Update

Had a good weekend. Yesterday I went to lunch and a movie with Mike. We had Thai food at Champa. I ordered the pad thai with chicken, and it was delicious! I highly recommend it. Although our food was served on real plates, our drinks were served in plastic cups. And water was not free. Fifty cents for tap, or a buck for a bottle. Raleigh's water situation is getting pretty dire.

We saw The Bucket List, with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. It was all right, but not great. The first part was really slow and not fun at all--two old guys dying in the hospital. The pace picked up when they started working on the List, but I was hoping for a more light-hearted movie.

Saturday night I went to my parents' house and cooked dinner: Southeast Asian Turkey Meatballs. Yeah, I doubt they have turkey meatballs in Southeast Asia, but it's nice to mix up the seasonings instead of going with the traditional Italian style. I found the recipe in an old crock pot cookbook I'd picked up at the library sale. There's really no reason to cook meatballs in a crock pot when you can just pop them in the oven for 20 minutes. They're super tasty, especially with the "plum sauce" (which I made with strawberry jam instead of plum jelly--LOL).

Today I was supposed to meet up with John (eHarmony guy #4--my subscription is expired now, by the way) for brunch, but last night he called and asked for a raincheck because he wasn't feeling well. The bug is definitely making its way around the Triangle. Many at my office were sick last week, and my dad is sick now too. I hope I'm able to escape unharmed!

This would have been my second date with John. He's 39, a computer programmer, and lives in Chapel Hill. Our first date was last week--dinner (Brixx) and a movie (Fool's Gold--very cute!). Afterwards we went for ice cream. I'm not sure what else to say...it's kind of like when cops say they can't give anymore details due to the ongoing investigation. I'll let you know if anything progresses.

This afternoon I went to Lake Johnson to meet up with a bunch of coworkers for a group run. We've all signed up to do the Blue Planet run at Black Mountain in May. There's a team of 10 doing the relay (5-mile loops over and over for 24 hours!). I'm planning on doing the 5-mile "fun run." Since I'm really out of shape I think that's a much more reasonable goal! Alas, I was a little late to the lake, and didn't see anybody there. I think there was a mixup on the time. Oh well. I just walked around the lake by myself. There were lots of other people there, mostly with their dogs, and even a couple guys fishing off the bridge. I walked for 40 minutes and probably did about 2.5 miles. I tried jogging twice, and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as awful as I'd expected. Of course, I've still got a ways to go, but I think it'll be easier than I thought since I've done this before.

Tomorrow I've got to get up early and drive north to Danville, VA (just across the border) for an onsite training. I think it should go well because we did a lot of prep work to get everything in place beforehand. Then I'll drive back home tomorrow afternoon. Round trip: approx 170 miles.

I'll be in the office all day Tuesday, and Wednesday morning. But in the afternoon I'll be going to the airport to fly to Tallahassee, FL by way of Charlotte, for an onsite training in southern Georgia on Thursday. That evening I'll fly back to Raleigh, getting in at approximately 9, if my flight is on time. So I'll be home around 10. Friday morning I have to drive four hours back into Virginia to be at a training by 10am. Sessions go until 3:30, then I have to drive four hours home! Round trip: approx 442 miles.

It will be a looooong, tiring week! And then the next week, I'm flying to Providence, RI, for trainings in Massachusetts and Vermont. (Hello, snow!)

The work traveling has been pretty low key since the summer, when I got burnt out and requested to be home more often. I asked to have a couple trips recently, and look what I got myself into! It will be fun, though. A break from answering phones all day. :-)