Busy little bee

Man oh man... is anyone else having a seriously crazy busy week??? I need more hours in the day, I tell you! (for fun, though, not work- they get enough of my time as it is, haha!) Anyway, here's what I've been up to for the past few days in a nutshell:

*Watching a lot of amazing baseball- the Phillies are kicking ASS so far this year! Although, what do you expect from the 2008 World Series Champs??? :-P Seriously though, they've just been unstoppable lately... the other night, they had TWO grand slams in ONE game! I've never seen that before! I <3 my Phils. Although sometimes I get a little sad, because it reminds me of my dad... I grew up watching baseball with him, we'd play wiffle ball and softball, and he's the one who taught me to love the game... his birthday is coming up next week, May 7, so I've had that on my mind as well.

*Work's been superbusy this week... which I'm not minding, as it makes the day fly by (as much fun as downtime is, too much of it can be a bad thing, because it makes the day drag by soooo s-l-o-w-l-y).

*I picked up mt t-shirt and registration number for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure taking place in Philly on May 10- does anyone else do this race, in Philly or other places? I do it every year. It's a cause that I feel really passionate about as a woman, and it has affected me personally as well- I lost a grandmother to breast cancer (I'm named after her). She died from the disease back in the 1960s, before there was much really known about it in terms of symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. Had she been been a few decades later, she might have lived because it's become such an commonly known disease. Unfortunately, because of the time period, she was diagnosed in a late stage, and there was not much they could do for her when she was finally diagnosed. I also lost a former neighbor/family friend to the disease- Rosemary- she fought it so, so bravely, and wasn't able to overcome it in the end, and she left behind a loving, devoted husband, and two precious, sweet little boys (both, I believe, were under the age of ten at the time, but don't quote me- this was a long time ago, like mid/late 90s'). So it's a disease that I'm passionate about for many reasons. I do the walk every single year. I walk and don't run. I'm not a runner. I admire and applaud all the runners out there- I really wish I could be one- but it's never been my thing. Believe me, I've tried. The Philly Race for the Cure takes place every single year on Mother's Day. I've been doing it for about three years now, and plan on doing it every single year until there is a cure. I'm lucky in the sense that I live near a train station that takes me right into Philly- I made the mistake of driving once, and it was a disaster. Not only were major roads blocked off for the walk, but two colleges were having Graduation Day that same day. Major fiasco. Thousands and thousands of people, and, like, five parking spots for those thousands people. You do the math. :-D Never again! And the cool thing is that the company that I work for not only pays my registration fee and pay for my T-shirt, but they also sell discounted bus and train passes for the event. My company takes a vast interest in community events and health care for employees- we have our annual Health Fair coming up next week, which I love and go to every year. They really make an effort, and I really like that!

*Played around with a few new sweet potato combos (at least, I think they're new, it's getting hard to keep track!!!):

Sweet potato + broccoli + Boca Tomato Bruschetta Parmesan Patty + roasted red pepper hummus= fabulousity.

*Last but not least, I finished Sense and Sensibility... I LOVED IT!!! I was having a hard time getting into it at first- the language was dense and it was definitely a book that required my undivided attention- but the more I read it, the more I loved it! Ah! So good! Now I get why women worship Jane Austen! I can't wait to read more of her books! I think the next book of hers I want to read is Emma. I know that the movie Clueless is based on Emma, and I love the movie Clueless (come on, who doesn't???), so I think it would be a really fun read! I'll be on the lookout for Jane Austen books at used book sales from now on!

*And I'll conclude my recap with my latest read:

I thought it was funny that I randomly picked this book, because I just bought it two weeks ago! Sickened, by Julie Gregory. The memoir of a girl whose mother purposefully sickened her because she had Munchausen disease and was psychologically ill- she made Julie sick on purpose and made up false symptoms, because she craved the attention she received from nurses and doctors. I'm actually already about sixty pages into it, and man, did this poor girl have it rough! Not just from her mother, but it sounds like her father was definitely troubled as well, he came from a broken home, the parents had a miserable marriage, the mother was (obvi) psychologically troubled, they lived in a secluded cabin in rural Ohio because her parents were suspicious of other people (and, incidentally, racist= NOT cool). They hurt Julie both psychologically and physically, and clearly seemed to favor her younger brother. And she's only ten years old at this point. My heart is just breaking for this poor kid!

Well, the blog isn't the only writing I've been neglecting lately- my journal has been ignored as well, so I'm off to go take care of that right now! Happy Hump Day!!!! :-)