Sun, sleep and Kroger stores

What a difference a week makes! Last weekend I was going 10 different directions with things I committed to and this week I have no firm plans for the weekend.

The wedding reception last Saturday night was extremely enjoyable and I had a blast dancing and socializing with my co-workers. It was a bit disappointing that everyone couldn't be there but I understand things come up sometimes and not everyone could make it. MH looked absolutely gorgeous in her dress and I wish her and JF the best in married life now that they have finally taken the plunge.

Sunday was a really good day as well. Even after coming home late from the reception the night before, I got up at a decent hour and got myself out to Highland around 10:30 in the morning. After chit-chatting with my Dad and Bro for a few minutes, we headed over to pick up my Aunt and made our way to Nashville, IL for the anniversary party. I don't know about anyone else, but because my immediate family is so small, I forget that when a major family event comes up, we have a ton of extended family members. My head felt like it was on a swivel saying hi, telling people who I was and what I've been up to the last few years and figuring out who belongs to which part of the family. I also forget that with these events, comes a bunch of awesome homestyle cooking and I stuffed myself with the fried chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, cole slaw and rolls.

Before we left Nashville, we stopped into the one of the few local Kroger stores left and my Bro made fun of me for standing out front and taking a picture of it. He said something to the effect of looking like a crazy tourist taking pictures of grocery store. Kroger stores have always been a big deal to me and it brings back a lot of good memories of my early childhood. I still get excited when I see a Kroger trailer when I'm driving down the interstate and yes, I take pictures when I see a store out of town. (By the way, this is the 3rd store I've taken a picture of in the last few years, I also have pictures from Columbus, OH and Charlottesville, VA and when I come across another store, I will take another picture. So...Ha! Bro!!)

We got back to Highland and decided to just hang out at my Aunt and Uncle's house and enjoy the awesome springtime weather while sitting out and having a few drinks on their patio. Finally around 8, I had to head back across the river and get home so I could get ready for another week of work.

I must say, work this past week went very well once again. I thought I was going to have a few time constraints because I had two payrolls to enter this week and a few other "big" projects that needed to get done, but it went really smooth and I was even able to leave at 4:30 on Wednesday afternoon and 10 minutes early yesterday. (Ok, it wasn't really early because I've been going into work at 7:30 and I had 42 hours in for the week already, but I like to think that I left early.)

Last night, the guys were playing racquetball again and we were invited to go watch and cheer them on but before that, M, SS and I decided to stop in to Wiliker's for one drink before the game. It's funny that we find enjoyment sitting there watching them play racquetball but it is a fun time and we laughed our butts off at them out on the court and laughed some more when we BSed afterwards. It ended up being an early night, which was perfect for me because I was completely exhausted by 9 anyway, so I came home and crashed. Literally, I walked in, put my purse down, called M and made sure she got home alright, walked into my bedroom and fell asleep with my jeans, shirt and jacket on. I don't know what is going on with my sleeping pattern but I've gotten to the point where I only sleep for 5 or 6 hours a night and then I'm wide awake. It wouldn't be bad if I was waking up at my normal time for work but no, I wake up at 3 in the morning and toss and turn until I have to get up at 5:30. Hence the reason why I'm so tired at 9 or 9:30 at night. I don't know if my body has gone back to my college schedule or if I just have too much on my mind, but it has to stop! Maybe this weekend will be a nice way to relax and clear my mind of everything and I can get on a regular sleeping pattern again.

Hope you all have a great weekend!! I'll update again soon!

Earthquake!

Major news here in the Midwest! We had an earthquake Friday morning and I must say, I was completely freaked out by it. I know we have little earthquakes fairly often but this was the first time I've ever experienced the movement of one that strong (magnitude 5.2) and I didn't know what to do. Of course, I'm sure it did not help that it happened at 4:30 in the morning and I was awoken from a sound sleep. I also must note too that I was equally panicking because of the fact that I live by myself and there was no one here to even acknowledge to me that indeed it was an earthquake that I felt and the news stations were not reporting anything that early. I finally got online about 5 and found my bookmark for the US Geological Survey and checked out when the latest quakes happened and saw that there was one about 120 miles away from St. Louis. That calmed me down a bit, along with the phone calls I received from my friends and family asking if I was alright. The aftershock around 10:30 in the morning wasn't nearly as scary since I was at work and we usually feel the floor beneath us shaking because of the tractor-trailers that come flying down the street right next to us so to us, it was pretty much normal, just shaking of a little different sort.

Spring is in full gear here too and the Cardinals are back home for baseball season! Woo hoo! In the past two weeks I've gotten to go to two Cardinals games and it's been a blast! Because I've put in way too much time trying to get everything squared away with my new position, the President of the company told me to take the 4 tickets to the Friday night game on April 4th and have some fun. I was thrilled that he even offered them to me, but I wasn't sure who I would be able to get to go with me. And because I work with some of the greatest people in the world, I ended up asking 3 of my favorite co-workers to go and we had fun time at the game and partying on the way there and home.
Then, I got the shock of my life on this past Monday when my immediate boss called me into his office and asked what I had going on Thursday afternoon. Well, besides working on a few ongoing projects, my day was going to be pretty easy and he invited me to the afternoon game along with him, the President, and our Corporate Banker. I felt high class getting out of work and going to the baseball game! It was a beautiful day out also, which made me feel even more guilty for playing hooky, but I definitely felt like I was something special by being invited.

Usually I don't get into baseball season much at the beginning because a lot can change by the season's end, but I've started checking out the teams a bit more and rooting for my Cardinals a lot more now. I think by being cooped up all winter, I'm ready for summer and keeping track of baseball and how my team is playing is my way of saying "Adios cold weather."

The rest of the weekend is jam-packed. In about an hour, I'm heading out to a wedding reception of one of my co-workers who got married earlier today. Her wedding was beautiful and I'm sure her reception will be a lot of fun like any of the events involving work people. They really are a great bunch!

Tomorrow I'm heading back out to Highland for my second trip out there in a week and half. Last Friday night I drove out to go bowling with my awesome Bro and his friends and did my best not to make a fool of myself while hanging out with all of them. This week I'm going to a 50th wedding anniversary party for my great-uncle and aunt. 50 years....wowzah!

Then its back to work on Monday for another week of work. It seems like time is just flying by! Hope you have a spectacular weekend and I will catch up with you later!