Wiggy's 27!

Wiggy turned 27 on Tuesday which also marks our 7 year anniversary.... yes we started dating on his birthday in the parking lot of the Macaroni Grill here in Winston-Salem. For some reason I don't know if we've been back since which is sad!

This year we celebrated Wiggy's birthday over a several days. We began on Friday evening with dinner with friends Matt, Meghan, Zac, and Jamie at Bleu. The wine and food were wonderful as was the conversation which centered around happenings in the Psych Ward of the hospital and the fact that medical school is... well... pretty much over!

Saturday evening I baked Wiggy a homemade cake with homemade icing. I have been making him the same cake ever since his 20th birthday. It's super moist and made with pudding. He finally informed me this year that he just doesn't like that cake very much... hmm... well he ate it all and you could have fooled me. I must say the homemade icing was pretty tasty.

Finally on Tuesday (his real birthday) I gave Wiggy his presents. I had stayed home from work that day with a one day flu kind of thing... I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. Groggily I handed over his gifts which included an eggplant colored polo (my hubby loves his purple), a funky DKNY V neck T, some socks, and best of all lift tickets to Copper Mountain for his Colorado Ski trip (his real present) that he leaves for tomorrow. I am super happy that he will be wearing a helmet!

Unfortunately, I took 0 pictures of all of these events including my tasty cake... my memory card is full and I haven't gotten around to deleting anything. In other news, I am thrilled that the sun is supposed to be out for the next THREE days and it actually feels a little like spring! Yippee!!!

Match Day!

Oh the anticipation of Match Day- the day when Medical Students in the US receive their assignments for residency that will affect the next 3-7 years of their lives (not to mention their wives/children/families). We all gathered outside of the room where cards are given out a little before noon last Thursday March 19th. At 12:00 on the dot the hoards of people poured in to get their assignments. We were near the back so much of the excitement was over when we arrived at our assigned table.

Upon opening the letter we found out that Wiggy will be training with Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, NC specializing in Family Medicine. We were both pleased with these results, although a little surprised that he did not match at WFU. Following the excitement everyone gathered for a nice lunch at Bridger Field House overlooking our football field. Following lunch and pictures Wiggy and I went for a little walk at the gardens before taking a nap and getting ready for a big night of celebration.

Around 8 pm. many of our friends came over to our house for some pre-celebration time before we headed to the Piedmont Club at the top of the BB&T building for the celebration. We danced the night away and all had a really great time.

Now that a week has gone by Wiggy and I are both really excited about his assignment. It will be fantastic training for him in the field of Sports Medicine (his ultimate goal) under the doctor who created the field of Family Practice Sports Medicine- can we say good connections?

Unfortunately the celebration ended there as our WFU Basketball team lost pitifully in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday night..... what am I going to do for the rest of March?

A Taste of Sunshine

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend last weekend with my grandparents in sunny Florida. They spend the month of March there every year like smart retirees escaping the LONG Garrett County LONG winter. This year they rented an adorable house on the canal in Port Charlotte.

I arrived to big hugs on Thursday evening and then slept in in true grandchild fashion on Friday morning before suffering through a stifling hot run that my body was not acclimated for thanks to unusually cold NC winter. We then proceeded to enjoy the pool before heading out for me to find some wireless internet and go shopping. Meme helped me pick out and then proceeded to purchase a cute dress for Match night festivities this Thursday evening. We finished up at a cute sports bar with fabulous sandwiches to watch the miserable WF game, but at least I had other loud company. * Side note: every place we stopped by/called to ask if they'd be showing the ACC tournament had no clue what we were talking about.... I MEAN FL STATE IS IN THE ACC!!!

Saturday we headed to Englewood to the beach after stopping by Howard's for some fantastic Greek Grub. The beach was fabulous and FULL of large shells, hard on the feet, but fun for searching. That evening we headed to Fisherman's Pier to wander through the shops and had dinner at a fabulous seafood place at the end of the pier overlooking the water. The scallops were HUGE just like I like 'em.

I also taught Grand how to program numbers and assign speed dial on his new phone. I am number 2 and therefore, my nickname has changed from "Prince" (short for my old nickname Princess) to "#2". Kinda sounds like a bathroom joke? hmmm...

We had a wonderful time catching up and hanging out just the three of us for the first time in a really really long time. Thanks Meme and Grand for a wonderful weekend!

Piano Men

Wow, what a weekend! We were incredibly blessed with beautiful weather over the past 3 days and continuing today. I wore full out summer attire all weekend and it felt wonderful! My parents arrived into town late Friday night after we grabbed dinner with friends at our local brewery. Saturday was full of excitement beginning with Wiggy's soccer team winning the regional semi-finals and only one game away from advancing to regionals (where they'll play other state winners). After the game we dashed back to the DASH to change clothes and headed to Charlotte for a wonderful pre-concert dinner at Morton's steakhouse. My salmon was oh so yummy... however, I think the bread and the marinated mushrooms were even better. Where to begin with the concert? Let's just say my Mom loved her birthday present and was on her feet singing and dancing the entire time. I participated as well and I think we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The best part had to be the ending where they sang Piano Man together.... absolutely incredible. After the seemingly long drive home we all crashed at 2 am (considering daylight savings time).

Wiggy's graduation is quickly approaching and as promised, we purchased a 52 inch Sony Bravia Flat Screen last weekend to celebrate. Yesterday was dedicated to hanging that beast in our over-the-fireplace cut out. This actually involved nailing 2x2 wood around the cut out then screwing a large piece of wood to that. The mount then hung from the large piece of wood and finally the tv was installed. The picture is amazing and it's huge! Very excited to watch my DVRd fun.

We ended the weekend with a Deacon win over Clemson to clinch the 2nd seed in the ACC tournament this coming weekend! Way to finish it off with a bang Wake!

It was a wonderfully enjoyable and busy weekend and after all the excitement, I'm in need of a Monday nap!

Ellie

I often talk about Jasper on the blog, but realize I've neglected to talk about Ellie, the queen of our house. I have decided to make a list of all the things that make Ellie a totally One of a Kind cat that intrigues most of our visitors.

1. Ellie should be in the circus. She can jump extremely high and has turned our house into an obstacle course. She will run around, up and down after toys launching herself onto small surfaces 12 feet high and then sliding down walls etc. It's quite interesting.

2. Ellie is a Daddy's Girl. She much prefers Wiggy over me. It doesn't matter who feeds her and who is nice to her.... she curls up on her Daddy's lap every single night.

3. Ellie lives to eat. She is at her best and most affectionate when she is hungry and will do just about anything for food. Her food is kept in the laundry room which is connected to our guest bathroom and has a bad habit of following guests into the bathroom in hopes they might feed her.

4. Ellie loves drawers (see photo). Ellie loves to open drawers (a nighttime habit that earned her her own special room that she sleeps in so everyone else in the house can also sleep). Her favorites are my sock drawer and t-shirt drawer.

5. Ellie is surprisingly a wonderful traveler. In the car is the one place I can get her to sleep on my lap for hours at a time.

6. Ellie is a wonderful heating pad. She always knows the perfect place to lay when you're sick or napping to keep you warm.

7. Ellie loves pudding. I eat a pudding snack just about every night and Ellie loves to stick her face in it and lick up anything that's left in the cup. This always entails her getting pudding all over her face and whiskers.

8. Ellie likes to punch Jasper. She does not like to play with him (unless she may get food and then she'll even rub up against him). When he gets near her she strikes him with her clawless paws very similarly to the way a snake bites and then recoils.

Birthday Mama

Last weekend was my Mom's birthday and after a very stressful first month of the year (her Office Assistant quit unexpectedly the first week of January causing 12 hour days for my Mom), I decided to have my Dad whisk her away to Winston-Salem for the weekend. They had not been to visit since September and that's just too long!

Upon their arrival on Friday evening we went to the Little Theater to watch "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change". It was delightfully funny and appropriate for the Valentine's Day feel in the air.

Saturday morning Mom went to the spa for a massage and facial I had given her for Christmas. Afterward we headed to Whole Foods for lunch (both of our favorites) and then took Jasper to the dog park and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. After that Mom and I got pedicures and went to TJ Maxx for a mini-shopping spree before meeting up with the guys for dinner at The Chop House. It was absolutely wonderful as always. At dinner we presented Mom with her gift from Daddy, Wiggy and me... tickets to see Elton John and Billy Joel next month in Charlotte. She is oh so very excited (as am I!)

Sunday we all slept in then I went for a lovely long run while my parents did a little more shopping before we all headed to the Joel to watch the Deacs redeem themselves. Woo Hoo! Finally, we ended the weekend watching "The Secret Life of Bees" and eating crock pot chili.

I had such a great time that I'm beginning to think maybe it was in fact my birthday? Oh yeah, that's in June and will be here soon enough!

Wiggy becomes a Snow Bunny

My husband has swiftly and strongly become a snow boarder. My parents got him "skis" for Christmas and he randomly decided to try snow boarding before making the purchase. He headed to Boone all by himself for a day of lessons and practice and came home determined to buy a snowboard immediately. After many hours of surfing online and lots of help from our friend Zac he settled on a board, boots, helmet, wrist guards and I forget what else....

Anyway, the snowboard arrives after several hours of Wiggy looking out the window looking for FedEx to come to the door like a kid waiting for Santa. Fed Ex arrived and he couldnt wait to open it. After doing so we admired it for a few minutes then i went back to the kitchen and whatever I was doing and about a minute later I hear "NOOOOOOOOOO" coming from the bedroom. Apparently, the Canadian company he ordered it from sent him the wrong size... by 3 centimeters and he would not settle for it.

So later in the week the correct board arrived. This Saturday Zac helped with the bindings and whatever else is required in setting up a snowboard. Sunday morning at 7 AM Wiggy was again off to Boone to try out his new board. He arrived home that afternoon waddling with a very sore tailbone and a comment that " I'm really glad I got the helmet because I definitely hit my head".
I try not to worry during these excursions, but I can't help it. I guess I'll just say a prayer that the helmet does it's job.... oh my husband and his hobbies :)