Springtime!

I love springtime in the city. I take that back, I love springtime anywhere. At least the feeling of spring, because being in the Midwest, you can never quite tell what the weather is going to be like for longer than a few days.

We haven't really had a bad winter at all though, only a few snowstorms and very few colder than 15 degrees. I call that a success in my book.

Anyway, beside the 9 hours of work yesterday, I've spent the majority of my weekend enjoying Chicago while my parents are out of town. I was asked to water plants while they were gone, so I decided to make the most of it. Yesterday evening I took the El and walked to Noodles & Company, today I walked to Panera then took the red line and then walked to Sprinkles cupcakes. I decided to walk part of the way back before getting back on the El to go the rest of the way. My legs are feeling the burn already, so I'm not looking forward to how they'll feel tomorrow!

I've also decided to give up drinking pop. Not entirely as I decided I'll drink some if the craving arises because I know that the more I resist the more I'll end up drinking in the long run. But regardless, I'm up to a week and a half without. Pretty impressive since I used to drink a 20 oz if not more every day! So there's that.

And as far as being back in the blogging with regular updates? We'll see. Right now I'm just writing when the mood arises.

On why I'm absolutely a nerd..

I'm not positive why my last post was dated October 1st, but I changed it to be the actual date I posted it.

Anyway, my Radiology meeting went pretty well last Monday. I found out that it might be better to wait another year to apply. I might try this year anyway, see if I can possibly make it happen but I don't have all the extra courses that are basically not required but helpful in actually getting accepted. And I hear they only accept 18 people so perhaps it IS best to wait and get everything in order prior to applying. At least this way, I'll have more time to show my horse next year as well and be able to get better grades in a few classes I goofed up on the first time around.

I managed to get to an actual bookstore the other night, instead of just stopping at Target. I've been reading Wicked for the past week or so and just finished it last night, so I got the second book in the series, Son of a Witch, and also the third book based on the Cowardly Lion, A Lion Among Men. I also have Julia & Julia to read, which I managed to already misplace. And I got The Vampire Diaries, the one not based off of the television series. Needless to say, I've got quite a few things to read. Maybe it'll keep me away from Twilight and Harry Potter for the time being.

I'm also super pumped for the return of Glee. I absolutely fell in love with the series last year and am looking forward to seeing what happens next. I can't wait until they do the Madonna songs, I saw the pre-order album on iTunes and it'll be fantastic to see the cast perform those.

Springtime seems to have finally sprung in Chicago-land as well, which definitely makes everything better. How was your weekend?

Dusting off my corner of the Internets..

Hellloooo Blogland! (hopefully I'm not hearing crickets over here as I dust of my lonely corner of the Blogosphere)

I've been thinking of picking this up again, though I don't know how much I'll be blogging. As the mood strikes I suppose.

So today I ended up going to Chicago with a few friends, for the weekly poetry slam held at the Green Mill. It was pretty intense, there were a lot of great poets that performed. If you are a Chicagoan, you should definitely check it out. Afterward, we got drinks and dinner at a nearby bar & grill. Well, I got a sandwich, my friend got tater tots, and the other friend just drank and ate popcorn. They had some pretty interesting things on the menu, including a Tater Tot pizza. I ended up choosing the PB & A, which was peanut butter, bacon, and apples on a toasted bread. I've got to say, it was DEFINITELY interesting. Very good, though the peanut butter overpowered the others. I think it would have been better with more bacon, but then again I also do love my bacon.

Anyways, it's off to bed for me. I've got work tomorrow, followed by a Radiology meeting at school, followed by horseback riding. So a long-ish day, though nothing happens until noon. Hopefully I'll be able to find out about whether or not I can take my Anatomy & Physiology class until the fall, even though applications for the radiology program are due the month of November. It's my very last pre-requisite though, so I'm crossing my fingers.

Happy Easter, bloggers!

A Letter to Google

Dear Google,

Thank you for making it nearly impossible to have to come to Blogger for anything besides typing my thoughts and posting things.

Maybe it's my own laziness, but it's super nice to be able to catch up on what my favorite bloggers have been up to without truly leaving my iGoogle page. I can have my to-do lists, my barely used Twitter, and some random and inspirational quotes all on one page. You even provide me with a search engine to boot! Plus, if I were inclined to, I could check my Yahoo! mail on you as well.

However, you make it damn near impossible to want to go to Blogger for anything else. I can't make comments to my favorite posts from my Reader (unless I just haven't figured out how to) and I can't make a post from there. Most of what I wrote before came about because I had to come here to read my favorite people and saw how neglectful I really was to my blog.

You, dear Google, have made me a very neglectful Blogger. I know I shouldn't blame this on you, but had you not made an easy to use interface and a trustful Reader, then maybe this wouldn't have happened.

Sincerely,
Kate

Learning to Let Go

I've been looking up quotes lately, mostly for Facebook status updates and such. I came across this one and it made me think (scary, I know).

Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today?
-- Mary Manin Morrissey

This quote got me thinking. How many times do I hold on to one thing after it happens? Some customer yells at me (which reminds me, a retail rant post is coming soon), I talk about it for days. A friend makes a mistake, I let it fester until I burst and have to say something. How long can I go on about a friend who made the ultimate mistake - said some horrible and awful things about me and what she said got back to me. I think with me, I don't let go of things easily enough. I let it become a bigger issue, when if I just say what needs to be said, I can get over it and move on.

I guess it's just about figuring when it's best to just let it GO (to an extent- there are things I feel that should be held on to, like morals and values and if someone really did something completely nasty. Forgiveness is a gift, but only if the party is deserving). I think letting go is important in moving on but unfortunately it's hard to let go without closure.

Two years ago, I had a very close friend who said some awful things about the clothes I were and just my general appearance. I had some pretty big self confidence issues growing up, and at that point in time was a complete tomboy. Hoodies, a tee, and jeans? Yes, please! What bothered me about this was that she couldn't say it to my face. Instead she opted to say it behind my back, to a mutual "friend" (read: frienemy) who later told me. I confronted her about it, she said she wasn't the only one saying it. Long story short, we had a falling out over this. I had a hard time getting past this, I remember, mostly because I couldn't totally get my opinion out.

Later that year, I ended up running into above friend at a concert. We had some words, I said what needed to be said. I don't know if I could have let it go without that closure. Now we see each other from time to time, and while we are not close friends, we can catch up and at the very least reminisce about the old days.

Which begs the question, when is it best to just let something go and when is it okay to make a big deal of it?

just an update

I have much to update every one on, so here we go...

My grandmother's surgery was yesterday. My uncle has been e-mailing the family regarding her progress. The surgery itself lasted six hours and has been successful. We won't know how extensive it is until the next few days, but my parents and sister will be headed down to visit tomorrow. I am sending a card with them to let her know I'm thinking of her. I'm not sure how long they'll be gone, but they're going to help my uncle and aunt with the visitation and care. She was moved from the ICU to a regular room and has been asking to be taken on walks and wants to go quite frequently. It's safe to say she's doing well, but only time will tell how far the cancer has progressed. Thank you Lilu and For the Love of Pictures for keeping her in your prayers! :)

I ended up going to dinner tonight with a few of my friends from the barn I used to board at. One of our friends' birthdays was today, so it was nice to go out and celebrate with them. She chose Hooters, which I actually haven't been to very often. I ate a grilled chicken salad, which turned out to be very good. It was a fun evening, we talked about horses and burns, and there were many "that's what she said" moments. After dinner, I ran over to Border's because it was right across the street. I haven't been book-shopping in awhile, so I was like a kid in a candy store. The real reason I went was because I had wanted to read The Time Traveler's Wife. I also picked out an F My Life (I absolutely love that site) and a book entitled Waiter Rant. I'm excited to read all of them. I really want to see The Time Traveler's Wife, which is why I picked the book up in the first place.

We also went to see Brad Paisley last Friday night. The concert was an absolute blast, all three of the performers were amazing. Jimmy Wayne and Dierks Bentley opened the show. I've seen Brad but neither of the two openers, so it was fun watching them perform. Luckily, by the time the show began, the rain had stopped which was great. Afterward, we went out to Denny's and got to wait an hour for food. The Denny's we go to isn't very great when it's busy. They tend to forget things and burn poached eggs which is pretty damn near impossible.

I also am picking up a few extra shifts at work for good I hope. The downside is that it means I'll probably be working 6 days a week as well as having a 10 or 11 hour day once a week. I'll get paid what I do for pharmacy even though I'll be a cashier so it's all okay.

I believe that's it for tonight. I hope everyone is having a good week!

Say A Little Prayer..

Last week some time we found out that my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer of the duodenum, which is, according to WebMd and the pharmacist at work, the beginning part of the small intestine.

She has been going through tests and things because I guess her hemoglobin has been low lately. She was finally diagnosed as having cancer earlier this week.

We still are not sure how serious it is, or how far along it is. But apparently she's having surgery on Monday to remove the tumor and I suppose from there we'll see how much it's affected every where else and whether they've caught it early enough.

I'm not sure how I feel about all this. I'm sad, yes, because I know that "C" word is one you don't want to hear at any point in your life time. I think I'm in shock still, to be honest. I'm obviously hoping it hasn't spread yet. The one good thing (if anything is, this is it) about this is knowing friends and a stepfather of a friend who have been through some sort of cancer and have turned out okay.

At any rate, please keep my grandma in your prayers. Thank you :)