2008 lookin' good

today was a bit yucky. not only was the weather cold and rainy, but i came down with yet another cold. so, i called in sick to work and fully intended to do some legal research while sitting at home, but slept instead. this afternoon i had my 3rd round of physical therapy for my ankle. it really seems to be working, so i hope to be in cute shoes again soon. i even got a foot massage during today's session! another positive is that i found a local yoga studio today that actually looks normal, AND i think i'll finally be starting an artist's way class soon. what with this and my french classes, i really feel like this year is going to be special.

so, this weekend is my first french class! my teacher's name is brigitte. how awesomely french is that? i've tried looking at the texts for the class, but everything is in french. this is nothing like my high school spanish class. after my class this friday, i'm driving up to dallas to visit a friend for the weekend. so excited!

weekend

yea! i officially signed up for my french classes this past saturday. every saturday i'll be driving 1 hour each way to austin for my class, but i think it will be worth it. after i signed up for my class, john and i met some friends who live in north austin for lunch. they brought their two little kids, which made me kind of nervous at first, but they are very well behaved. almost made me wish for one of my own . . . almost.

alliance francaise

i am mucho excited, as i am officially taking french classes. the french alliance in austin offers classes and i will be starting on january 19. france, here i come!

back to the grind

well, things are starting to look better, health-wise. my cold is pretty much gone, just a little drainage every now and then. wednesday i visited an orthopaedic surgeon for my ankle and he took me out of the huge air cast i'd been sporting for several weeks and put me in a much more discrete sling cast thing. which means that i can wear normal shoes, albeit only flats, and the cast part is hidden under my pants. he also reassured me that i would not need surgery, just some physical therapy. so i'm now on the hunt for a local physical therapist that i'll have to visit 3 times a week for a month. i feel much better because i had a feeling all along that that was what i needed. yea!

yesterday, one of the other attorneys brought her daughter to work and we had such a good time together! she even encouraged me to finally buy a pair a heelys. they should be sent to me some time next week. i can't wait! i also bought a few pics from kodak.com of the vegas trip. john took a beautiful one of the eiffel tower that i had blown up to 16x20 in black and white, as shown above. it is going to look so awesome in my office! viva la france!

happy new year's!

so, tonight is new year's eve. i'm sitting at home alone with my 3 dogs while john is in odessa visiting his family. i've enjoyed the solitude during my long weekend, as i'm recovering from a yucky cold and just needed some time to veg out and relax. i'm spending new year's eve alone, but i'm okay with that. the pups and i are just watching some movies and drinking champagne (well, only i am drinking the champagne!). i've also just listened to the hip tranquil chick podcast on setting goals for the year, so i figured i'd spend some time on that.

kimberly first said that we should reflect on the lessons we learned during 2007. i guess a couple of big ones for me are to take risks, listen to your intuition, and take trips. at the end of may, i left a wonderful job in a small, out of the way town to move back to san antonio to be with john. i left without having a new job - a HUGE risk and a very un-me thing to do. but something inside me told me it was the right thing and i was right. i ended up finding a new and equally wonderful job within a month of my move. it really did just seem to fall into my lap. kind of like someone was watching over me. :) also, john and i took our first proper vacation together to las vegas a couple of weeks ago for his 30th birthday. while vegas is not a major thing for most, it was huge for me. i've always talked about traveling, but always told myself i couldn't because i didn't have enough money or time. taking that trip was such an inspiring and invigorating thing for me. it's made me so much more confident that i will see the world!

now on to my "resolutions" for 2008. kimberly suggests that we list our larger goals and then create smaller, specific goals that will help us achieve the bigger goal. so, here's my list for 2008:

1. get into a yoga classroom instead of just home practice
a. enroll in local studio's beginner series class
2. prepare for trip to France
a. take French class in January
b. get passport
c. save $100/month for trip
3. lose 30 lbs.
a. reduce soda intake (1/day)
b. daily exercise (yoga, walking dogs, etc)
c. eat soup regularly (heard this helps)
d. drink more water and green tea
4. stay pretty
a. wax every month
b. nails filled every 2 weeks
c. pedicure every month
d. hair care every month

it's not excessively long, but i think that's enough to keep me busy for the year. it's also a bit superficial, what with the lose weight and stay pretty resolutions, but since i've started working, i have to say that i've let that area slide a bit. so, i need to work on it. here's to 2008! time to enjoy some more champagne.

honestly, when are the health problems going to end!?! first the ankle that won't heal and now i've been plagued by a cold for three days now. it's just becoming so frustrating. it has been over 5 weeks since my lovely running into the garage incident and my ankle is still messed up. i've been to a podiatrist, had an mri, and am now scheduled to see an orthapedic surgeon next week. i just really want this to be over with. i'm tired of limping and not being able to work out. i know i should be grateful and stop complaining, but i'm just so tired. anyway, had to take a minute to vent.

merry christmas

i can't believe christmas is already over! time is slipping away so fast. i know i'm starting to sound like my parents, but it's crazy how fast things are going. the holiday weekend went pretty well. john and i drove to my parents' house on friday evening. we pretty much lounged around the entire weekend and did a whole lot of nothing. john spent a lot of time with his sister, we drove around looking at christmas lights, and i drank many starbuck's peppermint white chocolate mochas. but, regardless of the relaxing facade, visiting parents is just stressful. i've told john that next year we are staying put, because, when I think about it, i have traveled for the holidays for over 10 years now. i think it's time for a real break. anyway, here's a picture of my little bentley in his santa hat with john's sister. notice how happy he looks?

vegas!

john and i got back late last night after a long weekend in vegas! it was our first time there, and i have to say that i am in love. my absolute favorite thing was paris, of course, but another favorite was the cirque du soleil show that we saw our last night. so amazing.

we also made a stop by the playboy club at the palms. john fulfilled a right of passage by getting his picture taken with a playboy bunny. the club was okay, but left a lot to be desired. cirque was much more entertaining, as was dinner at the eiffel tower restaurant.

so, vacation is now over, and it's time to get back to work. but, i'm already planning my next trip to vegas. so many things to see, and never enough time!

ongoing problems

well, my car is still in the shop. i was so hoping it would be ready by friday, but alas. which means that i had to go with john to his work this morning so he could drive me to my spa appointment that is nearby. so much for sleeping in this morning. also, we're leaving for vegas next weekend, and i just realized that we need to do something with the dogs. i just got off the telephone with my mom (who lives in houston, by the way) after asking her if she would watch our three dogs. needless to say, i don't think she was ecstatic, but she did agree. so now we have to drive to houston after work today to drop off the pups. my poor babies. i'm so not ready for vegas and my foot is still in bad shape. these ongoing problems are really getting old.

wasting

i'm at work and obviously distracting myself from what i'm getting paid to do. it's really more of a combination of the insane cold and the fact that i'm am very tired. sadly, it is probably only 65 degrees in here, but that is still way too cold for me. i've got my little space heater on and my heating pad to keep my feet warm. i don't know why i'm tired, other than the fact that i have to be at work at 6:45 a.m. every morning since my car is in the shop and john has to drop me off before he goes to work. and i just learned from the mechanic that my car will not be ready until the end of the week, so that is at least one more day of immobility.

progress

well, i'm still here. almost one week after the drama and i'm still hanging out on the couch with my foot propped up on pillows. i did manage to go to work yesterday, but after standing all day in court, my foot was not looking too good. today, i'm actually seeing huge progress and my foot is starting to look like a foot again, albeit a very bruised foot. it's interesting that as my foot heals, it actually starts to become more bruised. i hope that's a sign of healing. i'm still requiring the use of crutches, but am able to actually put some pressure on my foot. it's going to be a slow process, but i think i will eventually be back to my old self. hopefully, before my vegas trip. nothing says unsexy like a gimp.

oopsie!

as promised, here are pics from my recent "incident." here is the garage that my car rolled into after i jumped out of it. notice the support beam and crime scene tape.

my car, amazingly, came away relatively unscathed.

i can't say the same about my ankle though . . .

stupid girl

while most people are enjoying a relaxing happy thanksgiving with family, friends, and lots of food, i, however, am spending it bedridden, hungry, and with my 3 zealous dogs. 2 days ago i had the accident of a lifetime when i jumped out of my car because of a wasp without realizing that i had just put the car in reverse. so, the car starts swiftly rolling down my steep driveway and, needless to say, i was unable to stop it in my 3 inch heels. the car plows me over and rolls into the street, into my neighbor's driveway, and into my neighbor's garage. the garage looks like crap, my car miraculously came out with just a few nicks, but my ankle is another story. it's currently swollen to twice its normal size, but the doctor said there were no broken bones. thank goodness, but it honestly looks REALLY bad and hurts even worse. i'm having to learn how to work the crutches, and that makes me even more tired and sore.

this has really not been my finest hour, but i suppose, all things considered, things have worked out okay. my insurance will pay for my car and medical bills, and hopefully for the garage, but they are still investigating, of course. the whole thing could have been much, much worse. pictures will be posted later.

marie antoinette

so, it's been a while since i've actually seen this movie, but it was so beautiful that i have to post some pics.

the move

we have officially moved out of apartment life and into our cute little house! we've been here all of 1 week, but i already have forgotten the perils i endured not so long ago in our cramped apartment. my commute to work has been cut in half (john's commute on the other hand . . . ), and the backyard is a godsend. the most exciting part, however, is that one of the guest rooms was already painted . . . hot pink!!! john keeps threatening to repaint it, but i forbid. the room is mine. i've started converting it into my office/yoga retreat. while i will begrudgingly admit that it is not quite the shade of pink that i would have chosen, it certainly is better than the standard mundane beige. so, i finally have my girly room and i am going all out. i can't wait to get everything in its place so i can really focus on using it for my yoga.

we just got our cable/internet set up this evening, which means that i've been without for over a week. yet, it feels like forever. am i an addict? as i surfed through my fav websites tonight, i realized that the visual stimulation has such a calming effect on me, which i guess is why i love it. am i retarded? plus, i just get so inspired. i want more than anything to create a community for myself. it's been pretty hard since i've moved around so much, but i do crave it. i keep dreaming about the yoga teacher training and about a career after law. i see myself doing something so much more creative and uplifting than my current job. my entire career has involved thoughts of doing something outside of the legal field. and while my legal career has definitely improved for me over the years, the thoughts persist. is it just a dream or am i being prepared for something more exciting in my life? i hate unknown answers.

locked out

i just spent over 2 hours of my morning locked outside in the rain in my pajamas with my 2 rowdy dogs. yep, from 6:45 a.m. until 9 a.m. turns out that when i went outside to take my dogs for a walk, john went ahead and left for work . . . AND LOCKED THE DAMN DOOR! i don't think i've gone through so many emotions in so short a time - panicked, frustrated, hysterical, angry, FURIOUS, resentful, and finally just given up. eventually, the maintenance guy found me and figured out that i was locked out. so, here it is 9:20 and i still have to get ready for work. good thing i didn't have court or i would have been screwed. i just hope this isn't a precursor to how the rest of the day will go.

lounging around

i'm sitting on the couch watching john pack. yeah, i'm such a helpful girlfriend, but i've packed my stuff already and i have a headache. ;) seriously, though, i'm finding myself regressing into laziness. i truly hope that moving into a bigger space with a whole room to use for my yoga and fitness will help keep me on track. in fact, i'm really trying to think about how best to decorate it to encourage me to go in there and actually work out on a daily basis. i'm thinking pink and fun. not a lot of furniture, but lots of interesting things on the wall. some great window treatments. stuff like that. actually, if you want to know the truth, i'd love to paint the walls pink and hang some curtains with large vertical black and white stripes. john doesn't seem too excited about that idea. go figure!

pink shoes

on a cuter note, how fun are these? i'm looking for some cute pink stilettos. wonder if i can find some like these. . .

just one shot of tequila, please

i'm currently watching the new reality show "a shot at love with tila tequila." i must say that i've hit an all new low in my tv watching. this is the show where this girl is bi-sexual and basically has 2 competitions - 1 with men and 1 with women. so far, totally not impressed but can't stop watching. kind of like the proverbial train wreck. OMG! i just learned that her adieu is "drop the keys and bounce." alright, time to change channels. anyway, i can't believe i've actually wasted a post on a crappy show about a girl i've never heard of, but there you have it.

the count

i just saw a movie adaptation of the count of monte cristo starring jim caviezel and totally LOVED it! it isn't 100% faithful to the book, but it's a beautiful story in and of itself. must buy it in the near future.