The other day in the mail I got a letter from the 4th District Court... I have been summoned for jury duty! I have to say I'm a little excited. I kind of hope that I get picked so I can have an inside look at our judicial system. My two weeks start on June 29. There is a call-in option that I will do. That way, I just call twice a day to see if they need me to show up. If so, off to the courthouse. If not, it's just work as usual.
Yesterday was a lot of fun. It started off with a nice little run (4 miles!!!) - well, really it started with bringing our house guest to the airport at 5 am, then going back to bed. But anyway. Then we went on Grant's boat. It was really windy and a little cool, but we ended up in a little bay that was sheltered. Great fun! Then it was off to David's MBA grad party. So excited for David to have more free time. After that we met up with Grant for a little downtown action.
And now I'm trying to figure out what to feed 6 people for lunch... :)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
What a Weekend
This past weekend was a lot of fun and relaxation. Friday was our first 1/2 Friday of the summer, so Ben and I took advantage and went out to eat and then to the dog park (after picking up the little Zoey girl). Ben went swimming while I ran to Costco for some brats and buns and then we grilled and watched a movie with my bro (12 Monkeys).
Saturday we went to Albertville to do some furniture shopping. We found 4 bedroom sets that we liked, but we forgot to measure the room beforehand, so we didn't buy anything. The sales lady, Darlene was hilarious. That night Rick, Mickey and Malachi came back to town, so we hung out with them.
Sunday was my mom's birthday so the family got together to celebrate. After that we went to the Gale's for the annual Memorial Day party. I was relatively good this year. We had a lot of fun and the weather was perfect!
Monday we slept in and went back to Albertville to buy our furniture set. The bad news is that it is all over the country, so we won't get it until the end of June. Which really isn't all that bad, but we wanted two beds set up for this Friday because we have multiple house guests. Oh, well.
I've also caught up with my recipe resolution. Ben and I made an Italian Pasta Salad from our pasta cookbook the other night. It was easy and good. And then tonight I made Corn and Beef Creole with Olive Biscuits. Of course, I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but it was pretty yummy. I am a little worried about how well the biscuits will hold up as leftovers.
Saturday we went to Albertville to do some furniture shopping. We found 4 bedroom sets that we liked, but we forgot to measure the room beforehand, so we didn't buy anything. The sales lady, Darlene was hilarious. That night Rick, Mickey and Malachi came back to town, so we hung out with them.
Sunday was my mom's birthday so the family got together to celebrate. After that we went to the Gale's for the annual Memorial Day party. I was relatively good this year. We had a lot of fun and the weather was perfect!
Monday we slept in and went back to Albertville to buy our furniture set. The bad news is that it is all over the country, so we won't get it until the end of June. Which really isn't all that bad, but we wanted two beds set up for this Friday because we have multiple house guests. Oh, well.
I've also caught up with my recipe resolution. Ben and I made an Italian Pasta Salad from our pasta cookbook the other night. It was easy and good. And then tonight I made Corn and Beef Creole with Olive Biscuits. Of course, I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but it was pretty yummy. I am a little worried about how well the biscuits will hold up as leftovers.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Swimming Lessons
The other night (last week) I looked out into the pond and saw 3 Canada Geese families out for a swim. This was the first time that I saw the little goslings. So cute! Since then we have seen them out several times. Boy, do they grow up fast!
Ben and I have been going swimming a few times a week. It is mildly frustrating. The schedule only has lap swim time from 6-7 pm and 9-9:45 pm. Prior to the 6 time slot is swimming lessons. After the slot is water aerobics. (Meaning no lanes open. Other times are just reduced number of lanes). The last time we were there there was a private swimming lesson taking up one lane, kids swimming in another lane, leaving only 3 lanes open for the 7-9 people wanting to swim laps. When we got out of the pool there were about 5 people standing around waiting for their turn to swim. Super annoying! I am seriously thinking about switching to the 9 pm swim time.
Ben and I have been going swimming a few times a week. It is mildly frustrating. The schedule only has lap swim time from 6-7 pm and 9-9:45 pm. Prior to the 6 time slot is swimming lessons. After the slot is water aerobics. (Meaning no lanes open. Other times are just reduced number of lanes). The last time we were there there was a private swimming lesson taking up one lane, kids swimming in another lane, leaving only 3 lanes open for the 7-9 people wanting to swim laps. When we got out of the pool there were about 5 people standing around waiting for their turn to swim. Super annoying! I am seriously thinking about switching to the 9 pm swim time.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
HOA
Last night Ben and I attended the first annual meeting of our home owners association. It was an interesting time... One guy wants a special assessment for dog owners because some of his grass is dying... One guy was over analyzing the financial statements... Since our development is still in progress at the moment the builders run the association. Everyone had a bunch of questions for the guy that came to represent the builders. I felt bad for him. But he seemed very nice and had a great sense of humor. After the meeting we talked to him about trees and our "lake" in our back yard. He's going to swing by and look at the lake. It will be nice to get that taken care of.
The Lake - The backyards on our street slope down towards the pond (good plan). The problem is we don't think the slope is right. There are two spots in our yard that water will pool in. Last summer it was always so wet there, we couldn't really mow.
The Lake - The backyards on our street slope down towards the pond (good plan). The problem is we don't think the slope is right. There are two spots in our yard that water will pool in. Last summer it was always so wet there, we couldn't really mow.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
If the Swim Doesn't Kill Me
I just might finish the triathlon. Tonight was my first swim training session. Yikes! I need some work! Heather totally kicked my butt. She's very efficient at that whole front crawl thing. I can do it lifeguard style (head out of water) but not the "real" way. I tried it several times tonight. I think I might need to ask some swimmers some pointers on how to breathe. My legs were fine, my arms were OK, but my breathing was my issue. But, since this was my first swim in a long time, I'm not upset. I just hope that Saturday's swim is a little better. I did manage to swim 26 laps (Heather did 35 in the same time).
April Update
For Easter I made a Key Lime Pie Poke Cake from Betty Crocker. It was pretty tasty. I count this as my second recipe of the month. Ben said that I should only count main dish recipes. What do you think? Just in case he's right, in May I will do three recipes. So, to kick things off right, the other night we grilled some salmon. We made a rub of brown sugar, salt, pepper, and other seasonings. It was great! We used the leftovers for a salad.
On the weight loss progress... India kind of threw me for a loop. I didn't exercise at all while I was there (one day I swam 3 laps, but I don't think that really counts). But I am down 3 pounds from where I started. I think this next little bit will be a challenge. Since I'm training for the tri I am a lot more active. But I don't want to sacrifice muscle so I am trying to eat enough to keep my body in good shape. We'll see what happens.
On the weight loss progress... India kind of threw me for a loop. I didn't exercise at all while I was there (one day I swam 3 laps, but I don't think that really counts). But I am down 3 pounds from where I started. I think this next little bit will be a challenge. Since I'm training for the tri I am a lot more active. But I don't want to sacrifice muscle so I am trying to eat enough to keep my body in good shape. We'll see what happens.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
5k Fun
Last Saturday was the annual Run of the Mills (ROTM). It's a 5k race for families and friends of GMI. Team Tortoise was once again a part of the fun. This year we were going to dress up as the four elements, but none of us were really feeling it. So we came up with a better plan - Ninjas vs. Pirates! Katie and I were the dashing pirates and Dawn and Andrea were the stealthy ninjas.
We had joked about having little battles during the race. Turns out we did exactly that. Andrea was having some wardrobe malfunctions (shoe kept untying). So while she was fixing her issue, the rest of us had little fights (because of course we were running with weapons!). Mile 2 Dawn and Katie had to start walking. Both have bum knees. Andrea and I decided to keep running since really the 5k was our workout for the day for our triathlon training. As we neared the finish we kicked it into high gear and sprinted. It was so fun because all of our friends were cheering/heckling us. We went back to run through the finish with the rest of the team. When Dawn and Katie started to sprint, we stopped and just cheered.
Our official results? Andrea and I tied. Katie and Dawn tied. So the question remains: In battle, who will triumph - Ninjas or Pirates?
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Blur
As I eluded to in my last post, my India trip was very fast. I was surprised how little time I had to do "important" things like updating my blog. Here is a recap...
Monday: Worked the day shift. I learned that my team of 5 processors has been "reduced" to one. The workload has shifted in such a way that one processor can keep up with the work. The other processors have been trained in other areas and helps out in mine if the workload becomes too much. It was so fun to see everyone again. The day went be very quickly. After work I went to the mall with Levrette, Darshana and Sunita for some ice cream.
Tuesday: Adjusted day shift - mostly day hours but we came in late so we could get some time with the night shift when they came in. Got to see the night shift. This is the team that I work mostly with. I got to meet the new additions to my team as well as rekindle friendships with people that I met last trip. Not much other than work this day.
Wednesday: Night shift. I was invited to go down to the cafeteria with my team for dinner. It was fun! I learned that a lot of veg people (vegetarians) "can" eat meat on Wednesdays. This is because the rest of the week they are required to eat veg for their religion. On Wednesdays they don't have to. A couple of the girls were very excited for their chicken. I also got some laughs out of them when I was explaining tanning salons to them. In India light skin is coveted. They even have skin lightening creams much like our self-tanners.
Thursday: During the day I met with Neetha and Vaishali for lunch. These are the two from Ben's team that took me out last time I was there. It was fun to see them again. And lunch was fabulous. Night crew again. But Navin, the manager there, took out the leadership team to dinner. At a Chinese restaurant. So, actual time with the team was quite reduced. I was bummed. But did enjoy the great dinner.
Friday: Split shift. We wrapped up with the day team and presented awards to them. We had a short break where I headed to the mall. I ended up with a super cute pair of shoes. Then back to the office to wrap up with evening team and to again present awards. It was such a sad day as I had to say good-bye once again to all my friends there. I was given gifts by some of the associates. They are so sweet! After work we were back at the hotel to pack up and head to the airport.
Travel: Our flight out of Mumbai was delayed by about 2 hours. This made it so we wouldn't make our connection flight in Atlanta. They changed our flights for us so we wouldn't have to worry about that. After that, everything was fine. I was able to sleep in the plane. I got home around 1 pm. It was so good to be home again. And thankfully, I didn't really experience jet lag. I think the trip in general wore me out enough that my body just wanted to sleep. And being able to have a solid chunk of time on the plane to sleep I think helped too.
Monday: Worked the day shift. I learned that my team of 5 processors has been "reduced" to one. The workload has shifted in such a way that one processor can keep up with the work. The other processors have been trained in other areas and helps out in mine if the workload becomes too much. It was so fun to see everyone again. The day went be very quickly. After work I went to the mall with Levrette, Darshana and Sunita for some ice cream.
Tuesday: Adjusted day shift - mostly day hours but we came in late so we could get some time with the night shift when they came in. Got to see the night shift. This is the team that I work mostly with. I got to meet the new additions to my team as well as rekindle friendships with people that I met last trip. Not much other than work this day.
Wednesday: Night shift. I was invited to go down to the cafeteria with my team for dinner. It was fun! I learned that a lot of veg people (vegetarians) "can" eat meat on Wednesdays. This is because the rest of the week they are required to eat veg for their religion. On Wednesdays they don't have to. A couple of the girls were very excited for their chicken. I also got some laughs out of them when I was explaining tanning salons to them. In India light skin is coveted. They even have skin lightening creams much like our self-tanners.
Thursday: During the day I met with Neetha and Vaishali for lunch. These are the two from Ben's team that took me out last time I was there. It was fun to see them again. And lunch was fabulous. Night crew again. But Navin, the manager there, took out the leadership team to dinner. At a Chinese restaurant. So, actual time with the team was quite reduced. I was bummed. But did enjoy the great dinner.
Friday: Split shift. We wrapped up with the day team and presented awards to them. We had a short break where I headed to the mall. I ended up with a super cute pair of shoes. Then back to the office to wrap up with evening team and to again present awards. It was such a sad day as I had to say good-bye once again to all my friends there. I was given gifts by some of the associates. They are so sweet! After work we were back at the hotel to pack up and head to the airport.
Travel: Our flight out of Mumbai was delayed by about 2 hours. This made it so we wouldn't make our connection flight in Atlanta. They changed our flights for us so we wouldn't have to worry about that. After that, everything was fine. I was able to sleep in the plane. I got home around 1 pm. It was so good to be home again. And thankfully, I didn't really experience jet lag. I think the trip in general wore me out enough that my body just wanted to sleep. And being able to have a solid chunk of time on the plane to sleep I think helped too.
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