Thanksgiving and other things....

Happy Thanksgiving! I get to go home today for a few days to see my family which I'm really excited about. I was supposed to work at Rite Aid from 9-3 (why is the pharmacy open on Thanksgiving??) but was able to get out of it. But my flight still doesn't leave until 4:45 so it will be a late Thanksgiving dinner this year, but that's ok. I come back to Richmond on Tuesday evening and Tuesday afternoon I'm meeting with the recruiter from Osco Pharmacy in the Chicago area. I have a good feeling about working for Osco right now-everyone I've talked to has been very nice, they do a lot of clinical, patient care work (immunizations, diabetes education, etc.) which I would love to do over merely dispensing, and they seem to have a lot of opportunities and are looking for pharmacists with extra training (ie residency). So we'll see how that goes.

On another note...I reserved a moving truck to move myself home the other day. So it's officially official. No backing out now. =) But really, it's slowly hitting me as I do things like that or as I have to say goodbye to people here that I'm actually leaving. I'm definitely looking forward to being home though. My last day of work is going to be Thursday December 7th and then my mom, my sister, and my cousin Mike will be coming down that weekend to help move me back. So, if anyone wants to come help load a moving truck on that Saturday....I will be recruiting you!

Jamie's Visit to Richmond, part 3

At the end of the week and his time here, Jamie and I visited Maymont Park in Richmond. We spent some time walking around and taking pictures and seeing all the animals-birds, buffalo, the new bear, fox, and fish in the Japanese gardens. Back a few months ago, there had been two bears living at Maymont and one of them bit a little kid and so they ended up eunthanizing both bears. It caused a huge uproar amongst people in the city and so they ended up getting a new bear. We did see him when we were there, but he was sleeping. =)
This bear statue is a memorial to the 2 who died earlier this year.

Jamie's Visit to Richmond, part 2

Not only did we go apple picking when Jamie was visiting, but we also explored other areas of Virginia. On Tuesday the 24th we drove west to the Blue Ridge Parkway and drove south once we got there. The Blue Ridge Parkway goes throughout Virginia and North Carolina and is a beautiful, scenic drive through the Appalachian Mountains (how do you say Appalachian again? =)) We also stopped at the King Family Vineyards on the way there and Horton Winery on the way home. For those who don't live in Virginia or who haven't visited here, we have a lot of wineries and vineyards. I suppose you could call it the Napa Valley of the East. =) We bought a few bottles to drink and save for later. I personally like the sweeter white wines-Reisling, Vigonier, and the dessert wines...yummm.






The Blue Ridge Parkway was beautiful! The leaves were all changing colors-reds, yellows, golds and the mountainous backdrop made for a wonderful autumn day. We drove south for about 20 miles and stopped at several scenic outlooks along the way and took pictures and breathed in the very cold, crisp air. Several stops were very, very brief because the wind was sooo cold! We stopped at one place and ate the lunch (inside the warm car) that we had packed.