Snowed in....

What a week. It's been a week full of ups and downs and I've done a lot of learning and realizing. Realization number one: I no longer have my maid of honor in my wedding. YES! My best friend in the entire world suddenly decides that she doesn't feel "honored" and no longer wants to have anything to do with me. EVER. (GASP) I know. I've been in total shock for the last 7 days. My best friend of 20 years! As you can imagine I have felt very hurt and lonely and even my family is struggling to understand this. I will admit that the last few months have been very rough for me because of my health and I haven't been the best at keeping up with everyone, but who do you turn to when you're going through times like these? Your best friend right? Sure I have Lee here, but I ONLY have Lee here. I can't take everything out on him! Your best friend is supposed to be there for you, even through the hard times..even just to listen. Apparently, according to her, I only call her when I need something or I'm "sick" and I haven't made the effort to see her when I come home. Well since I've been here, I came home only a handful of times...one being her wedding shower, another being HER wedding, and when I came home the other times it was holidays..I had to see my family! I did come home ONE time in October to do wedding-ish things and asked her to join me...but she decided to go to the beach with her friends instead..you can't deny that there was effort involved. I don't know, I guess I'm venting because I DONT have my best friend to vent to. I'm not mad that she's not in the wedding (though, I have to admit that it was VERY crappy for her to just DROP OUT and leave me hanging) I'm sad about losing my friendship. I don't feel like I lost a friend, I feel like someone close to me died..and I have no explanation for it. I tried to talk to her about it and she wouldn't..or rather everything I'd say in response to her, she'd come at me with something else and not even aknowledge the things that I was saying, so it became an endless, pointless, argument. I'm very sad but I'm lucky for the friends I do have. And I know this happend for a reason so I'm willing to see it as God's will regardless of how hard it may be. AND THAT was just Sunday!

On a lighter note..Monday rang in my week with Jake keeping Vienna. UGH, bachelor fans, that's all I'm going to say on that matter.

Just when my new job started to turn a corner..a bizarre twist arises. I had a meeting with Dr. Nuss, Dr. Kelly, my manager, Stacey, her manager, John, and two other guys. Boy, did I feel like a fish out of water.. and also a little bit important. I work in pediatric surgery. There are several doctors. Dr Nuss, who invented the "Nuss procedure" and specializes in Pectus repairs wanted to have the meeting regarding the database for all the pectus patients. (if you're yawning you can stop reading now). I am the only person in the hospital who accesses the database. I go through EVERY single patient and enter data so that the results can be presented every year at the Nuss conference at our hospital. Dr Nuss is world renowned and every year, doctors from all over the world come to learn his procedure so they can perform it on their patients. My job has a fair amount of importance. If I screw up..well..a lot of things are screwed up. Apparently the meeting was about redesigning the database because its MAJORLY outdated. This will cost thousands of dollars. I know that I'm going to have a huge part in this..meaning basically I'm designing the blueprints for the new database. Yay. Enthralled. I know I can do it but it's going to be hard...just another stress to add to my list. I am honored that they feel that I'm capable for the job, I'm just not looking forward to the next few months as much as they are I guess. haha.

Friday night...SNOW SNOW SNOW!! We have about a foot of snow here..which thankfully is already starting to melt. People canNOT drive in Hampton Roads..I can't imagine what kinda craziness the snow would cause. This is really the first SNOW they've had in 10 years.  A few dustings here and there but nothing major. A bunch of the parents at the hospital were talking about how excited their kids were for their first snow! Our kitty cats haven't really experienced snow either, so yesterday Lee and I took them out one at a time and video taped them. It was hilarious.  Pumba tried to climb up a tree he was so scared..Simone immediately ran to the front door and begged to be let in. I think fiance and I are going to go out and play in it today. yay! Im jealous that my grandparents are going on their 4th week in florida right now...BLAH!

Well, that's our week in a nutshell.....hope everyone else's was just as exciting as ours!

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When's the honeymoon??

Brrrrrrrrrrr! I am so over all this cold weather. I was ready for spring even before New Years! I think spring fever kicks in a lot sooner when you live at the beach. Yesterday, Lee and I decided since the temp was above 50 that it was absolutely necessary that we go to the beach and do...Summery things. Without coats. We were braving the elements. We played putt-putt. I lost by ONE. Just ONE! I'm such a sore loser. We made a bet..whoever lost had to buy lunch.  But, since I have such a wonderful fiance, we went halfsies. :) We thought we could handle the semi-warm/cool temps but ended up warming ourselves with some she-crab soup from Harpoon Larry's. We have an ongoing tally for the best she-crab soup in Virginia Beach. Lee thinks it's Harpoon Larry's because of the major chunkage of crab in the soup. I am in disagreement for I believe that Margie and Ray's in Sandbridge has the best. Lucky Oyster comes in at a very close second, followed by Bubba's over by the bay. It's hard to say but bottom line it warms you up and makes you feel all ooey and gooey inside.

After lunch we took a brisk stroll on the beach. January thru March you can pretty much count on having the entire beach to yourselves...maybe a stray seagull here and there, an occasional cigarette butt or two but definetly and endless stretch of sand and grey water. Depressing. I can't wait to get out our suntan lotion and boogie boards and beach towels and plant our butts at the state park all day. Better yet, I can't wait to get married and go on our semi-tropical honeymoon to Disneyworld. We had high hopes for Ireland...then Hawaii...but really, who can turn down a paid in full trip from the rents? Not this girl. We're taking it easy on the trips this year(not including trips to IKEA)...we have to save time for our wedding and honeymoon...goodbye paid vacation time. 2011 however, is full of possibilities. With a trip to NYC already in the works..Lee owes me some serious Regis time. And I'm pretty sure we HAVE to go visit JP and Betsy in Cali because.. well just because. Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself. The whole point of this blog was to clarify that I am ready to get warm, get hitched, and get going! One last thing..................GOOOOOOOOOOOO VIKINGS! Yay for beating those durn cowboys!! AND GOOD LUCK next week against the Saints...I think you may need it! :)

Wee, We Wii..all the way home

Ok. It's finally happend. Lee bought a Nintendo Wii. I KNOW, I KNOW..we are probably the last people to buy one.  Ever. Everyone has one, but we rebelled against society! AND..I really liked our pre-wii status. Dare to be different I always say.  I've never been a fan of video games. Ok, I lie. I played a LOT of super nintendo in my tween years but that was pre- boy crazy years. Although, I was pretty awesome and to this day I can still beat Lee on pretty much EVERY super-nintendo game..EVER. (we have them all on our computer, i know..another way to proclaim our geekery to the world.) Anyway, I was REALLY hoping and praying that Lee wouldn't buy a Wii. I mean, they're semi-fun. We like going to other people's houses and playing it (refer to Christmas post) and that's what makes it so exciting. Too much of a good thing is bad for you, right? I knew it was coming. Lee was late that day. He came home with that sleek, shiny, white box and I knew my Wii-free living room days were over. Plastic bags on the floor and Wii-remote in hand, Lee and John had at it with Super Mario. I guess I'll always be a super nintendo fan, this Mario is just too much for me. I really did try but it was too hard. Little did I know that Lee had another plan up his sleeve.  He HAD to get me to like it otherwise he would have to always play it alone. The following weekend Lee called around to every Target, Wal-mart, Gamestop..really anywhere that you can imagine would sell video-games to find out if they had Super Mario-Kart. Lee knows there's always been a soft spot in my heart for Mario Kart. The search was relentless but we found the only copy in all of Hampton Roads..( I wish I was exaggerating) Not only did we have the pleasure of driving thirty plus miles to find it, but I also experienced what I believe to be was the first ghetto Target I had ever seen. I don't like to use the word ghetto very lightly so maybe we'll just say...it was not your average Target(french pronunciation).  With the game in hand..as well as a bathing suit on clearance and a couple of diet cokes(a Lee and Megan staple) we headed home where I found myself in a glorified version of Mario Kart. Yes, I'm addicted. That little white steering wheel gets my heart all aflutter. I know Lee secretly wishes I would become a computer "gamer" and wear headphones and swear at little mean boys trying to kill each other with spiked balls and swords but that's just not me. He pulled out the softer side of "gamer" in me. Congratulations, Lee. You did it.

NEW BLOG!

So I'm tired of Blogger...and We have a new blog now... I still haven't figured it out yet..but if you want to subscribe feel free.... ALL Blogging will now take place on the new blog!


http://leeandmegan.wordpress.com/

Christmas..here, there, and everywhere.

Christmas comes but once a year. Christmas came so fast this year,  we were still full from Thanksgiving! After a very frustrating two months here in good ol' VA BEACH we were both ready to head back to Roanoke where Christmas still feels Christmasy. Not to mention the fact that there was about a foot of snow still on the ground. White Christmases are better. We drove 5 long (but entertaining thanks to blackberry and brick breaker) hours and made it to the Schmidt home at 6 on the dot. You know its not Christmas until you're chowing down on fried wild turkey that your gramps killed out his back window to the tune of 3 days ago. We had all the usual tantalizing Christmas Eve delicacies..including Grandma Pat's punch and white chocolate peanut butter ritz crackers. Yes, those do exsist. Next came the gifts. We managed to get away with a lot of Christmas loot this year. Santa must've thought we were good this year..I felt like a bad daughter/granddaughter for only handing out a gift card or two when I was opening all those wonderful presents.  The funny thing about opening presents there, is not the present itself, but the way its wrapped. It's tradition to keep em' guessing with the gift wrap. Don't be suprised if you find a 50 dollar bill in a yogurt cup or a teeny tiny gift card in a giant box with weights at the bottom. No Christmas present is unworthy. They all get wrapped in their own special way. After a long night of fried apple pie and pretty much anything that required lots of butter, we went to My dad's house for the night. Hello...Water bed. I mean who has a water bed anymore? My dad.  AND it's a nice one. Mind you, it dates back to 1987 but it gets the job done. ZZZZZZZZ



Christmas Morning. I begged and begged Lee to get up and open his presents. He wasn't having it.  It's the water bed! You either never want to get up...or you just can't. It hard to roll out of a water bed sometimes...no literally its incredibly difficult. Before the Entire Showalter clan arrived for our annual Christmas breakfast, Lee finally woke up and opened his presents from me. I was expecting the his "Little Kid at Christmas" attitude to come out but I literally had to wait by the tree biting my nails till he managed to roll out of the water bed. Lee loved his gifts and I was suprised to find another gift (Lee gave me a new camera a few weeks before). Tickets to see Legally Blonde (the musical)! *Snaps* OMG you guys, I was like so totally excited! After Breakfast and a rousing round of secret Santa we jumped in our Honda and headed to High Point. (did ya feel that alliteration? Say that 5 times really fast)



We made it to the Money's just in time for Christmas dinner. (how we made room in our tummy's I'll never know) It must've been the green beans or the creamed corn..or maybe Sylvia's homemade rolls that Lee ACTUALLY compared to Pillsbury...what a NO-NO! It was good spending time with Lee's family. I am calling Christmas night at the Money's Wii night because that was a regular occurrence. Yes, I fenced. Side note: When playing the Wii with Craig Money (Lee's step-dad) or even watching for that matter, give yourself at least a 10 foot distance. You may get hurt, hear strange exertion sounds, or just straight up fear for your life. BUT, It was Oh so MUCH fun anyway! :)



The next day I made my first trip to IKEA. I honestly can't put into words how happy IKEA made me. It was an experience for the books. Katy Money and I charged through the store like we owned the place. I was on a mission for white picture frames. Mission completed. 18.000 dollars later and a Honda so full that Katy couldn't breathe...we made it back to High Point with at least a small house full of furniture , frames, textiles, and little wooden pencils. What a day. I do want to mention that Lee went to his first strip club on Saturday night and came back smelling like what I imagine any strip joint would smell like. Cheap Cologne and stale Marlboro Reds....but who am I to judge?

Finally after a wonderful Christmas weekend we headed back to the beach..only to be haunted by the fact that we had to go back to work on Monday.  Such is life.  Special thanks to Daddy and Tina for letting us use the water bed. Special thanks to C-Money, J-Money and new sisters K-Money and A-Money for letting us occupy the bonus room and full access to the big screen and Wii. We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas. Hope everyone out there had a Merry Holiday Season.......and a blessed new year. Or as we like to say ...MerryHappyChristmahanakwanzaka...because it never gets old!

Feeling Resolute

Happy New Year! I had a New Year's resolution to start a blog this year. Well, start a NEW blog. I did have a previous blog but I wanted so start fresh and clean with a new 2010 blog. You will notice it is a HUGE work in progress because my internet skills aren't really so savvy.  AND if any of you guys and gals out there have a problem with typical grammar or spelling errers errors, then please don't hesitate to stop reading now. I have a tendency to rant about things that make me happy, sad, mad, and things that I think are hilarious that no one else would really care about. Sometimes I get a bit wordy and you may wonder when the post itself will end. Eh.  Anyway, this is merely only a mediocre brainchild of a site written by me..and occasionally Lee..we'll see.  It's also a way for our family and friends to always know what's going on in the lives of Lee and Megan. You know you're intrigued...and if you start to point and click and notice that all of the pages are blank, that's because I haven't had time to finish the site...or Lee is on his 17th hour of Call of Duty (I must clarify that it's the 2nd one or he may not blog).  Maybe one day I will be fortunate enough to have my own computer free of video games with little gnomes and dragons where I can blog all day everyday..or at least once a week. :)