Poison Ivy Sucks!!!

So, the last two weeks have been awful. I helped a friend from church clean up a fallen tree when I came into contact with poison ivy. Apparently, I have a severe allergy to poison ivy. After about a week of suffering and trying all the home remedies I had to go to the doctor (I never go to the doctor). They gave me a shot in the butt and I was put on a course of antibiotics. With Angela out of town for her new job I was hoping to bachelor pad it for couple weeks, but all I have done is take my medication and scratch like crazy all night. I can’t wait to be over it! Poison Ivy Sucks!!

The Thirteenth Tale

This was such a good book! I was on my way to Maryland for a week of training for work and I had actually just started reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (which I still haven't finished!), but the hard back version is so big that I didn't want to lug it around with me. So, I stopped by a bookstore in the Atlanta airport to find something to read on my trip. (Paid way too much for it since I bought it in an airport, buy from Amazon or Half.com!!!) I was first attracted by the cover and once I read the summary, I was sold. I mean ghosts, mysteries, gothic suspense, come on!

I thought the book was so well written and I really loved the main character Margaret. The main characters are such lovers of books that you really feel like kindred spirits. I guess that is also why I love the Twilight Series so much. I'll have to give Twilight it's own blog entry one day. Okay, here's the summary from books-a-million:

When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny.

All children mythologize their birth...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.

The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth

The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.

book website

Shy That Way

I love this song! I think Tristan Prettyman has a really nice voice and Jason Mraz is awesome. I think we have just about all his stuff now. He is coming out with a new album "WE SING. WE DANCE. WE STEAL THINGS" and the first single ("I'm Yours") is pretty cool, check it out on my music player.

Queen City!

I'm in Charlotte, the queen city, for the next two weeks to train for my new job. I had to leave on Easter afternoon to drive up here (5 1/2 hours!!!). That was a bummer! The drive actually wasn't too bad. I listened to satellite radio for half the trip and then threw on an audio book for the other half ("The Amber Spyglass"). When we travel, John usually drives and takes care of checking into the hotel and all that stuff. So whenever I travel alone it's really strange to have to do all that myself! It really makes me appreciate my sweetie pie!

The last time I was in Charlotte, I didn't really like the city. This trip is a little better so far, maybe because I'm not staying in the downtown area. Although, there is a topless bar across from my hotel! Charlotte is kinda strange. Most of the trees have what looks like a strip of a garbage bag wrapped around their trunks. I found out this is to prevent some type of silk worm from destroying the trees. I would hate to have to wrap all my trees! Also, there are ducks everywhere! I was backing out of the office parking lot, and there were three ducks waddling around right beside my car. I saw more in the parking lot at Ruby Tuesday, and then more in a shopping mall. Strange!

Well, work/training has been a little overwhelming. Everyone there has been really nice so far. There is just lot to learn over the next two weeks and I hope I get everything. There is only one other person here for training this week. He is also from Columbus, so that was an interesting coincidence! I hope these next two weeks go by fast . . .

Last day on the job

Today was my last day at Synovus!!! I'm about to start a new job where I will be doing web development from home. The last two weeks flew by and it still hasn't sunk in that I won't be going back to my cube on Monday morning. I'm sad, nervous, and excited all at the same time. I was really conflicted over taking this new job. I mean, I really liked my job, my boss was great, and my co-workers were cool, why give that up??? Well, I'm doing what I feel is best for my family (or future family) and taking a risk and I so hope it works out. I'm really going to miss all of my co-workers, but I am very excited to be able to work from home. Yay! When I told my sister about my new job she said, "Oooooh good, that means ya'll are going to try to have a baby . . . get started now!" Hahahaha!

Lame with a capital "L"

Ok, so my first post on this blog was lame, but I just wanted to get something out there while I was setting this thing up. Yeah, yeah I know I can go back and delete it now, but I kinda like it. It reminds me of when you are first learning a programming language and the first program you write is a "Hello World" program where you have to make the application display "Hello World!" as output. Okay, enough geek talk, now John is going to make fun of me!

So, my friend Jessie sent me a link to her blog and I thought it was cool. So, I decided to create one too! I'm also trying to create one for John's family to share since everyone lives so far away. We'll see how that goes . . .

Here's some info on our little family. It's just the two of us and our two dogs, Maggie and Pookie (Check em out below. Sidenote: While everyone else posts cute pictures of their kids, we will be posting pics of our dogs and maybe random stuff we waste our money on until we have kids!). We have been married about five and a half years. Fun fact: In those five and a half years, we've moved 6 times in the same city! Seriously! The good news is, I think we have finally found a place to settle. We had our current house built about a year ago. Which was both fun and stressful! We live next door to my parents on about 5 acres and I love it, well everything except my other neighbors (I don't mean my parents!!!). Other than that, we are just trying to enjoy life!

Maggie (Giant Pomeranian!)
Pookie (Crazy Pug!)

Hello Internet!

Hello out there . . . .