Bowling night

Sunday, March 21, 2010

I've had some really good bowling nights and some really bad. Today's was just really very average. I started out great, with 5 strikes and 3 spares in my first game and then it went downhill, very downhill, LOL. The good and bad made it an average night.

The best part about going is that my kids and their spouses-S/O's go too and we get to all spend a few hours together. One lives in Fredricksburg, one in Herndon, one in Alexandria and one with me.....but they all come to Woodbridge to bowl once a week most weeks. We often all have friends go with us too, so it makes for a fun night and I get some exercise doing what I enjoy.

I just found out about a Friday night league starting in May. It's Extreme Pizza night....ok, the pizza part wouldn't be very good :-).......but it's 4 games and then when the league bowling is over, it's free bowling til 2am every week. As much as I love to bowl, this would be really cool....plus Friday night is the night they have the lights out and the music blaring. I normally never go on Fridays because it's $5 a game and packed to the hilt. The nights I go it's $1 a game...a big difference with a bunch of us. I might have to look into this league though. I can so see me bowling to the music until 2am :-)

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

JILLIANPRNCSS 3/22/2010 7:19AM

Sounds like fun. I have not gone bowling since I was a kid. You have inspired me to look into it. Report Inappropriate Comment

Volunteering at the National Marathon in DC

Saturday, March 20, 2010

I had a blast volunteering at the National Marathon today. There was a 1/2 marathon and a full marathon.

My buddy and I were stationed at mile 11 at the aid/water station. We helped set up the tables and then gave out water and powerade to the runners as they came by.

The first runner passed mile 11 at the 50 minute mark! He was a lean, mean running machine!! The first few runners came by early and then it was a wait before the rest started to come by and then they came in droves! I had trouble keeping up with them all and we worked very hard filling water cups and passing them out. It was hard to keep up with 12,500 runners running!

This was the 1st few to come by:



and then near the end my friend excitedly said "Here comes the green team from the Biggest Loser! Sure enough, there came Miggie and her daughter and the girl from the red team 2 seasons ago. I got a pic of just one as she paused for a water break:


I plan on volunteering more. I met a lot of people from Teamintraining.org and am going to look into that organization. I would really like to get more involved as I learn to run.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

CHOPOLA 3/24/2010 7:56AM

How exciting! And you got to see some biggest loser peeps yay! Report Inappropriate Comment

DIGISCRAPPY 3/22/2010 1:46PM

Wow, awesome! I can't imagine how motivating that was! Report Inappropriate Comment

LLTS01 3/22/2010 12:36PM

How cool- this gives you a totally different perspective. Report Inappropriate Comment

TERMITEMOM 3/21/2010 6:04PM

Wonderful! And the weather was just so perfect! Report Inappropriate Comment

JILLIANPRNCSS 3/21/2010 7:29AM

So sorry I missed it but there are lots of races in the spring. Report Inappropriate Comment

THE_JULES1 3/20/2010 11:19PM

That is so awesome! Report Inappropriate Comment

DASSCHUS 3/20/2010 6:45PM

That is so cool!! I think I'd like to volunteer too. That's a great idea. And love the pictures. Thanks for sharing them. Report Inappropriate Comment

SPARKPIXIE 3/20/2010 5:02PM

Love the pictures. Thanks for sharing! Report Inappropriate Comment

More of an incentive to run this 5K breast cancer race in June

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Well, my friends daughter is very sick. Turns out her breast cancer is stage IIIC. This is so NOT good. She's 23 years old! It's HER2+ and estrogen- and progesterone-. It was the size of a grape in December and now is the size of a grapefruit and has invaded her chest wall. She also has positive nodes. She also came back positive for a mutation in the TP53 gene which is associated with larger tumors and more aggressive cancers. I'm not even familiar with this gene factor and will have to research it more. The breast surgeon said she can't do surgery until she has chemo first to shrink the tumor some. At this point they are not sure if chemo is something they are even going to attempt. She has a PET scan Monday. They are going to wait for these results before they decide if they want to proceed with any treatment.

I feel so sad for her and for my friend. Breast cancer is just about unheard of in 23 year olds...and such an advanced case at that.

I am SO glad I have always been such a supporter of breast cancer screenings, fundraisers, etc. It's always been a passion of mine. I've had many relatives and patients with breast cancer over the years, but this one is the hardest for me. I am SO going to rock this Race for the Cure run in June....all for Ashley.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

THE_JULES1 3/19/2010 2:30PM

Oh that is just so sad. I am so sorry. Report Inappropriate Comment

LLTS01 3/19/2010 1:21PM

Carla- I am so sorry. We definitely have a million reasons for our run on 6/5. Report Inappropriate Comment

SHIRLEYDILLARD 3/19/2010 11:40AM

I am so sorry to hear about your daughter. I am praying. Report Inappropriate Comment

JELLI-LEAN 3/19/2010 11:11AM

How horrible for her... she is so young... God does have a plan for her life. I will be praying for her. Good for you in the run! You go girl!! Happy Friday Disco Lady!! ~ Janel :) Report Inappropriate Comment

CHANCE0719 3/19/2010 11:01AM

What awful news! I am so sorry for your friend's family; i will keep them in my prayers. Report Inappropriate Comment

DONNAEDA 3/19/2010 9:00AM

Oh, how terrible, what a waste of a young person. All the more reason for all of us to support breast cancer awareness and research. Your friends are in my prayers Report Inappropriate Comment

CHOPOLA 3/19/2010 8:08AM

That's terrible. My husband has a friend at work that was just diagnosed at 28 and I thought that was terribly young. I hope she stays strong. We are going to rock this race for Ashely! Report Inappropriate Comment

St. Patrick's Day

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

I just wanted to thank all my Spark friends for all the cute St. Patrick's Day goodies and wishes. Being a lot Irish, I love this day :-)


Can you tell?

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

LLTS01 3/18/2010 10:53PM

PERFECT!!! I love this picture. Report Inappropriate Comment

JELLI-LEAN 3/18/2010 11:14AM

Cute... cute...cute... you gals were making to wear green and not get pinched! You go disco lady! Comment edited on: 3/18/2010 11:14:38 AM Report Inappropriate Comment

MINDYJ1 3/18/2010 10:30AM

Cute! Report Inappropriate Comment

KIMSTUTZ 3/18/2010 7:52AM

Green is a great color for you! Report Inappropriate Comment

BARBARAWEBSTER 3/17/2010 10:57PM

I'm only a little Irish, but I had a lot of fun with green eyeshadow, and green glitter all over my face. (we have to wear a blue uniform) And I DID pinch all the students I saw without green, even the department head! LOL Hope your night is a great one! Report Inappropriate Comment

Work blues...

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Today was a crazy work day. I work in a small, but progressive medical practice. We spent the last 3 years perfecting the templates and spending 1000+ hours of non work time transferring information from our old paper charts and making our electronic medical record software and practice management software work for us....only to find out that the company we chose was bought out by another company that is "sunsetting" our software and after next year will no longer provide support nor offer any updates. This is after a 5 year lease of literally thousands and thousands of dollars.

We now have the daunting task off finding a new system and starting over, almost from scratch....again. Yep, the new company will offer deep discounts on converting to their new software, but their support is not the best and their new program is nothing like the old one. Yep, there are companies that are doing conversions, but the conversions don't include all the extras we did when we customized our templates... the customization was one of the biggest selling points of what we picked plus the conversion packets are very pricey on top of the already steep prices for a new software package....never mind having to learn a totally different and brand new software.

We stayed after tonight for a demo of one of the contenders. It was supposed to be a 1.5 hour demo and ended up being 3.5. Not complaining as we got a lot more out of it than we would have otherwise, but it was not planned time and it prevented me from making my goal at the gym this evening. I got home after 9 and still had dinner to cook and other household things to do. Looks like there will be a lot more late nights to come too....and we thought we had already put in all the work for the last 3 years and could enjoy ourselves now. NOT...

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

TIFFYFANNY 3/18/2010 9:34AM

Ugh. Report Inappropriate Comment

LLTS01 3/17/2010 10:15PM

Interesting- I interviewed someone today who was working on converting a medical practice to EHR and they were really struggling. This is really a tough call. It's bad enough when the sunsetting of products happens to larger companies but the cost and time effort for smaller practices can be daunting. I don't know if there is an easier way. Can't local practices band together to contract with one company? What is the local hospital system doing that can be leveraged? Yikes- putting in my working hat. Report Inappropriate Comment

RUN2MYDREAMS 3/17/2010 8:21PM

I'm sorry you all have to go through that! You could come work in my place Report Inappropriate Comment

THE_JULES1 3/17/2010 10:46AM

Ugh! I would want to scream, too! Report Inappropriate Comment

MTNGRL 3/17/2010 9:38AM

The hospital I worked for changed over to a different "paper less" system and it was a nightmare changing everything over. Especially when everything we were doing was working so well. Good luck with the changes. I know how frustrating it can be. Report Inappropriate Comment