Yolande

Progress

I've made progress on my bad attitude. I hit a low today at work when I broke down in front of my boss. All it took was her pulling me into her office and asking if I was okay, because I was so quiet today. Miss "I never cry, not even at my own wedding" freaking balled like a baby and it felt so good! My boss is awesome and cried a little with me because she has a daughter my age and the situation hits everyone pretty hard.

Nate worked with me today and we talked on the ride home a lot. He told me I need to open up to him and actually TALK about my feelings [novel idea, huh?]. So I did, and that helped, too.

I also received a lot of very uplifting comments, emails, and messages today which always makes me smile. So thank you, girls. Much appreciated.

Not only that but I found coverage for my trip! I meant to tell you guys about this therapist in my BOTB post because she is 33 and pregnant with her FIFTH child! Freaking ridiculous but the girl is a saint because she is going to work for me. Whoo hoo!

Also, I decided that half of my funk must be blamed on the weather. I try not to even go there anymore on this blog but I swear this winter will never end. Sure we got a 60 degree day last weekend. Big fricking whoop. Check this out:
Yep, SNOW this weekend. And the rain we are experiencing currently is miserable, ice-cold, and gloomy as you would imagine. Not fun. I pray for warm weather in St. Louis next weekend! And then San Diego in a few weeks. Cannot wait.

Other things that make me a happy person:

1. I took it upon myself to become a vet. Not really, but I DID decide to take charge of Henry's anal gland issues. I won't go into detail but if you know me, you know I love grodie stuff like this. Here are some pictures of my procedure--Nate says my smile is totally creepy. I have no idea why I find these pictures so funny and I'm sorry if they are in bad taste. Blame my loss of sanity this week:)


2. My good friend Allison, who lives in Maryland, has decided to buy tickets to Kansas, too. I wasn't sure if we'd be able to time our "Keri trip" on the same weekend. But this makes me even MORE pumped for May 2-4. Here is a classic picture of Allison and I on my 21st birthday [drinking grape juice of course]:


And here are the three amigas in full force on Keri's 22nd birthday, 2003. This is our classic pose in case you haven't noticed:
Here we go again, 'Julia the Giant' with her little friends, 2002:

Ah, the memories of this night, 2003:

My God we are pale in this picture!

I can't even put into words how happy I am to reunite with my girls in a few weeks. It is going to be a much needed vacation for all of us!

3. Another thing that makes me happy is looking through my old scrapbooks and reminiscing. Hence the pictures you just viewed. I love daydreaming of our college days when our biggest worry was a killer exam or choosing an outfit for a night out. It's also quite amusing to watch us grow up through the years. Check out my hair, for instance: short to long, brown to blonde, curly to straight. Ah, the those were the days----when I could stomach paying for highlights:)

Here is another trio that always spelled trouble: Me, Megan, and Keri. Again, PTs tend to make up for lost party time pretty quickly. The library couldn't hold us down, baby!

New Years Eve 2005, immediately after we graduated with our masters. We were obviously wise beyond our years. Also, please note the camera around tourist Keri's neck:


Then there was that PT graduation trip to Mexico in December 2004. I love this shot of us girls!

4. Keeping with the theme of reminiscing through pictures, look at these jewels I found of me and Keri:

Kissing our big muscles. Yes, we actually posed for this picture. It's totally normal for us:)
Mardi Gras, 2004. We were so proud of our $20 rubber ducky beads. Whose idea was it to buy such overpriced items?!

Here we are in Mexico again. Did I mention that Keri and I participated in a dance competition against each other? Read her [and Allison's] blog spotlight here for details:)
OMG I forgot about this picture! While in Cancun, we decided to get a stranger to take a group picture. Well, said stranger got a little out of control with my little 35mm film camera and seriously snapped like 50 pictures. I was ticked because she wasted my film! Here is the picture that Keri calls the "model shot" because our hair is blowing in the wind. I'm thoroughly ticked and Keri is still grinning away!

Keri's 21st birthday. I did, in fact, make her shot book. It was completely fab from what I remember:)

At Chris and Steph's wedding, June 2005. Was it really that long ago?

Best. Picture. Ever. The year? 2003. The reason to party? The start of another semester. And we broke it down like champs.

Oh my, remember Party Pics? Total rip off but so funny. Here we are, dancing together, and holding it down for The Lou. True gansta style. We were hard core, you guys. Please notice the size difference between my palm and Keri's. I am a total Neanderthal.
What a fun trip down memory lane. I love it.

5. The last reason I'm in a better mood? The Office returned tonight. And it was hilarious. I love that show [and Jim!] so much it hurts.

So yeah, I'm much more mentally stable at the moment because of the above items. I hope you enjoyed the trip to the past like I did.