It's My Party...

and I'll cry if I want to! I won't cry but I came pretty close to crying last night. It's my birthday and I am sick! Being sick is never any fun. But to be sick on your birthday... now that just stinks!! I had dinner plans with friends last night but I had to cancel since I was still not feeling well. And there will be no dinner or celebrating for me tonight either. Instead I am home on the couch under a blanket with Mistress. I guess I will just have to postpone all of my celebrating until later in the week when I am feeling better.

Sick!

Ugh... I am sick!! Yesterday afternoon I started feeling the onset of something but I wasn't quite sure if it was allergies or a cold. Only the right side of my head seemed to be affected. My nose was tingly, my eye was itching, and I had a sore throat (only on the right side). I woke up several times during the night because my throat hurt so bad and I was having a hard time swallowing. Needless to say when I woke up this morning I felt anything but great. I have the worst sore throat and just feel blah overall. I will be camped out my couch all day trying to recovering from whatever it is I have. Being sick is no fun...especially with a birthday and St. Patrick's Day just around the corner!

Hello Sunshine!

It is absolutely beautiful out today!! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it's nice and warm out... and it's the weekend!! The only thing missing is Ryne!! I am so happy the warm sunny days are here. It's hard to believe that it snowed only a few days again!!

Tonight I am having dinner with my southern parents. I am so excited to see them and to catch up!!

On the Road Again...

... I just can't wait to get on the road again!! Wednesday morning, bright and early, I headed down to Charleston for a conference. A colleague and one of my graduate students road down with me. The trip down was pretty uneventful and we made to Charleston in a little over four hours. We decided to grab lunch and then we checked in and made our way over to the conference. I had two presentations on Wed and two more on Thursday. Once we wrapped up our hard day's work on Wednesday Bethany (my grad student) and I headed down to the historic part of Charleston for dinner. We had dinner at Hanks, which was very good! We walked around a bit and then made our way back to the hotel. Thursday was another early start filled with conference related festivities all day. I was lucky and was able to catch up with old friends. My friend Hayley, who I went to UConn with, flew in later that afternoon. I picked her up and then had dinner with her before I hit the road back to Raleigh. I got home around 11pm and was greeted by a very happy Mistress. It was a quick trip yet it felt like I had been gone for weeks!!

Is it Spring Yet??

How much longer until spring?? I cannot wait!!

Before It's All Gone

Mistress and I headed out in the snow today to enjoy it before it melted all away. It's hard to believe that there was 4" on the ground yesterday and now it's almost all gone. Just like the last snow storm we had, I made a little snowman for Mistress and managed to get a picture of her with it. Notice she is now wearing her St. Patrick's Day collar!! This is one well accessorized cat!! Her next collar will be her bumble bee collar for the spring!

In Like a Lion...Out Like a Lamb??

How is it March already?? 2009 is flying by! As you can tell, February was not all that exciting. Aside from hockey I was busy with work/school. February always seems to bring lots of deadlines and lots of extra work. This year has been especially difficult given all of the financial challenges and obstacles.

I was looking forward to March as I was in dire need of spring break. Unfortunately spring break is not going to be much a break for me. I have a conference in Charleston this week so I will be busy getting ready and presenting at it. I also have a student who is in the final stages of her thesis.

As I am sure you have heard by now, the south was once again hit with snow. It just does not seem right that snow is covering the ground and here it is March. I had visions of spring in my head... not snow and winter! Unfortunately it appears that there is a layer of ice under the snow which has wrecked havoc with my daffodils. The flowers are caked in ice and look so pathetic. I went out this morning and tried to knock the snow and ice in hopes that it would help them survive. We'll see if this was helpful or not!!

Thankfully the warm weather will return towards the end of the week. The weekend forecast is looking magnificent... in the mid 70s!! Now that is what spring in NC is all about!!