tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66607540414348348212024-03-12T18:56:31.890-05:00The Pink PolkadotMorganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.comBlogger124125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-22831775648596754062015-05-14T16:00:00.000-05:002015-05-14T16:00:06.727-05:00Continuing THE LIST<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">So, let's just jump right back in to<b> 2014:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ajax, Ontario</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—Ahhhh, my first Canadian trip. It was super
snowy and the pharmacy was kind of a disaster. I also remember the food—it was
disgusting. (And I wrote <a href="http://www.the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2014/02/fun-times-in-canada.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">this post</span></a>. It's titled
"Fun Times In Canada". Oh, I was so naive.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Buffalo, NY</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—I went to <a href="http://www.the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2014/03/my-buffalo-shuffle-st-pattys-festivities.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">Niagara Falls</span></a> in
the middle of winter and froze my fingers off. Also, I never ate real Buffalo
wings and I think I went to bed around 8:00pm each night. I was lame.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strathmore, Alberta</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2014_03_01_archive.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">It was FREEZING</span></a>. I hated
traveling to Canada. I mean, I promise, Canadian border patrol, I do NOT want
to move here and steal one measly job from your population.
You didn't have to interrogate me like I was a criminal every
time I went through customs. (The WORST!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Revelstoke, British Columbia</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—Probably my most favorite
trip I took with this job (even though it was in—GASP—Canada). Check it out <a href="http://www.the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2014/04/adventures-in-british-columbia.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">here</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Perryton, TX</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—This one was Red’s Pharmacy, and the owner was
a straight up ginger, which I thought was kind of funny and clever. Nice folks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bethany, OK</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—These guys were super fun. The staff was young
and joked around a lot. They also tried to get me to drink beer with them at
lunch on the first day, because they were all so hungover from the night
before. (I did not partake, but I appreciated the gesture.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Keller, TX/Livingston, TX</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—These two Texas trips were
CVS pharmacies outside of Dallas and Houston, back to back; a solid 12 days of living out of a suitcase in Texas. This was about the
time I had breakdowns to a handful of people back home (yes, multiple
breakdowns, while I sat in my car with the air conditioner on, because Lord
Have Mercy it was like 400 degrees outside) and I almost emailed my boss my
resignation letter from the CVS parking lot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Lethbridge, Alberta</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—This place had a really
long bridge the city was named after. I went and saw it and was underwhelmed.
Also, I had a minor case of food poisoning after stopping at McD’s on the long-ass
drive out there. That was fun. Thank God there was a scary little gas station
along the way, or who knows what would have happened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Yarmouth, ME/Topsham, ME</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—These two Maine trips were
back to back, and they were for a chain pharmacy called Hannaford's. People were
nice and Maine is gorgeous! I wrote about it <a href="http://www.the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2014/07/yep-havent-posted-in-monthso-heres-what.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">here</span></a><b>.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Brampton, Ontario</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">— This one was literally in
the middle of nowhere, Alberta. Like, rolling fields of yellow canola forever and
ever. And the people were weird. It was Canada. We know how I feel about
this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Broadview, Saskatoon</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—The pharmacy manager named
the robot Pippin (wtf?), and I had a migraine almost the entire time. There was
nowhere to eat, and I had to eat A&W three nights in a row (vom). This may
have been the cause of the ongoing migraine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Damariscotta, ME</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—Another of the
Hannaford's. People were super nice and I ate lots of lobstah.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Sunnyside, WA</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—I got a freaking huge speeding ticket and I’m
fairly sure the state of Washington never cashed the check I sent in the mail
to pay it, so it is entirely possible that there is a warrant out for my arrest
in Washington state.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ada, OK</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—People were nice. The land the pharmacy was on was part of an
Indian tribe's property, so technically it had different laws than normal...? (I didn't
really get the deets on this. Clearly.) The pharmacy sold Michael Kors
purses and Vera Bradley stuff, which is nice I guess, but I remember thinking
it was also kind of odd.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Soldotna, AK</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—So this trip was when I decided that this job
had slightly ruined my will to travel. Alaska was GORGEOUS. I mean, who gets to
go to freaking Alaska?? And I took maybe three pictures total, because I was
tired, I had rented a Tahoe and I knew I was going to get in trouble for going
over the rental car budget, and my cell hardly worked. And I decided that if I
got a free trip to Alaska and I was so grumpy that I didn't go do
anything or at the very least, take touristy pics of the park I drove through,
then it was probs time for me to find a new job.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Pine Falls, Manitoba</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—This one was a disaster. I
had to stay at a casino over an hour away and halfway through the first session
of training, the pharmacy manager came in and told me he was (and I quote,
because it’s so dramatic) “shutting this down” until some issues had been
resolved. It was a cluster, and I had to stay in the area for two more days,
“just in case” everything got worked out. It didn't. I came home and they
sent someone else out there a week later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Santee, CA</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—Another CVS, but a California CVS in October is
much more manageable than my previous CVS nightmares in Texas. A couple other
trainers were also working at CVS's in Cali, so we met up for sush one night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Taos, NM</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—Another of my favs, because I got to travel with my bestie Brad
(or BAMER). I </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2014/11/i-just-skipped-right-over-septemberand.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">wrote about it</span></a></span><span style="color: #943634; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">last
fall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Reno, NV</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—Never even saw a casino…also an Indian Health Site, so that was
interesting. I was so over everything at this point. I was also traveling with
another trainer, and we ate at Whole Foods every day for lunch AND dinner at
his bequest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Denver, CO</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—This was my first VA Hospital, and I really had
no business being there. The products I was supposed to “support”, I had not
learned yet. It was the week of Christmas. It was super cold and snowy. I was
hating life. Good times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Which rolls us right into <b>2015 </b>(are you still with me? Almost done!)<b>:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Orlando, FL</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—A VA Hospital site that had bought a ton of our
expensive equipment, yet refused to use it in the way it was intended. At the
very least, I was in Florida in January, and Ben was with me. However,
it wasn't really a productive trip, since
they didn't listen to any of our training.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Murfreesboro, TN</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—A VA Hospital, where half
of our equipment didn't work correctly and I got yelled at
on several occasions. Had a breakdown in the Detroit airport on my way
home, where I declared “I WAS DONE FOREVER” (and then I went to Nashville the
next week).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Nashville, TN</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—Sister site (another VA) of Murfreesboro…same issues, and to
add insult to injury, I didn't even make it down Music Row
because I was tired, I was mad, and it was cold. (Jeez...early 2015 was pretty bleak
for me, professionally.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Somerset, PA</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—Super nice pharmacy manager. The staff
were…interesting. Let’s just say there was a 31 year old pharmacy tech who had
a 16 year old daughter and was SUPER proud of that. Yeeeeah.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ronceverte, WV</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—I took Kayla, a new trainer, on this trip, and
she was sweet and fun to travel with. Highlights of the trip included us
literally sprinting through the airport to make a connection (after I had
bragged about never having to run to catch a flight) and then driving down
windy roads straight out of “The Hills Have Eyes” territory in backwoods, West
Virginia. (I think we bonded over the terror of the experience.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bremerton, WA</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">—Okay, so this was my last site I traveled to,
and I knew it at the time, so I didn't have such a hellish time as I would have
if I knew I wasn't quitting. This was a Naval hospital on Fort Bremerton,
and the Commander in charge was pretty intense. Like, wasn’t happy with anything and wouldn’t sign off on anything until it was fixed, intense. Luckily, that was
not my issue (this trip required multiple people on site from SP) and I just got to
chat with the Navy cadets, who were quite interesting. Lt. Awa was the NICEST
guy </span><span style="font-size: 13.3333330154419px;">I've</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> ever met, and he gave me a Commander’s Coin, which is a big deal in
the Navy. I guess you give it to someone who you respect, and he told me that
the whole pharmacy appreciated the work I had done with them. In hindsight, I suppose this was not a bad
trip to go out on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">And I'm DONE! I gotta admit, it’s kind of cool to have all of these places
documented and to look back on where </span><span style="font-size: 13.3333330154419px;">I've</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> gotten to visit. While there were
plenty of things I disliked about the job, I did meet a lot of interesting and
cool people. But now, on to the next adventure of actually staying in town for more than a week at a time. I think it's going to be a solid summer. And who knows? Maybe I'll start blogging on the regular again. I gotta get my snarky comments out somewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-89676123210765868632015-05-13T20:27:00.002-05:002015-05-13T20:27:12.027-05:00Oh Hey, Blog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg86R7Cg8Z_u93TONsEDCmc3SY58dOB1RHtikk3wCsyDkVea985N5hJv4JeA4tkQKHKmVVnMwfcGT5f9pBYTr9b1OE4cAmP2y7FCTx6kWcNACghQU2VkxPjLjhHu-MqJ4rSlEHPFlFXuyeU/s1600/DontKillMyVibe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg86R7Cg8Z_u93TONsEDCmc3SY58dOB1RHtikk3wCsyDkVea985N5hJv4JeA4tkQKHKmVVnMwfcGT5f9pBYTr9b1OE4cAmP2y7FCTx6kWcNACghQU2VkxPjLjhHu-MqJ4rSlEHPFlFXuyeU/s640/DontKillMyVibe.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Yes, hello, I’ve been
gone for quite a while. A lot has happened over the past five (yes, FIVE. Ugh,
I’m the worst) months. Aside from the various annually celebrated holidays
(Christmas! New Years! V Day…eh. Easter! Various family birthdays!), I’ll add in
that <a href="http://the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2014/12/meglovebachbash.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">mah bestie</span></a> tied the
knot (wedding was fabulous; she was the most beautiful bride), I quit my job (HECK YES!) and I found new gig. I was just so over all that travel. Anyone who tells you
traveling for work is fun, glamorous or exciting is just plain lying to you.
Traveling for vacay? Yes please. Traveling for work? <a href="http://www.the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2014/02/people-you-dont-want-to-sit-next-to-on.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">Not fun</span></a>. It’s exhausting,
and I couldn't ever figure out why exactly, because really,
unless you’re literally running cross country to get somewhere, you’re mostly
just sitting in a small seat for extended areas of time. Right? So I have no
idea why I felt like every trip aged me in such a way that I now feel I am a
ripened 65 years of age. And you know those <a href="http://the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2014/07/little-letters.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">Canada trips</span></a> added
extra stress in my life. (The WORST!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Anyway. Those days on
the road are (mostly) over! Hip, hip, hooray! I’m working as a training
specialist now for a healthcare company, and the travel is just enough to keep
me interested (because life in a cube is WEIRD!), but not so much as to send me
over the edge. And as the imagery above emphasizes, it’s making me happier and
I’m feeling a pretty good vibe. However, before I completely closed the
ScriptPro chapter of my life, I made a list (because list-making ranks in my
top three things I love to do) of all the places I traveled to, along with what
I remember of them. Some pharmacies will forever be burned into my brain,
whether good or bad. Some, I literally cannot even remember making the trip to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Oh! Also, since I don’t
want to sound totally ungrateful and negative about this past “life
experience”, I figure I have to give SP a shoutout for giving me the chance to
get away from the educational vortex and the opportunity to explore new places,
although the majority of the time, I really only got to see an airport, a
rental car, and a lot of highway as I drove into some little town that offered
Applebee’s or Chili’s (if I was lucky). The day a Chili’s makes you feel good is
not a happy day. (Okay, so I tried…I mostly just feel relief and a
little snarky about leaving.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">So, ya ready? Here’s
part one, and I’ll return with part two tomorrow, because it’s a hefty chunk of
words, and I’m sure some people (if anyone is still reading? Hello?) are
already bored. Here’s <b>2013</b> for ya:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Andrews, TX</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—My very first trip. I didn't pack
enough clothes, I definitely did not have the right shoes to stand for
10-12 hours a day, and I had no idea how to pronounce ANY drug name. I
also couldn't count pills on a counting tray, to which my “mentor”
suggested I “look for shapes” as they pills rolled around. Ummm…what?? Needless
to say, it was rough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Kinsely, KS</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—This trip was slightly better from a training
standpoint, but the real fun was seeing <a href="http://the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2013/10/how-western-kansas-celebrates-halloween.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">this</span></a>. Also, I gained a
“real friend” (not a work friend), Mr. Ben Emma (BEMMA!).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Sweet Home, OR</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—This trip was with my boss, Susan. It was the
first trip I had to rent the rental car and actually drive the whole way, which
was slightly nerve-wracking with my boss seated next to me. We had an hour
drive to the pharmacy each morning, and every single time, I missed our turn.
(I have always been directionally challenged.) I felt like an idiot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Richmond, VA</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—My first solo trip, and they were so nice (even
though I’m sure the training was super rough. I don’t remember, because I’m
pretty sure I've completely blocked that memory). I had like 4
training sessions, each 3 hours long, which is A LOT of talking. But! They
gave me a “RVA” coozie, so that was cool. And as I type this, I have no idea
where that is. Hmmm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Longview, TX</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—So at this one, the people were super cool (they
drank beer after work in the pharmacy!) but there was a crazy snowstorm in the
south (anyone remember when every single person in Dallas cried because they didn't know how to drive in snow?), and I had to spend an extra night in Shreveport, LA. But I did find a
kick-ass sushi restaurant. I had to learn to find the small things in life with this job. Clearly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Selma, AL</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—This was such an awesome trip, because the
people and the town were so cool. I did posts on it <a href="http://the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2013/11/bama-rama_21.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">here</span></a></span><span style="color: #943634; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">and <a href="http://the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2014/01/pilcher-mcbryde-pharmacy-catching-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">here</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Greenville, NC</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—This was a huge hospital and I had to go in at
6:00am every morning...east coast time. I am so not a morning person in any timezone, so this was challenging for me. They were nice, but I was exhausted and
it was a cluster inside the pharmacy. It was like a week or so before
Christmas. Oh, and then I had to fly straight to the next place....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Dalton, GA</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">—This one was super unorganized. I remember
thinking that the pharmacy manager was an idiot. Also, it was right
before Christmas. I think I came home on Christmas Eve and boy oh boy, was I
missing the teacher’s winter break right about then. But then I got my paycheck
with copious amounts of overtime (like crazy stupid overtime pay) and I was
all, "oh this job isn't THAT bad..."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Riveting stuff, I tell
ya. Just riveting. I’ll post the rest tomorrow!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-17888140380313180252014-12-22T21:12:00.002-06:002014-12-22T21:12:12.028-06:00#MegLoveBachBash<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We celebrated the soon-to-be Mrs.
Loveridge a few weeks ago, with Megan’s Bachelorette Bash. Such a fun night!
Sush, cupcakes and champagne (lots and lots of champs…oof), mini-shots and a
special visitor (hence the heavy, heavy boozing), all topped off with a girls’
night out downtown. (Um, minus the bride-to-be…she had too many Fireballs and
called it an early night. Sound <a href="http://www.the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2014/12/manhappiness-kansas.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">familiar</span></a>?) And we wrapped up the weekend with
brunch and several Bloody Marys down in Westport. Cheers to you, Megs! We love
you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Some pre-party details: pink, pink pink!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Megan’s sister went to Cirilla’s…we were all a little
nervous!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Totally Meg’s fav gift. Good job, Courtney and Utah!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Champs, champs, champs…</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And, the aftermath…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What a beautiful bride! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(And yes, she wore her sash to brunch. At McCoys. In
Westport. This is why I love her.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-32482683374482986612014-12-09T10:24:00.000-06:002014-12-09T15:52:51.713-06:00Manhappiness, Kansas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">The weekend after Thanksgiving, my friend Megan and I headed
up to Manhattan for the big “Sunflower Showdown” game (I use the term “game”
loosely…it was more like a blowout). KSU took on those silly Jayhawks, and I’ll
be honest…I only watched maybe a quarter of the game overall. That’s right—we
ventured all the way up there and basically just ate and drank our way around
town. (So not complaining. That’s totally the way I prefer my Manhattan trips. Hashtag Fatkid.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">We </span><span style="font-size: 13px;">didn't</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> get tickets to the game, since we figured a game
in late November would be freezing, and we could just soak up the Aggieville
atmosphere while watching the game from the comfort of a Porter’s booth with
beer flowing from the tap, brought to our table by some frat-tastic 22 year old
bartender. But </span><span style="font-size: 13px;">wouldn't</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> you know it…it was 65 degrees and sunny that Saturday!
We still managed to have a fantastic time…even if we did take a nap….during the
second half of the game…and order Pizza Shuttle when we woke up. Because, let’s
face it…college is not meant for 30 year olds. We learned that lesson the hard
way this year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So. We ate at SoLong. Twice. No shame there. In fact, as we
rolled into Manhattan around 8pm on Friday, we didn’t even bother checking into
the hotel. Nope; we drove straight to our fav college spot for bloody Marys and
grilled cheeses. THE BEST! Dear SoLong, please come to Kansas City! I know you
would do well. Maybe in Westport? Or Crossroads? I’d support ya at least once a
week, for some raspberry-black bean dip. And/or queso. (Yes, we had both, as
you can see by the pics. No judging!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">After our SoLong dinner, we stopped at Porter’s, where Megan
worked for 4 years in college. It was pretty much the same…same smell, same
cups, same dartboard. We hit O’Malley’s to see if our dollars were still on the
wall—indeed, they were. Finally, we stopped in to see our pal Charlie at Taco
Luche to end our night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We hit up CocoBolos for lunch and bloodies on Saturday, before
the gameday festivities started. (By gameday festivities, I mean Fireballs. I blame the Fireballs for the nap that ensued directly after the Fireballs.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We
met up with a few of Megan’s friends who were in town for the game, and got a very festive holiday pic by the Christmas tree at Aggie Station.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15.33px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 15.33px;">This guy was NOT one of Megan's friends-we just saw him walking past Tubbys and we HAD to get a pic. I mean, purple Sperrys? That's dedication. I loved it. (He was kind of put off that we asked for a pic, but I was like, dude, if you sport a purple sweater vest with purple slacks and purple shoes, people want your picture.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Ever
had a Nancy? No? Get yo’self to SoLong, ASAP. It’s delish.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVHo7ynBZ_yJtxCHN0lo5njDVJOCwwbkbEQuUZ1LnNxd5Rc-rfGPxi3tw0Z2BMaKm-EaN0wH19BL1jOg7nyg5uiKQItmPx2TPCNJ7sDnmfBA-evWoeZJha9qsGvyKYkTZ96xnnKWj5Fh3T/s1600/Gameday4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVHo7ynBZ_yJtxCHN0lo5njDVJOCwwbkbEQuUZ1LnNxd5Rc-rfGPxi3tw0Z2BMaKm-EaN0wH19BL1jOg7nyg5uiKQItmPx2TPCNJ7sDnmfBA-evWoeZJha9qsGvyKYkTZ96xnnKWj5Fh3T/s1600/Gameday4.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKGcQpJIDJLjLelsAHdj8GDEy0ntKtSVVT3LxnYKQbKLxIlCIbKiOsbXGpfnWnmGh8hOMHKh8f_UV1Vyny_jpd4EEGNQWa1w1PXE0Pi4QG5e7k6Gc10yqb8f7plmlR-iiveY5ViTaqfaE/s1600/SoLong3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKGcQpJIDJLjLelsAHdj8GDEy0ntKtSVVT3LxnYKQbKLxIlCIbKiOsbXGpfnWnmGh8hOMHKh8f_UV1Vyny_jpd4EEGNQWa1w1PXE0Pi4QG5e7k6Gc10yqb8f7plmlR-iiveY5ViTaqfaE/s1600/SoLong3.JPG" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Then…came SoLong a deux (mmm....the dip! The DIP!), and naptime for the old
ladies. On our way out of town Sunday, we stopped for lunch at Taco Luche
before saying so long to our alma mater. Kittycats got the Win, I got my
Manhattan fix for football season, and Megan got a solid 28 hours of sleep . EMAW fo’ life! (Insert KSU Wildcat radio rawr-rawr-rawrrrr here.)</span>Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-10266734150500744272014-11-28T13:37:00.003-06:002014-11-28T13:46:19.510-06:00Turkey Day 2014<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As always, I am
thankful for my family. This year, we all gathered at my parents’ house (every
stinkin’ member of my mom’s side—23 in all!) for plenty of food, wine, and lots of family time.
It was crazy, it was loud, and it was lovely.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Fam bam—with my cousin Caitlin...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">and the ever-darling Nova, of
course. She was Mimi's helper in the kitchen.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LP5zcbMp5oA/VHjM0k-7snI/AAAAAAAACOk/YLrW9qd-NSE/s1600/IMG_0485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LP5zcbMp5oA/VHjM0k-7snI/AAAAAAAACOk/YLrW9qd-NSE/s1600/IMG_0485.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What a spread! Good work, Mama!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RhU6X4VR1cM/VHjMmnWc3nI/AAAAAAAACOE/-JnYWMslqis/s1600/DSC_9893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RhU6X4VR1cM/VHjMmnWc3nI/AAAAAAAACOE/-JnYWMslqis/s1600/DSC_9893.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Scanlon fam</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Love this little Boo-Boo!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And we all got to meet the newest member of the Christensen clan:</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hIL_gx_ymE4/VHjMcy0Q6LI/AAAAAAAACN4/96X9Zk0-qEI/s1600/DSC_9846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hIL_gx_ymE4/VHjMcy0Q6LI/AAAAAAAACN4/96X9Zk0-qEI/s1600/DSC_9846.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Baby Dean! Boy oh boy, is he darling! I kept telling my
cousins to call Gerber—he could easily be the newest Gerber Baby. I mean....too cute!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Everybody loved Baby Dean…he got passed around to Uncle Lee… </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">and Uncle Clark.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pfpLDiDKLDs/VHjM578zsGI/AAAAAAAACPY/Ds3YaGc_hQc/s1600/IMG_0503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pfpLDiDKLDs/VHjM578zsGI/AAAAAAAACPY/Ds3YaGc_hQc/s1600/IMG_0503.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">With his Daddy-o, Chad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sa0Ft5v9rwE/VHjM3dR-fII/AAAAAAAACPA/43U5tKAI884/s1600/Fam.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sa0Ft5v9rwE/VHjM3dR-fII/AAAAAAAACPA/43U5tKAI884/s1600/Fam.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We took a Christensen family
picture—first one in a few years with everyone. With this many people, it
turned out surprisingly well—eyes are open and almost everyone has a smile. Gosh, I love this family more than I can even say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Hope everyone had a
wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with family and many blessings!</span>Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-73681983005977647772014-11-26T06:00:00.000-06:002014-11-26T06:00:03.602-06:00Someone's Turning Two!
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Happy, happy birthday to my most favorite girl
in the whole wide world!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Miss Nova Sophia is TWO today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We celebrated her big day a few days
early, on Sunday…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">poor little bug had the “chicky pops”
(chicken pox...poor babe!), so her big party was postponed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We celebrated with a mini-party with the
Scan fam, with presents and cupcakes, of course.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tHPiC93qoRU/VHP5Lj0rkXI/AAAAAAAACMY/XjAg3EQkyiE/s1600/DSC_9841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tHPiC93qoRU/VHP5Lj0rkXI/AAAAAAAACMY/XjAg3EQkyiE/s1600/DSC_9841.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sU36XVHuapU/VHP5LqehSbI/AAAAAAAACMU/TpizP3DqI4s/s1600/DSC_9830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sU36XVHuapU/VHP5LqehSbI/AAAAAAAACMU/TpizP3DqI4s/s1600/DSC_9830.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Xs and Os, and Happy Birthday Boo-Boo! MoMo loves you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-84069914004028256202014-11-24T20:58:00.000-06:002014-12-22T21:18:38.180-06:00I Just Skipped Right Over September...and October...But Hello, November<div style="text-align: center;">
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</span></span></span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HEVSCJt7bPk/VHPrM6PK9PI/AAAAAAAACLM/T22cgbFj5Zw/s1600/Photo%2BNov%2B20%2C%2B12%2B34%2B19%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HEVSCJt7bPk/VHPrM6PK9PI/AAAAAAAACLM/T22cgbFj5Zw/s1600/Photo%2BNov%2B20%2C%2B12%2B34%2B19%2BPM.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Hello, hello! I join you again,
fresh from several work trips and plentttty of Netflix. Can we talk about something
for a hot minute? <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Revenge</i>. Oh. Em.
Gee. (Get it? “Em”? Emily? Unintentional, I assure you.) As per usual, I’m last
to jump aboard the popular non-reality TV train, and so I stumbled upon this
gem on my last trip to Taos, New Mexico. SO. GOOD. So forgive me for a second,
while I get this out of my system: Victoria Greyson? Wicked Witch of 2012. (Also,
she was in my favorite movie of all time, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Last of the Mohicans</i>, so….this kind of weirds me out.) Declan Porter? Eric
from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gossip Girl</i>. And did anyone
watch <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Greek</i>? No, just me? (Another
perk of this job—I go on Netflix binges and can’t stop.) Anyway. There’s a
chick from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Greek</i> on this show, too!
Argh! Add all this to the craaaaaaazy dramatic plot I can’t even follow (Emily?
Amanda?), and you know what I’ll be doing for the next week. (It’s on
while I’m typing this. I have a problem. Clearly.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Okay, that’s out of my system.
On to something more exciting—Taos, New Mexico! While on my unintentional
blogging hiatus, I have traveled to several places (a la work, of course—no fun
vacays or anything), but I was kind of getting sick about venting on the ol’
bloggity blog about Canada and this crazy job. (I’m sure anyone reading was,
too.) So, let me tell you how refreshing this last trip was. I started training
on a new product (after a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">year</b>—but no,
no, I’m being positive! Positive thoughts!), and with that comes traveling on
your inaugural training trips with—wait for it—another person! Hooray! Finally, I had a
companion to talk to and vent to and drink wine with (and oh yeah, train with)
on a trip. My fellow trainer Brad and I had a successful trip in the pharmacy,
and got to sneak in a few fun meals and sightseeing to boot.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Neither of us really
knew what to expect of Taos, but were pleasantly surprised with the quaint little town
and delish bistros. Here's part of the downtown…including the cutest bookstore, “Moby
Dickens.”</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eV283U2yngs/VHPpy0k8j_I/AAAAAAAACIA/6_S1qqBzkE4/s1600/Photo%2BNov%2B18%2C%2B1%2B53%2B51%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eV283U2yngs/VHPpy0k8j_I/AAAAAAAACIA/6_S1qqBzkE4/s1600/Photo%2BNov%2B18%2C%2B1%2B53%2B51%2BPM.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-59jXepTG-UQ/VHPp2WeE2ZI/AAAAAAAACIQ/211T8ignNb0/s1600/Photo%2BNov%2B18%2C%2B1%2B56%2B15%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-59jXepTG-UQ/VHPp2WeE2ZI/AAAAAAAACIQ/211T8ignNb0/s1600/Photo%2BNov%2B18%2C%2B1%2B56%2B15%2BPM.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iN3fz0S6a8o/VHPtyeZ1RlI/AAAAAAAACLY/rEwgUAqesPA/s1600/Book%2BStore.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iN3fz0S6a8o/VHPtyeZ1RlI/AAAAAAAACLY/rEwgUAqesPA/s1600/Book%2BStore.png" height="422" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The whale in the top hat? I die! Too cute!</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CRyYaZnder4/VHPp24Y3anI/AAAAAAAACIU/IP3XcNqhidg/s1600/Photo%2BNov%2B18%2C%2B8%2B01%2B11%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CRyYaZnder4/VHPp24Y3anI/AAAAAAAACIU/IP3XcNqhidg/s1600/Photo%2BNov%2B18%2C%2B8%2B01%2B11%2BPM.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Funny story about this pic...we ate at this super yummy wine bar, but it was freeeeezing. The hostess brought us over blankets, and Brad thought it was funny that I immediately wrapped mine around me. Hey, I'd rather be bundled up whilst I drink my vino, okay?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ready for some food photos? I had the most delicious beet salad and sea bass at Lambert’s (thanks for the tip, Grandma! You did not disappoint!), and Brad chose the duck. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G_TMQfCCADc/VHPpXmFbDcI/AAAAAAAACHU/b9_p5jwqrHw/s1600/Food%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G_TMQfCCADc/VHPpXmFbDcI/AAAAAAAACHU/b9_p5jwqrHw/s1600/Food%2B1.png" height="286" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6CYbMN3z5jM/VHPqk-iM5UI/AAAAAAAACJ0/fO74ggtV7EU/s1600/Photo%2BNov%2B19%2C%2B7%2B10%2B59%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6CYbMN3z5jM/VHPqk-iM5UI/AAAAAAAACJ0/fO74ggtV7EU/s1600/Photo%2BNov%2B19%2C%2B7%2B10%2B59%2BPM.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our pharmacy we were training at was in an Indian Health Clinic on the Taos/Picuris reservation. We took advantage of our lunch break one day to go visit the last standing pueblo of the Taos tribe and the Royal Gorge. I have to say, while it was interesting to see these sites, seeing the reservation (and the packs of stray dogs) was a humbling experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finally, we couldn’t get out of Taos without a few authentic New Mexican dishes, so we hit The Taos Inn for blue corn tortilla enchiladas and chile relleno. Soooooo good!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s0egHMKtTzI/VHPrIIQdVKI/AAAAAAAACK8/RHUTBGwujjM/s1600/Photo%2BNov%2B20%2C%2B12%2B19%2B56%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s0egHMKtTzI/VHPrIIQdVKI/AAAAAAAACK8/RHUTBGwujjM/s1600/Photo%2BNov%2B20%2C%2B12%2B19%2B56%2BPM.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So glad I got to
experience Taos and see its history (and try the cuisine!). Coming up
this week—lots of celebrations, as Miss Nova turns the big TWO and our family
comes together for Turkey Day. Have a great holiday week!</span></div>
</div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-26768557517997564742014-07-28T21:17:00.000-05:002014-07-28T21:22:55.920-05:00Little Letters<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iWr7li8NIrI/U9cCmrp3mVI/AAAAAAAACGI/wiyK2DDAEuE/s1600/Snark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iWr7li8NIrI/U9cCmrp3mVI/AAAAAAAACGI/wiyK2DDAEuE/s1600/Snark.jpg" height="448" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">{<span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://www.someecards.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">This</span></a> </span>seemed appropriate.}</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Dear people who are reading my blog,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">First of all, thanks for hanging in there. Are you ready for
a healthy dose of snark to kick your week off? (I am currently in Canada…so guess
what kind of mood I’m in. Cue eye roll.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dear ScriptPro,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Why, dear Lord why, do you keep sending me to Canada? It’s become the
trainer joke that I am the unofficial Canadian trainer. Oh, and it’s not really
funny, so….please please please spread the Canadian love around the schedule. (I'M BEGGING.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Dear<span style="color: #ea9999;"> <a href="http://www.babewalker.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Babe Walker</span></a></span>,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">I know you’re not really real, but you sure are funny. Thanks for tremendously improving my flight to Denver on Saturday—your newest tome,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Psychos-White-Girl-Problems-Book/dp/1476734151/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406599603&sr=1-1&keywords=Psychos" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Psychos</span></a></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">is heeeeliarous. (Oh, and dear whomever I lent my copy of</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/White-Girl-Problems-Babe-Walker/dp/1401324541" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">White Girl Probs</span></a></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">to—may I have it back, pretty please? I’d like a re-read sesh ASAP.) (Also—don’t click her links if you don’t appreciate offensive, yet entertaining, language and a satirical view on "rich kid" society.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dear State Troopers,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I GET IT. I am formally </span><s><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">giving up</span></s><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> trying very hard to
give up </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">speeding and you don’t
need to bestow any more tickets on me. Also, can we maybe talk about enforcing a national
speed limit for interstates and highways? I vote for 80 mph. That’s manageable.
And bee-tee-dubs, Canadian police force: I don’t think it’s fair or just that you
can send me a bill for speeding when you don’t actually catch me in the act. I
don’t even know where I was caught. Or how fast I was going. I would go so far to argue that
it’s unconstitutional, but I suppose that is a moot point since you know...Canada.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Dear </span><a href="http://midwesternbelle.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Adrienne</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I will miss you, friend! I wish you tons of luck and success
in your new career. If I ever need architectural supplies, you are my go-to
girl. And darling, if we ever have another Book Club night that ends at a
hookah bar, you better be there!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dear metric system,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Why are you so hard to convert? (Note: Canada should use
miles.) (On a related note, can someone Canadian tell me how many kilometers over the
speed limit are acceptable before you get a ticket? Ten? Twenty?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dear Celsius degrees,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">YOU DON’T MAKE SENSE TO ME. (Canadaaaaaaaaa. Sigh.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dear Sarah and Josh,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Happy birthday week to my besties!! Hashtag birthday
buddies! Hashtag battle of the birthdays! Hashtag I’ll see you both this
weekend! Xs and Os!</span>Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-45647130648831818792014-07-16T20:07:00.001-05:002014-07-16T20:10:30.380-05:00Yep, Haven't Posted in a Month...So Here's What I've Been Up To<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bDV5NUSeVj0/U8cdPlmVvJI/AAAAAAAACE8/JiqmZHqHSt0/s1600/Harbor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bDV5NUSeVj0/U8cdPlmVvJI/AAAAAAAACE8/JiqmZHqHSt0/s1600/Harbor.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Summer is flying by. (I feel like I start all of my posts
lately with an excuse for not posting. So this time, I’m just jumping in.)
Before the 4<sup>th</sup>, I wrapped up my June and kicked off my July with a
trip to Maine (for work, of course…let’s not get too excited). I had been to
Maine when I was 4 or 5, but it was only a day trip up from Connecticut, so…I could
call this my inaugural trip to the northern state. My trip was a little longer
than usual, as I had two sites back to back. Both were coastal cities though,
so I got to do a little exploring and check out several spots on the water.
Also, another bonus on this trip was that two other trainers were in the
area—our company is installing at a grocery store pharmacy chain up there, so there
were five installs within about a week, and the three of us got to meet up and
grab dinner and drinks in Portland. I also got to sneak in a beach visit on the
day I traveled from Yarmouth to Damariscotta. It was quick lived, but it felt
pretty good to let the freezing waves roll over my tired toes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lZm2a2mH_0o/U8cdLmTyakI/AAAAAAAACEk/f2Lw1dq5i_k/s1600/Beach+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lZm2a2mH_0o/U8cdLmTyakI/AAAAAAAACEk/f2Lw1dq5i_k/s1600/Beach+4.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Hey,
ya know what you do on trips by yourself? You take about 50 thousand pics of scenery and then, oh, you take selfies. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-csDaoHg3j6g/U8cdXDagILI/AAAAAAAACFo/5Ir7EzVuL_8/s1600/Grouped+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-csDaoHg3j6g/U8cdXDagILI/AAAAAAAACFo/5Ir7EzVuL_8/s1600/Grouped+1.png" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">During my
leisurely few hours off the clock (and when my feet were sufficiently numb), I
decided to see what else the coast was all about and visit a “scenic” lighthouse
about an hour outside of Damariscotta. Ummm…the lighthouse was two stories
tall. Okay, maybe with the tower it was three. But still. Maybe I've been misinformed, but I was always under the impression that
these suckers were big and tall—you know, to guide the ships in over the cliffs
and crashing waves and such? ("Land ho!" "Thank God we saw the lighthouse!" and all that.) But nope, this guy was much shorter than I had anticipated.
(I even took a pic of the house it was connected to for scale.) I mean...I was
a little underwhelmed. But still pretty, Maine!! Still pretty. I'm fairly certain Kansas has no lighthouses, tall or short, so you got us there.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TttgwSwOhzI/U8cdPCktERI/AAAAAAAACE4/w9yzSsPqiu0/s1600/Lighthouse+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TttgwSwOhzI/U8cdPCktERI/AAAAAAAACE4/w9yzSsPqiu0/s1600/Lighthouse+2.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C3hynIqhVjc/U8cdTbVsAcI/AAAAAAAACFU/WsxUVB7Kkv4/s1600/Lighthouse+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C3hynIqhVjc/U8cdTbVsAcI/AAAAAAAACFU/WsxUVB7Kkv4/s1600/Lighthouse+3.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So, yeah…a whole 10 minutes of picture taking and salty air breathing later, I jumped back in my rental and headed back toward where I was staying, only to discover the home of the world’s best lobster roll (as proven by the three—THREE!—separate people who told me to stop here when I headed north). So,
I stood in line at <span style="color: #ff6699;"><a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/reds-eats-wiscasset-2" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Red’s Eats</span></a></span> and bought
myself a $21 sandwich (cash only, natch). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was…good. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Forgive my east coast naivety,
but I thought a lobster roll was kind of like a chicken salad sandwich, only
featuring crustacean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know,
lobster with a little mayo (or aioli if you’re fancy), some celery for crunch,
etc. NOPE. It’s a whole lot of lukewarm lobster, on a piece of buttery white
toast. So. While not what I was expecting, it was still worth the trip. And
now, I can say I’ve eaten the world’s best lobster roll, so there’s that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wEgB9lr4h0s/U8cdYcBMk1I/AAAAAAAACFs/LgzRCMAK7pw/s1600/Reds+Eats+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wEgB9lr4h0s/U8cdYcBMk1I/AAAAAAAACFs/LgzRCMAK7pw/s1600/Reds+Eats+1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9-D7n7VXI1Y/U8cdXx3FBPI/AAAAAAAACFk/UTd0aekFbVI/s1600/Reds+Eats+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9-D7n7VXI1Y/U8cdXx3FBPI/AAAAAAAACFk/UTd0aekFbVI/s1600/Reds+Eats+2.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was a lottttta lobstah.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">And then, after a solid week of northeastern living, I headed back to the midwest. My 4<sup>th</sup> of July was low key in the
best way—pool with pals, a barbeque complete with a mini-beer pong tourney and
then we headed downtown to <s>watch</s> hear the fireworks (who knew that the
rooftop of John’s Upper Deck is maybe the worst place to watch the fireworks
set off from the River Market?). And July is continuing to roll on by…the month
is already half over. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>Our work sched is finally picking
up, and in the next three weeks, I’ll be traveling to Washington state,
Saskatchewan (Canada…my FAV. Not.) and back to Maine again. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Annnnd, since I’ve been rambling on about summertime today,
I’ll wrap this up with a pic of the cutest (and smartest!) girl in the whole
wide world, made a little cuter as she eats a mini-ice cream cone. Xs and Os to
my Novy!</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zco3e45-5HA/U8cdTbYfw9I/AAAAAAAACFQ/A3PbrDOZNOk/s1600/Nova+Ice+Cream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zco3e45-5HA/U8cdTbYfw9I/AAAAAAAACFQ/A3PbrDOZNOk/s1600/Nova+Ice+Cream.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-29591341845970695982014-06-06T11:43:00.000-05:002014-06-06T11:46:49.797-05:00Hello, 30<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wVgPfM0E25Y/U5HrFuVYszI/AAAAAAAACAs/eBR0XHCG_L0/s1600/Balloons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wVgPfM0E25Y/U5HrFuVYszI/AAAAAAAACAs/eBR0XHCG_L0/s1600/Balloons.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">So.
Nearly two weekends ago, I entered into a new decade of life. (I’m so dramatic,
huh?) Yes, it was my 30<sup>th</sup> birthday on May 26, and I am happy to
report it was celebrated appropriately. While 30 seems a little daunting, as I’ve
now had almost two full weeks to reflect on it, I gotta say it’s not really
that bad. I had a slight breakdown on my 25<sup>th</sup> birthday, so I guess I
got that out of the way back then and now, I’m ready to embrace a new era! I’m very
blessed for the life I live, and I’m lucky for a lot of reasons, but I think
one of the most important things I’ve learned in my 30 years of life is that
who you surround yourself with truly make you who you are. I am so thankful for
my extraordinary family and amazing friends who not only made my special
weekend so much fun, but who love and support me every day of my life. Okay, okay,
enough cheesiness—here are a few pics from the birthday weekend!</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fLiIVetBbzE/U5HrOFuPmQI/AAAAAAAACBE/TOSU_JEaqTw/s1600/Balloons+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fLiIVetBbzE/U5HrOFuPmQI/AAAAAAAACBE/TOSU_JEaqTw/s1600/Balloons+3.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{I had some rockin "30" balloons and a very special birthday cup, thanks to my bestie Kelly.}</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2bNpyZeemf8/U5HrLSbUYWI/AAAAAAAACA4/y5wYam1E-Gw/s1600/Bday+Cup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2bNpyZeemf8/U5HrLSbUYWI/AAAAAAAACA4/y5wYam1E-Gw/s1600/Bday+Cup.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4C0idYSSPS8/U5Hrif4-cYI/AAAAAAAACBU/yx2XcVb5oWs/s1600/Jay+%2526+Josh.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4C0idYSSPS8/U5Hrif4-cYI/AAAAAAAACBU/yx2XcVb5oWs/s1600/Jay+%2526+Josh.png" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Jay, manning the grill, and Josh, being Josh....(I think he was shaking up some shots?)}</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cGnOdwwizNY/U5HrL_dvbNI/AAAAAAAACA8/P0dR5bwsls4/s1600/Boys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cGnOdwwizNY/U5HrL_dvbNI/AAAAAAAACA8/P0dR5bwsls4/s1600/Boys.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Yep. These are my friends.}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">On
Monday evening, I headed over to my parent’s house for celebrations with the
fam-bam. Since Nova and I are halfsie birthday buddies, we shared celebrations
for 30 years and 18 months.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mv27IWJ-wgs/U5Hru7-_qiI/AAAAAAAACBg/NTdiN-UaYX8/s1600/Nova+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mv27IWJ-wgs/U5Hru7-_qiI/AAAAAAAACBg/NTdiN-UaYX8/s1600/Nova+1.jpg" height="640" width="520" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u_nhJNGBSLw/U5HsGUVsT2I/AAAAAAAACB0/Wi4BXqm3Mtw/s1600/With+Heather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u_nhJNGBSLw/U5HsGUVsT2I/AAAAAAAACB0/Wi4BXqm3Mtw/s1600/With+Heather.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{With my seeester-in-law, Heather}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KGTRFMXb3uI/U5HsT7suSQI/AAAAAAAACCE/nBJtL-pjxk4/s1600/Nova+Grouped.png" height="422" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Novy loves to "water" Mimi's plants (and the deck!)}</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KGTRFMXb3uI/U5HsT7suSQI/AAAAAAAACCE/nBJtL-pjxk4/s1600/Nova+Grouped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></a><br /></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X3zBiqsvt90/U5Hr5w7jjzI/AAAAAAAACBs/9WCj9ZCe3WY/s1600/Nova+Balloons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X3zBiqsvt90/U5Hr5w7jjzI/AAAAAAAACBs/9WCj9ZCe3WY/s1600/Nova+Balloons.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LK5OgfyMoeI/U5HsS0oZF3I/AAAAAAAACCA/fKB5Q_XaQ1c/s1600/Shades+Grouped.png" height="636" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{My sweet Daddy-o picked out some AWESOME g</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">ifts—Ray-Bans
and macaroons!}</span> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LK5OgfyMoeI/U5HsS0oZF3I/AAAAAAAACCA/fKB5Q_XaQ1c/s1600/Shades+Grouped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></a><br /></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zUHQGeCQ4s/U5HrvQYO0iI/AAAAAAAACBk/JiGT-0noFgM/s1600/Macs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zUHQGeCQ4s/U5HrvQYO0iI/AAAAAAAACBk/JiGT-0noFgM/s1600/Macs.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j7lDROn05NI/U5HrX-KcZ6I/AAAAAAAACBM/n9udlNauW10/s1600/Cake+Grouped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j7lDROn05NI/U5HrX-KcZ6I/AAAAAAAACBM/n9udlNauW10/s1600/Cake+Grouped.png" height="454" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-axXXOuOd6WU/U5HvG9QmN2I/AAAAAAAACCQ/StLuwPmLeWs/s1600/Nova+Cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-axXXOuOd6WU/U5HvG9QmN2I/AAAAAAAACCQ/StLuwPmLeWs/s1600/Nova+Cake.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{We heart cake!}</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</span><br />Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-84160580639791927392014-05-22T22:52:00.002-05:002014-05-22T22:53:59.023-05:00A Morning at the Market<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">This
summer, I have declared a lofty goal: I am dedicating my weekends in town to exploring more of what Kansas
City has to offer. I’ve been a longtime reader of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://spaceskc.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">KC Spaces</span></a></i> and always dog-ear the pages of new restaurants I want
to try and events or spaces I’d like to see, yet somehow, making the time
to go always seems to get away from me, or when posed with the question of, “where
should we go?”, my list flies right out of my head. It seems to me that in the last
decade, Kansas City has really started making more of a name for itself in terms
of food, places and entertainment. Or maybe, since I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">am</i> embarking on a new decade this Monday (gulp), I have finally
started to grow up and realize that there’s more to a Saturday night than vodka
sodas at the Falloon. Regardless, I’m making it my summer mission to get to
know my city on a more personal level. I have my ever-growing list of
eateries, concerts and events, and can’t wait to see what summatime has in
store. Luckily, I found the perfect companion to accompany me throughout my
quest—my friend Sarah. Sar always has her finger on the newest, hippest spot to
hit up for crafted cocktails, for amazing atmosphere during dinner, or to find
the perfect gift for a friend. The ironic thing is she’s not even from KC, but
somehow, she always knows a fresh spot we need to check out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">While
this first place on my list isn’t exactly a new feature around town, it was newish
to me. Last weekend, Sarah and I ventured down to the Farmers’ Market in the
Rivermarket. I had not been down in this area for quite some time, and we had
such a lovely day. The fruit and veggie stands were gorgeous, the flower stands
were bright and cheerful, and we topped off our morning with grilled cheeses for lunch on
the patio at Harry’s. It was the epitome of a perfect Saturday, and I hope to
frequent the market again very soon.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{This place! I never knew KC had a Chinatown Market and man oh man...it is sensory overload. There is literally a sign inside saying you can't take pics or video; I'm not sure why, but I wish I could have because we saw some of the weirdest food you wouldn't even know existed. There is also a fresh fish counter in the back, and every Oriental fruit, vegetable and weird protein you could want. Next time I'm in there, I'm taking some secret stealth pics for sure!}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"></span><br />Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-17371848087305765242014-05-20T17:25:00.001-05:002014-05-21T08:56:03.044-05:00April Festivities: Catching Up (Photo Overload)<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It’s FINALLY spring! The “polar vortex” is over (don’t toy with me, Mother Nature…let's keep some springy weather around and let the summatime heat waves come in late June), flowers are blooming and the grass is greening up. While my allergies are in full swing (a pharmacist told me that this is the year of the “allergy vortex”…good grief), I am opening up my windows and soaking up all this beautiful weather with a Kleenex in my pocket and a solid stock of Dayquill in my bathroom cabinet. After all that snow and ice and bone-chilling cold, I’ll sneeze on my daffodils and let my eyes water as I lounge on my front porch and inhale deep, refreshing breaths of pollen and cat hair. Spring has sprung! I couldn’t be happier about it. And with this lovely weather comes a few springy events. <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">(Note:
this was written a few <s>days </s>weeks ago, so....bear with me as we recap a
season that's pretty much come and gone.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Several Saturdays ago, my Daddy-o and I put on our finest and headed out to the Down Syndrome Guild Prom. This year’s theme was “Bright Lights, Big City,” and was it a night to remember! I loved seeing all the attendees come in, walk down the red carpet in their prom gear and dance the night away. This is such a fun night for all who attend, either to help out or just to have a good time, and it makes me so happy that I was in town this year and was able to join in the festivities. (See last year’s celebrations <a href="http://www.the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-prom.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">here</span></a>.)</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{These two cuties showed up again this year--two girls I used to coach, Katrina and Lexi.}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{With my handsome Dad}</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-64juxq5ivJI/U3vVirfOjWI/AAAAAAAAB-Y/A3JG7kLq-NA/s1600/DSG+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-64juxq5ivJI/U3vVirfOjWI/AAAAAAAAB-Y/A3JG7kLq-NA/s1600/DSG+4.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PAQcyTjYksc/U3vVuImCtHI/AAAAAAAAB-o/SUtw0JKWwJk/s1600/DSG+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PAQcyTjYksc/U3vVuImCtHI/AAAAAAAAB-o/SUtw0JKWwJk/s1600/DSG+7.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">On Easter Sunday, my parents hosted a delectable lunch and we were able to celebrate with some good ol’ fashioned family time together. (And PEEPS! I ate three packages the week after Easter. That’s a lotttt of Peeps.) Nova is almost 18 months, and is too cute for words. She is mimicking anything and everything you say, and has such a big personality. I can’t get enough of this little boo-boo!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My friend Kelli, who I used to work with at school, got married at the end of April. Her wedding was beautiful and she was a stunning bride. It was such a fun, springy night (and the dress I ordered the week of showed up the day before, so there ya go). Congrats, Chris and Kelli! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Guy friends are great when you need a date.}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{With the beautiful bride! (And Josh, photobombing.)}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Coral is the color!}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And finally, althought this was in May, my gorgeous and sweet cousin Caitlin graduated from high school last weekend. We made the trek up to Nebraska to wish her congratulations. It's hard to believe she is already old enough to be heading off to college. (I mean, I used to change the girl's diapers, and now, she's 18?! Craziness!!)</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{My Aunt Chel, Caitlin, my mom and me...just four blondes, hanging out}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">And now! It's
the end of May and we're heading into the official Summer Season. This weekend,
I have a birthday to celebrate and some pool days to squeeze in. Happy Summer,
everyone!</span></span></div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-18845599570717001582014-04-23T20:14:00.000-05:002014-04-23T20:14:02.354-05:00Adventures in British Columbia
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Last week, I finally (finally!) got to visit a super fun
town in Canada. I mean, as thrilling as the suburbs outside of Toronto and
Calgary were, this place gave me a whole new view of our neighbors up north. I
flew into Calgary (nothing new, nothing new) and then drove <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">five and a half hours</b> across two
national parks, up through two mountain passes. It was pretty spectacular.
While most of the pics I took were while driving (safety first, folks….I know,
I know), those mountains were still breathtaking. The weather wasn’t too bad—I
mean, it went from a chilly (and snowy) 1 degree when I landed to a balmy 12
degrees Celsius throughout the duration of the drive, and it was downright
warm(ish) when I finally arrived at my destination of Revelstoke, BC. Since I
had shown up to this party in jeans, a long-sleeved tee and flip-flops, I was
thankful the snow that was flurrying throughout Calgary had not followed me
into the mountains.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Are you ready for a TON of magnificent mountain pics? Here…we…go!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ublyuG4h1kM/U1hkCuVfzcI/AAAAAAAAB8I/8ZyT4RxXDyY/s1600/photo+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ublyuG4h1kM/U1hkCuVfzcI/AAAAAAAAB8I/8ZyT4RxXDyY/s1600/photo+9.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Heading into Banff National Park.}</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PCbsHG0qux4/U1hkAN7qAYI/AAAAAAAAB8A/-Oorg0FwNWg/s1600/photo+10.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PCbsHG0qux4/U1hkAN7qAYI/AAAAAAAAB8A/-Oorg0FwNWg/s1600/photo+10.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vNldaVn9FVo/U1hiZMsIy4I/AAAAAAAAB7g/CkjLw-U77_g/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vNldaVn9FVo/U1hiZMsIy4I/AAAAAAAAB7g/CkjLw-U77_g/s1600/photo+4.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZniSV6R-bZg/U1hiYX58ajI/AAAAAAAAB7A/d_bT3-8kepI/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZniSV6R-bZg/U1hiYX58ajI/AAAAAAAAB7A/d_bT3-8kepI/s1600/photo+1.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{This was the view from the restaurant at the base of the slopes.}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mkAYo-mXJ0w/U1hiY7l0iNI/AAAAAAAAB7Q/LljvkENU8p0/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mkAYo-mXJ0w/U1hiY7l0iNI/AAAAAAAAB7Q/LljvkENU8p0/s1600/photo+2.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{The view from outside the hotel.}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Revelstoke was darling. It was nestled in between mountains
and was a charming ski resort town of about 7,000 people. My pharmacy owner and
his staff were so kind and so enthusiastic, and the owner and his wife even
took me to dinner on the first night I was there. We went to the resort
restaurant at the base of the mountain, and the views over dinner were
spectacular. In other food news (you know that’s what I live for), I found a
delish French café, aptly named Baguette, to eat lunch at each day and listen
to the hipstery-hippies talk about their snow stories (the season had just
ended). This little town reminded me a lot of Breckenridge—a super cute
downtown area, unique (and appetizing—no fast food or Applebee’s on this trip,
thank the LORD) restaurants, and friendly faces. This is one work destination
that I would definitely go back to!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gO5ygeyl5aY/U1hiZv9p3wI/AAAAAAAAB7o/pj7JF6j7qzo/s1600/photo+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gO5ygeyl5aY/U1hiZv9p3wI/AAAAAAAAB7o/pj7JF6j7qzo/s1600/photo+6.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Heading back to Calgary, I saw this fog just hovering over the peaks...it was so pretty....but...}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-svYesoceIZc/U1hiZ8kQosI/AAAAAAAAB7w/jTQxSHR8OT0/s1600/photo+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-svYesoceIZc/U1hiZ8kQosI/AAAAAAAAB7w/jTQxSHR8OT0/s1600/photo+7.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{The closer I got...}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f8lliis0LA4/U1hiaJh5mYI/AAAAAAAAB70/J-Y7Sk9zHzs/s1600/photo+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f8lliis0LA4/U1hiaJh5mYI/AAAAAAAAB70/J-Y7Sk9zHzs/s1600/photo+8.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{I realized it was a SNOWSTORM! Oh Canada...you love to throw your weather curveballs.}</span></td></tr>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-40085367470299173422014-03-26T19:58:00.002-05:002014-05-22T22:59:17.739-05:00My Buffalo Shuffle + St. Patty's Festivities<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9m0X2e14zYw/UzNzqMJJLqI/AAAAAAAAB18/8LnmTceAAhk/s1600/Niagra+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9m0X2e14zYw/UzNzqMJJLqI/AAAAAAAAB18/8LnmTceAAhk/s1600/Niagra+1.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{The Falls}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Two weekends ago, I headed up north to Buffalo, New York for work. It was
cold-cold-cold and snowy, which was not what my soul was needing. (My soul
needs SUNSHINE, friends! And lots of it.) However, because my last two trips to
Canada were such a bust in terms of exploration, I decided that despite the
chilly temps and my lingering sinus infection, I would brave the cold and drive
up to Niagara Falls. Let me mention that while I was not properly dressed for
the freezing snow/sleet/mist coming off of the water, I will say it was a
pretty spectacular sight. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OfktM7IVDkQ/UzNzqLipHyI/AAAAAAAAB10/R4uRKg1KHr0/s1600/Niagra+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OfktM7IVDkQ/UzNzqLipHyI/AAAAAAAAB10/R4uRKg1KHr0/s1600/Niagra+2.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{So...funny story. I had no idea where I was going or what Niagra would really look like. I just followed other cars into the National Park, then parked, then started walking. And it may have just been the Dayquill talkin', but I kept seeing mini waterfalls and I would think to myself, "Is this it? Surely this isn't it..." and I would keep on walking. Finally, FINALLY, I saw a big group of people gathered in the distance, and so I figured, "that MUST be it." But these two pics here? I was snapping pics at every swirling maelstrom, just in case....}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fv18P5W6IkQ/UzNzrXGhykI/AAAAAAAAB2I/IK4vx8_TKH4/s1600/Niagra+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fv18P5W6IkQ/UzNzrXGhykI/AAAAAAAAB2I/IK4vx8_TKH4/s1600/Niagra+3.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Getting closer....}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jd0wcN84Wt8/UzNzyiQfzqI/AAAAAAAAB28/zgPq7FiNLCg/s1600/Niagra+Group+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jd0wcN84Wt8/UzNzyiQfzqI/AAAAAAAAB28/zgPq7FiNLCg/s1600/Niagra+Group+1.png" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Finally!}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-suAgYYbcjgY/UzNzqIGUeNI/AAAAAAAAB14/8d9mzK0Wj9A/s1600/Me+at+Niagra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-suAgYYbcjgY/UzNzqIGUeNI/AAAAAAAAB14/8d9mzK0Wj9A/s1600/Me+at+Niagra.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Sooooo not dressed for that hike. Or the freezing spray coming off of the water. But aren't my new baby blue Nikes cute?}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Other Buffalo memories? The pharmacy I was at was located in
a hospital, so I saw some pretty interesting characters throughout the course
of my visit. I also got to eat my Subway sandwich opposite of a man in a
hospital bed, complete with his IV and catheter, also eating a sandwich in the
lobby-slash-hospital entryway-slash cafeteria seating. That was interesting.
Also disgusting. And let’s see…I was also there for Daylight Saving Time, so I
lost a full two hours after I arrived. If you know me, you know mornings aren’t
really my thanng, so that was rough. Otherwise, Buffalo was pretty lowkey. I
was so ready to get back in town and have some friend time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Spring around KC is
always a good time—between the Big 12 Tournament (which we shall not speak of,
due to the poor showing of both Kansas teams) and St. Patrick’s Day
celebrations, March turns out to be a pretty fun month. I will say, last week
was a little tough, as I am used to a Spring Break (24 years…and now it’s gone),
but I made the most of last Monday night by celebrating my Irish blood and
having a few green beers. Actually, I had a lot of green beers…and Bailey’s
shots (I know, I KNOW…who orders Bailey’s shots? My coworker Brad. At my
dubious look, he replied “it’s St. Patrick’s Day,” like that makes it okay to
shoot Bailey’s)…and Fireballs…oof. Let’s just say last Tuesday was a little
slow.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jt2vhGe_es0/UzNzs8i9sZI/AAAAAAAAB2o/pBNKNQcYVS0/s1600/St+Pattys+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jt2vhGe_es0/UzNzs8i9sZI/AAAAAAAAB2o/pBNKNQcYVS0/s1600/St+Pattys+1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Friends! Complete with our Bailey's shots. Thanks, Bradley. Also, can everyone please note Ben's stylin' green sequined headband and beads? I told him, look sir, if you want to drink a beer with me on St. Patty's Day, you wear some green. So he took what I provided.}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MA-aIKWz0L4/UzNz2ApxlzI/AAAAAAAAB3E/UZRBSUkvy9M/s1600/St+Pattys+Grouped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MA-aIKWz0L4/UzNz2ApxlzI/AAAAAAAAB3E/UZRBSUkvy9M/s1600/St+Pattys+Grouped.png" height="420" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Some dude at Kelly's was wearing this saa-weet hat. So I stole it, and look who I found! Two little leprechauns!}</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CC_Omo7H0BA/UzN0RVZMuFI/AAAAAAAAB3M/v5G1ljnuQSU/s1600/Pattys+Grouped+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CC_Omo7H0BA/UzN0RVZMuFI/AAAAAAAAB3M/v5G1ljnuQSU/s1600/Pattys+Grouped+2.png" height="406" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Lotsa green, lotsa beer, lotsa friends. I love a holiday where really, all you do is drink and make merry. Cheers to my Irish clansmen!}</span></td></tr>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-7263678480063411922014-03-05T21:46:00.000-06:002014-03-05T21:46:06.719-06:00Adventures in Calgary<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-INGDcqtQPU8/Uxfr9U27mvI/AAAAAAAAB0Q/-b0lS3UVURY/s1600/Calgary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-INGDcqtQPU8/Uxfr9U27mvI/AAAAAAAAB0Q/-b0lS3UVURY/s1600/Calgary.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Hello, mountains! My view of Calgary as we descended...}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I had high hopes for Calgary. First of all, I did a little
research prior to booking travel and since I had that awful 6:00am flight, I
figured I would do a few touristy things when I got into town at 11:30am.
However, I did not account for all of the snow and frosty temps. It was COLD
and super snowy, as in snowing pretty much every day I was there. And so, being
the cultured Midwest girl that I am, I went and got a manicure. Because, hey—a
lot of people are looking at my hands and fingers as I point and gesture during
my training on the robot. And I think this shellac business has gotten me
addicted—I never ever used to wear nail polish, unless it was clear, and now, I
find myself choosing the most unpredictable colors (“Kiss Me, I’m Brazilian”?
Yes, please. Also, does anyone else think OPI just recycles their colors and
gives them new names? I feel like I have an awful lot of pinks that are
suspiciously similar in shade…). So, yep, instead of climbing to the top of <span style="color: #ff6699;"><a href="http://www.calgarytower.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Calgary Tower</span></a></span>, which is what I had planned to do,
I instead stuck closer to the ground and drove fearlessly to the nail salon and
then on down the road to my hotel, where I penned my oh-so-eloquent previous
blog post and caught up on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House of Cards</i>.
(Oh. My. Gosh. Addicted.)</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UXI47XsDhU4/Uxfr9a-xqFI/AAAAAAAAB0U/WkcjyBgWTC0/s1600/Driving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UXI47XsDhU4/Uxfr9a-xqFI/AAAAAAAAB0U/WkcjyBgWTC0/s1600/Driving.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{...And my view of Calgary when I landed. Snow, sleet, and cold. Boo. Would you want to climb up 1228 meters (however tall that is) above sea level in this weather? Yeah, me neither.}</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bI4_gPF32_Y/UxfsMpc9FyI/AAAAAAAAB0k/7IErospGG1o/s1600/Temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bI4_gPF32_Y/UxfsMpc9FyI/AAAAAAAAB0k/7IErospGG1o/s1600/Temp.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{A little blurry, but check out the temp up there in the right corner. This is what I came out to each morning. Also, on my last day there, I finally asked the hotel clerk why there were outlets in front of the parking spots. She said sometimes it's so cold, you have to plug your car in to get juice for it to start. You have to <strong>plug your car into an outlet</strong>. That's COLD, friends.}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I actually stayed in a town outside of Calgary called
Strathmore. It was kind of a small town and it reminded me of somewhere in
central Kansas (the smell of cattle wafted through the air as I arrived). I don’t know if
this is common knowledge, but Calgary was very proud to be known as the
“Gateway to the NEW West,” and they also host a pretty serious rodeo
apparently. I saw a lot of cowboy hats and big ol’ trucks, which is not what
comes to mind when I picture Canada. So that was interesting. Otherwise,
Strathmore was really snowy and cold and it had maybe the best restaurant I’ve
found in my travels so far. It was a take-away Japanese place, but you could
get a bento box with stir-fry, sushi and dumplings or a springroll for like
$12. I ate there maybe three times in my three day stay (yeah, that’s every
night). Edo Japan, please come to Kansas. You’d do well. I promise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I also discovered Aero chocolates, which are ah-mazing. I
think the Hershey’s Bubbles are a knockoff, but these are flavored chocolates
and they’re in the shape of little balls. The orange were my fav. Let’s
see…what else, what else? The accents in this part of Canada are waaaaaaay more
noticeable, eh? The “oh” sound is much more pronounced, and “eh” really is part
of their vernacular. They use it like “yeah?” or “okay?”. Pretty funny, but I
have noticed that I have a habit of mimicking wherever I am. When I was down in
the southern states before Christmas, my draaaawl came out. And up in Canada,
I’m all about the “oot” sound. Although, up north, they all thought I had a
southern accent. Ha!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BdXQOz1I8A8/UxfsBsPBPrI/AAAAAAAAB0c/ThkpSFCMWK4/s1600/Joined.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BdXQOz1I8A8/UxfsBsPBPrI/AAAAAAAAB0c/ThkpSFCMWK4/s1600/Joined.png" height="316" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Candy pic? Check. Isn't my life on the road simply stimulating?}</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My journey home was where the real adventure started. Because
of a scheduling snafu, I ended up having to travel to Canada a day earlier than
expected, and come home a day earlier as well. So…I got booked on the red-eye
home. I left my pharmacy at 2pm (after working since 7am); drove to Calgary;
flew to San Francisco at 6:30pm; flew to Houston at 1am; and finally flew home
to KC at 8:30am. It was a lonnnnng day/night. Also, let me add to my previous
list of <span style="color: #ff6699;"><a href="http://www.the-pink-polkadot.blogspot.com/2014/02/people-you-dont-want-to-sit-next-to-on.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">People You Don’t Want To Sit Next To On An Airplane</span></a></span>:
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Guy Who Never Stops Moving</b>. First of
all, I knew this guy was trouble when I sat down in my seat on the plane and I
could smell his breath as I hugged the window. Halitosis? It’s real. It’s
rough. Secondly, he picked his nose. Not just like, swipe and be done. I’m
talking, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he picked with his fingers</i>,
rutting it around in there consistently throughout the three hour flight.
Picked and flicked. Barf. And he did. not. sit. still. He was moving his legs;
he was rolling his head around; he was leaning forward in his seat and putting
his head on the seat in front of him; he was hogging the armrest and moving
into my territory, so I may have had to throw some ‘bows, if you know what I
mean. It was annoying, to say the least. Let’s just say, I’m glad to be back
Stateside and let’s all cross our fingers that the flight to Buffalo this
weekend is uneventful and there is NO MORE SNOW.</span></div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-89150939703837383652014-02-26T13:54:00.000-06:002014-02-26T13:55:53.538-06:00People You Don’t Want To Sit Next To On An Airplane<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_NcDcsExML0/Uw49rJKCvnI/AAAAAAAABzc/0Vn2eJlCIjI/s1600/High+UP.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_NcDcsExML0/Uw49rJKCvnI/AAAAAAAABzc/0Vn2eJlCIjI/s1600/High+UP.png" height="640" width="542" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{I think we were over Oklahoma, somewhere...}</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">And guess
what? I’ve sat next to (or in the very, very close vicinity of) all of them. First
of all, let me state that flying is soooo not what I used to think it was. It
is not glamorous, it is not really exciting, and it’s definitely not that fun.
I suppose if you’re headed to a tropical island or some really cool vacay, it
might be slightly better. But still, you are trapped in a very small space with
very weird people for usually a very long time. (Sidenote: I used to be
slightly terrified of those really small planes, with only one seat, an aisle,
and then two seats, but now I jump for joy if I see I don’t have to sit next to
anyone at all.) I don’t hate flying; it’s better than driving for hours on end,
but in the past five months, I have definitely learned who you don’t want to
sit by (but you usually don’t have a choice, unless you’re flying Southwest,
but I really prefer not to choose my own seat, since that presents its own set
of problems I’ll discuss another day, another time).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">Sweaty, Smelly Workout Guy</span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">While in
the Toronto airport, my coworker and I noticed a man in full workout gear
(track suit, knit stocking cap and all…we were indoors…about to get on a
plane…obviously) doing some full-tilt lunges, squats, running in place, etc. in
a corner he had apparently deemed his personal gym for the afternoon. To quote
Grace, “aw man, I totally should have snap-chatted that.” It was entertaining.
Until we boarded the plane and workout guy sits down right next to me. I don’t
know if you’ve flown anywhere recently, but if you ask me, the personal space
in terms of seating is getting smaller and smaller. If you’re taller than 5
foot and you have two arms you’d like to rest without touching the person who
is extremely close next to you, you’re out of luck. Anyway, this guy was smelly
(like sweaty body odor smelly), super tall and broad, and also chose to eat the
weirdest crap I have ever seen on an airplane (I’ll save that for my next
point). People, I beg of you: if you can, shower before you fly anywhere, or at
the very least wear a lot of deodorant, and under no circumstances should you
work out and then board an aircraft. Also, you don’t need to continually get up
and walk up and down the aisle every 15 minutes. People will hate you. I had to
breathe through my mouth or into my sweater sleeve the whole three hour flight.
Vom.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">People Who Eat On Planes</span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">Eating on
planes, other than maybe the pretzels/peanuts (or cookies, if you’re flying
Delta…delish) that are provided on the plane, SHOULD BE BANNED. Again, do you
people not understand that you are boarding a twelve foot by seventy foot
(guesstimating; I don’t like math) sealed space, full of at least 40 other people
and recycled air? The entire plane of people will smell your food for the
entire flight. Please don’t bring your Greek salad on board. Please don’t bring
your McDonalds on board. And for all that is holy, please don’t bring a
dried-apricot/fig-fruit cocktail thing that is so pungent it makes your
seatmate gag. Also, if you can’t sit tight for a three hour flight without your
powdered protein shake that smells like death/a warm diaper, then something may
be wrong with you. (Any guesses on who this was??)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">Children On Planes</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">Let me
clarify; I know that kids have to fly. I get it. But hey parents, let’s be
prepared for this long-ass trip with 40 other adults on the teeny tiny flying
vessel. Perhaps your child could watch a movie (with headphones…not without headphones…because
listening to Dora the Explorer <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i>
make me stare you down with no remorse) on your iPad or laptop. Maybe they
could read a book or play a quiet game. (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Quiet</b>
is the key word here.) Maybe they could sleep. I don’t know, but pack something
quiet for your kid to do on the plane. Also, please inform your child that
kicking a seat repeatedly is RUDE and NOT ACCEPTABLE. (Unless you, yourself,
are the next kind of person on my list.) Also, letting your kid ask you twenty
million times if “we’re up in the air? Are we up in the air Daddy?” and
providing the indulgent, “yeah buddy, we sure are!” every. single. time. and
then letting your kid pretend to shoot down other planes in the sky (“pew pewpew!
Pew pewpewpewpewpewpew!”) in a high pitched keen, while kicking my seat, at 10
o’clock at night, on a three hour flight, is really, really, REALLY NOT
ACCEPTABLE.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">People Who Kick Seats/Recline Their Seats</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">As I’ve
clarified, there is no room on a plane for anyone. Unless you are in first
class or business seating, where I feel like the accommodations are bearable (I
wouldn’t go so far to say comfortable), you have about a foot in front of you
from the knees up—from the knees down, you are literally squished against the
seat in front of you. So why, oh why, do you think it’s okay to A) repeatedly
kick and punch my back, or B) recline your chair into my knees? The only reason
it is acceptable to kick someone in the back is if they have reclined. I think
it is so rude and yes, you definitely deserve a few extra knee thrusts in your
lower back because Sweet Jesus sir, your bald spot is now literally under my
nose. And hey, if I’m not reclining my seat into your face, then please don’t
punch me in the back. We’re all uncomfortable, and the irony is, we all paid
several hundred dollars to be uncomfortable, so let’s all sit up straight and
try not to make eye contact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The </span>Chatterbox </span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">I consider
myself an outgoing person. I love to meet new people; I enjoy making new
connections. However, unless I engage in a conversation with you, please don’t
tell me your life story. At 7:00am. For a three hour flight. I don’t know what
it is about planes, but some people want to not only get to know you, but
really bond with you. I get it; we’re in tight quarters, we’re all in this
together,but please, don’t tell me about how you breed horses in nowhere Texas
and your husband left you for another woman and aren’t men scum? (Headphones
didn’t stop this lady! Sheesh!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Mom With The Two-Month-Old Baby</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Actually,
this wasn’t as bad as I originally thought it would be. (As soon as the lady
boarded with that tiny little bundle, the plane gave a collective groan/sigh.)
The mom was nice enough and left me alone, and the baby was pretty good…until
he peed through his diaper and started crying for the final 15 minutes as we
descended on Shreveport. I know for babies there’s not much you can do…and I
will say this: at least babies can’t help it when they cry and make noise on a
plane. They don’t understand what’s happening. The adults who recline in my
face and talk my ear off, however, know better.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kJTWdZM3tK0/Uw491BBCKOI/AAAAAAAABzk/t2NBRsnGL18/s1600/Grouped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kJTWdZM3tK0/Uw491BBCKOI/AAAAAAAABzk/t2NBRsnGL18/s1600/Grouped.png" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Welcome to my personal hell.}</span></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">People Who Stand Up As Soon As The Plane Comes
To A Stop</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">If you
have a weird leg condition, I’ll give you a free pass. However, to the rest of
the world: you don’t need to stand as soon as the plane comes to a stop and the
seatbelt sign is off. If you are in the front two rows, please, by all means,
stand up, grab your stuff and get the heck off the plane. However, you in the
row two rows behind me who now has your crotch in my face, you can wait. There
are no less than 23 rows in front of us, and you standing in the aisle will not
make it go faster. In fact, it will probably make it go slower because you are
blocking the aisle for people who are actually next in line to leave. So sit
tight for 10 freaking more minutes, and we will all make it off the plane
alive. Oh, and can your cell phone call really not wait until we get in the
airport? <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Really</i>? I don’t think the
rest of the plane wants to hear your call your mom/spouse/boss/whoever and let
them know you arrived, literally, right this minute. That is what texting is
for, my friends.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">And
finally…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Lady Who Wears Every Piece of Jewelry She
Owns Through Security</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I
don’t know if you’ve been under a rock for the past twelve years, but unless
you have the Frequent Traveler’s Pass or whatever, you have to take off your
shoes, your belt, your coat, your hat and all of your chunky jewelry when you
walk through security. You may want to look super cute in your cowboy boots,
dress with a wide belt and huge buckle, eighty-thousand necklaces, cuff
bracelets and cocktail rings, but honey, it all has to come off before you walk
through those gates and you’ve got over a hundred people behind you at Dallas Fort
Worth. I know, it totally sucks, but everyone knows it sucks and everyone still
does it, so please, think about your ensemble before you cross into security,
because at the security line, it’s the point of no return and yes, you <em>will </em>get
death stares if you try and breeze through, bracelets clinking, only to come
back and cut everyone who is ready to rock-n-roll on through the scanner so you
can remove the articles those signs told you to remove 30 feet back. You've been warned!</span></div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-27775068930116655002014-02-17T16:57:00.000-06:002014-03-06T11:29:40.115-06:00Fun Times in Canada<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zwnRkT2Cd4k/UwI-LBDkHrI/AAAAAAAAByk/cL9EHgntSSE/s1600/Moose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zwnRkT2Cd4k/UwI-LBDkHrI/AAAAAAAAByk/cL9EHgntSSE/s1600/Moose.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{This is actually at the Minneapolis airport, en route to Canada. Yes, I am a huge nerd. <br />But isn't my sweater cute? And no, I did not ask a random stranger to take my pic...<br />my travel buddy Grace helped me out. It was also at her suggestion </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">that I make antlers, so thank you, Grace. I'm always up for looking like an idiot.}</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So. Canada. Canada is pretty much the same as anywhere in the US, except that it’s slightly different. It’s all about kilometers. And Celsius. Which means that at any given point in my trip, I did not know how warm or cold it was, and I did not know how far away anything was. And I definitely caved in and bought an international data plan, because paper maps? So 10 years ago. Thank you, iPhone maps, for talking out loud and telling me directly where to go and when to turn. Also, thank you for using miles, because does anyone know just how long a kilometer is? I have no sense of direction or distance as it is, let alone trying to convert on the metric scale as I’m driving 120 km/hour (which is not as fast as it sounds.) Anyway…the trip went okay. We ended up getting in to Toronto later than planned, at about 6:00pm, so it was already dark and snowing and we didn’t have time to explore the city. Also, I had to go through Customs upon arriving in Canada, because you know, I totally look like a suspicious crook who is coming in to wreak havoc on their snowy streets. But it wasn’t bad. I had to answer a few questions (“Robots? You’re training on a…robot?” "Yes sir, it's a robot.") and walk through a few of those maze walkway things, but otherwise, I made it through unscathed. My work at the pharmacy went fine, but what I was most concerned about was the snack food. (Of course…I am remembering all of my travels based on what snacks and candy I can consume while there.)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3TNIq-4Lsdo/UwI-LzqN-2I/AAAAAAAAByw/4P5EEPytIXw/s1600/Snowy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3TNIq-4Lsdo/UwI-LzqN-2I/AAAAAAAAByw/4P5EEPytIXw/s1600/Snowy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{I will say the snow is really pretty in Canada. And they got those roads clear right away, which was much appreciated after I came back to KC and slid home down I-29. Also, their bus system is called "<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Z<span style="color: black;">üm</span></span>." I thought that was cute.}</span><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">First of all, the restaurant food in Canada is pretty much the same as in the US. I even asked the girls at the pharmacy if there were any good restaurants I should go to while I was in town. Most of their suggestions were similar to what we have in the states, but when I persisted and asked, surely there is something Canada is known for, right? A staple or signature dish? Their answer? Poutine. Oh, what is poutine, you may ask (I certainly did)? It’s French fries with gravy and curdled cheese. Um, no thanks. (They also told me the best place to get it is at KFC. WHAT?) Sorry Canada, but that’s all you have to offer? Sick. I did not try the poutine…although it seems to be pretty popular up there. Apparently, they even have poutine flavored potato chips, along with “Roastin’ Chicken” and “All Dressed.” And KETCHUP. They have ketchup flavored chips. I bought a bag, just for fun, and good Lord, they were disgusting. I ate two chips and had to toss the rest. Who in their right mind, other than three-year-olds going through that “I just want to suck ketchup off my French fries” phase, would want ketchup flavored chips?? It kind of still makes me gag a little when I think about them. (Also, my gals at the pharmacy couldn't believe that ketchup chips were not such a hit in the states.) </span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-90Mwi68VNZ8/UwI-KY61yBI/AAAAAAAAByY/9fDrk8cjU-c/s1600/Chip+Stand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-90Mwi68VNZ8/UwI-KY61yBI/AAAAAAAAByY/9fDrk8cjU-c/s1600/Chip+Stand.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9azdut6Psk4/UwI-MiY1MXI/AAAAAAAABzA/GyN0yPxKN_o/s1600/Grouped+Chips+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9azdut6Psk4/UwI-MiY1MXI/AAAAAAAABzA/GyN0yPxKN_o/s1600/Grouped+Chips+1.png" height="412" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Also, everything is in French on their labels, as well as English.}</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mgbGOOC3yo4/UwI-LN2BNFI/AAAAAAAABy0/ELcifhsV6Xg/s1600/Ketchup+Grouped.png" height="364" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{So gross.}</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mgbGOOC3yo4/UwI-LN2BNFI/AAAAAAAABy0/ELcifhsV6Xg/s1600/Ketchup+Grouped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></a><br /></div>
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I decided to give the candy selection a chance to make up for the weird chips. Other than a few "bubble chocolates," their selection looked pretty close to what we have here. Until I found wine-flavored gummies. What?! Canada, way to go! Candy and wine, mixed together! I thought it was genius. Then I tried one. Also disgusting. The yogurt gummies were okay. The monster Twizzlers (“Twizzelators”…awesome) were the best out of all the weird stuff I bought. The last thing I will say about Canada’s food (since it looks like the majority of my post is about it) is I could definitely get behind their drink selection. Canada Dry Ginger Ale is a staple there, and sold pretty much everywhere. I love me some ginger ale. Also, orange Fanta was also everywhere I looked. So you get a point for soft drinks, Canada, but it still doesn’t really make up for the ketchup chips.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4bmUNpa1x3w/UwI-L112RII/AAAAAAAABy4/3C1IEuQkOp4/s1600/Wine+Gummies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4bmUNpa1x3w/UwI-L112RII/AAAAAAAABy4/3C1IEuQkOp4/s1600/Wine+Gummies.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MfvPivOAuc4/UwI-ET-7bFI/AAAAAAAAByQ/jQGWEpKn4K0/s1600/Candy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MfvPivOAuc4/UwI-ET-7bFI/AAAAAAAAByQ/jQGWEpKn4K0/s1600/Candy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">’m actually heading back to Canada this weekend, but I’ll be flying into Calgary this time. Since the only available flight out of Kansas City is at 6:00am, I’m thinking I’ll have plenty of time to explore the city in the afternoon before driving to Strathmore. I’m hoping to report my travels next time with more than just pics of junk food and me acting like a moose in the Minneapolis airport. Here’s hoping. Happy Monday, friends!</span></span>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-48068776580623067002014-01-31T07:00:00.000-06:002014-01-31T07:00:06.656-06:00Weekend/Week Recap Randomness<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Friday is here; hip, hip, hooray! I had a random (last)
weekend and week…which really isn’t a bad thing. Random is better than
horrible, so I’m all about random. And so, to top it all off, I figured I would
post a random collection of thoughts for ya. Starting with…</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LPU4JvVxhAs/UurPOr-wRzI/AAAAAAAABx0/2WSxmNr8JoU/s1600/Canada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LPU4JvVxhAs/UurPOr-wRzI/AAAAAAAABx0/2WSxmNr8JoU/s1600/Canada.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{<a href="http://www.spotillustration.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Oh! Canada</span></a><span style="color: #ea9999;">!</span>}</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I am heading to Ontario, Canada tomorrow. After narrowly
avoiding ringing in the new year with total strangers up north, I finally got
another trip on the Schedule. I am excited for this trip for several reasons.
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">One: it’s a TRIP. I haven’t been anywhere for FIVE weeks. I am going stir crazy
in the office, and while I’m always glad to have any hours they can give us
in-house, I am sooooo ready to hit the road again. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Two: I
have never been to Canada, so I’m kind of excited to get another stamp in my
passport. Of course at work, I’m all like, “oh, Canada; yeahhhh, no biggie.”
And in my head I’m like, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my phone won’t
work. I can’t Google-map everywhere like I usually do. </i>(Yeah…even in KC. I’m
geographically challenged.) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I don’t know
how to convert kilometers into miles. I am going to get SO lost. Do they have
Panera in Canada? What do I say when I go through customs? </i>(I’ve heard that
sometimes, Canadians do not care for Americans coming in to “steal business,”
and I have been instructed, when asked why I am crossing the border, to “not
say too much, but if you say too little, you’ll probably get pulled in for
questioning, too.” Awesome.) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Do I need
Canadian money? I need new Uggs because it is super snowy and icy and my flats
are just not gonna cut it. Ditto on a new scarf and new mittens.</i> Moral of
this story? I’m sure I’ll have something funny to report back next week. Be
kind, Canada. I’ve always liked your sparkling water (<span style="color: #ff7c80;"><a href="https://www.clearlycanadian.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Clearly Canadian</span></a></span>, anybody??) and you gave us Ryan Gosling, so let’s stay on good
terms, eh?</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Last weekend, a few pals and I completed a Westport
mini-pubcrawl and I managed to take a few (totally random, of course) pics. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ckbKijgrsYs/Uum7wEdtY5I/AAAAAAAABxA/_g_nViLdvqA/s1600/Bloody.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ckbKijgrsYs/Uum7wEdtY5I/AAAAAAAABxA/_g_nViLdvqA/s1600/Bloody.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Bloody Marys at Beer Kitchen? Yes, please.}</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JQXCb2lX4oA/Uum72nZbk5I/AAAAAAAABxg/hfCzJWcCSN4/s1600/Grouped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JQXCb2lX4oA/Uum72nZbk5I/AAAAAAAABxg/hfCzJWcCSN4/s1600/Grouped.png" height="640" width="438" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{No idea what we were laughing at. Probably something really dumb.}</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3B2usk3i5E/Uum70WsoOwI/AAAAAAAABxY/I6Zu_Ka-F9g/s1600/Smiling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3B2usk3i5E/Uum70WsoOwI/AAAAAAAABxY/I6Zu_Ka-F9g/s1600/Smiling.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YchdMuAyvVY/Uum7xwAacVI/AAAAAAAABxQ/oW-e_mQXYnk/s1600/Group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YchdMuAyvVY/Uum7xwAacVI/AAAAAAAABxQ/oW-e_mQXYnk/s1600/Group.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Ignore the KU hat; it was a bet and although it is terribly
ugly, I must say, it was warm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Also, this happened when I thought I could take reservations
at Port Fonda. The actual hostess was not impressed. I believe the evening ended quite soon after this.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RaZf-5UrQsc/Uum7w-vNAiI/AAAAAAAABxI/0wLWmkgRJXc/s1600/Phone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RaZf-5UrQsc/Uum7w-vNAiI/AAAAAAAABxI/0wLWmkgRJXc/s1600/Phone.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Let’s see, what other tidbits of randomness this week? We
had a fun girls’ night on Tuesday, where Kelly and I managed to spend over $30
on olives, cheese and candy at HenHouse, Sarah <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>cooked
us up a fab meal, and then we all saw a fantastic-slash-pretty depressing
movie. Meryl Streep should def win the Oscar, because she was fabulously manic
and out of control as a cancer-ridden drug-addict matriarch of a pretty nuts-o
family. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #ff7c80;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hd_uO72h1s" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">August:Osage County</span></a></span></i>. Check it out.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<s><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I went to Pilates Mat class on Thursday night and wanted to
die.</span></s></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I went to Happy Hour with my coworkers on Thursday night and had a ball. It’s
embarrassing how quickly I can be talked out of working out.</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Rascal caught yet another mouse in the garage and tried to
bring it in the kitchen to proudly show it off. (I caught him before he dragged
it in this time, thank GOODNESS.) In other wild animal news, I'm pretty sure there is a stray cat living under my house. The foundation is cracked in the back and last spring, when I was attempting to de-straggle my poor yard by raking leaves and such, I saw a kitty run under the house into what I assume is part of the crawlspace. And now, every so often, I'll hear a scritchy-scratchy noise that sounds like it's coming from under the floorboards. While it totally creeps me out that something is crawling around down there, let's all keep our fingers crossed it's a cat and not a racoon. Or a possum. Or a skunk. (Also, thank goodness I'm renting.)</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve been listening to Bastille radio on Pandora at work and
I’ve fallen in love. So, dear <span style="color: #ff7c80;"><a href="http://www.bastillebastille.com/badblood_outnow/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Bastille</span></a></span>,
please come to Kansas City. I neeeeed to see you guys in concert!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I watched a solid four hours of Bravo programming on
Wednesday evening and while <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Real
Housewives of BH</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vanderpump Rules </i>and
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">100 Days of Summer</i> didn’t really move
me, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shahs of Sunset </i>was surprisingly insightful.
(I know, I know…my taste in TV is terrible.) Also, the finale of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American Horror Story: Coven</i>? Horribly underwhelming. I don't know if I've been desensitized or what, but since when does FX do happy, feel-good endings? I was prepared for something totally awful and creepy, and I was let down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’m off to go pack my snow gear and download a few episodes
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gossip Girl</i> (more scintillating TV, I know) for the plane tomorrow.
Cheers to a great weekend and the end of January! (And let’s all keep our fingers crossed I don’t get
snowed in up in Mississauga...)</span></div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-78145495883517285942014-01-24T07:00:00.000-06:002014-01-24T07:00:08.232-06:00Beautiful Brows (And Winter Ramblings)
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Hello, hello, and happy Friday! So. Here’s what’s been on my
mind lately. Prepare yourself for some deep thoughts. Dear readers, I pose a question for you:</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pY4RmPAuWgA/UuGdjjtsdNI/AAAAAAAABwI/RVIwGub2Ong/s1600/Brow+Tutorial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pY4RmPAuWgA/UuGdjjtsdNI/AAAAAAAABwI/RVIwGub2Ong/s1600/Brow+Tutorial.jpg" height="640" width="598" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Seriously?}</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">How does one grow out their eyebrows without looking like a
squirrelly hobo who forgot to get her eyebrows waxed? I mean, Lord knows that I
have the follicles to work the brows, but I can’t go more than 10 days without
cleaning them up. (I wish I had a pic on hand of me in 7<sup>th</sup> grade...I
had caterpillars, people. Big, dark caterpillars, creeping on over my eyes.) I’ve read articles on eyebrows and how
you’re supposed to use makeup to fill them in during the interim and let them
grow-grow-grow in nice and thick, but…no. I mean, I don’t allow myself
enough time in the mornings to try and shade in my brows. I barely allow myself
enough time to get dressed and drink half a cup of coffee in the mornings, so I
highly doubt I will get myself up 10-15 minutes earlier to shade and contour, as directed by <a href="http://beautylish.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">the tutorial</span></a> above.
So this is obviously a huge dilemma for me, currently. Also, on a side-slash-kind-of-related note, Cara Delvigne is
totally my girl crush right now. She is so darn pretty, and her brows are
to-DIE.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6NUuyYahQ_k/UuGdqE2YvuI/AAAAAAAABwQ/kGKCg1f7OHQ/s1600/Brows+Grouped+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6NUuyYahQ_k/UuGdqE2YvuI/AAAAAAAABwQ/kGKCg1f7OHQ/s1600/Brows+Grouped+1.png" height="470" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Okay, I know this is a short and totally random post—I’m
stretching my writing muscles and getting back into the habit of getting my
thoughts down. I feel like January kind of a terrible month. February, too. But
January…man, January. It’s cold, the sun goes down at 5 o’clock, all you want
to do is eat salty, carby things and snuggle on the couch with a cozy blanket.
(I’m hoping this isn’t just me.) Rascal does things like catch mice in the cold
garage and bring them into the kitchen and let them go…and the little mice
think, “ah man, it’s sure warm in here! I think I’ll stay and live under the
refrigerator,” and then I am shrieking and trying to coax these dang mice out
with a broom. (This happened. Last night.) And I always feel like January makes
me feel restless. I want a change…I want to vacation somewhere; I want to find
a new job; I want to cut my hair; I want to redecorate my house; I want to move
to a new city; I want to make my life different in every way I can…and then,
when I don’t (because, really, some of these changes are ridiculous—and
expensive), I feel bummed. And defeated. And unmotivated. And very…blah. And then,
when March finally comes and it warms up and I can have drinks on a patio and
take walks outside and smell fresh grass and the sun doesn’t sink down until
7ish or later, I feel better. I feel happy. I look forward to whatever I’m doing. I
don’t want to move to Dallas, because gosh darnit, it’s too hot there in the
summer anyway. I <em>want </em>to write about my weekends for the blog. I <em>want </em>to vacuum
because the sun is shining and I love the way it comes through the windows and
reflects across the floor. I <em>love</em> running errands because it’s fun to find a
surprise at Target. And I am content. But these 60 days of January and February…these
guys just drag, and drag, and drag…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So…I’m going to write this here and hopefully my written optimism
will transfer to my physical self. Here’s to some sunshine and to these
winter months moving forward just as fast as their cold weather can blow them on
outta here. I plan on spending the weekend soaking up some friend-time, family-time, and
cocktail-time, and pretending that a bloody mary indoors in January is just as
good as a John Daily at Woodside by the pool.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">{Cara <a href="http://sheanstrong.tumblr.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">1</span></a><span style="color: #ea9999;">&</span><a href="http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/11/70/09/117009fe4e4359cf4f93015cfaa27330.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">2</span></a>/<a href="http://jaredtomas.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">3</span></a>/<a href="http://ethereallune.tumblr.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">4</span></a>}</span></div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-87038279154698688002014-01-03T14:16:00.001-06:002014-01-03T14:28:24.995-06:00Life-Catch-Up-Blog-Post-Part-Two/Three/Four/I know, I’m a Bad Blogger<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Turkey Day:</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">My fam
gave thanks with our typical festivities—my parents hosted all of my mom’s side
of the family for a full day of food, drinks, laughter and lots of loud
conversing (the Christensens are known for their voices that carry. They’re
also notorious for mixing up names of family members of various age—Chelley, I
mean Morgan, I mean <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Caitlin</i>…). I may
be biased, but my mom’s Turkey Day spread is the greatest meal of all time. And
who doesn’t appreciate drinks before noon?? We toasted each other, gave thanks
for our blessings, and took a moment to remember those who we missed. No matter
how many years pass or how our family changes (we had several new faces in
attendance this year), Thanksgiving remains a constant reminder of how amazing
my family is and how blessed I am to have them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Did I take any pics of the fam-bam? Not
really. Oh, but I did make a homemade apple pie! I know, WHAT? My domestic pal
Kelly gets all the credit for that one. A few pics to prove the homemade goodness:</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Voi14EGx1TM/UscUDz1sx1I/AAAAAAAABt0/2vEIRtimcSk/s1600/Pies.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Voi14EGx1TM/UscUDz1sx1I/AAAAAAAABt0/2vEIRtimcSk/s640/Pies.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Novy’s Birthday:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Speaking
of very important family members, someone celebrated an inaugural birthday over
Thanksgiving weekend. Miss Nova turned the big ONE! This little turkey baby is
quite the ham (see what I did there??) these days. She is walking, talking,
fake-coughing, singing; you name it, she’s doing it in the cutest little way. I
might be biased, but I do believe that she is THE cutest one year old. Ever.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6RKGU6w5BnA/UscU9wSMSjI/AAAAAAAABuk/zIHLuqUX0fA/s1600/Bday+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6RKGU6w5BnA/UscU9wSMSjI/AAAAAAAABuk/zIHLuqUX0fA/s640/Bday+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Her first taste of chocolate, on her actual birthday...it went well. Notice how she's pulling her daddy-o's hand toward her...}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dBLbh7hyGv4/UscU5EOFdkI/AAAAAAAABuc/SLKgHFG223g/s1600/Bday+Cake+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dBLbh7hyGv4/UscU5EOFdkI/AAAAAAAABuc/SLKgHFG223g/s640/Bday+Cake+1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{CAKE! She was ready for round two at her party...I'd say her sweet tooth has come in.}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n77NzASnfVs/UscU0KFHPnI/AAAAAAAABuU/T4LfwaUqMzE/s1600/Nova.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n77NzASnfVs/UscU0KFHPnI/AAAAAAAABuU/T4LfwaUqMzE/s640/Nova.jpg" width="566" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Too adorbs, right? Love you, sweet girl!}</span></td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">And the rest…</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Andddd now
Christmas has already come and gone, and New Year’s, too. A winter collage of
the last holidays of 2013:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mvI1EEv6R8Q/UscT4h2l_tI/AAAAAAAABtg/3LJA0mEiEQE/s1600/Christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mvI1EEv6R8Q/UscT4h2l_tI/AAAAAAAABtg/3LJA0mEiEQE/s640/Christmas.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Snow for Christmas}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7lk5MJoD834/UscT4sV1kdI/AAAAAAAABtc/wVsq7XDlEMc/s1600/Christmas+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7lk5MJoD834/UscT4sV1kdI/AAAAAAAABtc/wVsq7XDlEMc/s640/Christmas+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{So blurry, but all the Christensen cousins (minus Drew) and Grandma in the middle.}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZGA2e-HW8rc/UscT5YwJP3I/AAAAAAAABtk/WrGTuLN9dSQ/s1600/Christmas+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZGA2e-HW8rc/UscT5YwJP3I/AAAAAAAABtk/WrGTuLN9dSQ/s640/Christmas+2.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{With my cousins, Carolyn and Caitlin}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OsF8oWD51rE/UscUkVQ1INI/AAAAAAAABuE/pWn7qFvUA3o/s1600/NYE+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OsF8oWD51rE/UscUkVQ1INI/AAAAAAAABuE/pWn7qFvUA3o/s640/NYE+1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{New Year's! I didn't end up in Canada. (If you couldn't tell.)}</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nz6eWMDGeyo/UscUt2B6RSI/AAAAAAAABuM/V6sJuPnODRE/s1600/NYE+Joined.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nz6eWMDGeyo/UscUt2B6RSI/AAAAAAAABuM/V6sJuPnODRE/s640/NYE+Joined.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Lp2l8MytfI/UscUdzysSPI/AAAAAAAABt8/bL-LGjLWH9I/s1600/Selfie.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Lp2l8MytfI/UscUdzysSPI/AAAAAAAABt8/bL-LGjLWH9I/s640/Selfie.png" width="512" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Did you know the word of 2013 was "selfie"? <br />Aside from weeping for our culture and humanity (at least it wasn't "YOLO"), <br />I figured I should jump on board. Hence, my New Year's selfie.}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span> <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Lots
of family time, lots of friend time, lots of memories made. Hey 2013, you
weren’t terrible. (You weren’t super great, either.) But 2014? I think it’s
gonna be good. #2014isouryear, if you will. Yep, I hashtagged like it’s a word.
I'm making my own rules in 2014. Cheers, friends! May the new year bring you many blessings and lots of love. XO!</span></div>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-13542686482999477122014-01-03T14:03:00.001-06:002014-03-06T11:30:09.980-06:00Pilcher-McBryde Pharmacy (Catching Up, Part One)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h8mLt-jOjyU/UscVbqI1AcI/AAAAAAAABvM/PKIhb8yDlRI/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h8mLt-jOjyU/UscVbqI1AcI/AAAAAAAABvM/PKIhb8yDlRI/s640/6.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">First off, yes, I know, I know. It’s been a hot minute. Lots going on, blah blah. Everyone has a lot going on. So, no excuses—here’s what I meant to post a million days ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Pilcher-McBryde Pharmacy was the coolest place I’ve been so far (in terms of work travel). The actual building the pharmacy was located in had so much history. According to Mr. Alfred, who has worked at Pilcher-McBryde for over 40 years, Mr. Pilcher, around the turn of the century, asked the bank for a loan of 25 cents. He wanted to go to pharmacy school, despite not having finished high school. (I’m repeating this—not entirely sure of the validity, but Mr. Alfred seemed pretty legit to me.) Anyway, at first, he was denied the loan, but eventually found a generous donor top supply him the hefty sum and he was able to enroll. (Again…I’m not sure the actual fee for enrolling was a quarter, or exactly what the quarter covered. But I’m going with it.) So…that’s how the pharmacy got started. The coolest part for me was that the building just went on and on, in terms of space and nooks and crannies. The actual pharmacy itself was on the ground floor, but there were several back staircases that led up to either A) the “attic” office, directly above the pharmacy (and also the “women’s restroom,” which was…interesting); or B) the entire rest of the building. A couple of the techs took me on a tour one afternoon. A few highlights:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yfH4xF7rFoA/UscVbX4X5VI/AAAAAAAABvI/n9GobYSB8Q4/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yfH4xF7rFoA/UscVbX4X5VI/AAAAAAAABvI/n9GobYSB8Q4/s640/8.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Three stories of history. And isn't the sign cool?}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--4r9dNZbA74/UscVOr8uz6I/AAAAAAAABu0/ugt2QFJGJRU/s1600/Joined+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--4r9dNZbA74/UscVOr8uz6I/AAAAAAAABu0/ugt2QFJGJRU/s640/Joined+2.png" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Views from the second floor}</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3jLtut3LVzs/UscVR7qTcPI/AAAAAAAABu8/SoEsNM8__-s/s1600/Joined+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3jLtut3LVzs/UscVR7qTcPI/AAAAAAAABu8/SoEsNM8__-s/s640/Joined+3.png" height="422" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9m7w3exojtk/UscWzZP74OI/AAAAAAAABvk/SYn_KRKtfAI/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9m7w3exojtk/UscWzZP74OI/AAAAAAAABvk/SYn_KRKtfAI/s640/9.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Yeah, those are just pills, hanging out, spilled all over the table, from who knows when. <br />I was kind of shocked that no one had cleaned this place up-there were a lot of treasures that could be unearthed.}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A_iJhcm12pM/UscVNoC4KlI/AAAAAAAABuw/CM96tYg_65E/s1600/Joined+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A_iJhcm12pM/UscVNoC4KlI/AAAAAAAABuw/CM96tYg_65E/s640/Joined+1.png" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Old business ledgers from the 1800's//Advertisements...Aspirin was 12 cents!}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YLoAwPVMWMU/UscVctgHbMI/AAAAAAAABvU/DPG1by0I070/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YLoAwPVMWMU/UscVctgHbMI/AAAAAAAABvU/DPG1by0I070/s640/7.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{With my fav tech, Jess. Good people, cool place, and plenty of southern hospitality.}</span></td></tr>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-37107774621486814952013-11-26T07:00:00.000-06:002013-11-26T07:00:09.393-06:00Happy Birthday, Nova Sophia!
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ttKbdTjQQX4/UpPeHRIEZHI/AAAAAAAABqk/9247AIgW7r4/s1600/IMG_0919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ttKbdTjQQX4/UpPeHRIEZHI/AAAAAAAABqk/9247AIgW7r4/s640/IMG_0919.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{One year ago: November 26, 2012}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">One year ago today, <a href="http://www.theadventuresofnova.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">my sweet little niece</span></a> was
born. Nova, you are the sweetest, smartest one-year-old I know. So much has
happened in the last year, but most importantly, you helped to expand our
family and bring us all closer together. We love you so much, Novy-Bear! Happy, happy birthday, Sweet Pea!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Some highlights from Nova'a first year with Aunt Mo-Mo (are you ready for picture overload??):</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DoPZ7FvSLu0/UpPg50ZUZHI/AAAAAAAABr4/eATXfKsVQSY/s1600/Baby+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DoPZ7FvSLu0/UpPg50ZUZHI/AAAAAAAABr4/eATXfKsVQSY/s640/Baby+1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Christmas 2012-just a teeny, tiny babe!}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hyWsQfkrIS8/UpPg6DzmgyI/AAAAAAAABr8/Iut7U_uUTOg/s1600/Baby+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hyWsQfkrIS8/UpPg6DzmgyI/AAAAAAAABr8/Iut7U_uUTOg/s640/Baby+2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Even though Mommy Heather is a Jayhawk, <br />Auntie M always provides the proper purple apparel.}</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NosLK2rKouk/UpPg3kVWH6I/AAAAAAAABrs/bVNXsapJunE/s1600/Baby+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NosLK2rKouk/UpPg3kVWH6I/AAAAAAAABrs/bVNXsapJunE/s640/Baby+3.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Valentine's Day 2013}</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QoLrROEBxXs/UpPg-ckIUoI/AAAAAAAABsE/k3zoappir_A/s1600/Baby+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QoLrROEBxXs/UpPg-ckIUoI/AAAAAAAABsE/k3zoappir_A/s640/Baby+4.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tj_yFvR6yic/UpPdxVSlzYI/AAAAAAAABog/ZclFfzGNu9Q/s1600/Hat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tj_yFvR6yic/UpPdxVSlzYI/AAAAAAAABog/ZclFfzGNu9Q/s640/Hat.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pQhKbnW7tWE/UpQg1tayn4I/AAAAAAAABs8/zx8rcMgZxLI/s1600/Summer+2013.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pQhKbnW7tWE/UpQg1tayn4I/AAAAAAAABs8/zx8rcMgZxLI/s640/Summer+2013.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k4FWUNYzGIY/UpPdsVIT68I/AAAAAAAABng/Ittahy0s3sw/s1600/6+months.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k4FWUNYzGIY/UpPdsVIT68I/AAAAAAAABng/Ittahy0s3sw/s640/6+months.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Six months!}</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dts8OMlnyWM/UpQgtm2wGtI/AAAAAAAABso/qJyVFbqNdEA/s1600/Summer+2013+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dts8OMlnyWM/UpQgtm2wGtI/AAAAAAAABso/qJyVFbqNdEA/s640/Summer+2013+4.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gw6WsHN0lWk/UpQgzSiOcAI/AAAAAAAABs0/uoxbW1zsDP4/s1600/Summer+2013+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gw6WsHN0lWk/UpQgzSiOcAI/AAAAAAAABs0/uoxbW1zsDP4/s640/Summer+2013+3.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n8Zuy37p0ZA/UpQgPQrhevI/AAAAAAAABsU/VfZkC1qqpaw/s1600/Fall+2013.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n8Zuy37p0ZA/UpQgPQrhevI/AAAAAAAABsU/VfZkC1qqpaw/s640/Fall+2013.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Halloweenie 2013}</span></td></tr>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-34792594813311148732013-11-21T20:11:00.002-06:002014-03-06T11:30:24.927-06:00Bama-Rama <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6L_Ip8B6qxA/Uo63zPw-oaI/AAAAAAAABm4/uSQ1xUwo7Sw/s1600/Bridge+Cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6L_Ip8B6qxA/Uo63zPw-oaI/AAAAAAAABm4/uSQ1xUwo7Sw/s640/Bridge+Cropped.jpg" height="416" width="640" wta="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Welcome to Selma, Alabama!}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I am currently getting ready to wrap up my second solo trip. It’s going well! I am truly starting to enjoy the travel and the actual job I have when I arrive on site at a pharmacy. Everyone has been super nice and I haven’t had any major issues yet (cross your fingers and knock on some wood…I have heard horror stories involving dead robots and irate pharmacists). So, yeah! Getting in the groove. This trip sent me to Selma, Alabama. I had never been to Alabama, or really anywhere in the south, and this trip was an eye-opener. So, I have put together a little collaborative list of tidbits I have gained so far from my ventures in Bama.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Southern draaaaawls? They’re real. I love them. I especially love Mr. Alfred, who is like 70 years old and has worked in the pharmacy for 40-something years. And he talks like a true southurn gentleman, all long, drawn-out syllables and soft vowel sounds. The colloquialisms down here are lovely: “How you be this mornin?”; “Now, I’ll see ya’ll real soon”; “I’m fixin to head on ova to the store here in a bit.” It just sounds friendly. And they call everyone “mister” and “miss,” and say “yes sir” and “no m’am.” I LOVE IT.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Alabama has the best drink selection at fast food restaurants I have ever seen. I’m talking purple Fanta in the fountain at McDonalds (“MacDonalds,” really). And one restaurant has the COOLEST drink fountain I have ever seen. It’s touch-screen and there are over 100 drink choices. I had lime ginger ale tonight. Have you ever had lime ginger ale? Didn’t think so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s7UcwjMdKnA/Uo64EEQ8lFI/AAAAAAAABnA/IpfkdZJXmaw/s1600/Pop+Machine.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s7UcwjMdKnA/Uo64EEQ8lFI/AAAAAAAABnA/IpfkdZJXmaw/s640/Pop+Machine.png" height="422" width="640" wta="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">{Umm, yeah. That's a touch screen drink fountain. And yes, I took a pic of it.}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Umm, hello Zaxby’s! You should head on up north and open up a few franchises. (Hmmm…retirement plan…) Zaxby’s is amazing! It’s kind of like a Chik-Fil-A in that there are a lot of chicken choices, but it has way more fried sides to choose from (spicy fried mushrooms? Spicy white cheddar bites? Onion skins? Yes please!) and the afore-mentioned ah-mazing drink fountain. I may or may not have eaten dinner there three nights in a row. But that is also because this little town has nothing but fast food restaurants to choose from. Fast food and churches. There are a LOT of churches. And loan stores…? Like, every other building is a loan place. Speedy Cash, Payday Loans, Speedy Loans, Car Title and Loan, I mean….it goes on and on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-el-UFLdi5w8/Uo64VlAFngI/AAAAAAAABnI/HV2pTnvHnB8/s1600/ZaxbysJoined.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-el-UFLdi5w8/Uo64VlAFngI/AAAAAAAABnI/HV2pTnvHnB8/s640/ZaxbysJoined.png" height="262" width="640" wta="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{My poor picture quality does not do this place justice.}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Small town pharmacies have the best candy selection. (Not just in Selma; Kinsley was pretty kick-ass as well.) Who knew there are such thing as cinnamon Mentos? Also, I have discovered I eat a lot of candy when it is readily available. Today, I ate two sleeves of Mentos (rainbow, also delish), a bag of sour gummy bears and a bag of peach rings. And…some Reece’s Pieces. My teeth are currently tingling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Selma is very historic. I didn’t really realize it when I arrived, but I found out that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>led several now-historic walks through Selma on the way to Montgomery. I crossed <span style="color: #ff5050;"><a href="http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/al4.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">the bridge</span></a></span> they marched across several times. (Pic is above.) Many of the buildings in the downtown area are over 100 years old. In fact, the pharmacy I am training at has been around since 1870. The reverence and history are palpable here. In fact, today, my new-favorite pharm staff took me exploring through the floors above the pharmacy, and those pics deserve their own post, because it was SO. DARN. COOL. Check back soon for a full post devoted to the fab pharmacy that is Pilcher-McBryde Drug Company.</span> </div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-72838252418094494042013-11-14T19:38:00.000-06:002013-11-14T19:38:26.403-06:00Canada, Oh Canada<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">{Apparently, mine is pointing north.}</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">I
have had a week. You know, one of those weeks that you sit down at the end of
each day and just go, “ughhhhhhh.” Nothing catastrophic, per say, but just
enough little things that add up and start to wear on you. (Basically, this
post falls under the “poor me” category. Get ready for some self-indulgent
venting. And yes, I realize that I have a wonderful life and these are not true problems. But again, see the previous self-indulgence disclaimer.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">It started
on Monday. I was working in the office (not traveling this week, which is fine,
but consequently less hours, which of course equals less paycheck, a headache in and of itself) and talking
to a few other trainers who had been with the company for a while. We were
talking about the Schedule (the oh-so-important Excel-spreadsheet-trainer-schedule that shows
where everyone will be, when; hence, the capitalization) and checking out the
upcoming months. Okay, so I’m going to Alabama, Texas, North Carolina (southern
states! Hooray for warm climates!) and then….ON. ON? What state is ON? Oh, let
me tell you friends. It’s Ontario. As in Canada.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Okay,
so Canada. I can handle Canada. I have my passport. It will be chilly, but I have
lots of cute coats. And then I look at the dates. December 28-31. New Year’s Eve. Okay.
My first question (a dumb one, I’ll admit) was, Canada celebrates New Year’s,
right? Shouldn’t everyone have New Year’s Eve off? Why is this silly Canadian
pharmacy training people on New Year’s Eve? I’m a little bummed at this point;
I mean, New Year’s is an overhyped holiday for sure, but I already found a cute
dress, which is half the battle right there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">So thoughts are racing through my
head…<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’ll have to pack my dress and shoes
and makeup and change as soon as I land, and then just head to the party,
wherever that may be….that’s not so awful. I can handle getting ready in an
airport bathroom. No biggie. </i>And then I GoogleMap where my actual site is—Ontario,
sure, but Ontario is apparently ginormous. It is also a good three or four hours from the international airport in
Toronto. (Who can tell the exact time, because why does Canada use kilometers?
I HATE CANADA ALREADY.) And we can’t leave a pharmacy site before 2:00pm. And I will
have a four hour drive. And there are no international flights out of Toronto
at 6:00pm. And I will have to get a hotel room by the airport and leave the next
morning. Thus, I will be spending New Year’s Eve in a hotel, by myself, in Canada.
By myself. BY MYSELF IN CANADA! It’s sad. It’s a tragedy. I am throwing myself
a pity party. My friend Kelly said that we could Facetime with bottles of
champagne. To which I <s>replied</s> wailed, “you can’t even get cell reception
in Canada. Sniff.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span>S<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">o, I will
be all by myself on New Year’s, huddled in a crappy old hotel room (actually, probably a nice Doubletree, but STILL) in another
country while the rest of the world rings in 2014 with friends, family, kisses,
killer beats, champagne and party poppers. (I think I will miss the poppers the most. Nothing
says “celebration” like confetti. Or champagne-induced dance moves.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I’m
sure I’ll have more to say on this subject as the time draws closer, but I’m
going to end my lamenting on that subject for now. The rest of my week? Let me just share:
Rascal killed a baby mouse and brought it <em>in my house</em> on Monday night. He was
proud. I gagged. And then I picked it up in a baggie and threw it in the trash.
Also, I messed up my timecard for work and got a tersely worded email from my
boss. She was also not impressed (read—I got a<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> look</i>) with me when I mentioned that maybe someone else would like to spend
New Year’s in Canada. And I forgot to set my DVR for <em>Vanderpump Rules</em>. (I know, I know. It's a trainwreck of a show, but I just can't stop watching.) Sigh. It’s just been one of those weeks.</span></div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6660754041434834821.post-71968445575248646612013-10-21T14:36:00.002-05:002014-03-06T11:30:40.616-06:00How Western Kansas Celebrates Halloween<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">I love Halloween. It’s always been one of my favorite holidays. I think the time of year definitely has something to do with it. It’s no secret that I love fall. Like, X’s and O’s, doodling “I heart fall” on my notebook, day-dreaming about pumpkins and gourds kind of love. And so, I thought that this decoration that I spotted while in Kinsley, Kansas deserved a post on the ol’ bloggity-blog. It really put me in the spirit of all things Halloweeny.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">First of all, yes. This?</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ht1Er7LoDls/UmWBIRCYVUI/AAAAAAAABl4/Wz6trCfkxcI/s1600/Kinley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ht1Er7LoDls/UmWBIRCYVUI/AAAAAAAABl4/Wz6trCfkxcI/s640/Kinley.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">This is real.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Second of all, I made my training partner drive by this house no less than three times because I could.not.stop.laughing. And I proceeded to giggle every time I looked at the pic on my phone for the entire 40 minute drive home…each of the three days we drove back to Dodge City. (My trainer friend was not as amused as me. Boys.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">I would just like to point out that</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">A.) this has to be reconstructed roadkill from several different animals (those legs! They look way too big for whatever bird that was. Also, the buzzard-y beak thing kept making me think of a pterodactyl.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">B</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">.) these people added feather-boa wings to said reconstructed roadkill (if they had added a bowtie, I would have knocked on their door and asked to shake their hand, because that is just too much. Toooo much.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">and</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">C.) they took the time to climb up on their roof to proudly display what I can only hope is décor for the Halloween season (and not a permanent fixture on their roof), right in front of their redneck weathervane-slash-cable antenna.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Ohh, Kinsley. Thanks for putting me in the Halloween spirit and adding a little laughter to our trip. (PS—the training went well! I felt much more confident and one of the pharmacy techs told me she couldn’t believe that this was only my second training. She said she would have thought I had done it for years. Next up—Sweet Home, Oregon. Wish me luck!)</span></div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08312856459521198547noreply@blogger.com0