vacation is over

Yep, I'm going back to work on Monday.

Yesterday (Fri - Holiday) Pop drove me to NNMC to check out the route, it was horrible! Not the traffic because it was holiday and we left home late but it was the direction. Horrible! Difficult! Not to mention the $5 Greenway/Dulles Toll Road fee to be paid EACH way. I would have to eat dirt for lunch using this route!

Well, I hope to get a flex schedule and preferably an early morning start (like 6AM) Coming back is going to be nasty regardless but I do hope that by leaving home early in the morning will ease the commute a bit. I will also definitely ask for Flex-10, and take every Monday or Friday off.

I'm excited! About the new job, training, commute, travel and other things.

Time keeps rolling by...

Personal Life:

Wow...my mini vacation is just about over! It has been almost three weeks since I left my company?

What have I done since my last post? The major event was a 4 days trip to Ocean City Maryland (Mon - Wed) It was AWESOME and I had a great time there with Pop. More about the trip to be logged shortly.

My grandma has been in the hospital since Thursday of last week. She had a surgery, a huge cut in her tummy :~ so the doctor can rearrange her intestines. She's still in the hospital, recovering. I've been calling mom every day/night. I hope mom is taking care of herself while she's taking care of grandma. I so wish I could be there for them but I'm about to start my job soon...

Health:

I feel healthy! I can eat. I can run. Last Sunday, I rode from Leesburg to the end of W&OD trail in Purcellvile with the Taylors. However, during my vacation in OC, I had the "attacks" quite frequent, it freaked me out. I also experienced my very 1st disorientation and memory loss while I was out and about with Pop's grandma taking her shopping. It was the day after my OC trip and after I heard from mom that grandma was going under the knives. It felt like I just woke up (I was in a car, driving grandma home at that time) and everything I saw was new, I had no clue what happened, why was I there, what was I doing, etc.

Today, I went to see Dr. Wilder. My health insurance expires today (end of June) so I took this opportunity to go get a quick check up. I was afraid there's something wrong with my BRAIN. Dr. Wilder diagnosed me with "Panic Attack", a disorder that could caused by the hormone therapy I have been on and the surgery back in November. She said I should be on Fluoxetine (Prozac) for 6 months and a blood test is needed. I can't risk getting blood test done today and insurance company not paying it so I'm gonna wait on that (She said to test Lime Decease or something...) I filled my 1st prescription and will go back to see her in 3 weeks.

Work:

Talked to Waldo today too. He said I can have flex schedule as long as I'm doing 40 hrs/week. I can do 10hrs/day and start any time of the day. YES! That's great news :) I'm also trying to figure out where do I want to do my 5 training rotations. I want to hit San Diego or Pensacola but I'm not sure if those organizations will be able to provide me with the training I need. I'll have to talk to my mentor once I start my program next week.

Day 3 (THU 6/18), Day 4 (FRI 6/19)

Indian Butter Curry

Pei Wei Thai Chicken Dynamite

Blueberry Birthday Cupcake for Ar Tim

Rainy Road on a Rainy Day

At Pei Wei in Leesburg

Hit Sycolin Rd on W&OD Trail

Talking to fellow rider

W&OD trail heading in Leesburg

Day 3 THU 6/18:

Pop and I (alway two of us, we are always together. Yeah, you can puke away but it's true :) went on a little bus ride adventure. We started early in the morning, around 10am. The Ashburn Village bus picked us up right where we live and we rode it to a Grocery store next town. (Wegman, Sterling) On our way back, we had to wait FOREVER for the same bus to make a round back. Waited like over an hour but it's no big deal. We just sat at the bus stop (a tiny little 2 person bench) and watched the heavy sky traffic. While we were watching the planes, we spotted an old lady pushing her big red TARGET shopping cart across the parking lot and across the road! Pop rushed in to helped her getting to the bus stop and she sat next to me. We talked, and we took the same bus. We were heading home but she's heading to a groceries store.

This amazing lady's name is Jan. Thursday June 18th was her Birthday and she was out and about shopping by herself. Jan turned 97 years old that day. She was active and talkative. She told us stories about her childhood, her farm, the great depression and many many other stuff. When she left, she gave us her apartment unit and asked us to stop by sometime.

I'm thinking about Jan today as I'm writing this blog entry. I wanted to send her a birthday card, a belated birthday card and find some time to visit her.

June 18th was also Ar Tim's birthday (Pop's aunt). We picked up a card, stuff some cash inside, prepared a bday cupcake and headed over to her house for a mini celebration. The sky was leaking at that time, it was raining hard while we were on the road!

In the evening, we drove out to Wholefood in Reston to pick up my reusable shopping bags. We also stopped at Performance Bike shop before heading home (avoid rush hour traffic) We bought a couple of bike pants on sale at $25/ea. That's the last activity I did for Thursday.

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Day 4 FRI 6/19:

Today, we took a morning bike ride into town of Leesburg. I think we started at 10am. Pop had his protein shake and tried to share some with me. I hate that crap so I poured it down the sink while he wasn't looking :P That's right, I skipped breakfast before a long bike cross-town bike ride. That was dumb but I was fine. The new bike short (my first pair) worked SO WELL! Wow, much different and my butt wasn't tired at all.

Once we hit Leesburg, I was starving. Thanks to the free 6 months GPS service on my Nokia, I was able to find Pei Wei for an early lunch. I was searching for 7Eleven actually, but once spotted Pei Wei, I couldn't resist. I have been eating their Thai Chicken Dynamite dish for a long time now. Only that dish, only thing I would eat at Pei Wei. I'm boring like that but next time I think I'll try their "NEW" sesame chicken. The ride back home was quick and a breeze. We stopped at the pool to cool down before heading home...

At night, I talked to Chris and Danielle and learned that they have their second son 8 weeks ago (Leo). Wow, time flies, we've lost touched for so long. Thanks god Kent just turned 3 not 18! We were planning to visit them in Delaware tomorrow but Pop called it off. He's so busy with his work and grandma wants us to go to Wat Yarn with her on Sunday. Allison/Alex also want to do a bike ride from Leesburg to Percellville. I think I might let Pop take grandma to Wat while I ride to Percellvile, teehee :P :)

Well, since we won't be going to Delaware this weekend, I booked a hotel room (Ocean Front) in Ocean City, Maryland. (Days Inn Ocean Front) It got a pretty good rate ($150 Mon, $180 Tue) but the hotel has HORRIBLE review. We're going to test our luck on Monday. I don't care the room is dirty (will clean it up myself and will bring my own sheets) as long as I have a ocean front room. I'll bring my bike too.

Great! What an exciting day. I can't wait to hit the road on Monday. I need to call cancel a lunch date with my girlfriends because I'll leave early in the morning. Will drop off my laptop at the office on the way.