNSET FRIDAY TO SUNRISE SATURDAY. THE MOST HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR FRIDAY NIGHT.

* VISIBILITIES... THE COMBINATION OF HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO BELOW ONE-QUARTER MILE... PRODUCING NEAR-BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AT TIMES FRIDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY MORNING.

* TEMPERATURES... HIGHS IN THE LOWER 30S FRIDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE MID TO UPPER 20S FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY.

* WINDS... BECOMING NORTHEAST 10 TO 20 MPH FRIDAY WITH GUSTS TO 30 MPH FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

CONDITIONS IN THIS STORM ARE EXPECTED TO BE COMPARABLE TO THOSE IN THE STORM OF 19 DECEMBER. PLAN FOR SUBSTANTIAL DISRUPTIONS TO TRAVEL FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE FRIDAY NIGHT.

"Oh come on Mama, it doesn't snow that much in DC...."

Issued by The National Weather Service


Baltimore/Washington, MD

3:35 pm EST, Tue., Feb. 2, 2010

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST WEDNESDAY.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE... SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS... 3 TO 6 INCHES.

* TIMING... DEVELOPING THROUGH 6 PM... ENDING BETWEEN 4 AM AND 6 AM. HEAVIEST SNOW WILL BE FROM 10 PM TO 4 AM.

* TEMPERATURES... MID 30S LATE THIS AFTERNOON... DROPPING BELOW FREEZING DURING DURING THE EARLY TO MID EVENING. OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE UPPER 20S.

* WINDS... EAST 5 MPH OR LESS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

Ode to a Lifesaver

Never would I ever have thought that one of those "lifesavers" in my life would be anything close to this contraption:

For you mothers out there, I'm sure you already know what this things is.  For those of you who have no clue, it is a Baby Bjorn.  Recently, it has become the only place where baby Erin likes to perch during the day....the ENTIRE day.  Yes, she eats AND sleeps in it.  The little chicken is the happiest (with me, atleast!) when she is completely upright with full view of everything that is going on.  Now, if she were still a newborn and weighed 6 pounds, we'd be in business.  But, she is now 3 months old and getting near 13 pounds, so that translates into an 8 hour workout for her nanny!  I actually kicked the soccer ball around with the older girls yesterday while she SLEPT in this thing!  To me, she looks so uncomfortable all squished and strapped in it, but she is happier no where else and I'm not about to disrupt a happy baby's happiness!  An added bonus is that when she eats in it, the "squished" effect caused her to burp on her own!  Who can complain about that, right?!  As I am typing this blog entry she is laid back and sound asleep in her Bjorn.  I'm happy that she's happy, but I may need a chiropractor before things are all said and done!

Hope you all have a wonderful afternoon and that you are able to "take a load off" when your day is over...like I'm going to!

My Friday Night Date

There's nothing better than a quiet evening at home curled up on the couch with good book, right?  I think so!  But, how about a quiet FRIDAY NIGHT at home curled up on the couch with THIS:

 

If you can't read the title of the book, it is EMPLOYMENT LAW.  Doesn't the title just make you tingle from your head to your toes??? ;-)  Yes folks, its Friday night and I am trying my hardest to prepare for my SATURDAY MORNING Workplace Ethics class tomorrow.  The first part of the semester focuses on...drumroll please...EMPLOYMENT LAW!  WEEEEEEE!!!!  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure employment law really is fascinating, but what do you do if you don't even understand a large amount of the words in the book?!  How about the phrase "writ of mandamus"?  If you know that one off the top of your head (attorneys excluded!), then my hats off to you!  Luckily, I have a father, mother, and brother who are all attorneys, and I have already soliticed their advice on the best way to navigate this book!  My father's first suggestion was to purchase a copy of "Black's Law Dictionary."  He said if I couldn't find a used one at the bookstore, that he would just mail me the one my grandfather used when he was in law school...in 1936!  It might a be a little musty, but it would pretty neat to use your grandfather's law dictionary from 1936, wouldn't it?  I think I am just going to just pray that the teacher will have mercy on us poor students tomorrow and tell us that she is going to spoon feed us every bit of employment law that we need to know!  Just kidding!  Well....kind of. ;-)

So, my friends, that is how I am spending this Friday night in the nation's capitol.  Just me and my trusty copy of Employment Law!  I know, you're jealous and you wish you could be me right this second. ;-)

Whatever you may be doing (employment law or otherwise!) I hope you are having a wonderful Friday night!

HELLO!!

Does anyone out there remember me??  If you don't, I understand why!  I have been the WORST blogger of all bloggers since my Christmas break began over a month ago!  You would think that I would blogged daily with all the free time I had on my hands while I was home, but I sure didn't.  I spent every minute of wonderful time in Alabama enjoying being with my family, visiting friends, reading and watching tv on the screened porch, and sleeping VERY late almost every day!  I was never a late sleeper until I began my new life in DC.  I think the combination of nanny by day and student by night has caused me to crave every minute of sleep I can get!  Needless to say, I caught up on more than my share while I was home! 

My family and I had a truly wonderful Christmas and I was so blessed to be able to spend almost two weeks in Monroeville!  After being home for almost two weeks, it was definitely very hard to return to life in the big city.  While I missed my friends here and my little chickens (Gretchen, Lucy, and Erin), getting back into the swing of daily life was a little tough the first few days!  I have my first night of class tomorrow and I already had to write a paper...before class even started!  Isn't it amazing the way email has changed the way school works?!  I am looking forward to seeing my classmates that I became friends with last semester and meeting my new professor.  My other class is on....SATURDAY MORNING!  OUCH!  It is from 9AM-12PM, so I guess it could be worse.  I'm actually glad that something will be forcing me to get my lazy self out of bed on Saturday mornings! ;-)

I wish that I had lots of fun pictures to share with you from the holidays, but I took not one single pic the entire time I was home.  But, Santa did bring me one of these:

It is the latest Canon PowerShot Elph and I LOVE it!  My old camera was a Canon PowerShot 360 and while it has been a fantastic camera, it is much larger than the Elph, which made it difficult to carry with me at all times.  The Elph is small, but not too small, takes incredible pics, and is perfect for keeping in my purse at all times!  He also brought several very generous gifts cards to my favorite spots which I am hoarding away until just the right time.  Don't you love finding something perfect in a store and then remembering that you have an unused gift card stashed away in your wallet?  I do!  Thank you, Santa!! :-)

I hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday filled with lots of fun and many happy memories and that you are having a great 2010 so far!

Good night!!