laissez les bon temps roulez!

it's almost here. you can feel it in the air. baseball season has started, the sun is shining on a regular basis, and all the college students i know are in the midst of finals.

oh yes, my friends. summer is right around the corner.

to be completely honest, there are fewer things i love more than a warm summer's day. it's the best feeling in the world to just lay outside with a good book--which is exactly what i did today.

now, as everyone knows (or i assume everyone knows, because i can't shut up about it), i am a book fiend. i just love delving in to a story, and rarely find one to be unpalatable. today, i not only finished my latest installment in the "brainless but sweet" category--Nora Robert's Savor the Moment, but also began to reread one of my favorite novels of all time--Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude.

firstly, don't start judging me because of Nora. she's wonderful. ok, so she isn't very stimulating to the intellect, but her characters are ALWAYS worth rooting for. and this series (the Bride Quartet, or something along those lines) is so great with the characterization and the interplay of female relationships, and how your friendships can really help define and center you. wonderful, albeit a little smut filled.

and what can i even begin to say about Marquez? he's wonderful. yes, a bit difficult to read, with all of the stream of consciousness and constant reuse of character names. but the novel is so complex and such an interesting study of family and politics and the wonder of life. one of the things that i love about this particular story is the constant duality of the simplicity of family and the ridiculous webs that they manage to create for themselves. it's such an amazing book by such an amazing author, and i highly, HIGHLY recommend it.

in other news, my cat has officially reached a size where he can no longer be called a kitten. he is, in fact, morbidly obese. i have come to this realization after denying it for quite some time. in fact, it was only this morning, after he laid on my chest and i could not (and i mean could NOT) breathe, that i realized he needs to go on a serious diet. any suggestions would be helpful.

love and pie (to everyone but bruce),

ashlie

je suis...retour!

hey there everyone!

so i've been pretty terrible about updating the blog. for that, i apologize. however, you're going to LOVE this post, because there is so much info! :)

first and foremost--what have i accomplished from my 101 in 1001 list?

glad you asked--

1. Since my last post, I have been promoted! (yay!) I enjoy my job much more now, and also plan on enjoying the raise that is coming with it. Therefore, I believe I can cross off #30.

2. On January 27th, I was lucky enough to go to the Three Days Grace/Breaking Benjamin concert here in Cedar Rapids. It was an AWESOME show, and I am so glad I went.

3. With part of my tax refund, I once again donated to the children of Saint Jude's Hospital. While sometimes I feel as their fundraisers get entirely too pushy, their organization is incredible, and I always am glad that I can help in any small way.

I've been working on some other stuff, but I really don't remember much more right now. Those are definitely the biggies.

I got to spend this past weekend with one of my wonderful friends from college, and it was such a joy to see her. I don't get to see my friends from Luther nearly enough, but when I do, it's always a great time. So thanks, A, for showing me an awesome time (albeit in your tiny little town... ;) ).

I think that's pretty much all I got, blog-stalkers. I'll catch you next time (maybe it won't be quite so long in-between!).

et apres une semaine...

so, a week has gone by without my tonsils. there are just two large gaps in my throat where they once lived. i thought at this point i would feel better. however, despite waking up from recovery feeling only slightly under the weather, i have remained at the same point pretty much all week. it's been pretty depressing, but i thought i would share the good things i have done (and learned) over the last week:

1. how i met your mother. best. show. ever. oh, i had an inclination before surgery, but seriously. nothing pulls the family together like ted and the gang. even my mother (who hasn't enjoyed a sitcom this much since home improvement!) loves it! we've been having marathons of the show when she gets home from work. it's awesome. and, despite feeling like junk, it still makes me laugh.

if you're going to start watching, i beg of you, start at the beginning! there is too much good stuff (and too much insider information) that you'll miss if you start watching now. and you'll miss all the great early episodes, including my personal favorite, "slap bet." an episode which is not only hilarious, but also has resounding effects (affects...ha!) throughout the series. go forth, and watch comedy.

2. harry potter. awesome books. is there any more to say on this matter? i've put off reading the last ones for years now. so sorry that i did. love love love.

3. skinny cow mini fudge pops. delicious. go get some. they are only FIFTY calories a pop! they are totally replacing my normal summer treat, coldstone's milk and cookies shake, which i'm sure is like 6000 calories a glass. bonus! saving money too. double whammy, calories and cash. :)

4. liquid painkillers work quicker than pills.

5. doing nothing all day is not only boring, it's exhausting. my mom refuses to let me help with ANYTHING, which is both a blessing and a curse. i mean, i love not having to get out of bed, but then i really want to get out of bed. it's kind of frustrating, kind of awesome, but completely exhausting. i think i'm more tired nowadays than when i was working all the time. ok, probably untrue, but i do seem to be tuckered out at the end of the day, even with sitting around all the time.

i think those are the five lessons i can impart. i hope you all have learned as much as i have. also, i hope you never have to have your tonsils out. may your lymph nodes stay healthy. and stay put.

have a good weekend everyone!

au revoir amygdale!

ever since i had mono my freshman year of college (almost five years ago now...crazy!) i've had recurrent problems with my tonsils. every three months, i would have swollen tonsils, strep or end up coughing up pus. i really hope you're not eating right now...

so when i went for my physical in october, i talked to my doctor, who told me that i should visit an ENT specialist. so i did. and he took one look at me and told me my tonsils and adenoids were coming out. being me, i put it off for as long as possible. so finally, yesterday, january 8th, i had the first surgery of my entire life.

to be quite honest, i wasn't really nervous going in to the surgery. every appointment i had this week, everyone kept asking me if i was anxious, but all my questions were answered before i even asked them. so going in, i felt really good about the whole process. even once i was in the outpatient wing, i was pretty calm, chatting with my pre-op nurse (who was AMAZING), sassing my mom, and watching some CSI. i was totally cool with everything, even as they were wheeling me back to the surgery. (the scrub nurse asked me if i had ever had surgery before. i said "no, but i've seen grey's anatomy!" she laughed and told me their doctors weren't that pretty.) i was completely calm until they put that stupid oxygen mask over my face. that was when i started to freak out. i think the whole problem was that it made me feel claustrophobic with that stupid mask over my face. however, it only took about 30 seconds for the anesthesia to kick in, so i didn't have too much time freak out.

the worst part of the entire process was waking up. i was intubated, and waking up with the tube still in my throat was incredibly disorientating, and a little bit painful. after that though, it was pretty much smooth sailing. there was a little girl who came in to recovery after me, who was having a terrible time. she cried from the moment she got placed in her room from the moment she left. i felt really bad for her, and to be completely honest, if i were that young, i would have been freaking out like that too.

surgery only took about 20 minutes, and i was moved in to a private recovery room at around 10:15, when my mom met me. even as fast as all of that moved, we ended up being in the hospital until around 2:00, because they made me drink so much before i was allowed to leave. all of the nurses were great, and they were so helpful in answering all of our questions. i was really impressed with the entire staff and the amount of attention and care they gave to me.

i've been really happy with the way that i have felt after surgery. i'm so glad that i went ahead and did it, and i'm very glad that the recovery process has been better than i expected. the painkillers i've been prescribed don't make me overly drowsy, nor do they make me nauseous, which is definitely a huge plus. and the ice cream definitely doesn't hurt... :)

thank you all for your prayers and support! i really appreciate it! hope you are all basking in the joy of the weekend! :)

bonne annee!

hello friends!

it's now 2010. a new decade, with a whole new set of hopes and dreams. this year will be different for all of us. for some, it will change the way we see ourselves, some will begin to see others in a different life. some will change plans, some will solidify dreams, but all of us will be making changes. 2009 was full of ups and downs for this particular blogger, but i have hope that 2010 will be one of the best yet.

so good luck to you, in this new decade of life. may you find it filled with joy, hope, love and laughter (and some chinese food, every once in a while).

happy 2010!

mon favorite!

so, i don't have a lot of favorites. or rather, i have too many favorites to name. i have no idea how everyone else seems to be able to choose one thing that they like best. favorite movie, band, music, color, book. i always have to qualify the answer. my favorite comedy is... my favorite classical piece is... my favorite color to decorate with is... i can't choose just one thing! i like too many! it's like the whole world is telling me that i have to define myself by choosing one single item. and what if i can't be defined by one thing? what if i'm a person who needs to like a lot of things to be who i want to be? what if i don't want to choose a favorite? i don't see that as a bad thing. i am allowed to like what i want, even if you don't like it.

so my favorite? my favorite depends on the day. today, my favorites seem to be dave matthews, white wine, and cleaning. tomorrow, probably something completely different. it's all part of the fun.

et la verite...

the truth is, i hate making decisions.

i mean, i really, really despise decision making.

there are some things that i'm ok with. when to wake up, what to eat, what i should do for the day. i'm talking more about the big ones. the future life decisions. the things that will impact my life. the things that i have to decide soon.

i think it's natural to feel a little bit hesitant in making these types of decisions, mainly because they are pretty monumental. however, lately, i have been practically paralyzed by the fact that i have to make a decision.

it's not an easy decision. it's not a simple choice. and i have no idea how to go about making this one.

the truth is, for the first time in my life, i have no idea what to do. there are a lot of things i COULD do, but very few things that i WANT to do. i am having a hard time trying to sort out my thoughts, and the opinions of others. i'm trying to do the best thing for everything, and i have no idea how to even think about myself first anymore.

i guess the truth is this: i wish i could make decisions. i wish i knew what to do. i wish that things were completely different. but they aren't. and i don't. and i can't.

the truth is that i just don't know.

maybe that's ok, but it definitely doesn't make me feel better.