Finally!!

I am moved out of my old apartment. It was a long and drawn out process (made only that way by yours truly), but I am only living at one address now. Feels good. I am super excited to be settled and have all of my stuff in one house, but I am depressed when I look around and just see box after box covering my living room/dining room/kitchen/bedroom. Where did all of this stuff come from?? I mean, seriously!! So now I guess I have to do some serious unpacking and organizing of all of my stuff, but at least it is all here now. That is something.

In other news, Keaton got a job today!! Yea!! He is going to be working at this really fun Tex-Mex restaurant that is literally 7 blocks from our house called Trudys. He got the job today and actually starts tomorrow and then works all weekend. I think it might be a little bit of a rude awakening for him to actually have to get up and go to work seeing as how he hasn't done that in about 6 months, but I definitely think it is a good thing. He has been getting bored sitting around and doing nothing, plus he needs to start supporting himself. So I am excited and proud of him...I just hope he likes it and sticks with it!!

I have had the past 2 days off to clean and try and get things done, but I was having a hard time getting motivated. Luckily for me, I work better with a deadline and have managed to knock it out in a pretty timely fashion today. I have to work all weekend so I guess the unpacking part will have to be put on hold, but that is more than okay with me. Lindsay is coming in town this weekend and I am so excited to see her!! I felt like I was seeing her fairly regularly for a while there and then I haven't seen her in what seems to be like forever, but I think is only around a month or so. Regardless, it will be super fun to have her in Austin. I love having visitors.

It is so hot here that I absolutely hate going outside. It is currently after 6pm and still 101 degrees outside. That is just ridiculous. I am already extremely ready for Fall to start...this weather makes me hate Texas.

Not a whole lot going on lately, just trying to get settled. I hoping that now that I am moved into the house and once I start getting paid again and get the money situation caught back up that I will be able to start going out and being social again. I feel like I haven't been able to spend any money lately so I just kind of do nothing and eat sandwiches. Hahahaha. That is okay, totally worth it for the house and I know in a few weeks it will all balance back out again. I have a fun August planned out with visitors and the housewarming party and then already things to do in September. Plus I gotta register for school and finish my last two classes. Busy per usual...

Camp.

So, I took well over 200 pictures at camp and decided it might just be easier to send out an email about how amazing it was and the experience that I had there. There was just too much to say and far too many pictures to put on a blog. It was a week that changed my life and a week that I will never forget. I could probably go on for days about how amazing it was, but the pictures are up on my flickr website and I am happy to show them or talk about it with anyone who asks.

In other news, I am finally caught up on sleep and feeling like a normal person. As fun as camp was, it really took it out of me. Between that and getting back and trying to move, I was barely functioning. I am feeling like myself and happy to be back in my own bed with my own normal routine.

As far as moving goes, we are almost there. I mean, I have to be completely out of my house by Thursday, so I don't really have much of a choice. I have been taking a few carloads a day back and forth and I just keep wondering when the stuff is all actually going to be gone. It seriously just seems neverending to me. I am about to head over to the old apartment right now and try and get another load before showering and napping and working tonight.

I cannot wait to be all unpacked and settled and for people to come over and see our awesome new house!! It has been so fun having Keaton here and I think he really likes it. He already has a few friends down here and so he has been able to hang out and get a little bit of a feel for Austin. I think he is going to have a blast living here. And I am happy to have him!!

Quick Update...

I just got back from camp and I had to move immediately the next morning so I am exhausted and don't have internet at my new house till Friday...I will definitely write a blog and update and tell everything that I loved about camp and go on and on about how great my new house is, but at the moment I should be packing up the rest of my closet and then going back to the new house to unpack and continue washing all my clothes from camp that smell like jello and old milk. Gross. Will write soon...

Ahhh...Philly...

Well, I just got back from a fabulous weekend in Philadelphia. I had to work on the 4th of July here in Austin, but I hopped on a plane at 6am on Saturday morning to head back to the City of Brotherly Love. I wasn't really sure what to think about this trip to Philly, but I was excited about getting up there.

Of course it wouldn't be a trip without some funny moments happening all before 10am. I get to the airport and my eyes are barely open, but I manage to find my gate and sit there and wait it out. We board the plane and as they are going over the safety rules, I decided that although Lindsay thinks I could be a flight attendant, I don't think that my voice does that necessary raise of an octave to sound like I care when people ask stupid questions. And here is this weird new thing they are doing on airplanes...no pillows, but they seem to think that a blanket is a substitute for that. A little strange. The first flight was just a quick little hop over to Dallas and uneventful. The second flight made me laugh from the get go. So, here I am flying to Philly on July 4th weekend and my flight number was 1776. Am I the only one who found that extremely ironic and amusing?? Flying to the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed on flight 1776!? And if that wasn't good enough...our pilot comes on over the loud speaker to introduce himself and his name was Tony Stoner. Um, Stoner?? That makes me a little nervous, but also slightly funny. He was really funny and kept interjecting things on the loud speaker throughout the flight. It was rather enjoyable except for the fact that it was 7am and all I really wanted to do was sleep. Either way, we made it safe and sound to Philly...yea!!

Get off the plane and let the fun begin. The weather was a little debatable when I got there, but it got really nice later on in the day. I was so happy to just be actually walking around a city again...despite the fact that I have crazy blisters all over my feet and my legs and calves are actually super sore - I really really did love the walking aspect of the weekend. I am just not used to it anymore. Being in a city like that just makes me smile. Walking around is so underrated. So Saturday was spent napping and getting reacquainted with the city. Hotel swimming and just general hanging out. Saturday night was super fun - Angela came and hung out for a while, a little old school time with the DJing on the computer and lots of laughing. Then we went out for the night...caused a little drama, tried to avoid a little drama and basically just had an overall awesome time dancing and being silly. Then of course there was the late night WaWa run - ahhh, I have missed those so much. I was pretty happy to get in bed to be honest, it had been a looooong day.

Sunday I got up and go to do my all time favorite thing ever- brunch!! Especially brunch in Philadelphia. I am pretty sure I invented that tradition. Grits? Check. Bacon? Check. Pancakes? Check. It was perfection. The weather was really nice so the walk was amazing and brunch was sooooo delicious. Then I went over to see the new baby in the Mansukhani household. Satya is just beautiful and just as cute as Alok was when he was a new baby. She was much chubbier than he was at the age, but man, Anita and Mahesh make really cute kids. Alok was so big and talked so much and was just so funny. It's so crazy hear him talking because I basically raised him and he is a little boy now. I had such a great time getting to see all of them. Then I went out and played in the rain. And by played, I mean, got literally soaked to the bone and it was great. It was warm rain and we walked so many blocks in it. Sunday night was the probably one of my favorite nights in Philadelphia...EVER!! And I lived there for 2 years. We somehow climbed up on top of the roof of the Windsor Hotel...24 stories up!! And we just sat up there and hung out and enjoyed the ridiculous view. I, being the mom I usually am, had to be strongly convinced that it was a good idea to go up there, but I am really glad that I did. It was honestly breathtaking. After sitting up on top of the city for a while, we decided that we needed to do a little fountain swimming. So, we got down and got our suits on and ran over to Love Park and went swimming in the fountain. It was AMAZING!! We seriously were laughing so hard and we had a blast. I honestly loved this night so much. So much.

Monday was a perfectly wonderful and semi-lazy day. Sleeping in, lunching, wandering, it was perfect. I went over to see Lucy and Rose for dinner and I could not get over how big they are now!! My little twins are little girls with long curly hair and hilarious vocabularies. They remembered me and that made me so happy. I could have sat there all day and just listened to them talk and played with them. They are adorable. Alas, they had to go to sleep, but I had a wonderful time getting to see them. I miss those girls. Then it was out on the town for the night. Good Dog and my favorite chicken cordon blue strips. I have been thinking about eating those for like a year now. So good. I love Good Dog. It is just such a normal and relaxed place to hang out. It was super fun and then we called it an early night because I decided that walking around the city wears me out. I am not used to that at all.

Tuesday was my super lazy day. I laid in bed all day and watched TV and it was amazing. I walked up to Center City for lunch and did a little shopping and wandering just because I miss that sort of thing. Luckily for me I didn't really find anything that I desperately had to have because I didn't have a lot of money to spend anyway. Then it was back for a little more laying around then off to Cantina for dinner. Ahhh nachos. My favorite. Cantina was such a good time and we thought about going out afterwards, but decided since I had a 6am flight, maybe we would just watch a movie instead. I am glad we made that choice because there were people out on Tuesday night that I have no desire to really see. Plus, I had way more fun watching movies. Then I had to get up super early to catch my flight. No fun.

Got back to Austin around 10:30 and came home to take a little nap before work. It was one of those moments where I couldn't remember ever being that tired. I almost had to call into work because I was so miserable. I managed to actually make it and survive. Thank goodness. I need the money so I had to work.

I seriously had the greatest weekend. It was exactly what I needed and I am sad that I had to come back. I am glad to be back in Austin and back to my routine and my own bed and my own apartment, but man, I really miss Philadelphia.

And now I am super stressed because I have to work overnight tonight and then back to work again tomorrow at 3 and then I leave for camp at 8am on Saturday!! Oh my goodness! How am I ever going to get everything done?? I need to do laundry and pack and pick up a few things to bring with me. I am way overwhelmed. I leave on Saturday morning and don't get back until next Saturday and that is MOVING DAY!! So much to do. Wow. I will be so much more relaxed come August when I am out of the my current apartment and all moved and settled. It is going to be a busy two weeks, but exciting nonetheless.

Boxes everywhere!!

I actually have started packing. I am so impressed with myself I can't even begin to explain it. I had the past two days off and Tuesday I spent most of the day on my couch, crying at the television - don't ask, but I wasn't sure I was going to make the most of my time because I hardly got any packing done. Wednesday though, I was super motivated and I just started going and it was awesome. I packed boxes and boxes. My whole kitchen and all my books and picture frames and DVDs. Now the majority of things to get packed up are clothes, and well, I can't really do those yet. Regardless, I think it is going to be a fairly quick move. Especially since I am going to have movers come and do all of my big things...that should take 2 or 3 hours tops. Yea!! I cannot believe that it is coming up so soon. I cannot wait to be settled and sleeping in my new house. And I really cannot wait for Keaton to get down here. Although, I think he is going to be in for a rude awakening because I will not be having any of that sleeping all day and sitting around business. I am far too busy to be living with someone who doesn't do anything.

I was back at work today and of course we are still super slow and there are no patients which means I got sent home again at 7 tonight. I was really frustrated because I really need the money, but I would have rather gone home today than tomorrow because its a holiday and I get time and a half and I definitely need that money. I am just going to try to go in a little early and stay at little late tomorrow to make up for it. I don't ever want to hope for sick kids, but I really need to start making my hours or I am never gonna be able to pay my bills. I haven't babysat in so long and that is not helping the situation either.

So I guess that means I don't really have plans for the 4th because I will be spending the day at the hospital which I am more than okay with. I am going to have fun later in the weekend. Yea!! Maybe I will be able to see the fireworks from the windows at work, they said last year that they could. That would be fun for me and for the kids.

Other than that I have just been trying to stay awake. I am not sure what is wrong with me as of late, but I cannot seem to ever keep my eyes open. I think that I am getting enough sleep, but maybe not. I am stressed about a lot of things - moving and money and overbooking myself this month, so sometimes when I get in bed my mind is racing and I can't really relax right away to be able to fall asleep, but it just seems that no matter when I go to bed and when I wake up that I almost always need a nap like an hour later. And even tonight at work I was basically falling asleep sitting up. Its only 9:00 and all of my friends are going out and I am so tempted to just go get in my bed instead. When did I become a huge loser!?? Maybe I am just old...which is also too bad.