Marriage License by Norman Rockwell
Click the picture for an unonbstructed view
Source: Art.com
Featured:
Navigation
CC's Random Thoughts
Franklin, TN, USA
Manila, Philippines
Temperature:
As of :
Temperature:
As of :
Background pictures illustrate current weather conditions
CC's Tweets
Monday, December 12, 2011
A Dickens of a Christmas... and a Dickens of a Blog Entry
Current Mood: Currently Listening to: Nothing right now
This month marks the second year that Steve and I have lived in Williamson County in Tennesssee. We often talk about how much we love living here, and I've always wondered how I could best describe why. Turns out I don't have to. The video below explains it well.
As you're watching, notice the shots of downtown Franklin--the Main Street USA looking place--because it preps you for what I'll be talking about next :-).
For the last 25 years Franklin has held a tradition that Steve and I had an opportunity to participate in last weekend: the Dickens of a Christmas street festival. Every second weekend of December, downtown Franklin takes you back to Victorian times as shopowners, theater groups and volunteers dress up in period costume, with some roaming the streets as characters from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and the musical "Oliver".
Steve and I went to the festival on Sunday, when it was scheduled to run from noon to 5pm. We decided it would be a good idea get there early so we can get a parking spot at the only parking garage in the immediate area. We got there at around 11:30, which apparently was just in the nick of time... the only parking slots left in the 4-level parking garage were on the top floor.
There were already people milling around in the streets
As we headed towards the public square, I kept telling Steve how much it felt like walking down Main Street USA at a Disney theme park... but what I loved was that these buildings weren't props...they were real. That's not a prop sign, a real lawyer works there :-).
At the public square, I came across my first people in Victorian garb by the Festival Headquarters tent.
I was a little shy to ask if I could have my picture taken with them, but they were very nice and welcoming :-).
And then I heard... "Christmas Cahds! GET yer Christmas cahds 'ere!"
I turned to look and there was a young man walking around selling Charles Dickens Christmas cards...and he was selling them with a cockney accent. "Merry Chrismus!" He was telling passersby. "GET yer Christmas cahds 'ere!"
I was tickled pink--I absolutey loved how some people were in character, truly game to play :-).
I asked Steve for $5 (what he was selling the cards for) and quickly walked after him.
"Excuse me," I said.
He turned. "'allo there," he said, smiling.
I smiled back and said, "I'll make a deal with you. I'll buy one of your Christmas cards if you pose for a picture with me."
He nodded, grinning. "Oi can do tha'. Tha' sounds like a real good deal."
I was dressed in a red leather jacket and jeans for a reason :-). I fished around in my purse. "Okay I need you to look at this like it's the strangest thing you've ever seen." I barely finished my sentence when he noticed what I had in my hand.
"OOOHHH!!!" he yelled, laughing and throwing his arms up in the air. He suddenly gave me a big hug. "That's the 10th doctor's sonic screwdriver!" he exclaimed. "Yes it is!" I laughed, because not only did he know that it was a sonic screwdriver, he specifically knew WHICH one it was. And at this point, he had totally broken character :-).
It was really easy to pose for the picture after that :-).
One of Steve's favorite stores in downtown Franklin is Franklin Tea (www.franklintea.com), so we stopped by so he could pick up a few teas. The ladies behind the counter were very nice and were also dressed in Victorian garb for the festival. They did admit that they couldn't really wear a full bustle since it would make it tough to move around the shop, but their dresses still looked lovely. Ladies in Victorian wear, in a tea shop...the whole scene reminded me of Mary Poppins :-). Steve bought two new tea varieties, and I got a cup of tea to help myself keep warm while we walked the streets. I asked for something English... it seemed only fitting :-).
As Steve was ordering his tea, I recognized Fagin from Oliver walking outside. I didn't get out of the store in time and was only able to get a picture of him walking away.
I did, however, get some great shots of a man riding a penny-farthing bicycle as well as some other people in period dress.
Walking back to the square, we ran into Ebeneezer Scrooge. This is the happy Scrooge now, because at last night's Christmas Carol show at the Franklin Theater he'd already been visited by the Christmas ghosts :-). He spoke with a British accent, too--all the characters that we met from A Christmas Carol and Oliver were playing their roles wonderfully.
Yes, those muttonchops are real :-).
One of the things we really enjoyed were the street performers. Many of them were children, and they even more adorable because they were dressed up Victorian style as well.
At the public square we ran into a couple of bobbies (who are actually real Franklin police officers) who were very obliging when I asked for a picture :-).
We also came across the ghosts of Christmases past and present :-).
And I FINALLY got my picture taken with Fagin :-).
Steve didn't quite know who he was until we were walking away. When I told him he was Fagin from Oliver, he said, "Check your pockets :-)."
Here are some other pictures we took at the festival:
Steve in front of the tree at the public square
There were lots of people in downtown Franklin by this time.
Carriage rides were $2.
One of the many historical houses in downtown Franklin. This lovely home is a wedding venue.
You know it's an awesome festival when dogs are welcome :-)
We also came across a store that sold sugar plums. "I've never had a sugar plum," I said, and Steve handed me some money so I could taste a classic Victorian treat and know what it meant for children to have visions of sugar plums dance in their heads.
Another highlight of our day was listening to the Clearview Baptist Church Handbell Choir. I've never heard a handbell choir before, and I didn't know what it was going to sound like. Part of me thought it was either going to sound like a chorus of bicycle bells, or it was going to sound as imposing as big cathedral bells.
I was wrong. I didn't realize bells could sound elegant and comforting, and I had to keep myself from choking up a few times while they played "Ding Dong Merrily on High."
I was so hoping they'd play Carol of the Bells, and they did. It sounded awesome :-).
The rest of the day was spent eating :-). I had freshly made apple fritters while Steve had tamales. On the way back to the parking garage the Roasted Chestnuts stand had opened, so naturally I had to get some chestnuts for myself. Steve's not a big chestnut fan though :-).
Steve and I had a wonderful time, and said that from now on, if my travels to Manila permit it, we'll go every year :-). We're already planning to dress up a little more for it next year. He's thinking of getting a Victorian top hat for himself :-).
Current Mood: Currently Listening to: The Way You Look Tonight--Beegie Adair (I'll Take Romance)
I love Saturday.
I think it's the sheer "mine-ness" of the day that I like the most. Read a book? Sure! Play World of Warcraft? You bet! Eat cheesy poofs for breakfast? Try and stop me. And hey, if I want to continue required reading for work, then that's my choice too (you hear that, honey?) :-).
Sure there's regular chores to do like the laundry and the floors. But you know, our place isn't very big. It takes me an hour tops to both vacuum *and* wipe the hardwood floors down. And if I plan it right, the laundry can be running while I'm doing all that. And since there's only two of us, I only ever really have 4 loads of laundry to do.
Often I get a sense of wanderlust, like if I don't get in the car and go someplace for some reason I'm wasting the day somehow. There have been a few weekends where I've told Steve, "Let's drive someplace." No real destination in mind, just going out, taking the back roads and watching the fields and trees go by. Sometimes we argue about who gets to drive, because whoever drives has control of the radio :-).
This weekend is my high school's 20th reunion in San Francisco. I was originally planning to go but a house expense has dipped into my travel fund and has rendered me house-bound. On one hand, I'm going to miss everyone and that's a bummer--it would have been nice to reconnect with everyone. On the other hand, it's kind of hard to stay bummed when you realize you have the weekend :-).
Current Mood: excited to go home Currently Listening to: Lakes of Pontchartrain by Deanta, Celtic Wonder
You know you've been on Facebook too much when you start a blog entry and marvel that you're not limited to any specific number of characters for your post :-).
Am currently in Manila where it's 3pm... which means it's 2am back in the States. I should be sleeping, but it's Saturday so it's not a big deal that I'm up. Figured I'd post a blog entry since I haven't done that in a while.
So what's happened since I last blogged, January of 2011? Well, the biggest development is that we've moved out of our apartment and into our own condo :-). It's a little over 1000 square feet, small by house standards, but now that it's been 8 months since we've moved in, I can definitely say that we're happy with it :-). When we were looking for a permanent place to live, our choices were a) live in the area that we liked but in a small condo; or b) live in a house with a yard, but it would be at least 30 minutes away.
We decided to stay in the area that we liked. We haven't regretted that decision :-). We live right on the edge of Cool Springs, and the sheer convenience of being near everything is worth it. Ever have one of those days when you'd like to go out for dinner but you don't know where you'd like to go? Not a problem, we just cruise around the area knocking out options ("Italian? nah. Steak? nah. Greek? nah. Japanese fusion? maybe.") until we find a choice that jumped out at us. We wouldn't have had that luxury if we had lived further out. Sure, we could've have driven to Cool Springs and THEN cruised around, but when you don't know what you want, it seems like a waste of gas (the cost of which has been getting ridiculous lately) to drive out 30 minutes for something that you're not even sure you'd find.
Also, having a smaller place meant the utilities would be less expensive. We've had months when our electric bill was much cheaper than what what we were paying for at our apartment last year. Our condo's previous owner took really good care of it, and made sure it was well insulated. As a result, our electric bill (which includes A/C costs) during this blazing hot Southern summer was, I kid you not, $96. That's less than $3.50 a day for 24/7 airconditioning. You can bet we'd be paying MUCH more than that if we had gotten a house that was at least twice as big.
Current Mood: Currently Listening to: Centerfield--John Fogerty
I know, I know :-). "It's been almost a year!"
Steve recently updated his blog and I realized that I've GOT to update mine. At least update the entries if not the current layout :-). I've gotten really lazy just posting updates on Facebook instead of writing actual blog entries.
January marks the first year mark of living in Nashville. And we're absolutely loving it :-). I'm not saying Memphis wasn't a good place to live in, just that Nashville has turned out to be a better fit for Steve and myself. Even just the topography (i.e. more hills) is something that we noticeably prefer.
So what's happened in the last year or so? I'm going to have to check Facebook.
[checks Facebok] In no particular order: visited museums, complained a lot about the cold, got my car loan paid off by the insurance company, lived with one vehicle for a few months then got a new car, played a lot of World of Warcraft, watched my first hockey game, got a new dog :-).
There's another big development in the works, but I don't want to say anything for fear of jinxing it. I'll know for sure next week :-). Until then, since I update Facebook more often than I update Twitter, I'll delete the Twitter status import app and add a Facebook status import app instead :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Nothing right now--playing World of Warcraft while I type this entry
If you've read Steve's blog or are on Facebook, you probably know by now that I lost my car in the great Tennessee flood of 2010 (it's being called the kind of flood that only happens once every 500 years, it was that bad). I've often said to Steve, "If I didn't go through it myself I never would have believed it if someone told me the water level rose so fast that it went from nothing to covering a car's front grill in two hours."
Here's a slide show of the pictures.
So here's pretty much a timeline of what's happened:
May 1, 2010: Day of the flood
May 2, 2010: Car gets towed from the mall parking lot. Our Triple A membership covers the cost of the towing for the first 5 miles. Thank goodness we only live 2 miles away from the mall. Towing company suggests to tow it to their lot since it will make things easier all around: easier for them, easier for the insurance company because they have a central location to pick up several vehicles. Their facility's less than 5 miles away too, so I said that was fine.
May 3, 2010: I rent a car. My insurance covers the cost of the rental car while they assess the extent of the damage. My policy gives me $25 a day up to $600. I was able to find a car in the economy category, $13 a day. All I needed to do was to go over there, give my claim number, and say that State Farm will take care of it. Rented it for a week.
May 7, 2010: Received a call from a car inspector at State Farm saying that he inspected the car, and found it to be a total loss. He will forward the claim over to their Total Loss Department for processing. I extended the use of the rental car for another week. Also heard that a friend of mine tried to drive her jeep through the flood but it wasn't able to manage it. She's safe, but the jeep's front axle is broken, and its bearings are shot. Insurance WON'T cover the damages to her car since "she made the decision to drive it into the floodwaters." When I heard this, I was extra relieved that we decided not to start the car at all at the mall. Now I'm just hoping that the amount that State Farm will settle with won't be TOO big of a gap in terms of what I still owe on the car, because if there's a gap, I'm paying the difference out of pocket. Note to self: next time I get a car, get gap insurance until its value and the cost of what I still owe on it level out.
May 15, 2010: State Farm called to give me the settlement offer. I won't give any numbers, but I'll give the formula that was used to come up with the offer: (current value of the car based on their own list + "extra for the vehicle having less mileage than the typical car that age" + sales tax + title fee) - insurance deductible = settlement amount. The good news is that settlement amount > amount I still owe on the car. Not by much, but I was just happy to know that I didn't owe anything :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Rhiannon--Fleetwood Mac (Greatest Hits)
The Village People were right. The YMCA's pretty cool :-).
I have to admit, never having been to an actual YMCA before, the only perception I have of the YMCA is what they sing about in the video--and considering that video was shot in 1978, that's pretty darn outdated :-).
When Steve and I moved to Nashville, we saw 2 YMCAs just driving around the general area, and their parking lots are always packed. Finally I decided to look them up online to see just exactly what kind of programs they offered.
First I found out that there are four YMCAs in my area. Four! I mean sure, Steve and I noticed that people seemed more health-conscious in Nashville, but four YMCAs just in the general vicinity?
Not only was my curiosity piqued even more, but I also started thinking, "Gee maybe I should take a more serious look at getting more exercise." I started browsing at the different centers' class schedules.
Cycling. Pilates (Beginner and Intermediate). Sculpting. Yoga (Hatha/Sivananda and Vini/Ashtanga/Kundalini). Kickboxing. Aqua Aerobics. Tai Chi. Circuit Training. Step Aerobics. BOSU. Sports Conditioning. Zumba. Bellydancing. Ballroom dancing (yes, really!). Water Circuit. Water Cardio. Cardio Boxing. Line Dancing (line dancing, for crying out loud :-)!). Dance Toning. Boot Camp.
And I'm not talking about once a week here. Many of the classes happen two, three times a week, some are everyday, just with different trainers. AND they have all sorts of classes for seniors, and classes for kids. To see the actual class schedules, click on these links: Brentwood Family YMCA | YMCA of Cool Springs | Maryland Farms YMCA | Franklin Family YMCA
I remember being excited about all the different things I could try. I also remember being a little disappointed, thinking, "Aww man, now I have no excuse not to get my exercise :-)."
So I visited the nearest one: the YMCA of Cool Springs and they were very nice and I was given a tour of the facility. I learned that each of the centers seems to have its own little "extra feature." The Cool Springs one has a rock climbing wall. WOO HOO :-D!
And get this--the cardio machines? Treadmills, ellipticals? Each one has a satellite TV screen attached to it. If you bring your own headphones, you can get on one of them and watch satellite TV while you do your cardio. Is that neat or what :-)?
At the end of the tour they gave me a card that allows me to try out any of the classes at any of the YMCAs in the city before I decide if I'd like to become a member.
Long story short, I tried out a Zumba class on Wednesday, signed up for a city-wide (i.e. I can go to any YMCA in the city) membership Thursday morning, then went to another Zumba class at a different YMCA Thursday afternoon. I'm having a blast :-).
I wish I could take my parents to try out the YMCA. I'm sure they'd love the classes too.
We had a great weekend :-)! The highlight of it was that Steve's mom and dad drove up from Memphis. We were so excited to show them Nashville. I actually had a gazillion possibilities in my head, where we could take them, what we could show them, and Steve had to remind me that they would only be driving up on Saturday (and it's a 3 hour drive), and we were going downtown that afternoon, and they would be driving back to Memphis the next morning so there's really not much time to be doing anything else. He said that it would probably be best to let how they were feeling set the pace for the rest of the day :-).
Mom and dad got into Nashville at around 12:30 or so, which was perfect for going to lunch. We took them to Genghis Grill, a Mongolian barbecue place.
Dad had previously mentioned to Steve that it's been a while since they had Mongolian barbecue, so we figured it would be a fun experience to do that. Mom loved how fresh all the ingredients were :-).
After lunch we went to the apartment so mom and dad can visit with the dogs. Then at around 3 we brought them back to the hotel so they could check in and rest a little bit before we headed downtown at 5. We were watching a hockey game tonight :-)!
It was about a 20 minute drive to get to downtown Nashville. Would you believe that event parking downtown was only $5? In one parking garage it was actually $4, but it was already full. Boy there were LOTS of people downtown.
One of the best parts of the Nashville skyline: the AT&T Tower, aka "The Batman Building" or "The Bat Tower." Picture from http://www.flickr.com/photos/afagen/2119338620/
We wandered around a bit, then figured we needed to have dinner before the game. All the eating places were packed, so we decided to just go into arena and buy food from the concession stands.
The Bridgestone Arena (formerly the Sommet Center), picture from www.coolsprings.com
Tonight was the Nashville Predators vs. The Detroit Red Wings. Steve and I wore the Predators colors, Dad and mom rooted for Detroit :-). I didn't realize there were so many Detroit fans that were coming in to watch that game--we saw several Michigan license plates going home.
What a game! They were so evenly matched. First period, 0-0. Second period, 0-0. Third period, 0-0. Overtime, 0-0. There had to be a shootout, and even then it took 11 rounds before Detroit finally won the game. Here are some pictures of the game:
Dad did an awesome job of getting the seats. We had GREAT seats. We were in section 117, excellent view of the game.
One thing's for sure: this won't be the last professional hockey game we'll see :-). We might not watch the next one until next year, but it's nice to know we're now only 20 minutes away from seeing one :-).
We had such a great time. Mom said next time they'll stay longer so we can do even more stuff :-). I'm looking forward to it already :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Everybody Needs Love (Stephen Bishop)--On and On
I just read Steve's latest entry, and had to laugh: not only did we decide to blog at the same time, but we both wanted to blame the same thing for not having blogged in so long: Facebook. He and I are on Facebook regularly and it always seems easier to update one's status that way instead of blogging, which actually requires some forethought and more discipline :-).
Biggest news, which most of you already know about, is that we recently moved from Memphis to Nashville. It was a job relocation: my boss has been living in Nashville since August of 09 and she asked me to move up there. So the company paid for my move, which is awesome :-). The only thing we needed to do was pack and believe me, that was enough of a hassle :-).
We moved from a 1-bed, 1-bath apartment to a 2-bed, 2-bath one. The second bedroom we're using as a library/ mini office. It's actually supposed to be an office for BOTH me and Steve, but there was one thing we didn't realize until we actually got here: no phone jack in the second bedroom. That means while *I* could work in there because my laptop is wireless, Steve will have to set up his workstation in the bedroom (which has a phone jack), because he's the source of the wireless feed.
Nashville is awesome :-). We don't live *in* Nashville, we actually live in one of its surrounding suburbs, but we've gone downtown a couple of times and each time we've gone we've been very happy with the experience.
One of the biggest things I noticed as we were driving around downtown was how much *brighter* everything is. And I mean that in both the literal and figurative senses. The main roads are wider, which allow for more sunlight. The overall theme is country, not blues. I've always been more of a country music girl anyway, and that was verified by how happy I was to see people walking around downtown wearing cowboy hats, and it was treated as normally as if that person was wearing a baseball cap :-).
And it's amazing how hills can make such a difference to your psyche when you're driving. It makes winter look less... I dunno, less bleak, I guess. This city is going to look SO pretty in the spring, I can tell already.
They've got theaters that show movies in captions, and that's a HUGE plus for Steve.
Any bad points, you ask? Well so far there's a couple: for one, the nearest Philippine/Asian store is a half hour drive away. Another bad point is that the Nashville zoo is nowhere near as nice as the Memphis Zoo (then again, I doubt *any* zoo would be, the Memphis Zoo was ranked the best zoo in the US by TripAdvisor). But that's all I've got :-).
In Steve's blog, he mentioned that Nashville is less stressful. I'm not quite sure I would agree with that, because in effect what he's saying is that he found Memphis stressful. It's not that Memphis was stressful, it's just that Nashville is more relaxing, if that makes any sense at all :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: an episode of Law and Order
I laugh so much every time I see this commercial, mostly because it's happened to me a couple of times and I end up picking up plastic containers off the floor :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Nothing right now Steve and I spent the weekend in Nashville. Our mission: to find our next apartment for when we move in early January. We had started our search in the Franklin area, and on Saturday we identified an apartment complex (as a matter of fact we already filled out an application for it). However, after it was done, I kept fretting about it, even though it was the most logical choice: the other apartments were either in a neighborhood we didn't want to live in, or too expensive. This was in the middle. But it didn't feel like the perfect fit for us, you know?
So, on Sunday, which was the day that we were supposed to drive back to Memphis I asked Steve if we could take a look at a few apartments in Brentwood. Brentwood was the original neighborhood I wanted to live in, and was the closest match to the neighborhood we live in now (thanks to http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/neighborhoods/match/). But Brentwood is a MAJORLY expensive neighborhood. I figured that whatever rates we found in the Franklin area, Brentwood would just be even more expensive.
Turns out it's not.
This is going to be our next apartment: The Landings of Brentwood. Now THIS feels perfect. Not only is it in an awesome neighborhood, the rent is actually about the same for what we're paying now.
If you'd like to see the pictures full size, click here.
Visiting the Landings that day was very timely. They were running a special on the floor plan we wanted (2Bed-2Bath, 1002 sq.ft/93 sq.m), which was scheduled to expire at the end of that same day. The market price for the rent was $950/month, but because of the special it would be $840-890/month. Also most fees were waived, so all we needed to pay in application fees was $99. The thing that Steve REALLY liked, and what he said made it feel like the perfect fit for him, was that they had this rule: if your pets are rescue pets, then they won't charge you a pet fee for them. Katya and Jack aren't rescues, but it's nice that they have that rule. There is also no weight limit for dogs.
Now I don't expect it to be perfect. I've lived in an apartment for 5 years, I know there'll be occasional issues with maintenance and things like that. But that comes with any apartment complex. Steve and I wanted to find a place to live that was in a really nice, safe neighborhood where the rent was affordable and it was still close enough to shopping and a hospital. We found exactly that :-).
Now comes the chore of packing, and making all the other preparations for moving. But we feel really good that where we're going is just as nice (if not better) than where we are now. Considering we currently live in Germantown, that's saying a lot :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Nothing right now The last few weeks have definitely been busy :-). I was in Manila for about three weeks, almost the entire month of July, and things are always a little crazier in Manila. But that's not the biggest part of my update.
On my flight back, I had the fortune of getting upgraded to business class all the way home, which was awesome because I was a little extra sleepy during this particular return leg.
Fast forward to my landing in the US (this trip's port of entry was Detroit). It was a 12 hour flight, and I spent half of it sleeping. I was really comfortable. When I got up to get my luggage though, I had this strange "the-beginning-of-a-leg-cramp" pain in my left calf. I figured I must have slept wrong or something. I figured, "That's okay, making the trek through immigrations and customs will work the kink out."
It didn't. As a matter of fact, it didn't go away for a few days. I got home Thursday afternoon, and Saturday morning I still had it. That's when I started to worry that it might be DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis--or in layman's terms, a blood clot in your leg). I looked up DVT on the web, and I found a webpage that described how another woman (31 years old) was going through exactly the same thing: the cramping leg, but the absence of the other symptoms...and it still turned out to be DVT.
After I read that I woke Steve up and said, "After breakfast, can we go to the minor medical center?"
So we went to the minor medical center for my first diagnosis. After the doctor heard that I just came back from a long flight and had the cramping feeling, although she said the swelling was not as much as it would typically be for DVT, she felt it would be best for me to go ahead and head for the ER to get myself further evaluated for DVT. Further evaluation required an ultrasound, which the minor medical center did not have.
So off we go to the hospital. This was about 9:30am. Looking back, I'm so glad we went first thing in the morning. There were hardly any patients in both the minor medical center and the ER.
After about a 15 minute wait, I got looked at by an ER nurse, who then transferred me to a bed in the ER. While waiting, we took the opportunity for pictures :-).
Then the doctor came by and took a closer look at my leg. After examining me she said, "Okay, let's get you scheduled for an ultrasound and take a closer look at it. Sometimes it's not a DVT and just a little swollen." The way she said it though, it seemed like she felt it was DVT.
A few minutes later I get wheeled out to Radiology (I felt SOO guilty because the lady that was pushing and maneuvering my bed was much older than I was). I had my entire left leg scanned, and the radiologist said that she took some great pictures but can't really discuss the results. She wheeled my bed all the way back to the ER.
So Steve and I waited for another 15 minutes or so until the ER nurse comes in and says, "I've got great news for you! It's not a clot, the ultrasound was clear." I replied, "Oh that's such a relief! I was almost sure that it was." That's when the nurse said that she and the doctor were thinking it was, too, just based on all the circumstances. We were all glad that the ultrasound results proved us wrong.
I get a prescription for the pain, and was told to follow up with my GP after a couple of days. As I was limping out of the ER, the nurse asked me, "Do you want a wheelchair?" and I replied, "Hey, it's not a clot. I'm more than happy to be walking out of here."
Fast forward to a week later: pain's gone, but I'm still seeing my GP tomorrow for one last check. My GP thinks I tore my plantaris muscle, and I'm not really sure if that is what happened, but right now I'm just more focused on what it's not rather than what it is :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Manic Monday (the Bangles) The last time I was over in Manila, my brother showed me this AMV that Steve and I just absolutely loved.
An AMV is an "Anime Music Video," where anime fans use video editing skills to create a music video using clips from anime shows. This AMV was funnier to us because we had actually seen a few episodes of GoldenBoy (thanks, Robin--you're going to love this AMV too, I know it :-)).
The guy did a GREAT job syncing the mouth movements with the song lyrics :-).
And this is the kind of song that sticks with you. Steve hates it when I sing it and then it gets stuck in HIS head too :-).
So anyway, fast forward a few weeks. I was at my boss's house helping things get organized for their move when I came across this Webkinz doll that was just going to end up getting donated:
I just HAD to take it home :-).
This doll is now a running joke for us :-).
I hide it in his grooming bag. He unzips it while getting ready for work.
"Chihuahua!"
Two days later he takes it and hides it in my stack of ironing. I pull a shirt off.
"Chihuahua!"
A couple of days later I put it in the kitchen cupboard. He gets a mug for his tea.
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Precious Memories--Jim Chappell (The Earthsea Series) Steve and I have Japanese neighbors, and we're currently in a "gift war" with them :-). You know how it goes: first someone gives a gift to you, then you give a gift back, and then they give a gift back to you, so forth and so on. It's gotten to the point that when they go to Japan, they often bring us back something, and when I go to Manila, we often give them something :-).
I think part of the coolness of it all is that Steve and I both like a lot of things about Japan. One of our dreams is to one day have enough money to be able to take a leisurely, no-expense-barred two-week vacation in Tokyo :-). That'd be SO awesome.
Anyway, it's kind of fun to be able to practice a few Japanese phrases with them, and to be able to introduce Filipino things to them like barquillos, dried mangoes, barquiron, and a lot of other things that the Philippines is known for. And in turn, we get to experience a lot of new Japanese things too. This latest thing that we got (I got it as part of a "Happy Girl's Day" gift) I've become addicted to. It's called sake chazuke, and it's great.
Each packet has seasoning and dehydrated bits of rice crackers, red salmon, and seaweed. What you do is sprinkle the whole thing over some leftover rice, pour some hot water or green tea on it, and you've got rice soup. I like it so much that I ended up eating them two packets at a time (hey, it's pointless to fight it--I eat one, I know I'm going end up going back for a second one anyway :-)).
Steve likes it too (not that he's ever gotten to have one all to himself :-)). You can probably guess that I've used up all the sake chazuke, but the good news is I'm able to order them online. I'm patiently waiting for my shipment to arrive from San Francisco :-).
{playfully shakes my fist in the air} Curse you, nice Japanese neighbors :-)!
excited to go home 
Then the doctor came by and took a closer look at my leg. After examining me she said, "Okay, let's get you scheduled for an ultrasound and take a closer look at it. Sometimes it's not a DVT and just a little swollen." The way she said it though, it seemed like she felt it was DVT.
Or Via E-Mail:
