Meg{Moir}

Alright folks, it’s time to look at what I accomplished towards my 101 in 1001 goal list, otherwise known as, Please Get Your Nose Out of a Book Already.   Yep, I was that kid.

Books reads – and I will sheepishly admit to this.  The first 3 books listed here are a big part of the reason that I only posted 2 times during the whole month of March.  I know that the fact that three books kept me away from here seems like a pretty weak excuse, but at almost 1,000 pages a pop, they were quite the time commitment.  With 4 more books in the Outlander series (and more on the way), I’m going to have to space the rest of them out a bit so I can have a bit of a life.

The fourth book on the list, a graphic novel (read…comic book), well…I won’t make that mistake again.

(13.) Outlander
(14.) Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, Book 2)
(15.) Voyager (Outlander)
(16.)The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel

Well. This is embarrassing.

I don’t even know how to begin to review a whole month.

Mardi Gras was amazing.

This is what 27 pounds of beads looks like.

Crawfish season is in full force.

We’re staying in Baton Rouge for another year.

Summer has arrived.

We’re itching to change up a bunch of things in the house (or maybe just itching to change houses).

Next weekend we’re home for Kyle and Brittany’s wedding, a better update then, promise!

Here are my 1 sentence reviews for the books I read in February as part of my 50 books/year challenge.

The Ask: A Novel

I’m going to really have to reconsider reading books from various “Best Of” lists without a bit of research first.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Journey to Change the World… One Child at a Time ( The Young Reader’s Edition)

Yes, my library gave me the young readers edition, and still this book was so touching that I plan on 1) reading the adult version and 2) sending all my money to remote schools in Pakistan.

Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously

A rip of of Julie & Julia, except with none of the humor, warmth, or personal growth.

Open House: A Novel (Oprah’s Book Club)

This book goes down easy, glad Oprah put her seal on it or I never would have found it.

The Sky Is Everywhere

Sadness, sadness, sadness, and then…an incredible happiness like only a 16 year old knows.

Life of Pi

A book I will read again…and again.

Ok friends, I am now 60 days into my 101 in 1001 adventure. The challenge is still new and fresh, although you will see that mostly, I’ve just been reading a lot. Here’s what I got done this month:

1. Run 5 Community Benefit 5ks (1/5)
(1.) Susan Komen Race for the Cure – Baton Rouge 2/19/11

Paige and I had a great time running this 5k, it was a perfect morning.

14. Read 50 books in 2011, 2012, 2013 (12/150)

Here are the new ones from this month, look for reviews tomorrow!

(7.)The Ask: A Novel
(8.) Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Journey to Change the World… One Child at a Time (The Young Reader’s Edition)
(9.) Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously
(10.) Open House: A Novel
(11.) The Sky Is Everywhere
(12.) Life of Pi

19. Write 750 words 3x weekly (14/408)

3 times this whole month? Pitiful, pitiful, pitiful.

40. Buy a new computer (2/20/11)

In love with my Mac Book Pro.

42. Contribute monthly to IRA (2/33)

I’m on auto-pilot with this one now, and it feels good.

60. Sew 5 new articles of clothing (1/5)

I finally finished a dress I started working on in…September and after all that time, I don’t like it one bit. I promise to give it a good pressing and take pictures none the less, in the spirit of complete-ism.

So the only thing that I have completely finished is buying the computer, since everything else is part of a series. Looks like I get to transfer my first $5 over into a fun money account. Nice!

I think that after this weekend we can say that summer has officially arrived in Southern Louisiana.  I know right?  It’s still February!

So mom came to visit this weekend, and I’m writing this from the comfort of my couch on Monday night, still exhausted and still full.  So much food.

After a wind delay Friday night, I didn’t head out to the airport until 11:30 to pick her up.  And I stayed awake the whole time leading up to that…you’re proud of me, right?

Saturday morning everyone slept in and then lazed around for a bit before finally getting a move on.  Leaving Patrick to work in the yard, mom and I took my sewing machine in for a tune up and then did some shopping around town.  We hit up 2 fancy gift shops at the end of my street and a cute dress shop before stumbling into what has turned into my all time favorite shop ever.  It’s an adorable little tucked away store right down the street from us called My Louise.  Run by a girl named Megan (so you know she’s good, she even spells it right!) and named after her dog, I tried not to die of glee.  Not only does she have really cute clothes for surprisingly affordable-for-a-boutique prices, but she sells a bunch of craft things that she makes herself as well.  Love at first sight I tell you.  Dear My Louise – be my best friend?

Oh yeah, we also went to The Royal Standard and a yarn shop, and picked up PoBoy Express for lunch.  Yum yum yum.

After wearing ourselves out and spending most of dad’s money, it was time to get ready for the parade!  Being in the middle of Mardi Gras season, there are parades every weekend an Saturday night was Orion, the big lighted night time parade in Baton Rouge.  After stopping for to-go strawberry daiquiris, we got a great spot at the beginning of the parade route, smiled pretty at the floats and came home with a neck full of beads.  Turns out, I’m pretty good at snatching strands right out of the air (people behind me probably hated me – but its good to know all those years playing outfield do count for something), while mom scurried behind the line of people, picking up what ever didn’t get caught.  Dinner afterwards was at Sammy’s with Patrick, we had to get mom some crawfish even if it is a bit early, and once home no one lingered long before heading off to bed.

Mom enjoying her daiquiri

Sunday we did a bit more shopping, this time at the mall and Loft, before making homemade strawberry ice cream and a dinner of bacon-wrapped filet with fried goat cheese and a raspberry jam reduction.  There was supposed to be a salad in there somewhere but we filled up on chips and salsa instead.

Patrick was on call and worked pretty much the whole weekend, so we enjoyed hanging out with him for about 30 minutes and watching the Oscars before he had to head back to school for a laceration, not making it home until 2:30 this morning.

Up early (4:45 eek!) to take mom back to the airport before beginning another week, but what a great weekend it was!

Next weekend – the Spanishtown parade and visiting yet another Disney roommate, Brooke, in New Orleans…should be one for the record books!

Saturday morning sunlight was greeted with thick fog, and when Paige and I saw the Remax hot air balloon out in front of us, we thought our eyes were playing tricks. The air was cool enough that I wished I hadn’t taken off my sweat pants just yet. But as the Jazzercise ladies warmed up the crowd and we stood in line at the appropriately pink port-a-potties, the sun began to burn through the clouds and we were treated to a gorgeous spring day…here in the middle of February.

There were some really good things about this race, like the goodies for breast cancer survivors, the $450,000 dollars raised and the 12,000+ people who came out in to run or walk early on a Saturday morning. The course, too, was beautiful, roaming through the center of LSU’s campus, pass the Indian Mounds before winding down to the lake and back up to the golf course. Oh and the food. After the race, there was Mexican gumbo, yogurt samples, oranges, turkey sandwiches, jambalaya, and because it’s Louisiana, a beer tent, just in case you were ready for a cold one at 10 am (lots of people were).

Here are some of the not so good things:

No defined start or finish line.

Admittedly not the end of the world since we were running, not racing, but it would have been nice. There was a chute of people at the end, but we weren’t sure where to stop. Was it past the cheerleaders? Was it after they gave us water bottles? Was it all the way back up at the main stage? We had no idea. Similarly, there was no official starting line that I ever saw, so I just started my watch when we started running, but again I have no idea where we were supposed to start from.

No time keepers at miles 1 and 2.

Again, not the end of the world since we weren’t exactly tearing up the course and I know my pace pretty well, but we were told they would be there and then they weren’t…so what gives?

12,000+ Runners and Walkers

I don’t know if you’re counting , but that is a LOT of people. And the beginning of the race was a mess. Paige and I have a deeply embedded aversion to strollers (I could tell so many stories from my time at Disney), so we wanted to make sure that we were well away from them. We walked and walked and walked towards the front of the group, but they were everywhere. I know a lot of people take jogging strollers out to 5ks, and I don’t see any problem with that, but if you’re planning on just taking your kid out for a 3.1 mile walk, get to the back of the bus.

Additionally, there were lots of walkers up towards the front. We probably spent the first 10 minutes bobbing and weaving around people who were out for a Sunday stroll. Again, if I had paid extra for my race to be timed, I would have been pretty upset about this.

There seemed to be plenty of volunteers on hand, I wonder how hard it would be to direct people into corrals, one for serious runners (people racing for time), one for people like Paige and I who were out running but not going to win any awards, and one for people who just wanted to walk. I’m thinking not that hard, but what do I know.

So that’s enough of my complaining, despite those 3 things the race was actually really great. We could not have asked for better weather, the course was nicely shaded, all the volunteers were friendly, lots of runners wore costumes, and I even won a 4 pack of toilet paper. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning and it raised money for a great cause. Win, win and win.

Photo credit.

Things have been a bit on the boring side these last few weeks…Patrick and I just haven’t had much going on as often happens in the first months of the new year.

This weekend, that all changed.  Monday is going to be a nice change of pace…I’ll have to sit still for most of the day!

Friday night, we started the weekend by heading to Mellow Mushroom to hear one of Patrick’s co-workers play for a few hours.  We enjoyed the southern rock/country mash up, hanging out with friends, and bottles of Abita.  To bed early because even though the next day was Saturday, I had my alarm set.

Saturday morning I was up early to meet Paige for the Susan Komen Race for the Cure.  I’ll give the race it’s own post later, but I will say that after the fog burned off a bit before 9, it turned into a truly beautiful day that has lasted all the way up until Sunday night.

After the race, I came home to help Patrick finish cleaning up the house.  Eventually, I had to clean myself up and head off to the Loft for a busy Saturday night shift.  I love playing with all the new clothes!  Before I left, Patrick gave the dogs a bath, Amos was not happy.

Saturday night was a crawfish boil at one of Patrick’s clinicians house.  I came as most people were heading out, but there was enough crawfish left for me, so no complaints.  We sat outside until the mosquitos started to get us, then packed it in and called it a night.

Sunday morning, we made up for Saturday…sleeping all the way until almost 9.  I know…so late!  After some reading and lots of coffee, we showered and headed to the church of Apple.  We’ve been saving our pennies, doing our research and drinking the Kool Aide, and after an hour we walked out of the Apple Store with a brand new MacBook Pro (with free printer!) tucked under our arms, trying not to do a happy dance until we got around the corner where no one could see us.  This is my first blog post from my new Mac, I feel pretty darn spiffy writing on it too.

After lightening our wallets considerably, we picked up the dogs and headed downtown for the Krewe of Mutts Mardi Gras parade.  Lots of well-behaved dogs in adorable costumes, on mini floats, and eating gourmet treats.  We ran into Paige and her family, including her Min-Pin, Jasmine, who was dressed as a Real Housedog of Baton Rouge.  I saw at least 5 people stop and ask to take a picture with her, the outfit was a hit!

Our boys refuse to look at the camera, as always.

Because that wasn’t enough excitement, we decided to swing by the LSU Lakes for a quick walk but someone’s dog (hint: he has stripes) didn’t want to heel, so we turned around after about a quarter mile and headed back to the car.

The rest of the afternoon was spend reading Life of Pi in the fading sunset, before finally getting to really play with my new toy.  I know it’s a bit early, but I think I’m in love.

Wow…has it really been 2 weeks since I last blogged?  That’s got to be a new record to the downside.  The truth is, there has been a bonafide funk hanging over our house since last Monday.

The sad news is Patrick didn’t match for a residency.  I mean, who on earth is going to be a better equine surgeon then him?  I’ll tell you who.  No one.  Unfortunately, with 80+ applicants per position, residencies in equine surgery are becoming extremely competitive, and pretty much everyone that we know of that did match has already done 2 internships.   So while it’s (sorta) understandable, it still really sucks.  I was hoping to have some good news for you about our soon-to-be whereabouts…but instead we’re in a holding pattern for now.  Thoughts, prayers, good vibes, extra karma, and lucky charms are all appreciated, and as soon as we know something good, you’ll know something good.

So, over the past 2 weeks, I have been up to the following:

-attended a Super Bowl party, spent the night eating cheese and rice crispy treats

-running the LSU Lakes with Paige

-a 2 part Valentine’s Day date…Five Guys Sunday night and Whole Foods sushi on Monday

-walks with the dogs during our spell of perfect weather

-moping, just a little

So I’ll be back again, sooner than later, hopefully with some really exciting news to share.  See ya real soon!

Like I mentioned yesterday, I wanted a dedicated post to the books I read this month, because  it’s totally self-absorbed, per usual I always appreciate others recommendations. That being said, I’m no book critic, so I think a one sentence review is all I’m going to attempt.

A Visit from the Goon Squad

Felt more like a collection of tightly-woven short stories, but that’s a good thing.

Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success

“If an office isn’t right for you, go out and start your own business” cause it’s that easy.

The Unnamed

Not my favorite book of 2011.

The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World

Highly influential for me, but I’m part of that army.

The Princess Diaries

Shut up, I loved it.

Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook

Enjoyed the author’s back story more than her knitting patterns.

I thought I’d spend a little time at the end of each month reviewing my progress in my 101 in 1001 goals. I’m only 31 days in, but I actually did get a few things crossed off my list.

Here’s where it stands:

14. Read 50 books in 2011, 2012, 2013 (6/150)
(1.) A Visit from the Goon Squad
(2.) Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success
(3.) The Unnamed
(4.) The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World
(5.) The Princess Diaries
(6.) Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook

I’m going to do a post on these tomorrow, I’m thinking 1 sentence reviews?

16. Read the complete works of Ian McEwan (1/11)
(1.) Atonement: A Novel

I actually read this back in December, so I didn’t count it in my totals for 2011 but I’m still counting it for this goal. It was close enough. Amazing book…but it takes a while to get going. I feel that if you can get through the beginning, the payoff is there.

19. Write 750 words 3x weekly (11/408)

This goal is going to be harder than I initially thought. It’s not that I can’t knock out 750 words fairly easily when I sit down with the intention to do it, it’s more that I forget about it. I should have had 12 enteries, so I’m not far off, but I’d rather write 3 times each week than feel like I need to play catch up every now and then. This is about developing habits, so I need to work on making writing a priority.

42. Contribute monthly to IRA (1/33)

One month down, 11 to go for the year. (Technically 15 months to go, since you have until April 15th of the following year to contribute to IRAs). If you have any IRA questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

46. Save all my change for 1001 days, cash it in for something frivilous

I don’t have a value to assign here, but I think my little piggy bank is about half full, made up of change I took from my wallet and that fell from Patrick’s pocket

63. Reduce my closet to half its current size

Ok, not finished by any means, but I took 2 big bags to Goodwill, and I’ll post an update with hard numbers soon.

70. Eat oatmeal until I like it

I made oatmeal Sunday morning and managed to get 2 bites down, which is a 100% improvement from the first time I ate it.

90. Try 10 new kinds of tea (1/10)
(1.) Chai Tea – hated it.

Not too bad for my first month, I hope that there’s even more crossed off the list come March 1st!