Poor Grandpa E. :(

My grandpa had a heart attack 2 nights ago. He wasn't feeling well and my Uncle Tim and Grandma took him to the hospital and there they had to use defibrillation to get his heart going again. He took a life flight to Souix City, Iowa and had a surgery where they found a bunch of clogged arteries. My mom and dad drove up there to see him expecting him to look pretty bad, and to their great surprise, he looked great! They said he was feeling good and even was eating when they left.

I am so happy he trusted his instinct and went to the hospital when he felt something was really wrong! Lesson to be learned by all of us who blow stuff off like it's nothing (Dad!).

Send good thoughts/prayers/karma to Gramps! And remember to eat a heart healthy diet to protect your heart :)

Games, Games, and more Games

After so many holiday festivities over the past month and a half, I we had a really low key weekend, which ended up involving lots of games.

Friday night we went over to Leigh's to eat dinner and ended up playing some of Lisa's board games-Scattegories, Would You Rather, and Cranium. What was supposed to be an early night resulted in Adam and me getting home at 3AM! I had forgotten how much I love some of these games.

Saturday, we were just sitting around and Adam started playing Robbie's Wii that is still at our house from New Years Eve. After so long of watching him, I decided I wanted a turn and we ended up playing it all afternoon (bowling, tennis, and baseball). To anyone who thinks that a video game can't be related to fitness, think again. I barely could move my upper right arm and shoulder all day yesterday due to so much swinging/swatting/rolling and still feel a little bit of pain. Regardless, I was proud of myself because I beat Adam at bowling and my Wii fitness age was younger than his. Aren't guys supposed to be better at sports AND video games :)

Saturday night we went to Downtown Johnny Browns to watch the Colts and Chargers game (some are from Indiana, some are from San Diego, I just go for the fun). The Chargers won I guess, but I didn't really even watch any of the actual game.

Yesterday we were all gamed out and just walked around downtown all day.

Now, no more fun and games. Back to work. 4 days and counting until the weekend.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2009 is as great of a year for everbody as 2008 was for me!

I started my New Years celebrating yesterday with Lisa and Colleen (Lisa's best friend who was visiting from Chicago). Our plan for the night was to go to dinner then come back for a little party at Adam and my house afterwards. Us girls went and shopped for some party decorations and late night snacks, then went to get manis and pedis at my nail place in Hillcrest. Afterwards we went back to our house and decorated. It was a fun girly day :)

New Years Eve night we went to dinner at a restaurant in Little Italy called Indigo Grill, which Adam and I really like. They had a prix fix menu thing going so we all met up, picked up Robbie and his friend Kim, then walked down to eat dinner. The food was DELICIOUS and was in huge portions, so we all left being stuffed. Regardless, it was a good time!

Afterwards we went back to our house and just had drinks, socialized, played games (drinking and Robbie's Wii), and even some dance moves were broken out. We partied it up until 2 AM, which is LATE for me, but time flew because we were having fun!

Today Adam and I slept in, took a long walk, ate lunch, and saw Benjamin Button. It was so good and I recommend it to anyone!

Now we're tired, watching Napoleon Dynamite on TV, and getting ready to go to bed soon. I'm super excited that I have 3 days more off but wish Adam was off tomorrow too. Oh well!

Hope everyone had a great New Years Eve and that they stick to their resolutions! I don't really have a specific one, just to try to be as healthy, happy, and responsible as I can be! Hopefully 2009 is a great year for you all!

All NYE Pictures:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbM3DRi0cuWSG

Christmas Festivities in the Midwest

Adam, Diggy, and I just got back from a busy week in the Midwest. Every time I go home I wish I could stay longer-our trips are just so crazy, running around trying to see everyone we can! Regardless of the exhausting schedule, we had a great time!

We left for the airport Saturday morning (the 20th), ate some breakfast, stuck a sedative into a treat for Diggy, stuffed him in his carrier, and got on the plane. He was a perfect (drugged) dog the whole time and stayed in his carrier until we got to Bloomington where my sister picked us up. That night Kristie had a group of people over including Katie, Krissy P, and Everhart (an old high school friend of mine), so it was really fun to hang out.

Diggy in his carrier

The next day we were supposed to go to Iowa for my mom's Christmas, but half way there, the roads were closed down due to the horribly icey roads. We turned around after driving 2 hours and went to one of my fave restaurants-Avantis-for lunch. Then I spent the day wrapping presents and my mom had all of us and my aunt's family over for dinner! Diggy loved it because he got TONS of attention from all the kiddies!

Cal playing with Diggy

Monday I basically lounged around until evening. Adam played racketball with my brother in law so he was busy. That night my sisters and our husbands went to dinner at another of my local faves-La Fiesta. Afterwards we met Kristen, Rachel, and some friends at a local townie bar.

Tuesday we headed for Indiana. We left early enough to get to our niece Carissa's baptism, but the roads were bad so we missed it by a half hour! Anyways, the whole Ralph family met up at Adam's sister Jill's house, along with his extended family. We hung out, ate dinner, then met up with Adam's friend Brian.

Us in matching green and white (Adam copied my only outfit I brought)

The next day we celebrated Christmas Eve in Indiana. It is a townie tradition for all the Haubstaters to attend the local bars on Christmas Eve, but while Adam and some people went, I stayed home with some of Adam's sisters and the kids and hung out/got ready. That night we did a gift exchange, Santa stopped by with some gifts for the kids, and we all ate a nice dinner.

Ralph Grandkids

Adam, Jay, and Adam preparing the meat

Christmas morning we got up early and drove back to Illinois. This time the weather was a lot nicer so we made good time. We did our usual Christmas kids open presents-dinner-we open presents. This year we played a game of Guesstures which was pretty funny too!

Erwin Grandkids

The Ralphs :)

Sylv, Tate, and Ells in the jumpy thing from Grandma and Grandpa

Diggy didn't know what to think of all the wrapping paper

Games

Friday we had a little shower for my cousin Courtney's baby, who is due in February. We went to lunch then back to my sisters for gifts and presents. That night we went to my aunt Julie's for dinner (grandparents and my aunt Cindy's family were there too), then I met up with Joanna and Darah at a bar where tons of high school people were at.

Saturday, it was time to go home. Despite Adam developing the flu that morning and a tornado warning in Bloomington, we made it out on time and got home as scheduled.

What a busy week! Now back to work. I guess I can't complain too bad since I have another 5 day weekend starting Wednesday for New Years :)

Rest of pictures: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbM3DRi0cuWR5

Preparing to head to the Midwest

We leave to go home for Christmas on Saturday morning and I feel like I've got a zillion things to do...mainly because we are taking Diggy with us on our flight! I'm getting worried because I bought him a carrier and he is very resistant when it comes to going in it. Adam and I have been putting tons of treats in it so he associates it with good things, but I don't think it is working. Last night I finally got him in it and zipped it up and he barked at me until I let him out! I guess I'm going to have to ask the vet for a sedative or something 'cause I know it won't be a pleasant flight for our fellow passengers if a little dog is barking the whole time!

Tomorrow I have to work for a few hours, then I'm spending my day taking Diggy to the vet to get his papers saying he's okay to fly, finishing up laundry, and packing. Packing is another thing that might be difficult (not as bad as the Europe trip). I send a good 75 % of the gifts I bought to my mom and dad's house already, but we have 2 suitcases to fit all of our stuff, all of Diggy's stuff, and the rest of our gifts. I sense I'll have to do some sitting on the suitcases to get them zipped!

Wish us luck on our travels!

Christmas Parties for Work

This week we have had 4 parties for work: one for the Maternal Child Health and Family Services, one for Share the Care, one for UCSD Community Pediatrics, and the final big one was for all UCSD Pediatrics. Not a bad week to return to work after a vacation :).

The first one was Wednesday afternoon at a hotel in Old Town with a lunch buffet, talent show, dancing, etc. It is pretty funny to see how wild and crazy the ladies at work get (especially considering it's daytime and noone was drinking :). The second one was yesterday with a lunch at a Mexican restaurant and we did a white elephant gift exchange. The third was a cocktail party at Dr. Taras' house. The last one was a big dinner/dance party at Prado at Balboa Park.

Adam and I went last year to this one and were excited to go again! The ballroom it is in is super pretty, the food is really good, and it's just a fun night. Here are some pictures from the one last night...

Adam, me, Carissa, Carissa's boyfriend KyleDruann, her boyfriend Howard, and Janice

Carissa, Hank (my boss's husband), Renee (one of my bosses), Druann, Howard, Adam

Adam and me hitting the dance floor

Time to go home...

After our last night in Paris, we were taken to the airport and had to leave. It really was such a great trip! There were some things that I was totally over by the end of the trip (my feet and calves hurting, the cold, paying to use the bathrooms, tons of smoking people and smelling like smoke, bread and ham for breakfast and very few fruits/veggies in general, etc.) but so many things that were so great that the little things didn't matter (all of our new friends, the beautiful architecture, such pretty scenery/drives, fancy rest stops with wine/beer with all meals including fast food, walking everywhere, trying new foods, etc.).

This is me supposed to be acting sad to leave Paris, hehe.

We also learned a lot from the people we were on the trip with about their countries and learned of lots of other places we want to visit! It was so funny learning the vocabulary of all these people (cue for line, pissed for drunk, lollies for candy, uni for college, bloke, mate, etc).

People keep asking me what my favorite part of the trip was and it's so hard to say! I loved seeing every city around Christmas time and all lit up with the Christmas stands. I loved the low key nights just hanging out with people at the hotels. I LOVED the Haufbrau Haus. I thought Venice, Austria, and Lucerne were so pretty. I LOVED Paris and all the pretty things to look at, all the shopping, the Moulin Rouge, and our fun last night there. All in all, I loved everything!

But I love America too and was ready to come home to something that was missing in my heart...

Diggy was happy to be back with his mama, and I LOVE him more than the best thing any European city has to offer!