Office Potluck

All the Reps in my office decided to have a potluck lunch this past Monday. You can tell what the guys brought (store-bought pastries and doritos) versus what the girls brought (fried chicken, chili, vegetable medley, etc.). Val brought two lemon iced pouncakes and I ate six pieces. She cut them in half, so technically that is only three slices- not so bad. I'm noticing the recurring theme of food in my posts.
So one other new thing in the life of the Butts is the new and improved study breaks. For those of you who don't know any Medical Students, let me just tell you that all they do is study. Sometimes, however, Caleb likes to take a break from the chair. This usually leads to this conversation:
Caleb: "I need a break"
Tricia: "What do you want to do?"
Caleb: "I don't know- just not study."
Tricia: "Do you want to watch some TV?"
Caleb: "Not really."
Tricia: "Do you want to drive around for a while."
Caleb: "No...."
Tricia: "Do you want to choreograph an 8-count for Med School Prom?" (which is in two weeks by the way!)
Caleb: "Do I look like Boo Boo or Lindsey?"

Then we end up watching the last 10 minutes of a Scrubs episodes and he goes back to studying.

SO- we have decided to make the most of study breaks and have planned activities. This is working pretty good so far. We played an exhilarating round of "The Office" Board Game (thanks Molly for the great Christmas gift!) the other night, and I have to say that it is a fabulous game!
I was Phyllis and Caleb was Kevin and there are lots of fun little twists and turns to the game. For example, you vie for the "Support the Rabbid" wristband (seen above) and have to wait until Michael is out of the room to win a "Dundie."

I would recommend this game to all Office fans everywhere. It tests your knowledge to the extreme.

Lots of Cheese

This past Friday, January 23rd, marked the 5th anniversary of me and Caleb's 1st date! First of all, I would like it noted that Caleb (as a romantic gesture, no less) has kept the checkbook register where he logged the price of our meal and he shows it to me every year. It was $18.50 in case you are wondering.

So the funny part of our "5th Anniversary of our 1st Date" Dinner was comparing what I ordered five years ago versus now. Our first date, I ordered a salad. Five years later, this is what I ordered:

Appetizer: Smoked Mozzarella Fonduta
(this is a big bowl of cheese. a.k.a. NOT HEALTHY)

Obviously, it was delicious. I ate pretty much 70% of the cheese. Yummmm.

Main Course: Mezzaluna Pasta with Shrimp: Double Yummmmm. If you look closely, you can see the pools of butter.

And I ordered a slice of "Black Tie Chocolate Mousse" Cheesecake! Hahaha. We had a huge gift card, by the way, otherwise we would have eaten at Subway. But what a change in ordering 5 years has brought. Between appetizer and dessert, I ingested about 8 different types of cheese.

On to other news, I remembered to take pics this Saturday night at Los Casadores, at which we are Regulars now. Caleb and Gib sang, which is always a hit in our cute little Mexican dive.

It's a classy joint.

Here's a shot with all their fans. The gray hair lady that is laughing is Ms. Linda and she has a crush on Lee. We're not positive of their relationship, actually, this is just the story we have made up to go with them. It may not be true. We like to hypothesize, however.

And this is Lee. He is the man.

And this last bit is a little random, but I wanted to show off Caleb's handiwork. When his parents got married, his Dad made his Mom a headboard, and I've always thought it was pretty neat. They gave it to us and Caleb stripped it and painted it. Here are the Before and After pics:

Before

After

It's a little hard to see, but it looks really good with the black paint and even better with the bed made up. Caleb is very handy!

The Comment Dual is Over.

*I want to publicly admit that Laura Tomlinson won the Comment War. She received far more comments than I did, even after Caleb got all his Medical School class to leave fake comments. Thanks to all who joined in.*

So on to actual Butts' News....
Last Friday night was really fun. We attended a big bonfire in honor of A. Lott's 21st birthday out at the Marbut Estates. I want it noted that I really did want to take pictures to post on the blog, but I'm not breaking out the D60 in sub-zero weather, and Caleb wouldn't let me take his dig. camera either. Thus, no photos to post here. I promise to get better about that.

Saturday was started at ITT at 8 am and then at 2 pm I went to job #2 at David's. We had to stay until 9 pm straightening the store which was a huge bummer because Sean and Laura Townsend were staying with us that night and I made them wait to eat dinner with us, so I'm sure they were starving. FYI: Sean had an interview for PA School and we really want the Townsends to join us in Mobile!!!

For dinner, we went to Los Casadores (duh) and quickly realized we have successfully become Regulars, which has always been a dream of mine. I tried to be a Regular at Arby's in HS, but they changed shifts too much. Well everyone at Los Casadores greeted us by name, asked me how work went, and why we were getting in so late. They also brought out our cheese dip before we even had to order it, and Lee, the guy who sings and plays guitar in the corner chatted with us a few minutes. I really ate this up.

Sunday- my right eye started giving me problems but I made it through the day at DB.

Monday- made it through work at ITT despite a cough and right eye pains.

Tuesday- woke up for work, looked in the mirror and saw this:

I had Quasi Moto Eye.

It was freakish. Turns out I had an infection in my eyelid gland. Yuck. So I didn't work Tuesday and then my sinus infection kept me down for half a day yesterday. I'm getting through all day today and hoping this gunk clears up quickly! Being sick is no fun, even living with a student doctor.

I also have to say another bummer about the weekend was not being able to attend my friend Amanda's Baby Shower in Memphis. But I am dying to see little Kate when she makes her debut! I'm really proud of my baby gift and Heather is going to send me a picture because, ugh, I forgot to take one. Anyway, I made a baby blanket out of the Bridesmaid Dress I wore in their wedding. All the stitching is pretty zizagged, but I tried and I'm proud of my so-so seamstress abilities. I'll put a pic when I get it to show off.

Have a great day everyone and look out for Eyelid Gland Infecting Bacteria!

Too much time on thy hands....

*UPDATE: At this time, I have 42 comments to LT's 61.

I am gaining ground on you LT.

A big thanks to all of the COM Class of 2012 who are not readers but are leaving comments to boost my numbers. Keep them coming.*


I have started stalking people's blogs who stalk my blog. I mean, those of STRANGERS.

I got a comment from someone I do not know, and now I just spent 30 minutes reading her blog. She seems pretty cool and interesting actually. I do not know where she lives though. Hmmmm....

So because I have become so engrossed with this reader that is a stranger to me, I decided I am going to totally copy LT's idea and ask everyone who reads this blog to leave a comment. I know if every blogger starts doing this, it will probably become annoying, but now it's like an obsession, I would just really like to have an idea of who is actually reading this. Especially if my boss is so I can make sure not to spill any Top ITT Secrets.

SO, please be sure to leave a comment even if you typically don't. You can even just write "present" like it's roll call in elementary school.

And I have also decided that I need to get more than 52 people to leave a comment so that I can totally beat LT. You're going down, friend! I will not rest until I have at least 54 comments so please bring it on.

Confession:

I ate stuffed shrimp from Wintzells for breakfast this morning!

Spotted:

Caleb punching buttons on the microwave for the sheer purpose of trying to make it sound like the beeping on 24. You know, when the show comes back from commercial and goes: "beep-beep, beep-beep." He is trying to make that noise with the microwave.....

Favorite Things (not Oprah's)

Here is my list of favorite things in 2008 just in case you want to try any of it. If nothing else, this will keep me busy for twenty minutes!

Book: The Kite Runner
This book is not for the squemish. There is one part that is potentially scarring, but is vital to the plot line. That is all I will tell you, but I am obsessed with this book and all others by the author whose name is Afghani so I don't know how to spell it. A Thousand Splendid Suns is also life changing and by the same guy. I wish I could write like him!!!

Song: From the Inside Out by Hillsong
Pull it up on youtube and you will probably like it too. It is in a key that I cannot sing in so I sound more wretched than normal (IS there a key I CAN sing to? I haven't discovered it yet) so I find myself straining my right shoulder muscle because I am pumping my "victory fist" so hard. Everytime I listen to the words, I think about how I could honestly live it out... it's such a challenge!:

"Your will above all else, my purpose remains

The art of losing myself in bringing you praise"

Stop reading this and listen to it right now!!!

Food: White Pizza

What rock have I been hiding under where I didn't know that white pizzas existed. Overall, I just think fancy pizzas are amazing. But don't get cactus as a topping- it's not as adventurous as you think.

TV Show: The Office

It will always be. But I did also really enjoy American Idol this past year (David Cook- I have a mild crush on you... just kidding Caleb!). And we are also really pumped about the new season of LOST coming up. But nothing gives me that runner's high like the theme song of The Office starting up with an all new episode.

Med Student: Caleb

But Allison and Kacie tie for 2nd place.

Experience: Biker Church

Biker Church was awesome and it really taught me a lot about myself and how I see people. But also close behind was Caleb and I taking the test for Who Wants to be a Millionaire, riding the ferry upclose to Niagara Falls, and then successfully skiing down a hill without falling or bugging Amanda Boo while in CO.

Toothbrush: The one I left at my parent's house after Christmas

I am having a tough adjustment period.

That's all the categories I can think of for now. I might add some more later.

I miss my toothbrush.

I hate brushing my teeth and toothpaste makes me want to vom.

Two weeks ago I dropped my free dentist visit toothbrush on the bathroom floor by accident and was greatly disturbed that I would have to actually pay for one to replace it. This seemingly small accident turned out nicely when at Wal-Mart I discovered the mother of all toothbrushes. It was three bucks more than all the others and pretty cute if I may add. Caleb scoffed at spending $4 on a toothbrush but after my recent brush with cavities, I felt it was a solid investment.

And then I brushed my teeth.

And it was like a spa visit for my mouth. Seriously. This toothbrush made me LIKE brushing my teeth! It's a modern day miracle!

And then I left it at my parent's house at Christmas.

240 miles separate me from my toothbrush love. I bought a new toothbrush but it is cheaper. It has these weird indentions on the back of the head to use as a tongue scraper but all it does is rub the inside of my mouth cheeks raw when I brush my teeth. I miss my Super Spa Toothbrush!

I did get a new cell phone for Christmas and it is fantastic! It is very sleek and does a lot of cool things. I can gchat on it and calibrate it during workouts to count my steps. This could really revolutionize my lazy walk at the park. It has a radio too, and Flight Mode in case I fly a lot and need Flight Mode. It is awesome.

That's all for my boring work ramblings.

Butts Christmas

Caleb and I got to Decatur on Christmas Day around 6 pm, just in time to eat another huge Christmas dinner. We like to time feedings strategically.



Not sure why I'm making this face.....

Here's a lovely pic of me and my sweet M.I.L. all dressed up.
Here's Jess and Amanda sporting their new cute dresses. I drove them crazy taking pictures and posing them.

Hopper Christmas

"For there's no place like home for the holidays..."

After the Candlelight Service at FBC, we got into Goodie-making mode. This usually ends with McRae trying to dip something bizarre into my chocolate fondue pot and always ends with me struggling to dip the last of the pretzels while everyone else has moved on to other activities. This year we made mints, chocolate dipped pretzels, oreos and cherries, and then also peanut butter balls (which I ate every single one of... they're like homeade reese cups).

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. I look like a beast AND we're wearing matching festive sweaters.

Festive Sweaters was the brainchild of McRae who found these jewels at Dirt Cheap for 7 bucks each. He made us wear khaki pants with the sweaters at 6 am. It was worth the look on my mom's face when she saw us.

This is a sampling of the annual war with Silly String. I don't like to have dirt in my hair so I don't participate. This used to mean everyone turned their efforts toward me, but they respect the Nikon D60 and didn't form an alliance against me this year.

And after all the morning festivities of festive sweaters, matching pj's, silly string wars, etc., our cousins come over from Brandon for the Feast and some Apples to Apples, our new favorite game.

Kentucky Christmas

We started off the Christmas season a weekend before in Kentucky with Caleb's Mom's side of the family. It was a fun day of board games and Dirty Santa and lots of good food, of course!

Here's a pic of Amanda, Caleb and Grandma playing Taboo, one of my personal favorite games. Caleb tries to get people flustered and is not fun to play with. Boo Caleb.
Instead of buying everyone gifts this year, we all played Dirty Santa. Unfortunately, Alyssa (Caleb's cousin) picked the gift Caleb brought, which was five pounds of shrimp we wrapped up in a cooler. Not the most fun gift for a teenage girl. Yes, we drove a total of 8 hours with raw shrimp wrapped up in the trunk of the car.
Here's sweet Aunt Lisa, Gold Star Reader of the blog, with Amanda who never reads the blog but is loved nonetheless.

Grandaddy Christmas

On our way back to Mobile after the Kentucky Family Christmas visit, Caleb and I stopped in Oneonta for my Mom's side of the family Christmas get-together. I was particularly pumped about this because all the grandchildren had prepared the ultimate gift for our Grandaddy. When each of us graduated from High School, he took us on a week-long cruise. Molly, the youngest, finished up the tradition of cruises this summer, so we compiled all of our pictures and made a coffee table book on Snapfish. Here's the pic of him opening it:

Here's all of the grandkids with Grandaddy and the Book of all Books.

Here's further proof that I ate like a horse over the holidays. This is sheer awesomeness.
And this is Princess Caroline. I call her this because the first time she met me was at our wedding and she honestly thought I was a Princess. To this day, she calls me Princess Tricia, which I LOVE and completely eat up.
Here is a sample conversation between Princesses:
Princess Caroline: "Princess Tricia! Can we go outside and play?"
Princess Tricia: "Ask your mother and if it's ok with her, then sure, why not."
(30 seconds later)
Princess Caroline: "SHE SAID IT'S OK!!!!!"
Princess Tricia: "Ok great! But it's pretty cold outside, so when I say it's time to go back inside, what are we going to do?"
Princess Caroline (and I'm not making this up): "Then I will come back inside, because that's just what Princesses do."

I don't know where she got the Princess Handbook, but she does have Princess etiquette down pat.

Having cute little kids around was so much fun. Reece is now four and does the Robot, the Apache dance, River Dance and can roll his belly on command.