IHOP Girl: February 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Scotland

It's hard to believe that our Scotland trip is right around the corner!!! Last night we had a fun dinner/planning session with the girls and nailed down a bunch of other trip details. There is so much to be sorted, because we are going to a lot of places! We will get to see London, and the out skirts; Edinburgh and some cute towns around, maybe even to the east coast to see the ocean; Dublin, and driving all around Ireland, before we leave for home. There are castles, gardens, tours, hostels, etc all on our agenda.

I think that its going to be a blast once everything is planned. Fortunately we have all the plane and train tickets bought, as well as our British Heritage Passes which we are using to let us see tons off sites in Edinburgh (I know its still part of the British Pass). We still need to plan the Ireland part, so that gives us an excuse to have another shindig!

I'll keep you updated on some of the fun, and when I get back there will be pictures!!!

As soon as I get home I'll be getting Torque the puppy (I think his names going to be something along the lines of Leo's Measure of Torque - we'll see). So much to do, so little time! Really its more like, so much money to spend, so many shifts I should pick up ;-) hehehe...

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Puppies have arrived!

I got the call last night that the puppies were born, and are doing great! There were 4 boys and 2 girls; I'll have the first pick of boys. This picture is one of the boys, but of course I have no idea who will be mine yet. I'll definately put more pictures up here as Molly sends them to me! Time to break out the training books again...its been about 13 years since Velvet was a puppy, hehe I need to brush up!!!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Music, music Monday!

I do hope that you Monday has gone well for you, and since it is such a fabulous day I'll include another picture from our vacation trip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi5fPmINzAM&feature=related

This song seemed appropriate seeing as this is my puppy's birthday! I know that is a slight stretch to the song's intended meaning ;-), but still and all - it is rather perfect.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Snow!

It's been flurrying since yesterday, and I love it! Now I'm sure everyone in DC would not agree, but I'd take it all.

I should be running off to do laundry, or cleaning my kitchen...but my ovaries hurt, and so I'm going to sit on my couch and watch a movie before I have to go to work for a meeting prior to painting class.

FYI - puppies should be here next week!! I know you're all excited ;-) I'll post some pictures when Molly the breeder sends me some. Till then here is another pic from our trip!

Monday, February 15, 2010

For the poor guys who lived through Valentines Day

Music Monday is more like Comedy Monday today! I got to work yesterday, and then went and hung with some of my girl friends afterwards. All and all a nice way to pass the most nauseating day of the year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_K4mAD8xnc&feature=player_embedded

Thursday, February 11, 2010

New Mexico or Bust!

Sorry gang, I know you were all so sad that I missed Music Monday this week (;p), but I've been on vacation with the family!! We had a blast, and now I need to sort through the 500+ pictures that I took...That won't all happen until after I finish working this weekend, yawn - I'm tired already.

I did have a bit of a cold this week, but thankfully it wasn't too bad, and the snot has slowwwwed down!

Okay, time for a little chilling before bed!

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

I finally found a song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzV_O927Vi0&feature=related

Hope you enjoy!!! I love this song - good times!

Monday, February 01, 2010

In the Olympic spirit

Well, I was going to try to find a fun song about the Olympics seeing as they are right around the corner, but...there were none! So, I found this video that was funny, and might brighten your Monday!!!

The next few days for me will be a zoo!! I have physical therapy appointments, meetings, book club, packing for New Mexico, running to Walmart, meeting with the girls about the Scotland trip, painting class, and a Groundhog Day party!! All before I leave for vacation on Wednesday!

I'll have to take some great pictures of vacation!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydZ9jJ4X8I4&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_stronger_r2-2r-1-HM

Movie Night In...I love a good movie!

Mega Mind
Taking Chance (Will make you cry like a baby)
Charlotte Grey (A bit of a different take on Nazi Germany)
Series - Merlin (I LOVE BBC)
Robin Hood (Okay, a love Russell Crowe, you'll have to understand that about me...)
Kingdom of Heaven (Chuck full of acting power with an epic tale)
Miss Potter (Such a great film! Story of the creator of Peter Rabbit)
How to Train your Dragon (Possibly my favorite animated movie ever...I'm like a little kid, I watch it over and over)
Buck (Sundance winner, Biography of Horse Trainer, heart touching)
Lost in Austin (Modern day spin on Pride and Prej.)

Life as a nurse...

Great words by Reb Jeff: Vayishlach: Facing Death

"Rachel died. She was buried on the road to Ephrat — now called Bethlehem. Jacob set up a pillar above her grave. It is the pillar at Rachel’s grave to this day."–Genesis 35:19-20

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidui http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_(Judaism), and preparing the notifications to the community, feel like little fragments of the sacred. I have been entrusted with the care and tending of the most powerful, complex and difficult emotions that a person can experience in life. I have been made, in some small part, a guardian of the memory of a departed soul — a life that touches upon many other lives.After dropping off my older daughter at her high school this morning, I made a stop at Treasure Coast Hospice http://www.tchospice.org/, a remarkable organization that sets a very high standard for the loving and respectful care of the dying. There, I visited a lovely man whom I have seen a few times in his hospice room. I sat by his bedside and listened to him (in full possession of his faculties) as he told me about his worries about his family, the support of his wife after he is gone, and the future of his children and grandchildren. I was deeply moved by the way he put any concern for himself — even while facing death — in a distant backseat to his concerns for his family. When my own time comes, I can only hope to have his awareness of the way that one life can touch so many others.Also at hospice, I visited a woman I have known for the past two years — a dear soul who is a former Jewish religious school director. I sat with her, too, singing psalms to her as I listened to her heavy and labored breathing. I have no medical training, but I have come to know the sound of a person who is close to death. The body begins to fight for each breath as it slowly looses it grasp on life. As I held her hand and sang, I realized that being a rabbi is no protection against becoming one of the people caught in the web of connection. I, too, am changed by the loss of a life that has touched mine.Later in the day, I met with a couple from our congregation. She had just learned that her brother died yesterday in a car crash. Coming to terms with the loss is made more difficult for her by the fact that she and her brother had not seen each other or spoken in five years. Sometimes, people think it is easier to mourn the death of someone who has moved out of your life. In my experience, though, it's harder. Grief is magnified by wounded love and regret. I have no magic words to say to ease the pain of mourning. All I can do is listen, become a vessel in which people place their stories, and offer compassion.Actually, there is one more thing I can do. I can have faith that "all I can do" is all that I need to do. It is enough.In this week's Torah portion (Vayishlach) Jacob watched Rachel, the love of his life, die in childbirth. He was overcome by grief. Jacob had worked for his cruel uncle Laban for fourteen years to earn the right to marry Rachel. Now she was gone. Because she died while they were traveling, Jacob had to bury her by the side of the road. He built a pillar of stones on the spot to mark the place as sacred.This is what we all do, in one way or another, when death enters our lives. We grieve and our hearts break. We wish that we could continue to walk along the path of life with our loved ones forever, but the dead cannot fully join us. We have to leave something behind in order to resume our own journey. So, what do we do? We mark the moment as sacred. We erect monuments — both in cemeteries and in our hearts. The stones we place on top of stones remind us that a life may end, but its sanctity is forever.The Torah says that the monument Jacob built for his beloved continues to stand until this day. A life that touches the lives of others never ceases to send living reverberations throughout the web that binds us all.