Good Thing!

It's a good thing we haven't been going to the gym lately! I know this was all over the news today in Atlanta, but in case someone missed it, a parking deck collapsed in Midtown today. Ben and I park in that parking deck when we go to the gym! We could have been squashed. You can read more about the story here. 

Heat Rash?

This morning when I was getting ready Ben noticed that my neck was all broken out. When I looked in the mirror, I told him it looked like heat rash automatically. After thinking about it, what is heat rash? Is that just a southern thing? I'll spare everyone a picture of it, but it sure does itch! 

In The News

There are several things in the news right now that I feel the need to comment on. (I am also bothered that I ended that sentence with a preposition, which is not grammatically correct, but oh well.) I used to love to watch the news. I don't anymore, mostly because Ben doesn't like to watch the news, but I do check ajc.com about 20 times per day. I also have several news apps on my iphone which keep me up to date while I am seeing patients. Anyway, these are my comments.

- Celebrity Deaths: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and then Michael Jackson. Death really does come in threes, I guess. Super weird. Sadly, all three of them have been in the news recently for not so positive things. Not really the way you want to go out. Ed McMahon had all of the foreclosure/financial troubles, Farrah's son and longtime boyfriend have been in and out of legal trouble (her son is in jail and wasn't able to be there when she died), and then MJ's molestation/Neverland ranch issues. Hillary and I were discussing how sad we are about MJ earlier this evening, and when I got off the phone Ben asked me why I felt so bad since he was a child molester. I'm not sure if I think he is a molester. I think he is just a weirdo with lots of emotional issues, which I am sure are largely due to his crazy parents. Anyway, I'm sad for all of them, and especially sad for the troubles they encountered late in life.

- Jon & Kate Plus 8: I am especially sad over this situation. I have kind of been frustrated with the show recently because I feel like it is not real anymore, with all of these guest appearances and free things (Emeril, Orange County Choppers, Crooked Houses, etc). The whole divorce thing was not surprising, but it is still sad. It seems like they have just given up! That's a lot to give up on. I hope people leave them alone for awhile so that they can work things out in their lives.

- SC Governor: What the heck?!? All of these cheater politicians!! It seems like such a common occurrence in politics. I know it happens lots with regular people, but these people are supposed to be leaders! I read that his wife has now decided to take him back, and bless her for that, because he is a really rotten person. I guess you never really know what you would do in a particular situation until you face it, but I can't imagine being so kind. I recently watched the Oprah episode where she interviewed Elizabeth Edwards and was shocked to see how she almost defended her cheater-peter husband. She has terminal cancer! Couldn't he just wait until she died?! Seriously.

- Local News - Tech Robberies: The City of Atlanta needs some major changes! The mayor is crappy. She fixed a few potholes, but I am pretty sure that there are more than what we started with at this point, and she ran the city into the ground. 10 robberies in the same area in a month timespan. That is ridiculous! We got gas on that corner where several of the robberies happened on the way to dinner tonight and there are some sketchy folks and no police over there. Somebody needs to get it together!

It's kind of like Oprah, except for all the free stuff

I have a few new favorite things that I thought I would share with everyone. No particular reason, just something interesting. 

- The Little Couple on TLC. I love this show! They are so funny. And normal. We used to really like Jon and Kate Plus 8, but with all the drama, I no longer love it. I still watch it, mostly because it is kind of like the car wreck with some serious injuries that you can't force yourself to turn away from despite the uncomfortableness. (I'm pretty sure that's not a real word, but it fit and I liked it.) Anyway, the wife is a doctor and the husband is in business, and they are both funny. 

- This is not really a new favorite, but I love it so much that I thought it was worth mentioning. Benefit Creaseless Cream eye shadow. I love this stuff. I think it is the best eye shadow ever. It stays on all day and doesn't crease on the lid. Plus, it is super easy to put on. 

- Boutique shopping. I have recently rediscovered shopping in boutiques. Boutiques have some of the best clothing and jewelry to choose from. Some of my favorites are Boogaloos, Kaleidoscope, and another gift shop boutique called Heliotrope. I also have heard good things about Fabrik, but I have not checked it out yet. 

- Izze drinks. These things are basically juice mixed with carbonated water. REALLY good. Yum! 

- El Taco. This mexican restaurant is so good. Ben and I have been 3 times in the past 6 weeks or so. We love it!

I think this is it for now. I feel like there are things I am leaving out, but they are not coming to me right now. If I remember them, I will update. 

Updates!

So I know I haven't updated my blog much recently. There just hasn't been much to post here. Although we have been pretty busy, I don't what we have been busy doing. Just busy! Here are some random updates:

- Cleo and Eleanor are still crazy! Eleanor has a new hobby, barking! Anytime she heard something in the hall, someone upstairs, or anything outside, she starts barking. She woke us up at 4:30 this morning barking because she heard the beer trucks unloading down at The Vortex. She also does this new bark/howl thing that is really funny. After she finishes her howl, she keeps her mouth slightly open for a second as if she is still howling. We have also started taking them to the dog walk here to pee instead of taking them outside. Taking them outside has proven to be an issue, since everyone walking by wants to pet them, distracting them from the goal of peeing. The dog walk is a lot of gravel, and Cleo hates it! She hates walking on it. The first couple of times she wouldn't even walk on the gravel. If we set her in it, she would slowly walk to us and try to get all four of her paws on our feet so she didn't have to touch it! She is still al little unsure, but it has proven to generally be successful, at least more than going out in front of the building.

- I am in my internship at the moment at a skilled nursing facility and I love it! I love the old people. They definitely make for an interesting day. I can definitely see myself working in this type of setting once I graduate. I have had somewhat of a hard time getting used to the schedule. I get up at 6:10 now, which means I now have to go to bed earlier. When I get up, so does Eleanor, so Ben has to get up now when I do. Things like this make me wish we had a separate bedroom with a door! I feel bad that Ben has to get up early now just because I do.

- My new favorite thing is the spray-on tan. I went to the tanning bed for a couple of months this year since I was in Kimberly's wedding, and because I didn't want to reflect light in Kimberly's wedding pictures. However, I know the tanning bed is really bad for me. And I need to avoid cancer causing things something serious, especially considering my family history. I tried it once and loved it, so now that's what I do. I have gotten lots of compliments on my tan! The best part is that it makes me look much darker in one visit than a month of the tanning bed.

- Ben and I have an exercising/weight dilemma. We both need to lose weight, as we both are looking increasingly more like chipmunks everyday. Getting up really early, like at 5:00, isn't an option, mostly because that is way too early, but also because I have to take my thyroid medication at least 30 minutes before I eat, and I have to eat before I go to the gym, otherwise I will pass out. Ben doesn't like to go when he gets off of work because the gym is ridiculously crowded, and I don't like to go later, like at 8:00 or 8:30, because it is just too late, and by the time I get home, I have to go to bed. I think I have decided that my solution is going to be to go the gym straight from my internship in the late afternoon. Hopefully that will work. I also ordered Gillian's 30 day shred video from amazon, so I think I will give that a try as well. She says you can lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days, which sounds great to me!

- We are halfway through our bathroom remodel! Eventually I will take some pictures and post them, but it hasn't happened yet. We will finish the bathroom after this internship is over in a few weeks. All we have left is the vanity/sink, a small amount of tiling, adding two more light fixtures, and changing the bathtub fixtures.

- Ben and I will be teaching kindergarten sunday school starting this fall, which we are really excited about.

- Ben's friend from work and his wife recently opened a new restaurant in Midtown. It is SO GOOD! I highly recommend it! Check them out at Noon Midtown.

That's all for now, or at least all that I can think of!

What I'm Reading: Dear John

Technically, "reading" is not accurate, because I just finished this book last night. I thought I would put it on here anyway. Normally I don't love Nicholas Sparks books, not because they aren't good, but because they are sad. And I don't do sad, especially now. This book was about a girl and a guy and their relationship. They meet while he is on leave from the army. They continue their relationship long-distance while he finishes out his contracted time with the army. There are also a couple of side stories, like his relationship with his dad. I won't give anything away in case someone wants to read it, but it is a little sad and depressing. I think I will read something a little lighter next!!