PR Finale!!!!

Ohhh I almost forgot to post - Project Runway finale tonight!!!! My mom has warned my dad and brother to steer clear of the living room or face the wrath of the fashion gods. Final predictions - Rami vs. Chris - Rami. I *really* want it to be Chris, but Rami has bored me to tears all season, and the judges have still kept him, which makes me think they really like him, so unless he comes out with 12 draped pieces of bs (which I doubt he will after the beating he took at the end of the Met episode), I think they'll pick him over Chris. Even though I love love love Chris. So then final predictions, I'm going to say 1. Jillian 2. Christian 3. Rami. I think Jillian might pull it out. I think the only thing that has held her back this season has been time, and since they were able to go home and do it, I think she'll be fine. Even though I love Chris and Christian personality-wise, I love Jillian's aesthetic the most out of everyone left, so this is probably an emotional pick, but I'm sticking with it. :-) I should also put the disclaimer in here that mom told me that she peeked online at the collections (I've been resisting because I SO want to be surprised) and said Christian's was just so-so. Otherwise, I probably would have put him first. Regardless, it's been an awesome season, especially after what I thought was such a catty (off the runway) and dull (on the runway) season last year. The only thing I'm sad about is that we'll have to wait another year before we get to see it again!

Finally, an update

I was doing SO well with the regular blogging, of course it couldn't last. I've been super lame and not posted in over two weeks. Sheesh. In my defense, I've been busy... here's what's been going on:

Youth in Government trip to Tallahassee was a-w-e-s-o-m-e. Not sure why I felt the need to "spell" that out, except to emphasize how awesome it really was. I was none too pleased I'd be giving up Ericka's single-peeps Valentine's Day party and part of a 3 day weekend to play chaperone to 15 kids (out of 400 from around the state) in Tallahassee for 3 days. But by 10am the first morning, I was texting my co-workers back at school with a play-by-play of what our kids were doing on the House and Senate floors. I was totally hooked. Anyone who is worried about the future of America needs to come to a YiG convention and watch these kids present, debate, and pass laws. By the way, only three bills made it through the Senate and the House, and were signed by the Governor, and one of them was one of my kids'. Can you tell I'm proud?

I made a webpage for my class last weekend. I realize this is a profit vs. non-profit comparison, and therefore maybe not very fair, but the blogger system is infinitely easier to use than the program we have. I spent 5 hours at the class, and came out with barely a skeleton of a page. So frustrating. No wonder a lot of teachers use blogger and other sites instead of the ones we're supposed to.

I'm taking a personal finance class on Wednesday nights. I'm not listing details, but seriously... it's been a wake-up call. At first in a scary way, though now I'm seeing it as definitely a good thing. I'm 26 and I've never made a budget before. Is that ridiculous? At first I thought so, but I'm also the youngest person in the class by probably 15 years, so maybe it's just the state of America today (no but really, it's still ridiculous). Anyway, I'm hoping to be on my way to better financial management in 4 weeks... wish me luck.

Upcoming excitement in the form of Spring Training and St. Patty's is approaching and I couldn't be more thrilled. My parents and I have a long-standing tradition of skipping school/work on Yankees Opening Day and going to the game... but our ticket connection ended last year (long story), and for the first time, we won't be doing it. I'm trying to make myself feel a little better by thinking about the fact that it's on a Sunday this year, so the thrill of taking the day off for such frivolity wouldn't be there anyway... but I'm still bummed. I did score a couple of great tickets to some Phillies games and will hopefully get some Yankees ones, too (just not opening day). Nothing says spring like drinking beer and watching baseball with the snowbirds.

I'm headed to Savannah to visit for St. Patrick's Day, which should make for a ridiculous time. Everyone who hears I'm going who has been before seems to be very excited, so that's a good sign. Bagpipers, here I come...

arrrgghh, gasparilla! (run)

I ran the Gasparilla 5K this morning, and despite not really being in shape to do it well (and therefore having to stop 4 times to stretch my calf muscles), I had a lot of fun. I decided not to care about how I finished, if I had to walk (or stop to stretch), etc... and it ended up being the most fun one I've done. I saw a lot of students and friends, and just had a great time, which is really why I signed up in the first place, so it was perfect. The first person I saw when I crossed the finish line was my friend and coworker, Mike, so that made it even better. Seann and his fiance Elizabeth came in town to run the 5K (both of them) and the half marathon tomorrow (him). Poor Elizabeth is waking up at 4am with him to get ready and head down for the marathon; I'm compromising by meeting her at 7:30 with coffee and bagels to watch him finish. I think that's pretty fair. When marathonfoto puts up their pics, I'll try to put one up here.

cheers and jeers

cheers:
- planning a girls weekend in Miami at the end of the month
- running podcasts on iTunes.  especially Podrunner and Techno Sweat Workouts.  I highly recommend them - and the best part is, they're FREE!
- this article on NYTimes.com
- Bill and Ted's excellent surrogate showdown (I'm squarely in Ted's corner) and all the fun this Super Tuesday brought
- apartmenttherapy.com.  Have I mentioned how obsessed I am with this site?  No, really...
- my lunch bunch at school.
- long weekend this weekend (hallelujah!)
- national signing day tomorrow, and one of my kids is going to Wake! 
- Nana comes tomorrow!

jeers:
- stressing about money, especially for over the summer
- The new parking lot at my gym with teeeeeny tiny spaces, when everyone (but me) drives an SUV (I know, if that's my biggest issue, I'm probably doing okay... but it's the little things).
- This article on NYTimes.com
- cooking for one person.  I'm not good at it... not to mention, it's not very fun.
- giving up my other long weekend in February to chaperone a school trip to Tallahassee

"we do what we do"

It's not the natural order of things, parents burying their children.  In the midst of a sad weekend, we were comforted by words from Tony Dungy, as friends who just lost their baby daughter asked the question, how do we get through this?  Dungy's answer: "We do what we do."  

We love, we cry, we hug, we cry some more, and we keep loving, keep calling, keep supporting... we do what we do.

Rest in peace, sweet baby Andrea

paperwhites

There's nothing I love more than fresh flowers in my apartment, but I've been having a hard time lately reconciling my love of flowers with my concern about the environmental costs of importing them, so this winter I decided to grow paperwhites.  Now, in full disclosure, the bulbs came from Israel, but somehow I felt better about having flowers growing in my apartment rather than ones with stems cut that would die in a week (baby steps, I know).  After weeks of the bulbs sitting in a paper bag in my fridge, then a few more just sitting in the pot, I was reconsidering the decision I'd made of buying mine at Home Depot, instead wishing I'd ordered from White Flower Farm, like I did for Jill before Christmas.  But finally, right as I'd almost given up hope, the green stalks poked out, and now the sweet scent permeates my apartment.  Mmm... if only they bloomed all year instead of just in the winter.  Here's the one in my kitchen (the one in the bedroom has sadly already finished blooming)...