A Year in Review...

Have a seat & grab a beverage.  This one's a bit longer.  ; )

My year consisted of lots of friends, good food & drink, fun, work & more fun!  Here's some excerpts of my favorite moments!

The Great Guinness Toast at The Wine Tap (one of our favorites)

with our friends Ashley & Chad

St. Patty's Day

April was full of events...Opening Day for the Cardinals (which was unseasonably warm),

Easter,

...and a very special wedding that Chad and I were unable to attend.  I stole these pics from our S. African friends' FB pages.

Here is the bride and her bridesmaids...at their traditional "bachelorette" party.  Forgive me for I have forgotten what this tradition is called...something about the mother hens??

Here is a pic of Chad's brother, Ryan, and his wife, Tanya...

May is always fun with lots of wine tastings, microfests...and of course, MY BIRTHDAY!!

This year May also consisted of vacation!  Thank goodness for that!!  I promise I won't post the hundreds of pics that we took...or all the pics of the food that we ate.  Here are a few of the best...

July brought around more fun.  We spend the 4th at the Cardinal's game & air show under the Arch.

Here are Ashley and I with a St. Louis legend...the Cardinal Cowboy!

We also took a trip back to Rochester to visit with Chad's Mom, Sandi...always a good time.  Chad's friends, Justin & Kelly, just had a beautiful daughter, MaryGrace (AKA MG).  Here is Chad holding her after much coercing!  : )

July was also The World Cup, which was held in S. Africa this year!!  Ryan, Tanya and her family were lucky enough to partake in some of the festivities.  Here are more pics that I've bogarted from others.  : )

In August, Chad and I took a road trip to Kansas City for his birthday to take in a couple of Yankee's games.  It was ridiculously hot that weekend...something like 103F when we arrived the first day.  We also hit up a local dive that was featured on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives on the Food Network.  Yumm-o!!

September proved to be a fairly uneventful month...except for a crazy afternoon (of which my memory is a bit fuzzy) with friends at the Midwest Wing Fest.  This was a festival of many different types of chicken wings.  Since I am still not eating chicken, I unfortunately didn't eat much...hence the fuzzy memory.  Ha!  
Here's a pic of me with Ashley & Judy...

October brought about a good friend's bachelorette party & wedding celebration!  
Congrats again Vicki & Larry!


Here's the bacheorette in all her glory!

Me and the girls ready for the big night...

...and at the wedding.

Chad acting goofy like normal.

The bride and her "back-up bridesmaids".
(Might as well make the best of having the same dress as someone else, right?)

November was a month of celebration.  First came dinner and dancing for my good friend, Kristine's, birthday.

Awwww...

Then another good friend, Chad, left for training prior to his deployment overseas.  We celebrated his loyalty to our country with some brews at iTap.  (One of our faves!)

Later that night we met up with some of my cousins for dinner and cocktails, of course.

Rounding out the year...more celebration.  I won't bore you with too many Christmas pics, since I just posted them.  
Here's my favorite pic from the Christmas holiday...a vertically-challenged snowman built by my lovely niece.

We celebrated the end of 2010 with some cocktails at a small place called Taste, known for it's small plates and creative cocktails.  Then we had dinner at Sage...another of our faves.  Sage holds a special place in our hearts.  We had our first date at Sage, a couple of New Year's Eve dinners and many meals in between.


Now it's time to leave 2010 behind and see what 2011 holds for us.  More work for me (but hopefully some advancement).  Chad's graduation!!  A possible move?  Most importantly...good times with family & friends!


Happy New Year, Everyone!  Cheers!

Merry Christmas!

Phew!  What an exhausting but great weekend!  I had to work way more than I planned this weekend, but I still found time for plenty of fun!  It all starts Christmas Eve when the Fillback clan pays a visit.  There was 10 of us this year.  We were missing two of the cousins, Lizzy and Kristina.  But who can really blame Kristina, when she has this to wake up to in St. Thomas everyday!  

Here's what they missed out on...

Christmas Day brings more fun with the Gill's and the Mamino's!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take too many pics.  Darn battery!  Here's what I did get...

My step-sister, Calyn & her husband, Ben

Ben getting as close as possible to the fire without actually burning.  Usually you will find him with his feet actually inside the firebox.

Ben and Calyn are the proud parents of the world's best snowman builder, Lehni.  (Supposedly the snow wouldn't stick together.  Hehe!)

Hope everyone had a great holiday.  Unfortunately, it's back to work tomorrow.  Cheers!

Random Night in November

I've been slacking on my blogs this month, since I've been without the best eyesight.  So here's some random shots of some of my November outings.

For Kristine's birthday, we had a yummy dinner at Lola and then headed over to Rue for a little 80's dancing.

The birthday girl

Chad & I

...and a little dancing.

This past Saturday, we spent the afternoon & evening in Soulard.  Our friend, Chad, is getting ready to head out for training in preparation for his deployment to Iraq.  We'll miss him, but we'll be sure to take good care of Ash while he's gone.  In celebration of him & his dedication to our country, we had a few brews...of course.  Here's a couple of pics from our afternoon at iTap...

Next Chad & I headed over to McGurk's for a "Fillback cousin" family dinner, and finally ended the night at Carson's with a mixture of both crews.  

That's all for now folks.  I hope to have some more great pics to post after the holiday.  I hope everyone has a great Turkey Day!  Drink lots, eat even more and enjoy every minute of it.  Cheers!

PRK Update - Day 19

It's been a week since I went back to the surgeon, acquired a punctal plug and was prescribed more eye drops.  Unfortunately, my vision in my right eye hasn't changed greatly.  My distance vision seems to have improved slightly, but I can't really tell any change in the near vision.  I still have to wear my stylish one-lensed glasses at work.  The doc said that it might be a few weeks, so I'm back to trying to remain patient.

The thing that is really a bummer is the lack of satisfaction I get when shopping.  I don't even want to go anymore.  It's too difficult to see anything.  BUM-MER!  I don't know what I'm going to do on Black Friday!  It's a tradition.  Guess I'll just be along for the ride.  Oh well.  It still should be fun.  At least I'll have an excuse for running into everyone.  Ha!

Cheer to getting through another Monday!

Punctal Plugs

Day 12
Today I went back to the TLC Surgery Center to follow-up with the surgeon...and hopefully figure out what the heck is going on with my vision.  The doctor confirmed that I was healing much slower than normal...more like how an elderly person would heal.  Ha!  He explained that when the epithelial layer of the cornea grows back, it does so from the outside in.  So basically it comes together in the center and makes a ridge.  This ridge usually goes away within about a week for most patients, but of course, for me it's taking much longer.  This is what is causing me to have blurry vision & double vision.  I'm trying to see the world through a ridge in my eye.  The surgeon feels that my chronic dry eye is what is causing the slowed healing process.  Even though I don't feel like my eye is dry most of the time, on exam he said he could see irritation.  I'm already taking eye drops for chronic dry eye & steroid eye drop, but he added some prescription lubricating drops to take frequently throughout the day. 

He also suggested...drum roll...a punctal plug.  This is a device placed into the tear duct to combat dry eye.  The device plugs that duct so that moisture (eye drops in my case) do not drain into that duct...and instead remain in the eye.  Here's a couple of images just in case you are wondering what the heck I'm talking about.  It looks way worse than it really way.  End result...good prognosis but delayed healing.

• Opening the Tear Duct
• Inserting the punctal plug

PRK

As many of you know, on Oct. 26th I had PRK ore performed on my right eye. The procedure was quick & painless. I think I was only in the procedure room for a total of 5 min & the laser itself took only about 5-10 sec. The rest was prep time...taping the left eyelid shut and the right eyelid open, attaching the device to keep my right eye open, removing the epithelial layer of the cornea, etc. (Are you squirming yet?). I was given several doses of numbing drops for both eyes, so I really didn't feel a thing. The worst part was the rinsing of my eye with cold water, which they did a couple off times. I did experience a bit of anxiety with not being able to move my hands, move my head or blink my eye. But as I said earlier, it was only for a few minutes, so I was able to get through it. A "bandage contact" was inserted into the right eye to protect the cornea while the epithelial layer heals. This stays in day & night for 5 days. The remainder of the day I was told I should rest...no reading, watching TV or computer work. I was given a Valium after the procedure to help induce sleep. I ended up sleeping a good portion of the afternoon, so it wasn't so bad. I just listened to the TV whenever I wasn't sleeping or dosing myself with one of the multiple eye drops that I had to take post-op. I also had to wear this clear plastic eye shield (that was taped onto my face) over my right eye for all of that first day and then at night for the next 4 nights. That wasn't a big deal except for the indentation it left on your face for several hours after it was removed...very odd looking, but maybe it will start a new trend!

Day 1
I took this day off work, since I was told I could go back to doing pretty much anything except computer work or reading for any length of time. It was just as well, since my vision was still quite blurry. I could tell my distance vision was a bit better, but I still couldn't see near. I never did have any pain. The only discomfort I've experienced was when my eye became dry (as it often does). It just feels like you have an eyelash in your eye. Once I put some rewetting drops in it, the discomfort immediately ceased.

Day 2
This was a Friday, and I had decided to work from home, so I could take frequent breaks. Computer work is next to impossible right now. My follow-up appt went well. My doctor said my cornea was healing very well. I was starting to experience this haziness. The doctor said that was because of the bandage contact...and not being able to remove it & clean it like you would a normal contact. He said that I should see much better once that is removed on Day 5.

Day 5 - Monday
I was told at my initial consultation that I need to be very patient with my recovery period, since PRK takes longer to heal than LASIK. So I remained patient all weekend, and anticipated the removal of my bandage contact. Chad drove me to my appt this morning, as driving is still a scary feat. I'm still experiencing double vision and nighttime halos. My eye doctor said that my cornea had healed well, so he did remove the bandage contact that morning. I immediately felt the haze go away, but I still had the horrible double vision & blurriness. However, I was seeing 20/30 at this point...and was told it should improve more over the course of the next week. My next surgery...for my left eye...was scheduled for Nov. 10th, two weeks after the first surgery. So I remained patient, and hoped for great improvement by that time.

Days 6-9
Computer work...or anything close-up...is still extremely difficult. I have always been nearsighted. So my left eye remains nearsighted. However, my right eye is a bit more farsighted now. I can't see anything close up with my right eye, so I end up squinting a lot of the time, Reading and working on the computer makes my head want to explode. My doctor suggested we remove the right lens from my glasses to assist with my work duties. (Another hot fashion trend that I'm setting!). But it does help when I'm sitting and trying to focus on something close. However it does not help when I'm walking or driving. Holy nausea, Batman! I have never been one to experience motion sickness, but I now am totally sympathetic to those that do! This must be what they are experiencing, I have learned to stomach it for driving though, since I don't want to kill myself or others. Too bad Chad can't be my chauffeur every day! : )
My patience is now wearing thin, and I'm starting to get a bit concerned because I don't think my vision has improved this entire week. So I called my eye doctor, and I'm scheduled to see him tomorrow.

Day 10 - Saturday
I drove myself, very cautiously, to my appt this morning. I couldn't see any of the lines on the chart that he expected me to see. He examined my eye and said that there is a small section in the middle of my eye that is still cloudy and not healing as well as it should be, He said that I should be seeing better. But since this area is in the center of my eye, it is causing my vision to remain the same. He is unsure why this is happening & recommends that I go see the surgeon again. So hopefully I will be able to get in on Monday. I've now become quite impatient & upset. My second surgery is schedule for this coming Wednesday, but I'll probably have to postpone it. The fact that my left eye is nearsighted is the only thing that's been getting me through my work days. I don't want to have the other surgery until my right eye heals more.

I'm still hoping for a positive outcome for all of this though. I was so excited to have the PRK done, but I can't say that I'm glad I did just yet. Wish me luck!



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Art & Food

I had a great day at the Best of MO Market & Shaw Art Fair.  There are so many things to nibble on...and lots of wine to taste (albeit MO wine...but it is wine)!    I ended up with a mini pumpkin spice gooey butter cake from Gooey Louie, some andouie sausage & salami, and a little prize for Chad.  If you haven't attended the MO Market before, you must put it on your list for next year.  The weather was beautiful this year!  After the market, we headed down the street to the Shaw Art Fair.  This event just keeps getting bigger and bigger each year.  I think we were getting kind of tired by this point, because we kind of flew through it.  Ha!  Here's a pic of John and I at the art fair...

 We ended the afternoon with a brunch at Square One Brewery/Distillery.  I had some scrumptious Crab Cakes Egg Benedict.  Yumm-o!  I finished it off with a pint of some pumpkin spice ale...which was much more like a spiced Oktoberfest more than pumpkin...but good all the same!

Well, here goes with a new work week!  Wish me luck!  Hope everyone has a good one!

Day 6

Well it has been one hell of a week.  I'm not sure how long I can keep up this pace at work and home, but I'm going to try and hang in there.  I'm hoping work starts to become more manageable.  I'm looking forward to beginning to work on getting my quality certification...CPHQ.  However, I have no idea how I'm going to work it in to the busy pace of my life at the moment.  I quess we'll see.  My new boss has now asked me to move into my old boss's office, so I guess we'll see where this goes.  I anticipate lots of changes in the future.  I usually embrace change.  I'm just a bit nervous about the unknown at this point.  More to come...

I'm so uneasy about my lack of control with the situation that I went and changed my hair...probably in order to actually be able to control something.  Ha!  I'm sure a psychiatrist would have a field day with me!  I'd been bored with my style for awhile now.  This situation just finally gave me the kick that I needed to actually do something about it. I now have a darker red color, more layers and....BANGS!  It's been about 15 years, since I've had them.  I must say that it turned out quite well.  It's definitely different.  Just what I needed.

Friday night Chad and I headed up to the chili cook-off in downtown Bellevegas!  It was a perfect evening for some chili and a few brews.  The Wine Tap was serving good beer outside, so I didn't even have to struggle to get down that horrible Bud Light stuff they call beer!  Cheers to The Wine Tap!!  Chad and I managed to sample about 75% or so of all the chili stands.  We finally decided that The Firemen stand was our favorite.  It even had a bit of kick!  the runner up was the chili from the Bar Association...smokey with some coffee and a small kick.  Last year I was disappointed because it was the same ole stands as the years before, but this year there seemed to be several more stands.  Refreshing!

This morning I woke up waaaaaaaaay to early for a Saturday morning to take Chad, his advisor and another "science student" to the airport.  Chad will be in Tucson for the week hanging out with all the other science-weather nerds.  (Love ya, babe!)  It was so early this morning that I actually got to the gym BEFORE it opened!  It was my first gym trip in a couple of months since I majorly injured my back.  I wasn't sure to what to expect, but it went well...30 min of cardio on the elliptical & 20 min of weights.  I worked around the house the remainder of the day...and now I'm not so sure what to do with myself.  I'd like to go out and be social, but not quite sure what to do or who to do it with.  Ha!  So it may just be a "stay-in wine and movie" night.

Tomorrow I'm headed to the Best of Missouri Market at the Botanical Gardens with Mom and John.  I haven't hung with the fam in a bit.  It should be a good time!  There is always lots o' food & wine to sample.  What could be bad about that?!?!?!


Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Day 2...

I promise that I won't count too much longer, but today was Day 2 of the new work set-up. It's gone better than expected so far. Today my new boss, the Medical Director, suggested that I obtain a Quality certification. The one that I'm familiar with is the CPHQ...Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality. She said no one in the an had this certification except her. Just add this to my To Do list Ha! Actually it is probably a great idea and would serve me well. I'm already concerned about having to switch jobs when we move without a Master's degree. I gave additional certifications already in coding, case management and managed care...but this is an area that's new to me. So it looks like a CPHQ may be in my future.

Tonight Chad & I are at the Card's game...and, unfortunately, we're less than excited. I'm so used to the Cards going to the post-season...and the stadium being a buzz of excitement. But not this year. This year we tanked it. The stadium is half dead. I can't believe it's out last game of the year and all I can think about is heading to bed. Ha! Sorry boys!

I hope the rest of this week flies by. I'm looking forward to hanging with my BC girls on Thursday night at Jefferson's, a little Chili Fest in BVL on Friday night & the Best of MO Market on Sunday with the fam. Chad is heading out to Tucson for the week on Sat. I'll be flying solo! Watch out! ; )

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Day 1...

Day 1 of the new corner I've unwillingly turned at work is now complete...and I'm still standing.  It doesn't look like they'll be replacing the position my former boss vacated anytime soon.  Wish me luck!

On a brighter note, I made some kick-ass baked potato soup on that cold and rainy day yesterday.  Yumm-o!  Check out my friend, Ashley's, blog for the recipe.  Thanks, Ash!!!

Tonight Chad and I went for a walk around the neighborhood..about a 1.5 miles.  Not much, but it's a start for both of us.  Chad needs to get in gear but his asthma is his leash.  My back is finally starting to feel better again, so I really need to get going again.  It was nice though to have a conversation with each other that didn't involve opposite sides of the couch and laptops.  : )

Tomorrow we're off to the Cards game.  It's our last game of the season.  We're less than excited to go...if you can imagine.  Ha!  Is it even worth saying "Go Cards"?!?!  

Go Cards!

Random after-thought...
I couldn't resist sharing this cute pics of my gorgeous niece, Lehni, getting ready for dance class.  Have a great week!

**Yawn**

Well it's been one hell of an "awesome" week....NOT! ; )
I actually left the office so stressed out today that I had chest pains! Chad has been just about as stressed out with all of his work as I've been with mine. We're quite a pair these days!

So tonight we're both sitting at the ballgame wishing we were home in bed catching some Z's. Neither one of us can quite yawning. Pathetic! Go Cards! *yawn*

I've been in such a funk lately with work and my back issues. I haven't been able to exercise much or get stuff done around the house. It makes me so crabby! Right, Babe?! ; )

I'm hoping things will turn around soon! Wish me luck!


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Phew...

What a weekend...and Monday!  I'm exhausted!  Saturday, Chad and I met a group of friends up at the Midwest Wingfest in Fairview Heights.  I have to say that this was better than expected...even if I don't eat chicken.  Here's a pic of Judy, Ashley and I with a hot chick.  Please take note of our kick ass $8 plastic "mood" cups...of which Ashley and I do not have any more.  : )

Sunday, Ashley and I hit up Vicki's bridal shower.  Good times and good friends...and I even won a mum.  What a great idea for a shower gift, Angie!

Today I drove out to KC for a whirlwind trip.  I have 5 interviews tomorrow (for other candidates...not myself) and then I'm headed back late tomorrow afternoon.  I'm going to be even more exhausted than I am now!  I tried a new place in Overland Park tonight...NorTH.

Of course, I have to post pics.  I chose the pan-seared scallops and wild mushroom risotto.  Check out the bright orange butter...

Random...

This has been the longest short week.  There is so much going on at work that the days should be flying by...but they're not.  I'm off to KC Monday and Tuesday to interview some candidates for a administrative support staff for the high-risk pregnancy disease management program at work.  Interviewing non-clinical staff is not my strong point.  I'm never sure what exactly to look for.  When I'm hiring for a nursing position, I can usually read the candidate very well.  Oh well.  I have 5 interviews back-to-back on Tuesday.  Wish me luck!


I've been so in the mood for some Fall shopping.  I spent plenty last weekend, but I only want to shop some more.  Wish the money tree would grow outside my door!!  At least I received coupons for some upcoming sales.  I MUST use the coupons, right????  : )


So last night Chad and I met up with my grandparents, my mom and John at St. Stephen's church picnic in Caseyville.  I've attended this picnic annually for my entire life.  However, this was the first year that I didn't eat the chicken dinner.  My grandfather has always fried the chicken, which is awesome by the way.  I opted for a veggie plate instead of the chicken this year.  (I still haven't consumed chicken since my February incident.)  After dinner we head out into the parking lot and play the silly church games...and as always, take a chance on the Barrel of Booze.  I haven't won it for a few years, so I'm overdue!  : ) 
We always hit up the beer poker stand, the big six wheel and, of course, the quilt bingo area.  Last night we rocked out.  The four of us came away with two six packs of beers, broke even on the big six and $110 from bingo.  (My mom won the $100.)  Way to go Mom!


Today we're planning to head up to the Midwest Wing Fest, where I will watch everyone consume chicken wings.  : )  Then I'm sure we'll head across the parking lot for a little wine tasting at Rick's.  After that our day is open.  Sunday is Vicki's bridal shower, cleaning and packing for KC.


Have a great weekend, y'all!

Baseball, brews and rain delays

This past weekend Chad and I traveled to KC to see the Yankees take on the Royals.  Chad was pretty excited about the trip given that he hasn't seen his beloved Yankees in person for about 3 years.  So we decided to grab some good seats and make a weekend out of it.  We stayed down at the Marriott in Country Club Plaza...away from the stadium but in a very nice area that I'm familiar with from my frequent business trips to that area.  We did some shopping as soon as we hit town  The Plaza is a beautiful, Mediterranean-themed, outdoor shopping/dining area.  Then we headed out to an early dinner at a place my friend, Ashley, told us about...Swagger.  It was featured recently on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network!! Yumm-o!  Chad got the Dead Texan (a hamburger sandwiched between two grilled cheese sandwiches), and I got the Portabella-bachi (a portabella burger, deep-fried and service with spicy sauce and wasabi coleslaw).  Can you feel your arteries clogging already???  The place was a total dive but very awesome!  Here's a pic of our food...

Chad wanted to hit up the ballpark early, so we could check out the stadium and watch the Yankees take batting practice.  Kauffman Stadium is absolutely beautiful!  I haven't been before, but they recently renovated it.  There is a ton of stuff for kids to do...mini-golf, wiffle ball diamond, playground, etc.   The outfield houses a ton of fountains and waterfalls that go on and off during the game.  I'm assuming this symbolizes KC...the city of fountains.  It was 103 degrees when we arrived at the stadium Friday, so I can't tell you much about the food/drink.  There was no way I could consume anything.  We ended up encountering two very extensive rain delays, which made the game last until 1:30am Saturday morning.  Being the good girlfriend that I am...and the fact that it was Chad's bday trip...we stuck it out together without any complaints.  : )
Here's a few of our pics... 

Saturday we slept in a bit and then headed out to experience a bit more of KC...parts that I don't get to see on my business trips.  We hit up the Power and Light District 
first and drank a brew or two at The Flying Saucer.  Then we headed out to the River Market area where they have a very large Farmer's Market that is open 7 days a week.  It was huge!  They had different areas for different ethnic foods...Vietnamese, Italian, etc.  We even found a vendor that was selling tons of spices for $1 per scoop.  We came home with crushed red pepper (since we use it like ketchup), jalapeno pepper spice & chipotle pepper spice.  Man, if I lived near there, I would never buy another spice in the grocery store again!!!  Here's a fuzzy pic of that vendor (from my iPhone)...

After grabbing another early dinner Saturday afternoon, we headed down to the ballpark again.  Thank goodness this game was of normal length...and we won!!!  Woo hoo!

Sunday we planned to head out to my step-sister's house in Columbia on the way back and visit with her, Ben and my niece, Lehni.  We stopped at Starbuck's on the plaza first to get our morning jolt.  While we were waiting for our coffees, I was standing next to A.J. Burnett...the starting pitcher for the Yankee's that day!!!!!  Too bad that Chad didn't tell me that until A.J. was walking out the door.  Darn it!  I so would have said something to him!!!!  You know I love baseball players!!!  Oh, well.  It was still a fun weekend!!  Happy Bday, baby!