Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time in a quaint little ort in the middle of a land filled with ponies, there was but a humble servant who toiled her life away for the big bad man. But the land filled with ponies meant something more to the girl and she dreamt of filling it with bright, young magical healers to care for the people of the land filled with ponies.

One day, as she toiled away for the big bad man, she met a spry fairy. "Haaaay, young lass. Why are you so blue?" he asked.

"I want to fill the land with magical apothecaries to heal the people of Ponyworld," she responded.

"Are you sure this is all you desire? Not riches? Not a castle? Not hundreds of ponies of your own? No magical leopluradon?" replied the fairy.

"As tempting as a trip to the magical candy mountain is, no spry fairy, all I want is bright, young magical healers to fill this land," said the girl.

"Who are you calling a fairy?! Oh, ha ha, me..." the fairy blushed. "Your wish is very generous, so for you, I have a gift." With that the fairy grabbed the servant girl's hand, opened it, and placed in it a seed. "Girl, take care of this seed. Plant it, nurture, and coax it to grow and you shall have your wish."

The servant girl thanked the fairy and whisked away to plant the seed. The days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned in to months, and the seed did grow. Soon the youth of the land of ponies murmed and buzzed about what the servant girl was growing.

One day, as the servant toiled for the big bad man, she looked out the window to see hundreds of people converging on Ponyworld. Men and women, young and old. Togehter they walked, and talked, and learned and laughed, eventually arriving at her door.

She hurried to the door, "What is this all about?"

A girl about her age responded, "I came to see what you were growing and along the way I met this healer. He was also on the way to see your magical plant and has taught me all he knows while we walked." Soon, others chimed in to tell her similar stories, and it was then she realized that her wish had come true. The elders had tought the bright young men and women and now the land was filled with healers. And the girl was happy.

But what happened to the seed she planted? She passed it to others who toiled for the big bad man, and many things grew, and all were happy.

-- This fairy tale has been in tribute of Ari's fairy tale and in a round about way has told you all about my day today. Today I hosted the first Career Chats with Alumni at UK and the event was awesome!!! The medical students (100+) chatted with 60 alumni to learn more about the various specialties. Everyone had an amazing time, and I couldn't feel prouder of an event. This job is amazing and I truly hope you all find the same kind of happiness in your work.

Gettin' Sleazy in the Big Easy

It must be Christmas, because I am gifting you all with the second blog in one week. Aren't you lucky?

Today's blog originates with Ari's blog of three days ago when she posted pictures of her A-dorable new abode. Ari, your new home is so cute! What a perfect place for you and Bart to finally LIVE your lives TOGETHER. Novel concept, huh? I love, love, love the big windows and bet that on a bright, sunny New Orleans day the light that fills your house makes it even more cheerful. (Hard to do because you are already in it.) I can't wait to see it in person!

This brings me to an apology I must make: Ang, Katie, Sallie, I am so sorry but the April trip is actually the March trip, and Stephen and I are flying down, not driving. Do you all want to kill me now? Stephen and I kept talking about taking a trip during his spring break, because this is his last semester in school, thus his last chance for a bonafide spring break trip. Who could travel, though? With the cost of travel, hotel, and entertainment we were looking at at least $1,000. Then I realized my conference was the week after Stephen's spring break. Could this work? I checked flights and to my amazement they were affordable! ($211 after tax from Lexington to New Orleans, whoo-hoo!) Stephen will take a mini-trip from Wednesday night until Sunday, while I will stay through my conference, as work pays for my airfaire.

That said, we are super excited about visiting Ari and Bart and seeing the Big Easy for the first time. Stephen is especially excited about Bourbon Street and has challenged Ari and I to compete for beads. Hmmmmm, could there be an alterior motive here? Surely not.

I, on the other hand, am most excited to see my Ari-Bear. As we get older, our chances for one-on-one time with our best friends seem to get robbed by other commitments and relationships. We used to get to hang out after school but now we work until 5 or later. Our love relationships used to play second-fiddle to our friendships, and now we must put our energy into fortifying our marriages. In some cases, we have kids demanding our time and energy. (Why would you do that to yourself?! Darn, little thieves.) BUT not this time, not for me. That is because this trip affords me the uber-rare opportunity of genuine 1-on-1 time with Ari. After Stephen leaves on Sunday morning, I get to stay with Ari until my conference begins on Wednesday. I know Bart will be around, but there will be plenty of time when it is just Ari and me, as well. I am so excited, I feel like I am the one getting the Christmas present!

I hope you all have the chance to plan a trip to visit Ari soon. Do it! Like Katie said in her blog, It's Not a Bugg's Life Anymore, there is no time like the present. Perhaps one day we will all meet up in New Orleans together, but don't let it stop you from going it alone. Stop reading this blog and plan your trip - stat!

"About fifteen miles above New Orleans the river goes very slowly. It has broadened out there until it is almost a sea and the water is yellow with the mud of half a continent. Where the sun strikes it, it is golden."

-- Frank Yerby

On the subject of resolutions...

Bet you thought I gave up already. :)

Not a chance.

I have finally started to catch up on my blog reading. My extended absence was due to a holiday trip to wintry wonderful (and frigid!) Minnesota. I notice a theme here, New Year's resolution anyone?

Of particular interest to me is Elizabeth's resolution to quit Coke. Let me start by saying that I totally know you can do it Elizabeth!!! I have spent sometime researching the "addiction" of Coca-Cola and here's what I have found:

1. Forget smoking, froget alcoholism, Coca-Colaism is one of America's leading addicitions. This horrible addiction fuels millions of hyperactive children, sleep deprived teenagers (I was with you on the 40oz. pops on the way to Lafayette, E.), mothers battered by their hyperactive children, and countless other seemingly normal Americans. (Come on, you know other countries do not have this problem like America does... most of those countries don't use ice and who wants a warm Coke?)


2. Coca-Colaism has many negative side effects. According to the Coke addicted experts, this addiction may lead to rotten teeth, baid hair, trouble sleeping, shrinking wallet, and weight gain. These are terrible, but according to those in the recovery process it is not half as bad as the side effects you will experience when quitting Coke: nausea, headaches, stuffy nose and other cold-like symptoms, migraines, and Coke-related recovery rants on related blogs and websites.


3. Coca-Colaism even affects celebrities. Don't believe me? Check this out: Britney Spears' Painful Coca-Cola Addiction. I never realized what poor Britney was dealing with. How insensitive of the collective masses to just assume her late night partying, attacks on paparazzi, and MTV meltdown were due to something as mundane as alcoholism or drug use. She was, in fact, facing a major addiction to Coca-Cola. Shame on all of us.

There is good news, Elizabeth. Through my reading, I have gained expert status on Coca-Colaism, and I feel confident in saying that you can conquer this addiction. I have learned, that you will likely experience withdrawal symptoms by quitting cold turkey but that these should clear after the first 5 days. I have also learned that most Coca-Coladdicts are repeat offenders, so try, try, and try again. And finally, drink lots of water. One fellow expert noted that it will hydrate you nearly as well as Coke.

I'm so codependent...

It HAS begun. I am officially blogging. Darn the day before 16 days of vacation; it has rewired my brain into work dormancy and play overdrive. That aside, you should know where the idea for this blog came from, how it will work, and the rules to abide by. Sounds like a pain in the butt, right? It might be.

A Blog is Born
One day, Katie and I snuck away from work for a much need "vent" drive. We were giddy like high school freshman sneaking away from school for the very first time. (Not that I ever actually did this.) The anticipation of a chance to spend time together in something other than our usual jogging capacity combined with a much needed reprieve from work, was enough to get the giddy-juice flowing within us. At some point in our drive, we got to talking about her blog and the blogs of our various friends. I am notorious for being always the blog-fan, never the blogger, so when I haven't seen a new blog from someone in a while, I will ride their tail to write a new blog; it is this peculiar new addiction of mine. (Thanks, addictive personality.) Katie and I got to laughing about this and I jokingly said that if I ever created a blog it would have to be a codependency blog because of my need to read and comment on all of the happenings in the lives of my friends. Thus, a blog was born.

The Codependent Critique
So The Codependent Critique is a different type of blog. The blog you are reading now is not typical to what you will find on this page. I plan on reading the blogs of others and blogging on their blogs. (How many times can I say blog in one sentance?) My rules are that every blog must have something codependent included, but I will also try to work in amusing anecdotes from my life. Gee, I wonder if I will be blogging on Katie's blogs a lot? Since I have never done this before, I can not garauntee that the concept will pan out in an amusing manner, but I will sure try. I can also not insure that the blogs appearing on this page will do so in a timely fashion, but then you guys expect that about me.

Rules for the Reader
Okay, so there is just one. You probably realize that if you leave a comment on someone's blog, you must enter in a series of letters to validate that you are a human and not a computer. (Why would a computer read a blog, anyways?) Those letters form the funniest, most fascinating "non-words". When you comment on my blog, you must include a P.S. that includes the "non-word" and a dictionary entry for it - meaning you must identify it as a n., v., adj., etc. and then you must give the meaning. By doing this, you have paid hommage to the codependent nature of this blog, and the blogger shall smile upon you. :D

So we come to the end of my very first blog! You may be saying to yourself, "But there is nothing codependent about this blog", and I say to you that this blog is indeed very codependent. When you are done reading this, go look at Katie Bugg's Life and Snakes and Septres. Notice anything familiar? Both are using the Dots wallpaper, and since Katie is my twin, I chose to codependently choose her exact background. Amanda will realize another reason this blog is codependent - the idea to make definitions for the the "non-words" was hers. Thanks guys for letting me leach off you!