Small World

This afternoon, I attended the retirement party of a coworker in the library. She'd worked her for 31 years, which amazes me! She was a hard worker and a dear lady, and I'll miss her. We worked in different departments and buildings, so I didn't see her everyday, but I always enjoyed talking to her.

I got to meet one of her sisters today, and that was a surprise as well as a highlight! This sister of the retiree is a nurse in Chapel Hill. As it happens, my father was referred to a physician in Chapel Hill, and this lady is one of several nurses who work for that doctor. She happened to be the one who helped my dad that day, so she met my mom as well. Well, my parents are very outgoing, and my mom is especially good at making connections with people, so it wasn't long before they all realized that the nurse's sister and I both worked for the same library, but in different departments! When Mom and Dad related this to me, they talked about how professional and nice this nurse was, and what good care she provided! I loved relating these good words about her sister to Onie the next day at work, and today I got to meet that nurse in person! It was a treat to thank her personally for taking such good care of my dad. :)

Close to Home

The current economic awfulness is hitting closer and closer to home! Of course, it's already home, with food costs, gas prices--which are a bit better now, and other increases along the way. Now I'm learning of more and more people getting layed off from their jobs, people I know. That's making it all a lot more real for me. It's scary, to be sure. I am hopeful, though. I usully feel optimistic when a new administration starts. It'll be interesting to see how things go. Meanwhile, I hope job hunts go well, especially for the folks I know.

Last Sunday, George and I took a day trip to Emerald Isle, to see the new beach home of my sister and her husband. It's a beautiful home, which will be used as a rental property! I was so impressed by it! I took lots of pictures, but now the pictures won't export from my digital camera memory card to my laptop, and I'm not sure why. I've tried inserting the card several times (it'll only fit in one way), and tried restarting my computer and inserting the memory card again. No luck yet! Any advice would be appreciated! I hope to post pictures soon. It turned out to be a wonderful family gathering!

Snow Day!

I woke up to snow this morning! It's so pretty, and really refreshing to see.

I made it to the gym this morning to get my workout in, and it was fairly deserted. It reminded me of the Frozen 5K I ran on Saturday, when the temps were in the teens. Deteremined people there, both times.




George has decided to take a snow day, but I'm going to try to make it in. Part of me would love to stay home and watch Obama's Inauguration, but they're going to have it on there anyway. I'll catch bits and pieces. Work calls.

Wish me luck on the roads!

Addicted to Books

Last evening, after work, I went to another used bookstore, Nice Price Books on Broad St. in Durham. I've gotten several recommendations for it recently, including a couple of shout outs in the North Carolina group on Goodreads.com. (I'd posted a discussion on the boards there, asking people about their favorite NC bookstores, and Nice Price Books came up a few times.) So, I had to go and check it out.

I enjoyed the browsing experience there, and managed to walk away with just one book, a light mystery, this time. I went to two other used bookstores just this past weekend, Edward McKay's and the Readers Corner, both in Raleigh, and came away with eight books between the two stores.

You'd think I didn't have anything to read at home, huh?! Well, I happen to have plenty, so I don't know WHY I'm shopping for more books! Yikes!

Over the holidays, I decided to sign up for Amazon Prime, which offers free 2-day shipping for most items for an annual fee. Well, I did a ton of holiday shopping using that, and then I started ordering presents for myself! (Perhaps vacation meant a little too much free time on my hands!)

I did come to my senses a little bit, though, and decided to check the local public library to see if they had some of the titles on my growing Amazon Wishlist. I was in luck, and decided I'd start borrowing some books from the public library rather then buying everything I want to read! I got overzealous, though, and have ended up with a stack of library books with due dates! Ha! Nothing like a deadline to make me read, though, right? What I don't get to soon, I'll renew or turn back in. The most interesting ones will rise to the surface, and the rest can wait or just go back to the library.

MEANWHILE, I also have a slew of books from the library where I work, all of which came through my department and looked so interesting I decided to check them out too! They have a due date of the end of the year (unless they get recalled by another patron, or have a 4-week "New and Noteworthy" status). I have so many great books to read, and so little time! What's a girl to do?

Motivation

Last night, George and I finally watched the season premiere of "The Biggest Loser," which we taped last Tuesday night. We decided during last season of "The Biggest Loser" (which ended just a few weeks ago, actually) that committing two hours to television on a weekday night was a bit much for us, so we started taping the new season and saving it for weekend viewing. We were rather dismayed by the last season, thanks to a particular contestant and her conniving tactics to win the game (which she didn't), so I wasn't as excited about the new season as I'd been for previous seasons--and neither was George.

Well, the episode we watched last night, which introduced the newest contestants, was interesting! Not only do they have the heaviest female, the heaviest person (a man) on the show this go-around, they also have the oldest contestants this season, a married couple who are grandparents! There was an unexpected twist to the show, announced at the weigh-in. Every couple, except for the challenge winners and the weigh-in winners (two different couples), had to send one person in each couples team home! The other part of this interesting twist is that each person who got sent home will be able to return to the show in 30 days IF the other half of their couples team is still part of the show (hasn't been sent home from the game after a weekly weigh-in).

I think this is a fascinating and good turn of events for the show, and shoule serve as a great motivator for the contestants still playing the game! Wow!

I've been looking for some weight loss motivation of my own lately, which is part of why last night's "The Biggest Loser" episode really spoke to me. I've recently bought a couple of books on that very topic, and will be starting them soon. More later!

10 on Tuesday: 10 Things I Want to Do in 2009

It's been a while since I've done one of the "10 on Tuesday" memes. This seems like a good one to do.

1) Run another half marathon.
2) Read more books.
3) Travel to more counties in North Carolina for my "North Carolina Odyssey Project" to visit and blog about all 100 counties in NC.
4) Run 1000 miles.
5) Take more pictures.
6) Watch less TV.
7) Cook at least 10 new recipes.
8) Research martial arts and decide which one, if any, I'd like to learn.
9) Take a yoga class.
10) Lose more weight.

Back to Work Tomorrow

It's back to work tomorrow, after a nice break. I didn't get everything on my to-do list done, but I made progress. I must admit, I am looking forward to returning to a routine. It's time.

Besides, I'm looking forward to catching up with my coworkers! It seems like it's been a while since I've seen the whole group. These days, I feel fortunate to have a job, and to have one that I like, with co-workers I enjoy.....

Bring Monday on! :)