last post of 2008!

My nephew, obviously. Adorable.

Starbucks, possibly my most favorite thing ever.

Confession: I watch "The Hills" on MTV. It's a guilty pleasure, much like my love of reading young adult novels like Gossip Girl. It's brain candy - I don't have to think, I just chill out. So when Whitney moved to NY and they created a spin-off show, "The City", I was pretty excited, being that, HELLO, I love Manhattan. Sadly, I could only watch the first 10 minutes or so. SO boring. And I had to laugh - they described Whitney's "uptown" and "downtown" friends - and her "downtown" friend, Erin, lives in Gramercy. Um, Gramercy is NOT downtown. And a socialite is not exactly the best representation of uptown. But I digress. 

My week up North was a nice break. I got to see my nephew, celebrated Chanukkah and Christmas, saw family, and did lots of reading. I saw old co-workers, which was fun, and visited a family I used to nanny for. It was really nice to see everyone again. But the funniest thing was when my mother and I went to Starbucks the night before I left, and we've been to this Starbucks a million times before, but for some reason, as she was backing out of her parking space, she forgot there was an island there and as she pulled away, my mother totally ran over the island. hahaha! It's a good thing she has a big SUV, b/c she would have totally ruined the undercarriage of a car. She was all, "where did that come from? that came out of nowhere!", as I'm laughing hysterically in the passenger seat. And I'm sure everyone in Starbucks saw her, too, which just adds to the hilarity. (She's going to kill me for blogging this!)

Anyone always see those Calphalon cookingware commercials? Everytime I see the convection oven one (which is quite a lot, since it's ALWAYS on), I'm reminded about the fact that until very recently -- say, a year ago -- I thought it was CONFECTION oven, not CONVECTION oven. I simply thought it was an oven where one bakes sweets. I don't know, I don't cook, it sounded like it. Now I know. But I still don't cook. 

I came back to NC early so I could do some research and reading in preparation for the upcoming semester, since I'm taking a sports medicine class and a pharmacy class, both of which are new for me. It's pretty low-key here, since most people aren't back yet. But I like it that way - it's quiet, and I can get work done and go to the gym, and sleep in, which is something I rarely get to do once the semester starts. I also am re-thinking my topic for my Master's Paper.....I don't know. I wanted to do something about pediatric cancer survivors and late effects, but sometimes - and I know this is bad - I reach saturation point about cancer. I can't even explain it. But I'm debating switching my topic, which is bad, since I really don't have that much time to figure it out, really. 

Reading: Girl Meets God, by Lauren Winner

Listening: Paramore