Day 58 of 365: Doctor, Doctor.....Give Me the News...

Rainy day today. Was nice in the morning, but after the rain hit it cooled down considerably.

Had a check up with the Dr. today. Since I first saw him in November I've now lost 20 lbs. He said I should lose a bit more, which I completely agree, but I'm going to hold off now until after the wedding (since my dress fitting is the 5th and I don't want to TRY to lose after the alterations are done).

Now I must go call the probate court and courthouse before I talk to Ian.

Day 57 of 365: Shoes. Let's Get Some Shoes.

Went to the mall with my Mom and Jessie tonight to see if we could get their outfits for the wedding, and I started looking for shoes. No luck all around.

But, I DID have Taco Bell for the first time in like, 3 months. Yum.

Day 56 of 365: I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone....

I can sleep a little bit easier tonight (which I'm about to do here as soon as I post this) because my email to Ian last night struck a nerve and he DEMANDED we discuss things this evening. And everything is a-okay. Now...if only we knew what the IO was going to do in 4 weeks time....

(And yes, I know I'm wearing an awesome John Lennon t-shirt...thanks :) )

Day 55 of 365: Go to the Mardi Gras

Today was our Mardi Gras party for the residents. Wasn't too bad. We got to wear masks.

Day 54 of 365: Just Another Day!!

Today was the same old, same old yet again.

Went to work. Worked. Etc.

But after work I went to the ritzy mall, and walked around looking in a bunch of stores for a possible bachelorette party outfit. Everything is UBER expensive there. But, I went into Nordstroms for the first time ever. Wish they had the cute stuff in my size at H&M though. *humph* Oh well.....maybe in Europe they'll have more of my size?

After the ritzy mall, I drove to the next city over and went to the ghetto mall. Nothing I liked there either. Think I might start looking online for something. I kinda want something sparkly for my bachelorette party top.

Hmmm.......

But now I'm too tired to think. Going to TRY and get some sleep tonight. Didn't sleep well last night (although, had a lovely evening chatting with Beth! :) ).

Day 53 of 365: I Get So Emotional, Baby!

Ian didn't sleep last night, so today I flipped out on UKY...lol.

Thank you, Carey, for checking up on me in yesterday's post though. I really appreciate it. *hugs*

And to any of you that posted answers for me..thank you!

Today was uneventful other than Ian and I almost arguing and flipping out a bit.

Sooooo....this video cheered me up.

If you haven't seen it yet, PLEASE watch.




I want a kid like Pearl.

BTW....I've watched 4 movies in the past 24 hours.

See: Because I Said So and Smart People (Sarah Jessica Parker is in it!)
Don't See: The Women (not one penis is in the film. Seriously.) and Death Race

Day 52 of 365: I've Been Looking So Long At These Pictures of You

Got my photos done for my visa application. And I've come to realise that I can't take a photo of a photo without it being blurry. I'm starting to not like my digital camera...lol.

Anywho, so Ian and I have been working on getting the things we need together for my visa application. He's pretty much finished on his end, and today I got most of mine together. Now he and I are just waiting on bank statements.

Also, those of you that have looked around UKY, well....we have other dilemmas now. We're not sure if Ian will be able to actually get into the US in order to get married. We got the impression from others to always be truthful to the IOs, and so we were going to. Now, TONS of people are saying "we lied" or "just lie or else you'll get kicked out." *sighs* So depending on the advice Ian gets from the Home Office on Monday or Tuesday will all depend on if we're getting married her or I'm just going to go ahead and file for the fiance visa. Will make people here angry, but he and I are to the point where we don't want to wait any longer.

Just when we think it's all smooth sailing from here, we get another chink in the armor.

*sighs*

Oh well. All will work out in the end.

Now...it's time to have a small snack, then going to cook dinner for Stephanie and I. Some whole wheat pasta, heart healthy sauce, and then 5 cheese garlic bread (which TOTALLY throws off the rest of the healthiness of the meal..lol).

Day 51 of 365: You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)

Today was just another day. Same old, same old.

My best friend Jessie came by this evening though and we chit chatted for hours. Stephanie wasn't feeling well so she'll be by tomorrow night.

Spoke with Ian for about an hour and a half. Was nice, as always. Tomorrow we're going to have a "deep" conversation about some of the concerns/fears he's feeling about me moving and whatnot. Tonight wasn't a good night since he was exhausted.

And I practiced my new signature this evening when Jess was around. I felt like a teenager again. It's not a good signature yet, but I figure if I practice I'll have it down by the time I get to England.

Day 50 of 365: Everyone Knows It's Windy

Today was a typical day, really.

Woke up, and there was snow. Went to work. Worked. My back, legs, and myself were exhausted by the end of the day.

Buuuttt....I went to Pat Catan's after work to pick up the candle holders for the centerpieces. Yay! Although, half my order was messed up, so I had to go out on the floor and get the stuff off the shelf. Oh well...it all worked out. And I was probably only about a quarter of a mile away from Lake Erie at this point, so the snow was REALLY blowing.

Caught up with my friend Sonya tonight for awhile on the phone. I feel terrible...she's going through a lot of person stuff in her life right now, and we've both been SOOOOO busy. But, was nice to catch up this evening, and we're planning on getting together for St. Patrick's Day and going to the parade downtown (I've never been, always wanted to go...yay!).

Tomorrow I'm making Mardi Gras masks with the residents, and then Stephanie is coming over in the evening with a bottle of wine to hang out and watch me pack. SO glad tomorrow is Friday.

Oh yes, and link for you, Beth, for the Beatles Red Nose Day t-shirt! :)

Day 49 of 365: Lazy Days Calling To You

Didn't do much today except work, go to McDonald's (which I haven't had in MONTHS), then came home and cleaned the bathroom after writing another novel of an email to Ian.

He told me I need to slow down and not do as much as I've been doing, as I've been feeling slightly crazy lately. He said "We can do your packing together when I get there!" But I don't want to do it all when he's here. I want us to relax, have fun, stay in bed all day...that kind of stuff. And the fact that he has NO sentimental value to my things and thinks the only things I need are "the school girl uniform, the naughty nurse's outfit, the sexy cop...."...you get the picture. lol

*sighs* And I'm starting to get impatient here. This time in 5 weeks Ian and I will be laying in bed together. Five weeks seems like forever...but we've been apart for 18 weeks so far...so 5 should seem like nothing. Goodness, let it fly, but PLEASE let me get everything I need to done.

Day 48 of 365: Open Up Your Mouth and Feed It

Nothing HUGELY exciting happened today. Work was work. I cried during our meeting because I was frustrated (I'm PMSing and whenever I'm like this, all my emotions come out of my eyes).

Buuuttt.....since nothing exciting happened, I decided to take the photo above. It's an ode to Beth. :p

Atleast tomorrow is Wednesday. Woot! And Stephanie offered to bring over wine and help/watch me pack on Friday night. Oh, how I love it.

Day 47 of 365: You Can't Always Get What You Want

Happy President's Day, ya'll!

I know I'm not from the South. Buuuttt.....everyone in the UK thinks that everyone in America says "ya'll"...so why not?

Anyroad! Today was kinda sorta busy for me. I (thankfully) had the day off. Although, not looking forward to working the rest of the week (although, looking forward to a full weekend off).

I spent the day running errands, doing laundry, and packing a bit.

I had to run to Wal*Mart and get a few things. Then I swung by good ol' Lake Erie to see if it was frozen...and it wasn't.


After that, went to Aldi's to pick up a few more things, then headed home to do MOUNDS of laundry. My poor basket in the basement had a pile of clothes that went up to my waist...and stupid me carried the whole thing up two flights of stairs to my room.....in the end running into the door and doing something to my middle finger (it's red....probably will have a bruise tomorrow).

Buuutt....I have washed just about every stitch of my clothing. I went through and got rid of 3 garbage bags full of stuff to donate to Purple Heart on Wednesday thanks to my Mom letting me know that they collect from her house. And I started boxing up stuff that I want to keep, but won't need this summer. Ian said "Keep your summer clothes handy, that way you can send for your winter stuff after you've arrived and you won't need it." I even found (which it needs a washing) the flat sheet from my New Kids on the Block set from when I was 10 yrs. old. The sheet is in AMAZING condition and SOOOOOO going to England...lol.



And I realised that I have another box downstairs of photo albums and whatnot...so I have officially packed (or atleast started) 5 boxes. Yay! It's comin' along! Now all I have to do is get rid of the things I don't want to keep. That I'll need to work on in the coming weeks.

Day 46 of 365: I Forgot To Remember To Forget

Soooo.....I had my camera today, but completely forgot to take a picture. Buuuttt....nothing eventful happened today. I worked, I got angry at the loud and lazy STNAs and nurses. I went to Target (which, I bought my first eyelash curler...oohhhh). Even though there are plenty of hours left today, I'm not going to bother taking a photo....just nothing eventful today. Quite sad, actually.

Buuuuttttt.....Ian worked oh-so-hard today though and got most of the stuff he needs to get together for the visa. WOOT! And tomorrow marks 6 weeks away from the wedding. Yay yay yay!

I think I will cheat though and post a photo of a t-shirt I want for Red Nose Day. It's designed by Stella McCartney, and yes, that's the lads there. :) Beth, maybe we should both get one? :p

THIS JUST IN!!!!

I actually did something this evening! I packed a box of my books...yipee! Most of those in there are books about The Beatles as well..lol.

Day 45 of 365: Happy Valentine's Day!

Ohhh...the most romantic holiday, supposedly.

So today was pretty typical. Woke up, had coffee, went to work. We had a party for the residents and I decorated the table. They enjoyed it.



Then I hurried home, got changed to get all purdy and sexy for Ian, and spent a few hours talking to him. We opened our presents, and this is what was inside that beautifully wrapped package:





He had a book made with pictures of us, and different quotes on love. It's absolutely beautiful and it made me cry several times. I love it. And the last page was of the last photo we took together while on the Isle of Wight and it says "The Journey Continues xxxxxx" LOVE IT!

Day 44 of 365: Anticipation Is Makin' Me Crazy

This was delivered about a week ago. It's my Valentine's Day present from Ian. Thankfully, I can open it tomorrow as it's been haunting me all week.

And my man did an AMAZING job on the wrapping. Plus he picked out beautiful paper. Normally he's rubbish at wrapping gifts, but he did wonderfully with this one. Soooooooo amazing, that man. :)

Day 43 of 365: Something Tells Me I'm Into Something Good

Mmmm...

Made dinner for my brother I and tonight. Whole wheat spaghetti, sauce, and a bunch of eggplant parmesan.

Not bad, if I do say so myself. Once I get to England though I want to try and make my own from scratch. Although, Ian's not a fan of eggplant. Oh well....I'll make his chicken.

Day 42 of 365: Leave Me Where I Am, I'm Only Sleeping

Yes, folks....

...it's this early at night and I'm already in bed, duvet up, ready to go to sleep. I don't know what my problem is. Maybe it's because I couldn't sleep last night? Maybe it's because I did a TON of running around at work today? Maybe it's because I'm old? Who knows....but what little packing I wanted to do tonight is being put off yet AGAIN because I'm exhausted. *sighs*

Work is driving me insane. And I have SO much to do I don't know what to do next, so it's just stressing me out. And stress makes you tired and not sleep well. Maybe THAT'S the real reason why I am the way I am?!

I really REALLY need a vacation. March can't come soon enough. I wanna be married and moving already.

So I'll just snuggle up with Beefeater Bear and go to sleep.

Day 41 of 365: I Look At the Sun and I Look in the Mirror....

Look at the date just ONE MORE TIME.

O.k., got it?

Yes, it's February 10th.

The temperature right now is 59 degrees F. And for you lovely people that follow celcsius, that's 15 degrees C.

Look at what is barely hanging around here now:



And look at what I could wear since it's so warm here today:



And LOOK at what I'm not wearing outside!!!!



My face looks really skinny here too. Guess it really does show that I've lost weight!

I wish the weather would stay like this. Unfortunately, it's going to dip back down to normal February temps this weekend. Oh well......atleast I kind of enjoyed it while it lasted.
Anywho...so I walked to the store today to not only get in some exercise, but get used to not having a car to get around once I'm in England. Then when I got back I cleaned the kitchen. Nobody's touched it all winter, and it's disgusting. I also did some other cleaning...the whole house needs it and unfortunately, I'm cursed with a lazy brother as a house mate.

But atleast Lily Allen's new album came out today. LOVE IT btw. Everyone should listen to it. I pre-ordered it on iTunes a few weeks ago, which was a first for me. Downloaded it this morning while having my coffee. I love it...can't stop listening to it.

Day 40 of 365: Mr. Moonlight

It's kind of eerie, isn't it?

The moon tonight and the last few nights has been absolutely amazing. With the fog (because tomorrow it's supposed to be around 60 degrees F...woot!) and the way the moon was shining it reminded me of something around Halloween.

Neato.

Day 39 of 365: Grow Old Along With Me

It's official.

I'm OLD!

I bought this eye cream this evening because I'm tired of the bags under my eyes. And on top of that, I bought Metamucil. Hello! Old lady here!

*sighs*

Buttttt.....I want the bags to be reduced for the wedding......and the Metamucil is going to help lower my cholesterol (hopefully).

Day 38 of 365: Temperature's Risin', Fever is High

Sorry for the blurry photo....guess it was too close...buuuuttttt....

Woot! It's going to be warm this weekend!

And all the snow we've got is supposed to melt the next few days.

Only problem is, by the end of next week it'll be back in the 30s again. So HOPEFULLY with the weather change everyone won't fall ill with a cold.

Day 37 of 365: Good Day Sunshine

This was the view from the back window of my house. Gorgeous sunrise.

Today was all right. Work was work. Nothing too thrilling. Tried to have a bridge tournament with the residents....and the trouble with Alzheimer's and dementia residents, they forget lots of things. Sooooo....with my group of ladies I taught them how to play Go Fish while Anthony taught his group a form of poker. In the end it was fun.

Caught up with Ian tonight too. God, I miss him so badly. Tonight was the kind of night where he was tired, but he was in a playful mood, and I SO wish I could've been there with him, laying in bed snuggling and watching telly. Not long now and I'll be able to, I know.

Looking forward to tomorrow though because the temp is supposed to warm up A LOT, I'm going to go out and pick up the stuff for my center pieces, and then going over to see the nieces and take them some of my stuff that I don't want to keep and I think they'll like.

Day 36 of 365: I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Met Stephanie at Red Robin this evening to have some delicious food and drinks. I needed an evening out.

We discussed my bachelorette party, what's going on with our jobs and life, the wedding, etc. I asked her about when she moved to NYC if she was scared, and she said yes, but atleast with moving to England I'll have Ian. She said "I had nobody."

So yeah...so the next weekend I have off Steph said she'll come by with a bottle of wine and help me pack...lol. Such a lovely friend. I'm going to miss her oodles.

Day 35 of 365: Love Is You, You and Me

Ian found Picnik today, it appears. So really, I'm cheating in this post...but heck, I post several photos in one sometimes, so this can count today. Mind you, Ian is VERY technologically inclined when it comes to things, so I'm impressed that he did this photo with the editing site (even if I do have a crazy mustache). This is now his display photo on MySpace. Lovely. :p

And I didn't feel like taking a photo today. I'm tired, and all I had today was work and it snowed yet AGAIN. But this weekend it's supposed to get up to like, 50F so the snow should melt. Atleast I have Saturday off.....might go out and pick up the stuff for the centerpieces, we shall see.

Day 34 of 365: Take It Easy

That is just a start of my "get rid of" pile of clothing. I went through my closet today, which incidentally I hardly ever use anymore. *shrugs* But anyways, I had clothes in there that I bought YEARS ago from the thrift store, and mind you I've washed them, but since I haven't really used my closet in so long they smelled like thrift store again. Yuck. I'm ashamed.

So I started to make a dent with the ol' clothes then. I had a bunch of dresses and things from high school I just couldn't bear to get rid of. I put them on anyway, and had a good laugh. But it's amazing to think when you're about to hit a new stage in your life how easy it is to just say "Get rid of it!" I shouted it in Oprah style whenever I threw another article of clothing in the pile. It was liberating. Especially to get rid of these dresses. What on earth was I thinking?! (And please excuse the mess...this is what happens when you experience a whirlwind of throwing clothes around.)





But before I treid on anything, I tried on my wedding dress again. With the veil on, I stood in my mirror and giggled with glee. Ian thinks I'm a mad woman for trying it on again, but I couldn't help myself! I opened my veil up as well to hang so the wrinkles would come out. *sighs* I love looking at it hanging at the foot of my bed.

So over the next few weeks I will go through every single article of clothing I own and get rid of most of them. Maybe since I'm losing weight AND getting rid of a bunch it'll give me an excuse to buy some new stuff? *chuckles* Bah, who am I kidding. I gotta save save save!

Day 33 of 365: Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down

What a day, what a day!!! Work was absolutely terrible, so I'm spending the evening in bed, with the ol' laptop, and watching some movies I picked up at the library this evening. I've wanted to see Juno for EONS now, and FINALLY remembered to get it. Thank goodness. I wonder why I have pregnancy themed films though? Hmmm.....but no, not preggo. Would be kind of impossible at the moment.

Steelers won the Super Bowl by like, 3 points last night.

And (as most of you know) England got a lot of snow over night. Ian tried to go to work this morning, ended up sliding so badly he crashed his van. He's all right, but he took out a mirror, scraped the side of the van, and doesn't know how much it's going to cost him to have it fixed. *sighs* Just something else we need right now. I know he can't help the fact that the roads were bad and I'm glad he wasn't hurt, but geezie, Fuller's, give the guy a break!

Day 32 of 365: Sunday Morning Creep In Like a Nun

It's a new month, which means closer to seeing Ian and getting married. And now we can say "We're getting married next month!" Plus, look what the photo is this month. *sighs* Next month is Paris. I think they should've switched them around. Oh well.....the calender means a lot to me since it was give to me by Ian's Mum. She said "All your friends will be able to see the different places you've been in England." This is the only photo from England in there. Bless her.

Today was pretty uneventful. I ran like a mad woman at work. Which, btw....today is February 1st and the maintenance department STILL hasn't picked up the Christmas trees and decorations that are sitting in our activity room taking up TONS of space. We've battled some of the maintenance guys twice due to this. They're lazy sods.

Oh yeah, and Super Bowl is tonight. Big whoop...lol.

Day 31 of 365: Is It Worth It? Let Me Work It.

Above is a photo of the only reasons why I can make it through a weekend at work. Tony and Anthony. My co-workers that I adore, they make me laugh, and help the time pass. Today Anthony and I were discussing how toys were when he and I were growing up. Tony got to learn a few things (since he's 11-12 yrs. younger than Anthony and I). And we discussed prom memories. Was a good day's worth of discussions.

And here are some Valentine's Day photos my residents colored this afternoon. Don't mind the weird black blotches on the papers....the copy machine was wackadoo today. Not bad for people in their 80s that have Alzheimer's/dementia?! I call the photo "Old Art." :p