Wedding Shoes!

This morning, July 7th, 2009 is Michael Jackson's Memorial service. And while I do believe he was an artist with talents we will probably never see again in our life times, I think some of this is a little over the top. I'm glad I wasn't born with the gene that made me "star struck" or have the desire to spend thousands of dollars and travel thousands of miles to "honor" someone I have never met. Not to mention, be packed next to the other 10000 looney tunes that will be attending the memorial....well, enough about that.

Today I met Bettina and Zoe at Nordstrom. I met them last week at the Fashion Mall to see a movie at the Keystone Arts Cinema. We saw "Easy Virtue". After the movie, we went into Nordstrom to look around and check out the shoe department. While up in the "designer" section, Bettina asked about sales and the fall selections. Rachel, the sales lady, was eager to tell Bettina about an upcoming private event for which she could sign up. So, Bettina signed she and I up for this private event so that we could see the fall fashions and purchase them at a whopping 40% off. 40% off of a $400 skirt still isn't gonna make me buy. That's a car payment! Well, then we went down to the shoe department. Nordstrom's typically has a great shoe selection and I was without shoes for the wedding. We found 2 pair of shoes that we both really liked, so I put them on hold so that I could bring the dress back to the store and we could compare the colors. The pair that Bettina bought me are so pretty. When I get batteries in my old camera, I will take a picture of them and post it.

Friday, June 12th

Well, after reading my sister's blogs, I feel like I should start doing this a little more often. Goodness knows I have more time now these days! Last Saturday, June 6th, was my last day at Starbucks. My District Manager forced my store manager to cut the staff meaning that 5 baristas and me got the ax. I'm really not too upset. It was coming anyway, whether they let me go or I quit. I was planning on staying at Starbucks only through July and quitting so that I could go get married in August and then start school. Now, that makes me excited! I will be taking Microbiology and EMT-Basic. I can't wait to learn how to save lives! I will also start volunteering at the Fire Department in Castleton after I am certified.
Tonight, I am in Lafayette. Home to see my parents and anxiously awaiting Eric, Jessica, and Emily's arrival. I really only wanna see Emily! Just kidding! Then tomorrow, Great Grandma Armstrong and Great Grandpa Barber will get to see the little angel for the first time. I am anticipating that encounter to quite emotional. Yes, Erica, I will be recording it all.
Last, but not least, tomorrow is Dan's 40th BIRTHDAY! I can't believe I'm only marrying such an old man! hee hee!

Friday, January 30th

Enjoying my day off today with my friend Mary Lea. We went to Sakura for lunch. Yum! I had the sashimi lunch which including raw tuna, salmon, octopus (never tried that before and it was great), clam, yellow fin tuna, squid (didn't like). It was great! Then we ran a couple of errands and now we are sitting on my couch with our computers playing around on the internet and maybe trying to solve the world's problems. Also joining us are Lily girl, Georgie, and Indy. Georgie and Indy are toy poodles and they all get along great.

I am going to try to get to bed early tonight because I have to be at Starbucks at 5am. Good times, huh? I am still trying to work out a deal with SunRise Living Community so that I can leave Starbucks. I hear they may cut the benefits package anyway!

I also went to the gym today and it felt great. I did some work on the treadmill....ran another 5 minutes... and some work on the step mill.

wedding plans

Got on line tonight and "googled" wedding photographers and a little on wedding chapels. I have also been looking for "wedding dresses". There are a lot of cool dresses at Saks 5th Avenue's website.

Putting together packaging and pricing for employment with Sunrise. There's a good chance that if we can get together on salary and hours, I can leave Starbucks sooner than July. This would make me crazy happy.

Dan worked today for Tim Graham (his employer). He has one day left at the job he was doing "on his own".

Lily's hair growth is out of control. I need the trimmers.

Do you hear the story of Grandpa and his new gf running into Betty at the Goodwill? His new gf is 73 and doesn't "paint her face", isn't very pretty, and has a big belly. He told her not to get to close to him bc he may just up and leave her! omg!

I went to the Physical Therapist and the doctor to day to have my hip checked on. I spent an hour with the physical therapist. He performed a strength test comparing my left and right quadriceps and hamstrings. My left quad is 82% as strong as my right and my left hamstring is 78% as strong as my right. (The left is the side I had the operation on) I am stll having more pain than I think that I should have. I have been working out a minimum of 3 days a week the last couple of weeks and haven't felt like I've had much improvement or pain reduction. The physical therapist discovered that I am recruiting my hamstring first and glutes second on a series of movements, so I need to teach myself to recruit my glutes for some movements. He gave me more exercises to do and I am feeling "mentally" better about my progress. But, after working with him, now 2 hours later, I am in tremendous pain but it's a different kind of pain than i've had. Then I met with the doctor and was pleased with my progress, my strength, etc. and said everything look good and said that I could get on the treadmill but again, not to overdo it and let pain and my body reaction be my guide.

And believe it or not! I got in the pool yesterday. Did a whole 500 yards and had had enough!

I had a great meeting with 2 people with SunRise Living. They are offering a tremendous living situation for people of advanced age. The new facility in Indianapolis will have 2-4 story buildings. One building with have 62 apartments for independent living. The best way that I can describe it would be to picture living in one of those upscale "apartments" in NYC. There will be a concierge that you can call and have them send flowers to a loved one or have them run an errand for you. There will be a fitness center on the first floor of this building along with a small movie theater, private and social dining, wireless internet, and much more. The other building...the first 2 floors are for people with Dementia and there will be a subset group called "the terrace club". it's for people with just the beginning stages of Dementia that want to fight it. The 3rd and 4th floors are Assisted Living with varying stages of Individualized Service Plans based on the needs of the residents. At the right price and some negotiating, I hope to be able to join this company by July and leave Starbucks! How excited am I?

"I want my life, my work, my family to mean something. If you are not making someone else's life better than you are wasting your time. Your life will become better by making someone else's life better. Be inspired. There is a concept of loss and how we react to loss. We think of things in a straight line: birth, life, death. And then you think, oh i die, it's over. it's not really how it works. Take the ends and bend them in a circle. It's birth, life, death, REBIRTH. So you have to be prepared...when you lose something... you go though adivorce, when your mother dies, when you lose your house, you have to understand that nature has it no other way. There is a rebirth. The death is painful. There is no changing the pain of the death. But you have to stay awake and stay focused for what's the rebirth that God is about to offer you." Will Smith

I am sitting here on a rainy Wednesday watching recorded episodes of Oprah. Most of the episodes lately focusing on the election and the outcome of the election. Anyway, I really found Will Smith's words so poignant. I love personal training because of the impact and the change I bring to these people's lives. and now, I am going to pursue nursing and have even more chances to make someone else's life better.