A New Year, Another Adventure

Well, last Friday marked 4 months since the start of my sabbatical.  In some ways it feels impossible that 4 months could have passed already and in other ways it feels like it has been much longer than that...  I packed so much into the last 4 months that it's hard to image I will be able to keep up a similar pace in 2013.  I look forward to trying.  On New Years Day I met Liz and Todd for a delicious brunch at Murphy's in the Highlands.  We were all scared it would be swamped if we went too late, so we met up at 10:30.  It was great to catch up with them and start off the new year sharing a meal with 2 wonderfully fun people.  Liz shared a hilarious story about her first foray into the evils of home ownership.  She bought her first house in the fall and upon returning from visiting family in Massachusetts over Christmas she discovered that some sort of rodent had chewed through the water line to her dishwasher and it had leaked water beneath her hardwood floors the last few times she'd run it.  YIKES!  Luckily, she had a great attitude about it and as luck would have it - the company she hired to clear up the rodent infestation sent a man who resembled Prince Harry to do the job.  That somehow made the whole fiasco more manageable.  :)

First on my agenda for 2013 was hiring a nutritionist.  I did some research on the Internet and asked friends for referrals and honed in on a woman who offered services perfectly in line with my goals.  I started a 3 month program with her on Wednesday and am really energized about the whole thing.  We wrote a vision statement and set some goals which is really exciting.  Having tangible things to work towards in terms of diet and health is awesome!  I am going to ask her if I can put a link to her company in the blog...

I have continued my swimming and been to the YMCA every day since January 1 and actually bumped up to 80 lengths from 64 lengths this week.  If someone told me I would be able to swim 80 consecutive lengths of an Olympic pool in August I would have said they were crazy.  But, 4 months later I am not only doing it, but really enjoying it.  WOW!  I have also lost 26 pounds which is super exciting!

I had lots of quality time with friends in Atlanta during the first 2 weeks of 2013 and one highlight was having a full day of 'Aunt Robin, Nora and Annika time' when Jonas and Cille went to the Falcon's playoff game last Sunday.  We had such a great time playing, making quesadillas, going to the park and having Hawaiian BBQ for dinner.  I have been around a lot of kids in my lifetime and I swear that Nora and Annika are 2 of the most well-behaved, intelligent and fun kids in the world.  I know I am probably biased, but seeing through all of that I swear it is the truth!

Post-nap snuggle as Annika slowly wakes up!

Safety first!  Nora wearing her scooter helmet on swings because, "It's safer Aunt Robin!"

Jason, Frank and I went for Greek food at Mykonos Taverna one afternoon which was delicious, but the lead up story to the lunch was even better than the lunch itself.  They came to pick me up after making a drop off at Goodwill and when my doorbell rang and I opened the door, only Frank was standing there to greet me.  I asked where Jason was and he told me he was vacuuming the car out!?  For those of you who know Jason this should come as no surprise to you and is probably giving you a laugh right now.  I walked down to my driveway to find him going to town on his trunk with a handheld vacuum.  He was so concerned about the lint that was left behind from the bags of clothes he just donated that he just had to clean it up immediately.  He kept telling me, "There is no time like the present, Mace.  No time like the present."  After adequately cleaning the trunk, he moved to the driver's side floorboard.  All I could do was smile, laugh and take photos of him.  You must admire someone who embraces his OCD so proudly.  :)

Jason vacuuming his floorboards in my driveway

Sue and I met for dinner one night at il Bacio and as I pulled  into the parking lot I noticed a cowboy being interrogated by police.  It seemed odd, but I parked and planned to go inside to wait for Sue to arrive.  As I started to get out of the car I spotted a horse 'hitched' to the hand rail directly in front of the restaurant.  Curiosity got the best of me and I stayed in the car with the window rolled down while a TV news crew pulled up and started interviewing the cowboy.  He was given a citation by the police (for what, I have no idea) and cars kept pulling over to take photos with the urban cowboy.  At one point a woman actually mounted the horse for a photo.  BIZARRE!

A horse 'hitched' to the hand rail outside il Bacio in Atlanta

APD giving the cowboy a citation!?  Is it illegal to ride a horse in the city?

My good friends, Meghan and Adam, moved back to Atlanta from New Mexico while I was travelling in the Fall and after living with Meghan's parents for a few months they found a house to move into (about 4 miles from my house) earlier this month.  I met up with them last weekend to help them paint their new place and move in.  The people that lived in the house before them had questionable taste, as evidence by the florescent yellow walls with red trim in one of the rooms and electric blue walls with green trim in the two bedrooms rooms.  We had a good laugh covering these colors with beige on the walls and white on the trim.  :)  It's nice to have them back in Atlanta, especially since they had a baby girl while in New Mexico and now I'll be able to see her grow up and get lots of good snuggle time with them so close by!

Baby Zoey in a basket!

I am leaving for Chicago this week to visit Jeff and my good friends, Brad and Molly (and their kids Jackson, Reese and Brady).  I am looking forward to it even though it's winter!  More on my trip to Chicago in the next post.