the edge of my mind

the readers digest version

2008-11-17T16:48:00.000-05:00

I've been way too busy to keep up as things happen.

NKOTB with Leah was a ton of fun. Instead of taking a million pictures, I took a lot of video instead. Some of it will probably show up in future blogs.

I became an AUNT to a perfectly wonderful little boy. His name is John Matthew Hopper, and he was born on 11/11 at 2:48 a.m. He is named after my great-grandfather, grandfather and father - and was born on my great-grandmother's birthday. In discussing how happy this would all make my grandfather, Katie said to Mike, "thanks a lot - Kristen and I might as well not even exist any more." There are lots of photos of the little peanut on Facebook.

Lauren was very sick all weekend, but thankfully, seems to be much better today. She missed out on meeting Santa Claus at the mall, which means, I am going to have to go to the mall on a weekend in December - something I try NEVER to do.

That's all there's time for today. At least I updated!

a fairy tale

2008-11-07T09:19:00.004-05:00

Once upon a time, there was a family of three bears. A momma bear, a poppa bear and a baby bear.

The bear family lived in a cottage at the edge of town, right between the forest and a strip mall.

This lovely cottage had been built many years ago by the town carpenters and tradesmen. During which time, they installed wiring connected to a fuse box, supplying 60 amps of fine electricity to all the cottage outlets.

The bear family, was a family who enjoyed the luxury of electricity. Lights, computers, air conditioning, vacuums, irons, and, of course, an Xbox.

Now, in the group of tradesmen who built the cottage, there was an evil electrician. Bent on causing heartache for the family who would someday live in the cottage, he wired it so that too many rooms were getting electricity from the same fuse.

When the bear family moved in to the cottage, they were so pleased with their dwelling, that they didn't mind too much that they often blew fuses if plugging in the wrong combination of appliances.

However, one cold and dreary day, in the early weeks of December, the momma bear decided to plug in a beautiful Christmas tree. It was then that the bears discovered that the evil electrician had cursed the fuse box to sense any bit of Christmas cheer and immediately blow the fuse to the majority of the cottage.

The bears suffered in silence for several years. Only sharing this problem with their friends when they would be suddenly plunged into darkness during a crowded poker game. Which would then scatter the friends to every open store in the town, in search of more fuses.

One mild fall day, the bear family left the house, as usual. Poppa bear went to sell computers, that he could never plug in at home. Momma bear went to sell industrial plumbing supplies, as all good momma bears do. Baby bear went to play with her friends at Little Cubs daycare.

While the bears were away from the cottage that day, a very special contractor fairy happened upon the dwelling. Upon realizing the curse the evil electrician had left, and also because of the large check the poppa bear had left for him, the contractor fairy knew that something had to be done.

That evening, the momma bear walked into the cottage, and immediately said "somebody has been working in my garage". Sure enough, the momma bear walked in to the garage, and found a brand new, silver, shiny breaker box where the old fuse box had been. This box was pumping 200 amps of quality electricity to the far corners of the cottage.

Oh the joy the bear family felt. Visions of Christmas decorations, ironing with the lights on, and toasting while microwaving, danced through their heads.

At baby bear's request, they celebrated by singing the alphabet, and then they all lived happily ever after.

Meanwhile, the evil electrician received a call from the Obama campaign. Last he was seen, he was diligently working on a curse that would provide equal amounts of electricity to all American buildings, regardless of their size.

The end.

i know you...

2008-11-05T19:08:00.002-05:00

Once again, Mike, the master of all blogs, even though he doesn't have one of his own, has put on the pressure. Enough blog slacking. I'll try to do better.

How to catch up without rambling on for days? hmm...

Anyone who has spent any time with me - ever - knows that I have always loved all things Disney. But, for the record, my favorite scene out of all the Disney movies, is the scene from Sleeping Beauty, where Aurora is in the woods and starts singing "Once Upon A Dream" and Philip shows up, dances with her and finishes the song.

Well, the other day, there was a commercial on the Disney channel for the new DVD release of Sleeping Beauty, and it features that song. I sang it to Lauren, and since then, she is CONSTANTLY walking around, singing "I KNOW YOU" over and over.

Sometimes we sing it together:
Lauren: "I KNOW YOU"
Me: "I walked with you once upon a dream."
Lauren: "I KNOW YOU"
Me: "The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam."
Lauren: "I KNOW YOU"
REPEAT X infinity

Halloween was soooo fun! Dan and I both took the day off and it went like this:
- Dress Lauren up as Minnie Mouse and take photos
- Take Lauren to daycare, where they were having a parade and party
- Breakfast at Panera
- Two hours at the gym (which we NEVER get to do together)
- Pick Lauren up and relax at home while she took a nap
- Kris and Suzanne brought Kendra over so she and Lauren could trick-or-treat together
- Dad, Katie and Jimmy went with us.
- Came back home and Dean, Terry, Emily, Mike and Kate came over and took the girls out again.
- Leah, Matt, Jason, Lisa and Ayden came over.
- We watched "The Shining" - which I had never seen before, and I didn't think it was scary. (probably because we were making funny comments about it the whole time)

I've found myself to be in kind of a bad mood lately. (Which is probably why I stopped blogging.) I've determined the cause of it is that, once again, I am WAY overcomitted with church responsibilities. So, spread the word - anyone who asks me to do anything else is going to get shot down so fast, their head will spin. Don't take it personal - it's not that I don't deeply care about you or the church, and my priorities are NOT messed up, as much as some people would like to tell me they are. And, to quote Forrest Gump - "that's all I have to say about that."

OK... on to the election:
Never mind. I can't. My head will explode.
So much to say - but really, there aren't words...

Just in case you didn't know just how much Dan loves me:
I came home a couple weeks ago, to find in my inbox two tickets to see NKOTB at Mohegan Sun on Saturday the 8th. Not only did he buy me tickets...(here's the kicker)... he knew that Katie couldn't go with me, so he said that I should ask Leah, and if she couldn't than HE would take me. Yes, that's right - Dan would have GONE WITH ME to a NKOTB concert.

Fortunately, Leah gave me a big "HECK YES, I'M IN!!!" a split second after I asked her - so my darling husband dodged that bullet BIG TIME. So, on Saturday, I get to go see, in Katie's words "the best concert in the history of all concerts" again. Won't be front row this time, but they're still good seats.

So, now that I've sacrificed precious housework time to catch you all up, we're back on track. I will now spend the remainder of the evening in the bathroom, scrubbing off the Halloween mural I drew on the shower walls with Lauren's Crayola bath crayons.

lessons from mom

2008-10-24T10:25:00.003-04:00

Through Facebook, I was able to reconnect this week with a great childhood friend. In sending messages back and forth, she shared many memories, including this one...

"Your Mom was such a cool lady - one memory really sticks out. I totally remember her filling me in that Han Solo was actually the hot one in Star Wars, not Luke Skywalker - and I remember realizing she was right!"

I laughed when I read that, because on Tuesday night, The Empire Strikes Back was on TV, and I made sure to tell Dan (for probably the millionth time) that my deep love for Star Wars is definitely a direct result of my mom's crush on Harrison Ford as Han Solo. (- and NOT due to my father repeatedly holding my pigtails up in the air and calling me "Yoda".)

Once again... thanks mom, for teaching me all the really important things in life.

overheard this morning

2008-10-20T08:17:00.002-04:00

As I was upstairs, getting ready for work...

Dan: "LAUREN! Do NOT eat your yogurt with your hands!"

Lauren: "NO! MINE!"

She has a point.

i love you aunt carol

2008-10-06T22:32:00.003-04:00

I don't even know what I'm writing, so I'm just going to ramble.

Carol Nauta has always been one of the most stable, strong, influencial and loving people I have ever known. She has been with me and my family through great times, horrible times and every time in between. Her family is OUR family, and always will be.

Today, Carol was out, riding her Vespa scooter. We have no idea what happened, but police found her on the road. She was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center. Her family, my family and many more of our extended "family" rushed to be there. We prayed, cried and prayed some more, but after many hours of working on her, the doctors were unable to save her.

As someone who has suddenly lost her mother - I stood there with Jason and Tracy as they lost theirs. Then I worried about Jeremy and Trevor hearing the news and traveling home. Fortunately, Trevor was able to get on a standby flight and is already here, and the submarine that Jeremy is on was actually docked - so he'll be able to get here too. Pray for him as he travels and as his wife and kids drive up from Virginia.

I sat there, hugging my best friend, Leah, while we watched Terry lose her best friend.

I watched my father comfort his widowed friend, who 9 years ago, was there to comfort him.

I cried as I looked around at more than 30 people, most of which are not blood related to me, but who have always been my family and always will be. I am humbled to be so fortunate to be a part of such a strong support system. The Lord has blessed me with some of the dearest friends in the world.

Aunt Carol was so much to me. She was my youth group leader throughout Jr. High and high school. She was mom to four of my friends. She was close friend to my parents - close enough that in making out their wills, my parents entrusted Michael, Katie and I to Carol and Don, should anything happen to them.

She was there when I got married, and she was at my house the day I brought my daughter home from the hospital.

She got Leah and I out of trouble when we were at a teen retreat at Harvey Cedars and we caused some minor damage and snuck out to go to the beach.

The day my mother died, I was sitting on the front steps of my father's house. Aunt Carol was one of the first people to arrive. She held me and said "don't forget - I'm your legal guardian!" It was a role she took very seriously. She has been there for us every day since. Including taking Katie to get her wedding dress.

Yesterday morning, I was sitting with Dan and Lauren, and Carol came over to us to give us her usual kiss hello. I can't forgive myself for not grabbing on to her and not letting go.

When we were leaving the hospital tonight, Cheryl Barra said to me "why did God take Carol?". I answered "Because she touched many more lives than we ever have or ever will, and will continue to through her death".

Carol had a heart for missions like no one else I have ever known. She will be mourned across the earth, including the hundreds of people she ministered to in Uganda. She spent her life sharing God's love to everyone she met - here and worldwide.

Here is a photo of her, watching Jimmy and Katie get married. She has known Jimmy since birth and Katie since she was four years old. You can see her love for them on her face.

She loved us and we loved her. I know she is with her Lord and Savior, but I sit here, crying, because our lives will never be the same without her.

I love you Aunt Carol. You have always been there for me, and your love has helped make me the person I am today. My life has been so much richer for having you in it. I can't wait for the day we are together again.

remember when we said girl, please don't go? and how I'll be lovin you forever...

2008-09-30T08:36:00.017-04:00

September 27, 2008. Hands down, the best day ever. (Nothing against major life events, such as weddings and childbirth...) We're talking about, no stress, pure fun, couldn't be more perfect day. Beats out my former best day - the day Dan and I took a private helicopter tour of Los Angeles and went to a taping of The King Of Queens.

I have lots to share - but I'll start with the breakdown of the day and probably re-visit certain aspects of it another time.

Katie and I left Middletown in the morning and made a stop in Paramus, NJ. We bought some great clothes at Ann Taylor Loft and had lunch. Then it was on to Atlantic City.

We arrived at Borgata, checked it, and quickly remembered how much we love this amazing hotel. It was immediatly obvious that the place was already crawling with women who were very excited for the concert. We went to our room and quickly got changed - slapped on tons of black eyeliner, bangle bracelets and hoop earrings - trying to look somewhat 80s, while still dressing 2008.

It was only 2:30, and we didn't have to meet our "I Love All Access" (ILAA) host until 4:30, so we decided to spend some time in the casino. We sat down at some 25 cent slots, and decided to blow $20 each. At first, Katie was doing better than I was, but then when I got down to my FINAL spin, my last 25 cents turned into $56.00. - time to cash out. Then we went to different machines and I won an additional $13.00. We decided we were done. I was up and Katie was out $30.

At this point, there were tons of women who had regular tickets in a line outside the event center. Some had been there for several hours. We went into a bar and decided we should eat something. We got nachos, but I was too excited to eat.

Dan and Jimmy had taken us to "Torches" - a really nice restaurant for dinner the night before. I only had two drinks, but for some reason, I got sick off of them, so I decided that this trip was NOT going to include any alcohol for me. I decided on regular coke, so I could try to function off of sugar and caffeine.

Finally, it was time to check in at the Event Center with the ILAA people. Katie and I were fortunate to be at the front of the huge mass of people trying to get in, so we were given our passes and found out we were in "Group A" - that meant we would be in the first group of 10 people to meet the guys and have our picture taken with them. We went in the room with 198 other girls and anxiously waited.

Robo - the NKOTB bodyguard from way back in the day, came in and with a megaphone, gave us a lecture about how to behave. He made it clear that if anyone rushed at the guys they would leave and it would all be over.

The five guys entered from the back of the room, and everyone went crazy. Donnie and Danny stopped and hugged girls on their way in. Jon, Jordan and Joe went right up to the front to the photo area. Then, Jordan and Danny both walked right over to ME! Jordan gave me a high-five and Danny gave me a little hug. I said "Danny, you look GREAT!" (he has clearly spent the last 20 years in the gym). He thanked me.

Group A had 10 people in it. I knew that we would have only a few seconds with the guys and that I was not guaranteed to be near the one I wanted for the photo. In my mind, I decided I would be thrilled if I could get near either Jon or Jordan. Katie said that she was hoping to get to talk to Joe.

It was time to move forward for our time with them. I walked into the area and Jon was standing by himself - so I knew it was my one chance and I had to talk to him. (Let's face it... I've waited TWENTY YEARS for this moment! Jon was always my favorite, with Jordan a close second.)

I walked up to Jon and he smiled at me. I chuckled and said "Jon, I have to tell you - you were always the one!" He said "awww... thanks!" and gave me a huge hug. I said "Thank you for coming back and doing this."

All of a sudden, Jordan came over to Jon and I (seriously people, I'm dying again, just typing this!) I said "Hi Jordan, nice to meet you!" and went to shake his hand. He smiled and said "no-", rejected my hand shake and hugged me instead. I said "OK, if you want to hug me, then SURE!"

Meanwhile, Katie was right near us, and just happened to have Joe right by her! She said to him "Joe, my good friend is your successor in Wicked" (Joe played Fiyero for a while.) He said "REALLY?" and was very interested. She told him about how Aaron told her about Joe missing his cue on stage because he was in his dressing room watching the Red Sox. Joe laughed and said "no, it was the Giants!"

That conversation was going on, while, Jon, Jordan and I were just kind of standing there, listening to them. Honestly, I have NO idea what the other 8 girls were doing behind us - I'm going to guess swapping spit with Donnie. - Seriously.

I was kind of shocked that we were all still just standing around and the photo still had not been taken yet, I talked to Jon a bit more, I think I said something really stupid, like "It's about time we finally met, for years your picture was plastered all over my bedroom ceiling." Yes - major lame, I know - but he at least had the courtesy to laugh.

During this time, the ILAA people were getting their cameras set up - which is why we got so much more time with the guys than the other girls who came after us did. It was time to line up for the photo. It ended up being, (from the right) Joe, Katie, Jordan, Me, Jon, and then Donnie and Danny and the 8 other girls. Jordan and Jon both had their arms around me. There was no better scenerio I could have imagined for that photo. It will be posted online for me to download sometime within the next two weeks.

Here is one that someone else who was in the room took...

When we were done, I wanted to say hi to Donnie, since he was the only one I had not talked to. He had already hugged Katie and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He was behind me, with several girls hanging on him. I touched his arm and said "Thanks for coming back.", he stepped around someone and gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek.

When our time with them was over - we had a choice - we could either go into a second room where they would come in and mingle with everyone for a few minutes after all the pictures were taken. Or, we could be the first to be let into the venue to get a spot for the show. Unlike the other huge arenas they are playing for this tour, the Borgata only fits 4000 people with standing room general admission in the front and then seats in the back. It was more important for us to be front row for the concert than to fight with 198 other girls for two seconds with them, so we went in and got a prime spot right in front of the stage. We were just to the right of the center, as we had been told that that was the side Jon would be on. Worked out perfect, because it was Jordan's main spot too.

I said to Katie... "Do you realize we just hugged five Red Sox fans?" Still not sure how to process that...

Colby O'Donis was the opening act. He looks like he is 12 years old. We were joking around that every woman there is old enough to be his mother. We felt a little bad for him, because clearly we were not his demographic. The girl next to me said "you're daughter is probably going to love him." Most everyone knows his song with Akon, "What You've Got", so we at least humored him and sang along.

Finally... it was time. My last NKOTB concert was 1990 at Giants Stadium, during the "Magic Summer Tour". I've waited 18 years for this...

CONCERT HIGHLIGHTS:
(but let it be said that every single second was completely fantastic)

When the guys first came out on stage and came forward, Donnie came over and grabbed my hand. So, I was the first person Jordan went to at the meet and greet and the first person Donnie went to at the concert.

Donnie was giving Katie and I quite a bit of attention during the first song. We guessed he was trying to figure out if we were twins. (happens a lot).

Second song was "My Favorite Girl". Jordan cheated us out of his long, high, "She's my GIIIIIIRRRRRRLLLL!" at the end, and instead pointed his microphone out to the crowd. He looked over at us, and Katie and I, in unison, pointed back at him and screamed, "NO!!! YOU SING IT!!!" He laughed at us and said "just wait".

From then on out, Katie and I got tons of attention from Jordan. We were having a great time, dancing around and singing every lyric back to them, and he obviously appreciated it, because he kept laughing at us, winking, waving, etc... I swear, we got more attention from him than anyone else there. One time he winked and pointed to another girl in the front, and the girl next to Katie leaned over to her and said "he just cheated on you!"

Katie got several winks and a wave from Joe, and I got one wink from him.

I made eye contact with Jon a few times, but I couldn't get him to interact. He is by far the most uncomfortable on stage, and I think he was just concentrating on being where he was supposed to be. One time, he messed up his steps and Jordan just pushed him out of the way, and they laughed about it.

"Dirty Dancing" - definitely the most fun song off the new album. You can't go wrong with lyrics like "ooh, it's so crazy, she's like Baby, I'm like Swayze..."

um... "Baby I Believe In You". Classic Jordan, 1990 all over again. Same outfit - BETTER ABS.

"I'll Be Lovin' You" - Jordan redeemed himself at the end for cheating us on "My Favorite Girl." The security guard in front of us bust out laughing.

"Summertime" - Jordan and I pointed to each other and sang "the thought of you still makes me crazy..."

"Step By Step" - again, he was right in front of us and we got Jordan's full attention for STEPS 3 and 4.

"Hangin Tough" - waved our arms in the air and loved every second of it.

When they were finished, Donny and Danny jumped down off the stage, and ran past us, slapping our hands as they went.

It was over way too soon. It's amazing how fast two and a half hours can go when you're having the time of your life.

OK - concert over. I have tons of photos on Facebook.

We dediced to try and get into "Mixx", a club inside the Borgata. They had been advertising an "After party with New Kids On The Block." At 11:15 we got in line to get in and by midnight we were inside. We got some sodas (again, I'm wasn't drinking and had not eaten since 11am, so I was hoping to recharge on sugar and caffeine). We hung out in the club for a bit, but by 12:30, we were so exhausted, we decided to leave. We had been on our feet since 2 in the afternoon, and we figured that if any of the guys did show up, we would have to physically fight to get near them anyway. Turns out we missed Donnie and Joe arriving by about 5 minutes. Oh well.

When we left the club, we walked through the casino to get back to our room. I decided that since I was up $50, that we might as well play a little bit more, so we sat down at two slot machines. Wow - did it feel good to sit down! I took out a $20 and said "I'm going to just blow this $20 - because, let's face it... how much better could this day possibly get?" Katie said "no kidding". So, I put the $20 into the machine, hit the button ONCE. First spin. $20 turns into $76.

I pulled a George Constanza, stood up, threw my arms up in the air and said "I'M OUT". No where to go from there. Cashed out. (Katie lost another $10)

We went up to our room and ordered room service that arrived at 1:30 a.m. Best grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had.

i really love this kid

2008-09-26T11:06:00.005-04:00

First, let me start by saying I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. Tomorrow is the big day!!! Afternoon in the Borgata casino, meet & greet and pre-show party with NKOTB, concert from the FRONT row, and then after-party at Mixx.

Dan and Jimmy decided that they would rather hang out in Middletown, than in a resort full of screaming New Kids fans - so they won't be joining Katie and I on this little trip after all.

Now - on to more important things...

Here's some photos of my little princess, playing "dress up" this week. I can already tell that she's going to grow up, loving clothes, just like her mommy! I think my favorite are her lacy white gloves...

and I'm like stop, let me take a mental shot of this moment - click, click click

2008-09-19T11:31:00.003-04:00

The tour of all tours has offically kicked off.

Last night's Toronto concert is coming in with rave reviews. Here's the set list - don't know if it will change from venue to venue - but it is awesome!

It will be interesting to compare the concert that Katie and I go to at the Borgata with those of you who are going to Nasseau and Continental. Our venue is so much smaller - I'm thinking there will be adjustments. For example, they have a smaller "B" stage, at the back of the crowd that they use for a couple songs...

Songs with an "*" are new ones off "The Block". (Which has been playing constantly in my car since it was released on Sept 2nd.)

Single*
My Favorite Girl (YAY!!!)
The Right Stuff
Didn't I Blow Your Mind
Valentine Girl
Please Don't Go Girl
No More Games
Grown Man*
If You Go Away (LOVE THIS SONG!)
Two In The Morning*
Dirty Dancing*
Tonight
(BREAK)
Twisted*
Baby I Believe In You (instead of Jordan with an open white shirt and a fan - it's Jordan with NO shirt and leather pants)
Give It To You (Jordan solo)
Stay The Same (Joe solo)
Cover Girl (Donnie solo - and he didn't pull a girl up on stage)
I'll Be Loving You Forever
Click Click Click*
Summertime*
Step By Step
(Encore)
Hangin'Tough
We Will Rock You

Best news of the day... I read that people WERE allowed to use their personal cameras during the VIP meet & geet - and that all five guys were there and after the offical photos were taken, they mingled for a bit.

the car doesn't always make it over the top

2008-09-17T15:17:00.007-04:00

On Sunday, Dan and I spent the day at Six Flags Great Adventure with Katie and Jimmy and our friends Matt and Heather.

Here's the breakdown of the day, intertwined with reviews of the roller coasters.

Arrived at the park just as they were about to open. As we pulled into the parking lot, I saw something that made me do a double-take, as I couldn't believe I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing...

Well, here... see for yourself...

Dan said "That's Kingda Ka" - he had seen a documentary on it, and when had mentioned it when I told him we were going to Great Adventure. This started the debate which raged internally for me the entire day... would I or wouldn't I?

SUPERMAN: ULTIMATE FLIGHT
My first roller coaster in a pretty long time. You sit in the seat, and then the seat rotates up, so that you are facing the ground - as if you were flying like Superman.
It's one thing to be sitting in a car, on a track - but another thing entirely to be facing the ground with nothing beneath you , and only the shoulder harness and ankle restraints holding you in. I was suprised at how scared I was, especially as we entered the first loop - going down, HEAD FIRST. My low point, was when we reached the top of the first hill, about to plunge, head first, I yelled out "I'd rather give birth do another baby than do this!"
I'm going to give this coaster a B+ for legitimately scaring me.

At this point in the day, everyone was going to ride "Kingda Ka".

THE GREAT AMERICAN SCREAM MACHINE
I had been on this one several times back in high school - and once I even got my mother to go on it with me - so I knew it would be no biggie. It's a good starter coaster - decent drop, a few loops. Grade: C

Matt announced there was no way he was riding "Kingda Ka". I thought that I probably wouldn't have the guts to either.

THE DARK KNIGHT
Space Mountain x lame = the Dark Knight coaster.
Grade: D

BATMAN THE RIDE
The last two times I had been at Great Adventure - both in 1994, this ride was new, and I waited almost 3 hours each time to get on it. This time we walked right on! It's one where you sit with your feet dangling and the car hangs below the track.
I LOVE this coaster! It's a smooth ride with a decent drop and some good loops and twists.
Grade: A

Decided I probably could handle "Kingda Ka".

NITRO
Holy crap. This coaster is insane.
First of all, the ride up to the top is very high and very long. Then when you get up there, you see that this coaster is not a short ride - it's HUGE! There are no upside down loops, but a lot of corkscrew twists and drops. Katie had warned, that there is one part where due to G-force, it's common to black out.
Sure enough - when we went through the one turn, suddenly, everything began to fade from the outside towards the inside and then for a second I completely blacked out. But then, I was fully alert again for two last humps and the coast into the station.
Grade: B (I'd give it an A, but that's the first time anything ever made me black out like that, and I didn't like it.)

Lunch time. - We were all feeling kind of sick and dizzy, so we sat down to eat and re-collect ourselves.

Dan announced that he would NOT be riding "Kingda Ka". I continued to stress over it.

MEDUSA
At this point, I was really not feeling well - very dizzy from the heat and roller coasters. But, as Medusa was the only steel coaster left in the park (besides THE coaster) we went for it. Heather had said we could "digest while we waited in line" Good plan - but there was no line, so we got on, full stomachs and all. - Except for Dan, who decided he was done.
It is a good coaster - very much like Batman The Ride - feet dangling. But with this one, even though it has dangling feet, you are still up above the track.
Grade: B+

Matt decided he too was done with rides.

Then, it was time to face it.

As we walked towards the final coaster, I changed my mind constantly back and forth between doing it and not. I wanted to, and I knew I would be very disappointed in myself if I didn't, but I was SCARED!

Prolonging the enevitable, we stopped and watched some Tigers. They were gorgeous - but one scared us pretty badly. We were pressed against a huge glass window, and all of a sudden a huge tiger LEAPED out of a pond and right towards us, splashing the window with water. We all jumped pretty high!

GRR... still have to make a decision...

Stopped at a bench and the boys were sitting down. This is when Jimmy - who had spent the entire day saying "of course I'm going on that!" changed his mind, and said he couldn't do it.

So - that left the girls.

Here's a link with a video of the ride... check it out.
http://www.sixflags.com/greatAdventure/rides/Kingdaka.aspx

Heather, said, OK - let's go.

I said "damn it"

Katie, Heather and I walked to the line.

There was a sign that said "The car does not always make it over the top. If this happens, it will come back down and set for re-launch. This is a normal occurance."

I said "you've got to be kidding me...". Katie pushed me forward.

We got on the line, and saw a sign that said "120 minute wait from this point". We said, no way we were waiting, and started to walk away.

We realized that that wait time was only if the line winded back and forth through a whole area - which it did not. The true wait was only 15 minutes.

Got back on the line. Feeling totally sick and completely scared.

Timed the ride from "launch" until the end - it was 20 seconds. Decided there was nothing I couldn't handle for 20 seconds.

Got into the car. Told the girl checking the harness to "MAKE IT TIGHT!" She pressed down hard - I lost circulation in my legs, but felt secure.

Car moved into position. This was the scariest part. That few seconds felt like FOREVER. I kept saying stupid things like "I can't do this, this is insane, I am so scared" - Katie told me to shut up. Heather seemed totally chill - but she has jumped out of a plane before, so this didn't phase her.

Launch. 0-128 mph in 3 seconds. All we felt was SPEED.

About to go up. Yelled "OH MY GOD" - by then we were at the top.
Let out a chuckle, because the view was just way too cool.
Then we were down.
As we went over the big hump at the end, there was a feeling of total weightlessness.
Then it was over, and I said. "That was awesome."

My only regret was not doing it from the front row.

It was time to go home. On the way out, we bought Lauren a Batman cape. It goes great with her pink jelly high-heels.

to re-visit the topic of pants

2008-09-12T12:39:00.002-04:00

Before the introduction of the Traveling Pants books and movies into my life, pants were a major issue of a whole different time in my life.

It's part of my life that,I don't often think about, but when I do, it immediatly brings on a flood of emotions. But for the most part, as I go about my life - my PANTS wearing life - I never give it a thought.

But, today I read the news, and my immediate reaction was an outloud, "NO FREAKING WAY!" Because to me, this news truly is one of those "hell HAS frozen over" things.

Here it goes...
I have such a hard time believing this, it's actually HARD to type it!...

Pensacola Christian College has actually changed one of their major rules.

WOMEN ARE ALLOWED TO WEAR PANTS INSIDE THEIR DORMS.

ok... wow... deep breath... exhale...

Now - some of you totally get this and feel it right along with me. Whereas, the rest of you, are currently thinking "what the heck???"

Until this rule change, and back when I was a college student (which was clearly back when people still had MORALS!) the rule was, long pants could be worn only to bed, and only between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. Otherwise, you had to be in dress code of either skirt or shorts that covered the knees.

This is how that translated for me...
When walking around the dorm in shorts (in my room or in the halls), my shorts were always pulled down, usually below my butt, so that the bottoms covered my knees - with a huge t-shirt on, to cover the parts the shorts should have been covering, but weren't. This led to one of my dear friend, Teresa's jokes about me (only one, because Teresa had lots of jokes about me), which went: "How do you pants Kristen?" "Pull up her shirt".

Of course, being the rebel that I was, (I'm still trying to get right with God for this), I often wore sweatpants in my room. - With a blanket nearby to cover up if a floorleader dropped in. But then there was the issue of our nightly required "prayer group" at 10:15. For that, I would do as others would, and wrap the blanket around my waist and roll up the pants bottoms so they wouldn't show underneath. All it took was a bit of pants to show out the bottom, and a floorleader to spot it - and you were slapped with a lovely demerit slip and a trip to D.C. (That's "discipline committee" for those who think I'm making this up).

So, the fact that girls can not only wear pants in their rooms, but now they can walk out into the hallway them on, do laundry, make popcorn, go to a friend's room - it's all just too much to wrap my brain around.

My head is spinning.
I need to go read my Bible and see what else has changed that I've missed.

But, before I do that, I am going to use the rest of my lunch hour to drive my pants-wearing self to the grocery store, where I will enjoy being by myself and not with an approved group of three women. In an act of further rebellion I will even take it as far as turning my radio to a "rock music station."

Pray for me.

they're coming for her

2008-09-10T08:12:00.002-04:00

I've expressed my desire to be nominated for "What Not To Wear", just so that I can go shopping with the guidance of Stacy London and Clinton Kelly.

Well, they may be visiting my house, but it won't be to get me - they'll be coming for Lauren.

This kid has a major shoe fetish all of a sudden. In fact, she got in trouble at daycare yesterday because all day long, she insisted on taking off her shoes. Which - she only does so that she can put them back on again.

On Monday, as soon as I brought her in the house, we went to her room and she immediately took off her shoes and swapped them for these - her new favorites - but I won't be letting her out of the house with them! They're high-heeled jelly shoes with Sleeping Beauty on them, and the heels light up with bright red lights when she steps down on them.

She excitedly put them on, while saying "SHOOSE", over and over, and then when she got them on, she tripped and clomped over to her dresser, saying "hat!". She found just the one she wanted, and her outfit was complete!

the switcheroo

2008-09-09T09:25:00.006-04:00

Change of season means time to take all the summer clothes out of the closet and welcome the fall with jackets, long sleeves and close toed shoes.

This year was very fun - because every single thing I have for the fall is NEW! I was a MUCH bigger person this time last year, and all the clothes I used to have are long gone.

So, thanks to some wonderful Ann Taylor Loft coupons, I do have a decent amount of stuff to wear right now - and I'll certainly be adding to the collection as I lose some more weight.

While I was switching out the clothes - I decided to add some new storage boxes to minimize on clutter. I also switched my lighthouse carpet for a blue one, and added a grey suade storage ottoman that will function as a step stool - because even I can't reach the top shelves very well.

Here's the BEFORE:

And the AFTER:

Last, but certainly not least...
I would like to introduce you to the new friend that I met at Macy's.

I LOVE FALL!!!!!

"niiiiiiine"

2008-09-05T08:46:00.003-04:00

First of all, some big congratulations to our friends, the Spencers! Check out Joanna's blog (link on the right) to see the news.

Thanks to the short work week, I am thrilled to be once again looking at the weekend ahead.

Dan decided that since we had such a nice evening out last Friday night - just the two of us, that he wants to take me out again tonight. Most couples would plan dinner and a movie - but I think we're going to do dinner and then the gym. (yes - I'm obsessed again).

Since Katie and Jimmy will be babysitting Lauren, and since Dan and Jimmy will be going to the gym together early in the morning, I decided that it might be a good time for Lauren to have her first sleepover at Aunt Katie and Uncle Jimmy's house.

Katie is very excited and I'm sure Lauren will have a blast.

HOWEVER - I completely neglected to think about how I will feel when I try to go to sleep tonight and Lauren is not in her crib. Not sure how well I'll be able to deal with that!

But, at least we're doing this for the first time when I'm at home, practically down the street - and not far away somewhere.

I have to say... I am really happy with Lauren's progress at daycare. She has been there for a month now, and it's amazing how much she has learned! For example - she loves to count to 10. When I start counting out loud and with my fingers, she tries to do it with her fingers too, and tries to say the numbers along with me. Most of them are not clear, but she's pretty good with saying "two", "four" and "five". Her favorite and the one she always gets right is "NIIIIINE". Then after 10, she starts clapping with a huge grin on her face.

She's also loving puzzles and has gotten really good at them. Here's a photo taken this week. Her Uncle Alan and Aunt Roseann mailed her some books about fish, since they knew she loves them so much. She's in heaven with them... having a book, puzzle and fish in the same thing is the perfect thing for her! She loves taking the pieces out of each page and putting them back in again!

bring on the rain

2008-09-03T08:52:00.002-04:00

Lauren is all ready, with her Baby Gap raincoat and galoshes.

When I gave them to her, she got all excited "WOOOOW - SHOOSHE!!!" (That's "wow - shoes" for those who don't speak toddler).

I helped her put everything on and she pranced around her room for a while. The whole time, looking down at her feet, saying "SHOOSH" over and over.

Then I told her it was time for dinner, so she had to take them off.

That didn't go over very well.

summer ended winter started, it got colder when we parted ways

2008-08-29T10:22:00.002-04:00

There aren't words to describe how excited I am for September 27th.

I found this video on YouTube - and as I laughed for the entire 8 minutes I watched it - I realized that when I meet them and watch the show, I will most likely be laughing the entire time. (of course, I'll also be singing along and waving my right arm in the air)

There's just no way this can be taken seriously. It's going to be the most fun day ever.

katie, update your blog

2008-08-22T13:45:00.003-04:00

OK - with that out of the way...

Looking forward to the weekend.

I'm trying to organize dinner out with my husband tonight, followed by scrapbooking with Katie, Kate and Meghan at my house.

Tomorrow I'll be spending the whole day with Leah. Something, as she pointed out to me, we have not done in a long time. (kind of seems like we were 17 the last time we had a whole day to devote to each other!)

We'll be meeting for breakfast at Panera, and then heading over to the spa for a massage, facial, pedicure and haircut. Now THAT is a good day!

i'm ready to talk

2008-08-20T20:28:00.002-04:00

OK - here's the post that several of you have been asking for. Hopefully it won't disappoint, because there really was no big secret.

This is how I lost 54 pounds in 6 months:

EATING
I ate anything I wanted, but I counted calories. There is absolutely NO WAY I could ever go on a low carb diet. Carbs are my favorite. Granted, I only ate pasta once during the 6 months, but I ate bread (WHITE BREAD - GASP!!!) pretty much every day.

I started in January eating 1600 calories a day. But, as I lost weight, I cut back on that number by about 100 calories at a time. By the last month of the competition I was only eating 1000 calories a day. And if I was only eating 1000 calories, then I was darn well going to spend them on food I REALLY wanted to eat.

I've mentioned before - I was very careful to never waste calories on drinks. I drank tons of diet soda, water and Arizona Diet Green Tea.

BREAKFAST - For the first month or so, it was a Yoplait Fat Free Yogurt. Then for a couple months, it was a 90 Calorie Special K bar. Then for the last two months or so, I did not eat breakfast at all. I found that if I did eat something in the morning, I was much hungrier by lunch time and ate a lot more for lunch than I did if I had not eaten anything in the morning at all.

LUNCH - I did eat salad sometimes - but most often, I based my lunch on BREAD. It made me feel like my stomach was full and satisfied. These were my three main choices:
SUBWAY - 6" Subway Club on Italian Herbs & Cheese bread with F/F Red Wine VInagrette dressing. and a bag of Baked Lays
QUIZNOS - 2 Sammys (the 200 calorie each ones) and a bag of Baked Lays
PANERA - Honestly - I ate at Panera at least three times a week (OK - four) They post their calorie content online, so I had several combinations of things I would get and keep it between 500-700 calories.

DINNER - Lots of grilled meat and vegetables. Pizza once a week (homemade, so I could control it), Pretty much whatever I wanted - again keeping track of calories.

DESSERTS - I am the type of person who feels like the minute a meal is over, I HAVE to have something sweet. York Peppermint Patties are great - a large one is 130 calories. Also, I kept a bag of Wint-O-Green Lifesavers in the car. That helped me get over that craving. I sometimes chewed sugar free gum.

THE ONE THING MOST PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW
This is something I did keep secret from pretty much everyone I see on a daily basis. I couldn't risk anyone else in the competition knowing any of my strategy...

From February - July, I took that Orlistat pill, "Alli". It claims to block 1/4 of the "fat calories" you eat, so that you don't digest them.

Do I think it really makes you lose any more weight than if you didn't take it? Um... NO. I really don't.

But what it does do is act as a fear factor. They promise some really nasty side effects if you eat more than 20 grams of fat in a single meal. So, out of fear of those side effects, taking that pill gave me that extra dose of "will power" that I probably would not have had without it.

Although - I have to say, out of all that time taking it - I did push the limit a few times, and I never once had any side effects, but I'd like to believe something horrible will happen, so that I could use it again in the future.

I do have about 1/2 a bottle of it left. I doubt I'll buy it again though. It's too expensive to use for just psychological benefits.

EXERCISE
I started off at the gym doing strictly cardio. 15 minutes bike, 15 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes treadmill. As that got easier, I bumped it up to 20 minutes each machine. I tried to go every day.

As the weight started coming off, I decided that I should do 90 minutes - 2 hours a day. But after a while, realized that I didn't lose any more weight with the extra time. So, I cut it back down to an hour of cardio.

About three months in - my friend, Leah, introduced me to the ROWING MACHINE. That thing is amazing. I really feel like it produced big results. I ditched the bike and changed the routine to 20 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes rowing machine, 20 minutes treadmill.

As the weeks went by, I stuck to the one hour, but I did increase my speeds and intensity on each machine. Which, of course, got easier to to as time went on.

During the last two months, I added a little bit of weight training into the routine. I didn't want to add too much muscle weight, since I was going for total pounds lost - but I knew that lifting weights would burn more calories.

My gym is "Planet Fitness" - and they have a 30 minute circuit room - sort of like what "Curves" is. After my hour of cardio, I would go in there and do the circuit of just the weight machines. I would skip the steps in between - so it would take 15 minutes to go through the room.

BREAK IS OVER
My husband has kindly offered me my next incentive... As soon as I lose 10 more pounds, I can spend $1000.00 on new clothes for fall and winter. My goal is to do it in a month.

Hmm... that's all I can think of. Any questions?

it's never a dull day at windustrial

2008-08-19T16:04:00.004-04:00

This morning I walked in to our front office and was immediately greeted by this doll, standing on top of Jeff's monitor.

I looked over at Joe (the only person in the room at the time) and said "What on earth is THIS???" (Jeff isn't usually known for decorating his desk with female action figures.)

Joe laughed, looked up at me, and said...

"Jeff said it's a voodoo doll of YOU."

lots of fun with my baby beluga

2008-08-18T20:48:00.005-04:00

Mystic, CT was a great place to go on a little family vacation. We enjoyed some much needed quality time together - just the three of us.

On Friday, (after only a few hours of sleep), we got up and headed to CT, and our first stop was the Aquarium. It was a little bit crowded, but it was a lot of fun to watch Lauren's reaction to everything. She even got to touch a sting ray. The beluga whales were her favorite. (Dan's too!)

When we were done at the aquarium, we walked over to Old Mistick Village and walked around, checking out the shops. We stopped in the Scandinavian Botique and bought everything Norwegian they had for Mike and Kate's baby. (Kate is a very proud Norwegian!)

We also spent some time walking around downtown Mystic and had a wonderful dinner at S&P Oyster Co. Fortunately Lauren behaved herself. - I always worry when we take her into nice restaurants!

That night, we stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn. We had a "jacuzzi suite", so Lauren had the best bath of her life! She got to swim around in a big jacuzzi, while watching the Disney Channel on TV.

On Saturday, we woke up to another gorgeous day. We spent the morning wandering around Mystic Seaport. It was very cute, although super-touristy. The perfect weather made it a great day.

We hit the road in the early afternoon, and stopped in New Jersey to have dinner with my grandfather. It was great to watch him play with Lauren. He enjoys her so much!

There are a ton of photos from this trip on Facebook.

OK.... are you ready???

Candace - are you paying attention?

On Sunday... we RESTED!

(OK - lots of laundry got done, the lawn got mowed, suitcases got unpacked, house got cleaned) But I swear, there was resting!!!

peace, love, and the jonas brothers

2008-08-15T01:00:00.004-04:00

I'm so exhausted right now, I can barely think straight - so don't expect anything clever here...

Vacation - Day 2 - another great day.

Spent the morning at Bear Mountain with Dan, Lauren, Dad and Katie. We hiked a trail that brought us down to the Hudson River, below the Bear Mountain Bridge. Then we took Lauren through the zoo. (She said "otter".)

When we were done looking at animals, we went to a picnic area and had a nice lunch. Then Katie and I took Lauren on the Merry-Go-Round. After that, we all played ball with Lauren in a field.

We got home and Katie and I quickly got ready and headed back out and up to Bethel Woods. We thought it was cool that we were there on the actual anniversary of the Woodstock festival (39 years). We did stop for a moment and take notice as we pulled into the parking lot, right next to where the original stage had been. But then, we moved up the hill to join in the Jonas Brothers madness.

It was a GORGEOUS day out. But, even though it wasn't that hot, there were still girls passing out all over the place. There was a lot of standing around and waiting - but in the end, it was well worth it.

As Katie and I are suckers for ANYTHING Disney - we didn't mind taking part in the chaos. Besides, we thought about it and realized that if we were not sitting up there at that concert, then we would have probably been home - watching the Disney Channel.

Demi Lovato opened. She seemed really nervous at first, but then settled in and did a decent job.

The Jonas Brothers are great fun. Very good show. We had a blast, dancing and singing along, and screaming out things like "I love Nick Jonas!"

We were cheated out of an encore though... their final song of the set was "Burning Up" - which included pyrotechnics that set off the sprinkler system. So, that was that. They left the stage as water poured down, drenching all their equipment. Should make a great story for tomorrow's newspaper.

Tomorrow, Dan, Lauren and I are headed to Mystic, CT to visit the aquarium and seaport.

loathing... there's a strange exhilaration - in such total detestation

2008-08-13T21:07:00.005-04:00

I swear, every time I even think of "Wicked", that line sticks in my head. Followed closely by "Poor Galinda, forced to re-side, with someone so disgusting-ified. We just want to tell you, we're all on your side!"

Today was day one of my super-fun-filled-five-day-vacation. And, it was as perfect as it gets.

The morning began with getting Lauren ready for "Olympic Day" at daycare. She was on the Yellow Team. Here she is, all ready to race for the gold.

After dropping Lauren off, Katie and I hit up Panera for some bagels, and then we headed to the train station. As we pulled into a parking space, the warning light came on in my SUV, indicating that tire pressure was low in my rear passenger tire. Then, we immediately realized it was a much worse problem than low pressure, as we heard the very loud sound of all the air very quickly leaving the tire. We got out, saw a huge nail sticking out of it, and three minutes later it was as flat as a pancake.

So, we did the most logical thing....hopped on the train and called Dan (who had just gotten all settled at his favorite fishing spot) and told him to come fix it. He came, put on the spare, drove it to the tire place, got it taken care of, and put it right back, safe and sound, back in spot #149.

Meanwhile - Katie and I arrived in Penn Station and found it to be an absolutely GORGEOUS day to be walking around Manhattan. We immediately headed to Macy's because we knew they have a much larger Martha Stewart collection than our local Macy's does, so we got lost in there for a while.

Then, we headed up to the Gershwin theater to pick up the "Wicked" tickets that Aaron had left for us at the box office.

For anyone who doesn't know - Aaron Tveit has been a good friend of Katie's since they were in kindergarten. Then when they were in high school, they starred in all the musicals together - and Aaron was the soloist at her wedding a few weeks ago. He is currently starring as "Fiyero" in "Wicked".

When we got to the theater, we were giggling when we saw Aaron on the show's poster and cast list. Not like it's the first time we've seen him do something big - it's just always funny to think of him in certain roles. (BTW - Fiyero is a PERFECT fit for him!)

Tickets in hand - we quickly headed back down Broadway, as we had spotted a huge "Ann Taylor Loft". As, I had decided weeks ago, that this was my new favorite store, we were very excited to check out some new fall clothes.

It turned out to be an expensive decision. Here is Kate with her bag and mine. We're talking $600 worth of damage here (split pretty evenly). Yikes.

We had fantastic salads for lunch at a Ruby Tuesday Cafe. Then it was off to see the show.

Not only was it great to see "Wicked" again - it was also fun to sent text messages back and forth with one of the stars, during the performance. Stuff like "after the show, exit stage left, go to the statue, and my dresser will meet you to bring you backstage" (then we laughed for five minutes that Aaron has a "dresser") and from our end, "This Elphaba is great, and you totally suck."

No way was I going to try and sneak a photo during the performance, but I did get two shots during Aaron's curtain call.

Afterwards, we headed out to the statue, and not two seconds later, a man, (the "dresser") walks over to us, says "Kristen and Katie?" (he called me Katie, and her Kristen, but whatever...) and immediately ushered us backstage. There, we met up with Aaron, and got to spend some time chatting. We were like, "OK, this is a very cool job", and he replied "Yes, it's a fun little skit." So, the insanely elaborate production that is "Wicked" will henceforth be known as a "fun little skit".

Here's Katie and I with Aaron - standing on a BROADWAY stage.

Then, Aaron took us out the "STAGE DOOR", where there was a mob of people - mostly young girls - waiting to get his autograph.

Uneventful and relaxing train ride home, where we were happy to find four fully inflated tires. Then we went back to my house to see how our little Olympiad made out. She started jumping up and down and screaming with delight when she saw us. Turns out she had a fabulous day, complete with a gold medal and Olympic torch.

Tomorrow is day two of vacation fun. While I'm blogging, Katie is downstairs baking chocolate chip cookies for our picnic. Check back tomorrow night for a recap of the day.

greek girls do not lose their pants

2008-08-09T07:11:00.002-04:00

grrr... it's been a week since I've posted. I am however, taking Mike's suggestions from my previous post. I'm about halfway through a list of movies I loved in the 80s, so that will come soon. As far as the BTTF2 "Biff" issue - I have given it some thought, but it kind of hurts my brain to try and figure it out - but I have to believe there is an answer - we've just been too dense to figure it out. (or maybe, there were just better things to do)

Last night, Katie, Kate, Leah and I went to see The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants 2. There are not many things more wonderful than a night out and a great chick flick with your sisters and best friend.

The movie was completely enjoyable - but as I have read all four books in the series, it was a little annoying to see one movie that is made up of just little bits of THREE books. But, considering they only had one shot at getting it all in, I do think they did a decent job.

Speaking of pants - Turns out MY jeans are missing the magic of the Traveling Pants, because yesterday, they were feeling a bit too snug. Last night, I told Leah that the number on the scale has not changed, but I certainly was not feeling as small as I did.

Her answer was "well - muscle DOES weigh more than fat."

That hit me like an 8" blind flange in the head. (ha - my job is the reason have industrial sized fittings on my mind)

So, I am officially done with my five week eating binge. I am back on drink mass quantities of diet soda and will be once again sacrificing sleep time for gym time.

OH - it is VACATION WEEK!
(Well, technically, I do have to work on Monday and Tuesday, but I'm going to pretend it's still vacation and that's just what I'm choosing to do) - but then I'm off for the rest of the week, and have lots of fun things planned. Yay!

rain, rain, don't go away

2008-08-02T13:08:00.002-04:00

I'm loving this lazy, rainy Saturday.

Dan's parents left at 3 a.m. I'm really going to miss having them here! Justin and Dan went fishing at 5 a.m. But they're back now, since they got rained out. They are cleaning the house and asking me for anything they can do to help me out... which is only because they want me to be OK with them spending all day tomorrow fishing.

Check out Bob Nywening's blog - "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" - link is to the right. He and Kelly are probably almost to Colorado by now, and seems like they're having a really good trip so far.

Tonight the boys are playing poker at Katie and Jimmy's house and the girls are going to be scrapbooking here. I have the afternoon to decide which book to work on.... Disney World from two years ago - OR - Halloween & Thanksgiving from last year.... BOTH?

kristen & katie's list 'o fun

2008-08-01T16:04:00.003-04:00

This year is turning out to be pretty darn fun. It think it's even going to top 2005, the year of 5 weddings, and several vacations.

The first half of the year included Lauren's first birthday, losing 54 pounds, and Katie's wedding.

After a new addition this morning, here is what Katie and I have on our list of things to look forward to for the remainder of the year. Expect the list to grow as we find more ridiculous, yet wonderful, things to add...

KRISTEN & KATIE'S LIST O' FUN
2008 EDITION

August 6 - Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 - movie

August 13 - Seeing Aaron in Wicked on Broadway and shopping in NYC for fall clothes

August 14 - Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato concert at Bethel Woods (site of the original Woodstock)

August 15-16 - Mystic CT with Dan and Lauren to visit the Aquarium and Seaport. Katie gets to stay home and have fun babysitting my dogs.

September 27 -28 - NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK concert at the BORGATA in Atlantic City. VIP tickets that include a pre-show party and meet & greet with the group.

October 24 - High School Musical 3 - movie

October 31 - we get to take advantage of the fact that I have a toddler that we can dress up and take trick-or-treating!

November 21 - ok - this is a VERY big day...
Not only can we go to the movies to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
it is also the due date of our new
BABY NEPHEW!!!!!!!! So, that night, we'll either be at the movies, or the hospital.

November 27-28 - Thanksgiving and a day off

December 4 - new J.K. Rowling book "Tales of Beedle the Bard" in stores.

December 24-31 - Christmas! I am off from work and have a whole week to plan great stuff. It will include a quick trip to North Carolina. (again, Katie will get the thrill of dog-sitting)

her feet keep growing

2008-07-30T08:55:00.003-04:00

I'll open with an update on the bath situation...
The bathtub is now Lauren's absolute favorite place to be. In fact, any time she gets the opportunity, she runs in the bathroom and tries to climb in. One day she was in sheer terror, and the next, she decided there was noplace else in the world she'd rather be.

Dan's parents are here for the rest of this week, and they were very surprised when they woke up on Saturday morning and Justin was here. So, now they get to spend the week with their youngest granddaughter and second oldest grandson. Dan is LOVING having Justin here. It gives him an excuse to act like a kid. (although, Justin is 21, so technically, they are BOTH adults - they just don't know it yet). They've been fishing twice, playing video games, and there are plans for them to spend Saturday in New Jersey on a "Sopranos Tour" and then a poker game on Saturday night. hmm... maybe this could translate into some scrapbooking time for me?

When the weather first turned warm, I had purchased Lauren two pairs of sandals, that were very big on her. Well, a few short weeks later, they are too small. So, on Saturday, we all went to the mall to get her some shoes, and to get the boys fishing licenses. We got her 6 pairs of shoes, and I'm really hoping they last for at least the fall!

Here's me, Lauren and Dan's mom - waiting for the boys to finish shopping for fishing gear, Justin and Dan on one of their fishing trips, and Lauren, who I'm guessing is thinking "what's with all the chaos around here?!!"

waiting for pizza

2008-07-25T11:23:00.003-04:00

I should be out on the road, visiting customers, but the boss is having lunch brought in to the office today, so, I've decided it's worth sitting here an extra 1/2 hour for a free slice.

Anyway... where were we...
oh - the wedding.
There's not really much more to say. The day really was perfect. People have been raving about it all week. It's so hard to believe that all this took place a week ago, this week has FLOWN by.

I'll leave this topic by posting a great photo that Bob Nywening took. It's of the whole bridal party, minus one flower girl. But really... even to get two out of the three in the photo was a challenge.

So... what else is going on...
My in-laws have been here for a week now. It's been awesome having so much help around the house, and it's been great for Lauren to have so much quality time with her grandparents. Dan's nephew, Justin, is flying in tonight and will be with us until August 2nd. Dan's parents have no idea he is coming. They will be VERY surprised when they wake up tomorrow morning!

Dan and I are taking advantage of free babysitting tonight and we're meeting up with Matt, Leah and Tyler for dinner and to go see Step Brothers.

In other news...
Consider this your fair warning...
If you are one of the many people who has a key to my house - we now have a very high tech security system that was installed yesterday. (Sammy and Olie were not doing a very good job - we fired them. They are now just useless pets). So, unless you know the code to disarm the system, use the doorbell.

Considering the fact that the system is new and also considering the fact that there are five adults and one baby who are living in the house this next week, I will be very shocked if the police don't end up on our doorstep, responding to a false alarm. Should be fun.

One last note...
I would really love to find some time to do some scrapbooking. I left off five months ago working on an album of photos from Halloween and Thanksgiving. It would be awesome to find a few hours to revisit that.

don't have the energy

2008-07-21T21:50:00.002-04:00

The wedding was amazing, perfect, wonderful, over too fast, stressful, hot, and FUN.

I am still completely exhausted - and don't have the energy to write more, but there are some photos on facebook. I'll add more as they are e-mailed to me.

you'll never see me this early again

2008-07-19T05:53:00.006-04:00

I thought for sure I would get at least 7 hours of sleep last night. But, I woke up at 5 a.m., and there is no way I'm going to be able to fall back alseep now. I'm way too excited! I wonder if Katie has gotten any sleep at all.

Yesterday was a really fun day of wedding prep! And, of course, we can't downplay the fact that for Dan and I, it was our 10TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!

Katie and I started the day, bright and early, with a trip to the nail salon. There was no question as to who we would go to... our mother had a standng nail appointment for MANY years, with a great lady named Gloria (every other Friday at 3:30). It was great to start the day sitting and catching up with someone who has watched us grow up, and who was so special to our mom. To top it off, she made our nails look beautiful, and she refused to let us pay for them!

After the manicure, it was time to go back home to spend some time with Lauren and get ready for the rest of the day. That time flew by quickly, and then it was time to leave to go over to my cousin's spa. (Carol sure has seen a lot of me this week!)

While I was home, I was in my bedroom, getting ready, and my husband walked in the room and in his hand was a vase with 2 dozen gorgeous red roses. hehehe - he still loves me, even after 10 years of putting up with my nonsense.

Katie and I arrived at the spa, where Debbie (our dear friend, who works at Carol's spa and has cut our hair for several years) already had Kate in the pedicure chair. When Kate was finished, it was our turn. Debbie worked on Katie and Lindsay on me. When I went to pay, Kate had already beat me to it, and had paid for all three of us. I am so spoiled!

After our toes were finished getting gorgeous, I had just enough time to rush home, start packing up bags we will need for today, and change into my dress for the rehearsal.

When we got to the church, it was buzzing with lots of workers running around, transforming the place into a spectacular sight. Another dear friend, Heather Potter, is the florist for the wedding. I had high expectations for her, but so far, she has absolutely wowed me. As her family is very close to mine, we were able to score her mother's prize rose trees, which are now lining the aisle and decorating the platform. They're breathtaking.

Rehearsal went smoothly, and I think that despite my earlier fears, Lauren is going to be a wonderful flower girl! She seems to understand that when she is holding her flower, she absolutely HAS to hold mommy's hand, and walk with me. But, we'll see how it goes when she has to do it today in front of 225 people.

When we were finished rehearsing, I sent Lauren home with my MIL to go to bed, and we all went to Jimmy's parent's house for dinner. They threw a wonderful "NEW YORK YANKEES" themed party in their beautiful backyard. The food was wonderful, and we had a great time eating, relaxing.

After dinner, we had a "Roast & Toast" of Katie and Jimmy. I shared a top 10 list of things Jimmy should know before marrying Katie. Number 1 was "Katie went through a phase where she spent an entire week pretending to be a dog. She crawled around on all fours and barked at the mailman." I think the hightlight though, came from Melanie Newman. She and Katie have been BFFs since third grade. Melanie whipped out the notebook that she and Kate used to use to write to each other in when they were in 8th grade. She started by reading an entry Katie wrote about Aaron Tveit - who just happens to be the wedding soloist. It said "Yo. Aaron's hair is mad wack. It looks like a porcupine died on his head." I'm hoping Aaron has had that worked out by this afternoon. Then she broke the news to Jimmy that apparently Katie "hearts" Evan. She ended with an entry where Katie was comiserating about how she would be "single forever because boys are so stupid... and that she could go on about it, but it's too upsetting." It was pure gold.

I think I'll wake Dan up and see if he wants to go for a jog. Then it's off to the spa again to meet up with the rest of the girls - where Dad will have bagels from Panera waiting and Debbie will be there to do my hair and my makeup.

I have a lot of pictures from yesterday - I'll post them on my Facebook.

to-do list is decreasing, nerves are increasing

2008-07-17T08:14:00.002-04:00

Second application of fake tan is complete.

Teeth are whitened.

Going back to the spa today to get my injured shoulder worked on. Praying I'll be pain free for the wedding.

Dan's parents are arriving this morning. Having my MIL around will provide an invaluable amount of help.

People involved in the wedding are FINALLY starting to catch on that when the bride requests something be done a certain way, then that's how they NEED to do it. This day is NOT about what works best for THEM.

I threw up last night. (I'm sure you all wanted to know that)

welcome to the wedding week!

2008-07-14T08:12:00.004-04:00

This is it folks.... you should see the endless pages of "to-do" lists I have going on! Not only is the wedding on Saturday, but Dan's parents will be arriving on Wednesday to spend the rest of the month with us. It's all very exciting - but there is an insane amount of planning and organization going on right now!

On Saturday, Kate and I threw a bachelorette party for Katie. There were 14 of us and we had a great time! We met up at Kate's house and relaxed for a bit, and then moved on to the Bull's Head Inn for dinner. Bull's Head is an amazing restaurant in Campbell Hall, NY - one of our favorites! - but it's the type of place you save for special occasions.

We had a long, leisurely, delicious meal with lots of talking and laughing. As, I had decided months ago that I was going to eat whatever I wanted during this dinner, I ordered a dish that along with grilled chicken and mushrooms, also included pasta, pancetta (bacon) and a sherry & cream sauce. When it was served, I said "I'm officially welcoming pasta and bacon back into my life!" It was absolutely delicious.

After dinner, we all headed back to Kate's house for dessert, games and gifts. This is the part of the evening that will remain a secret to all except those who were there. There are lots of pictures, but they probably won't be hitting the internet any time soon!

Lest you think the boys were not having any fun - a group of them spent the evening at my house, playing poker. (They took care of Lauren too). They had thrown Jimmy a bachelor party two weeks ago, so they had already had their fun.

Here's some pics from the evening (the first half of it anyway.) I'll also post them on my facebook with everyone's names.

sweet emotion

2008-07-11T23:01:00.003-04:00

You can all stop worrying. My problem is solved.

We had a fun evening. Dan and I came home from work to find a very happy and hyper child. (She's had a lot of fun with Morgan Barry watching her this week!) As she was jumping on our bed, we decided it would be good for her to get out of the house and release some energy.

First we went to Best Buy (necessary to solve the Xbox problem). Then we went to the shoe store to look for black flip flops for me to wear to the wedding rehearsal (no luck). Next, we took Lauren to Chuck E Cheeses for pizza and to play (yes, we're insane). She ate three slices of pizza! Lastly, we went to Petco and finally got some fish to put in our tank (it's been sitting empty for over two years!).

The plan worked, because when we got home, Lauren was exhausted.

I'm THRILLED to report that we had a SUCCESSFUL BATH!!! No crying and no pooping!

Lauren quickly went to sleep, and Dan and I have spent the past couple of hours playing Guitar Hero.

I destroyed him.

Oddly - we unlocked all the songs, and Crying, Amazing and Crazy are nowhere to be found on the game. Maybe they're a download.

Of course, the first song we played.... "Living On The Edge"!

OH!.... commercial...
Be sure to check out Bob's blog "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (link on the right). He's got some interesting travel plans within the next couple of months. Should be good reading! (Especially for those of us who won't be leaving town any time soon!)

crying, amazing and crazy

2008-07-10T22:00:00.002-04:00

I've got a problem. Not sure how high it registers in the grand scheme of problems - but whatever...

Today I purchased the new Aerosmith edition of Guitar Hero. I couldn't wait to get home after work, picturing myself rocking out to "Walk This Way". Then, I remembered.... the Xbox 360 is broken and won't be coming back from Microsoft for a couple weeks.

So - SOMEONE PLEASE BRING ME YOUR XBOX!!!!

I'm hoping I can snag Jimmy's, since he'll be busy this week with wedding prep and then they'll be off on their honeymoon.

Cool thing is - now with this purchase, we now have TWO guitars, which will make playing a lot more fun.

Speaking of guitars and wedding prep...
I just got back from church where I listened to Mike, Matt, Adrian, Vince and Ben play Edwin McCain's "Could Not Ask For More", over and over. They sound great!

Unfortunately, they won't be able to practice with the soloist until one hour before the actual wedding! Since Aaron has hit the big time as a Broadway star - and is now starring in Wicked, we're lucky we can even have him for the wedding. I figure while the guys were hitting their fourth or so run through of "Could Not Ask For More", Aaron was singing "Dancing Through Life" down in NYC. No worries though - I'm sure it will be awesome.

Since I was at church with the band, sadly, I missed Lauren's bathtime tonight. I'm really torn up about it.

I'd ask Dan how it went - but for some reason he went to bed early.

throwing the wall oven out the window

2008-07-09T21:46:00.002-04:00

Since I'm probably going to need therapy to get over the scene that took place in our bathroom tonight, I'm going to skip talking about Lauren's bathtime issues and move on to the kitchen.

After six years of owning this house, we've finally decided to take on the super-exciting task of re-modeling the kitchen. It's something that desperately needs to be done, and that I've wanted to do since the day we moved in.

So... it's time. Here we go!

One problem... I don't know where to start! Also, I have a horrible time making decisions on stuff like this. How on earth do I choose? The possibilities are endless, and I have to pick stuff that I will have to live with until the day I die! (or move).

Maybe moving would be easier?

I guess I'm off to a good start. I've got a huge stack of cabinet catalogs and five zillion neon colored post-it page flags. This phase should keep me busy for a few weeks.

in remembrance of Mr. Rogers

2008-07-08T20:57:00.003-04:00

Remember his "You Can Never Go Down The Drain" song?

I wish Fred Rogers was still alive, so he could reassure my child. She is suddenly deathly afraid of the bathtub. Seriously... screaming, hysterical, refusing to sit down... it's bad. In fact, the past two nights, she's been so afraid, she ended up forgetting that the tub is NOT a toilet. (After two nights of scrubbing, I now have the cleanest tub in NY).

Everything was fine when we had her in her little blue baby tub, inside of the big tub. But considering my 17 month old is as tall as an average 3 year old -the baby tub had to go. It is in the garage, and I refuse to bring it back.

In an attempt to make the bathroom a place she wants to be, I went against my "don't let the kiddie stuff take over the house - keep it in Lauren's bedroom" rule. I purchased a mat for the bottom of the tub with a scuba diving Elmo all over it, and a big plastic faucet cover that is Elmo in a bubble bath. I also got a Crayola bath caddy with 10 crayons, 6 finger paints, and 30 fizzy tablets that turn the water different colors.

Mike, Kate and I had some fun writing on the sides of the tub, and swirling around blue finger paint. We also turned the water a nice, bright blue color. We were hoping that Lauren would see our fun and want to join in.

She probably would have joined in... but instead, she cried, stabbed herself in the eye with the green crayon and then pooped in the tub.

Mike and Kate helped me out of the disaster (all the while, probably freaking out on the inside as they too are about to enter into this wonderful world of parenthood), meanwhile, Dan was in the kitchen, washing dishes, pretending he was oblivious to what was going on upstairs.

I have to stop blogging now so I can go check on my little princess. She's supposed to be sleeping, but I pretty sure she's chewing a huge chunk out of her crib.

busy day

2008-07-02T21:21:00.002-04:00

Yes - two blogs in one day... but there's an awful lot going on! Here's the run down...

I ate pizza for lunch and a cheeseburger for dinner. Both made me feel sick and didn't taste good enough to make it worth it. I think 6 months of eating right was enough to change my habits for good.

I was going to take the day off from exercise - but couldn't help it. Even though the cheeseburger was like a brick in my stomach, I took Sammy out and went jogging in the neighborhood.

After work, I met Katie at the dress shop, where we THOUGHT we were going to pick up her altered and pressed wedding dress. Long story short - her dress is still at the shop, needs major work and now has blood on it from the stupid seamstress who stuck herself with a pin while trying to adjust it. It was quite the scene with Katie bawling her eyes out, me fuming mad, and the ladies who work at the store being as incompetent as you could possibly imagine. Dad had it out with the owner of the shop over the phone, and tomorrow Katie and Carol Nauta are going back to supposedly pick up a finished and perfect dress. (holding my breath)

Here's the big news of the day....
Even bigger than my 54 lost pounds...

Mike and Kate are having a BOY!!! I am going to have a NEPHEW!!!!

Here's to hoping tomorrow is less eventful. This was a lot for today. I'm kind of burnt out.

and the winner is...

2008-07-02T10:25:00.004-04:00

Wow - these past 6 months have FLOWN by! The Newburgh Windustrial Biggest Loser competition is officially over!!!

As expected, I came in third place.

Here's the results...
Jeff - 32 lbs.
ME - 54 lbs.
Donna - 60 lbs.
Dean - 60.4 lbs.

Donna won $1000 and 3 days vacation for losing the highest percentage. Since Dean beat her on total pounds lost (by less than 1/2 a pound!) he gets to keep the other $1000 and 3 days.

When I have some more time, I'll go into detail about how I lost my 54 lbs.

Here's our "before" and "after" photos.

just get through today

2008-07-01T08:22:00.002-04:00

By this time tomorrow morning, the competition that has completely consumed my life for the past 6 months, will be OVER.

Realistically - I'm looking at third place.

glimpse of life on the run

2008-06-26T22:40:00.002-04:00

Every once in a while, in the midst of a really hectic day, and when I'm really tired, I will think... "what if I just ran away, checked into a hotel and went to SLEEP?" (Anyone who is a mom knows exactly what I'm talking about).

As, I'm sitting now, in a hotel in Branford, Connecticut - it just hit me... THIS is what it would be like. I got to run away, and my boss paid for it!

I miss Lauren and Dan an awful lot. But, I'm definitely more relaxed than I have been in a long time, and tonight I'm going to get 8 hours of sleep. It's been months since I've had more than 6.

Of course, while I'm sitting here, surfing the internet and watching the Disney Channel, there are tons of thing that I'm not getting done at home. But - that's a problem for the weekend.

I'm kind of putting off going to sleep, because when I wake up, I have a 6 hour seminar to attend - topic: The New Sales Quote Program. (kill me now)

I'll kill a few more minutes by putting white strips on my teeth...

happy birthday Ayden

2008-06-24T22:00:00.002-04:00

Ayden Charles Nauta was born today. I'm going to go to the hospital tomorrow to kiss his little face. Congratulations and lots of love to Jason and Lisa. They're going to be great parents.

Yesterday, we got the sad news that Joanna and Adam are moving away. Which means, for the second time, I found myself in a daycare crisis. But, my panicky crying fit only lasted for a minute before I remembered that the first time this happened, I had a solution (Joanna) within an hour, so I had faith that God had it all worked out for me this time too.

Sure enough - "Curious Cubs", a daycare that is only 1.5 miles from my house, just happened to have ONE opening, beginning exactly when I needed her to start there. I think it's going to be a great place for Lauren to be. She'll be in a cheery room with tons of toys and activites and 9 other children to play with. I figure this is a good next step on the road towards her Harvard M.B.A.

Kate was supposed to have her ultrasound today, so I was anxiously waiting to find out if I would be becoming an aunt to a niece or a nephew... but when she got there, she found out that the doctor's office messed up the scheduling, so the whole thing was put on hold until next Wednesday. So, stay tuned for that exciting announcement!

some of the stuff you've missed

2008-06-22T15:14:00.004-04:00

Lots going on. Here's some of the recap.

Dan's brother in law, Dwayne, and nephew, Brad, stayed with us from June 13th - 20th. It was great having them here. We're looking forward to seeing them again, along with the rest of the family, when we go down to North Carolina in December.

Here's a pic of Brad, Lauren, me, Olie, and Sammy's butt. (Those of you who knew me at PCC will recognize the painting that pretty much owned me for half a semester my junior year.)

After saying goodbye to the family, it was time to welcome the second wave of houseguests. Melissa arrived from Maryland on Friday evening. It was so much fun hanging out with her. Although, I'm not sure how Dan felt, being stuck in the house with two giggling women.

On Saturday, in the afternoon, we went over the th Potter's house for a BBQ to celebrate Logan's 3rd birthday. Then, in the evening, Ryan and his new finace, Steph arrived. They are from Michigan, and were out here to go to a wedding. Mike and Kate came over to hang out with us. (everyone keeping up with all this???)

This morning we all went to church together, then out to lunch. Currently, eveyone is driving home, and my house is QUIET.

the big secret

2008-06-18T21:45:00.003-04:00

I swear, at least once a day for the past few months, someone has asked me THE question...

"How are you doing it?"

There's really no big secret here.

I'm just DOING it!

Not for a few days, or a few weeks - but month, after month, after month... one very hard day after another.

The process is not fun, but the results make it worth it.

Until the competition is over on July 2nd, there are some details of my plan that I don't want to make public yet... but just to address a few things that people have asked about recently...

Someone asked about how to not drink soda (actually, she calls it "pop" - but same thing). Listen - drinking calories is a HUGE don't. There are so many diet sodas and drinks out there, there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever to EVER drink regular soda. (sure, you might get cancer from artificial sweeteners - but you asked how to lose weight, not how to not get cancer). Don't EVER drink calories.

Am I eating?
YES! But I am counting every single calorie. My intake for the day has changed as the numbers on the scale have changed. Yes - sort of like Weight Watchers. However, if I had followed the Weight Watchers guidelines, I most likely would not have lost even half of what I have so far. Their plan would have been way too much food for me. Oh - and I certainly have not given up carbs.

Exercise?
Another BIG YES! And we're not talking just taking the stairs instead of the elevator or parking far away from the store.

When the competition ends, I'll share how I ate and exercised in more detail.

In the meantime - this thing ends in just TWO WEEKS from today! The winner could very easily be ME, Donna or Dean. Joann and Josh have dropped out, and Jeff would have to cut off a leg to have a chance. But for the three of us, this competition has pretty much turned UGLY. Each of us want to win very badly and we're each willing to do whatever it takes to do it.

So, I apologize in advance if I'm mean or psycho for the next two weeks! I promise I'll be pleasant again soon... As soon as I get a cheeseburger and hot fudge sundae in me!

has it been a week already?

2008-06-17T08:43:00.003-04:00

The days have been flying by so quickly. I've been so busy, it's been pretty much impossible to update. The only reason you're getting this now, is because I'm being a bad employee and doing this on company time. As usual - got to sacrifice somewhere!

We spent all of last week preparing for the weekend. I decided to take a 1/2 day off on Friday and was able to be home early to await the arrival of our first wave of houseguests.

Daniel's brother-in-law, Dwayne and nephew, Brad arrived from North Carolina on Friday afternoon. They are staying with us until this coming Friday morning. They are having a good time touring NYC and having some good quality father/son time. We're really enjoying having them here.

On Saturday, Katie and Jimmy hosted their first party in their new home. Everyone from both families was there. As we are already like one big family, we had a great time being together. Katie did an awesome job with the food - made me proud!

Lauren and Kendra were the entertainment for the evening. As they are getting older they are getting so funny! But, they are also starting to get into trouble. Here's a picture of them - each with a stuffed animal in one hand, and trying to get into Katie's china hutch with the other hand. Don't worry - I disciplined them... after I took the picture.

Then, just to prove they are "big girls" (and because neither Suzanne or I remembered to bring a high chair) - they got to sit at the table to eat their dinner. Lauren was sitting on a phone book.

Sunday was a great day, but VERY busy! In the morning we went to church. It was a wonderful Father's Day service, and it was very cool to be able to have Dwayne and Brad there with us.

After church, we rushed home and Daniel and I quickly began grilling food for the family. Everyone came over and we had a really nice meal out in the backyard. After lunch, we sat around and enjoyed the nice weather - but soon it was time to quickly get ready for ROUND TWO. We had our Bible Study happening in the backyard at 6:00, - So, we cleaned up the family party and then quickly threw together a BBQ for about 25 people. (hot dogs are not healthy, but sure are easy!)

Obviously, by the time we finally sat down at 10:00 on Suday night, we were exhausted. Just in time to start a new work week!

Things are not about to settle down any time soon. (wedding anyone?) At this point, I'm looking at this all as a good experiment.... It will be interesting to see how long it takes before I completely lose my mind.

a little bit of saturday

2008-06-09T20:59:00.003-04:00

I love summer for so many reasons. I love that when the work day ends, there is still plenty of sunshine and nice weather to spend time doing fun summery things that make you forget for a while that it is really Monday. It's a chance to have a little bit of Saturday added to each of the work days.

It was in the upper 90s again today, and I stupidly thought it would be a good idea to drive around and hand out my company's t-shirts to some of my customers at their construction sites. Usually I never complain about heat - but I will admit - it was rough.

As the day ended, I decided it would be a perfect day for a swim - so when we all got home, Dan, Lauren and I headed over to my father's house and spent an hour in the pool. It felt AMAZING! Lauren was scared at first, but after a while it was hard to hold on to her, because she thought she could just swim away from me! It felt so good to come home cooled off and refreshed after being so hot and sticky all day.

Here's Lauren, Katie and I cooling off.

Today was a rough day for Dad. He made the front page of the Bergen Record. Katie blogged about it, so if anyone is interested in the story, just check out her blog - link is on the right of my page. The whole thing is so stupid. Fortunately, Dad has thick skin and knows that if you're going to work in a public arena, then these things are going to happen. I'm sure that by tomorrow it will be old news.

saturday recap

2008-06-08T00:16:00.003-04:00

Woke up at 5:45 a.m. to Lauren crying and yelling "MOMMY! MOMMY!" So, being that it was the first time she has ever done that, I was too happy to care that we were starting the day so early.

Took both dogs to the vet for their yearly "well visit". ($500 seems like an awful lot to pay for a 10 minute conversation, a couple of shots and to be told that both dogs are perfectly healthy)

Went to the post office to buy shipping tape. (Now I just need some boxes and I can get all those clothes shipped out.)

Set up Lauren's "water park". She wouldn't actually stand in it, but Katie and I did!

Installed the air conditioners. I didn't want to, but when it's 97 degrees out, there just isn't much choice.

Kate and I went to a Bridal Shower. I ate more than I should have.

Went to Katie and Jimmy's house to see all their new appliances.

Dan and Mike had to go to some men's thing at church.

Lauren and I watched a movie and cleaned her room.

Did a graphic design job for a client.

Kate came over and we cooked chicken for dinner, put Lauren to bed, and then watched National Treasure 1.

While watching the movie, we planned Katie's bachelorette party.

Mike and Dan came home and we watched National Treasure 2.

hmm... LONG day. And what do you know... It's Sunday already. Time for bed!

Oh... quote of the day definitely goes to Mike. He walked in the house at 10:00 tonight and headed for the kitchen, saying, "I read your blog. I know there's food here."

time to let go

2008-06-06T23:14:00.002-04:00

To go along with yesterday's theme of overstocking - today I'll blog about my clothes. I have a lot of clothes.

(haha - as I'm thinking about this theme, it reminded me of a day, back in college, when Candace looked at the top of my dresser, which was covered with Bath & Body Works stuff, and she told me I was "overproduct'd". Yeah - I'm still that too.)

I've always had my walk-in closet (which I get all to myself) completely full - along with a whole mess of stuff stored in bins in the garage. But, as I've quickly gotten too small to fit anything I owned, the garage bins filled to overflowing and then a mountain began to grow on top of the garage worktable.

Today, I decided that as hard as it is to give up a lot of this stuff, it HAS to go. All of it.

(well, OK... I kept the maternity stuff... you never know!)

So, the rest of it will be leaving New York tomorrow morning, and traveling to one Miss Charity H. in Lafayette, IN. It will be a huge burden lifted off of me, and Charity can stress about the storage of it all, while spending the rest of the year never wearing the same outfit twice.

I crammed it all into 11 large garbage bags. A big HOORAY for having less stuff in the house!

Don't worry.... my closet is still completely full.

we're stupid with juice boxes

2008-06-05T20:37:00.002-04:00

Grocery shopping is such a pain. It's one of those necessary things on the "to do" list that I just dread every week.

Last night, upon realizing that once again, it seemed like we were just about out of pretty much everything, I snapped and decided that it was time to go shopping. But not only was I going to go... Dan was going to come with me. I told him we were hitting up Sams Club and Hannaford and we were going to get at least a two-month supply of anything that was not perishable.

So, we called my father to come over - put Lauren to bed, and spent over an hour in each of the stores.

We are now STOCKED. Like ridiculously stocked. We've got enough hand soap, furniture polish, floor cleaner, toilet paper, toothpaste, NyQuil, animal crackers, cotton balls, etc... to last at least the rest of the year. Not to mention, there are now 20 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke and 100 bottles of Poland Spring water in the garage. (Sadly, that will only last about a month).

So, in my perfectly organized little mind, for at least the next couple of months, I should only have to go to the store weekly to grab meat, produce, etc... for whatever dinners we will eat that week.

In the meantime, whenever Jesus does decide to return, I'm sure we'll still have a massive amount of heavy duty Aluminum Foil left - in case He needs any.

un-interesting and random

2008-06-03T20:42:00.002-04:00

I don't have anything really interesting to blog about today.

I'm still pasty white.

I don't have to weigh in at work tomorrow, we're not going to until the final weigh-in on July 2nd.

We're looking forward to lots of houseguests that will be coming throughout the summer - starting next week.

Kate got to see the baby on an ultrasound today. Everything is good. Three more weeks and she'll have another one to find out if it's a boy or girl.

blink. another weekend over.

2008-06-01T21:16:00.004-04:00

Once again, the weekend has flown by way too quickly. Highlights:
- Watched "Juno" with Dan
- Worked out A LOT
- Housekeeping and yard work
- Katie turned 25
- Katie and Jimmy got baptized
- Lunch at Chilis with the whole family
- Gorgeous weather today
- Had our Bible Study outside in the backyard while the kids played in the sandbox.

Here's photos from tonight of Lauren and Xavier Wilson in the sandbox, and one of Carol Whitley blowing bubbles for Kendra Lucas.

I decided today that I really don't like Jillian Michaels. My reasons will become pretty apparent just by posting a few quotes from her. These were all said within one 15 minute workout I did this morning.
- "I've got 400 lb people doing jumping jacks. There's no reason why you can't"
- "Your neck is not invited to this party - I want ALL abs"
- "You see these abs? These don't come for free people"
- "Feel that pain? That's your body getting stronger. That is fear leaving your body"
- "Don't phone this in"

and my personal favorite
- "I want you grunting, panting and screaming..."

The woman is a psycho.

Next topic...
Tomorrow night, I have to go to a cocktail hour and dinner that is part of a golf outing for some Mechanical Contractors Association. Several of my customers will be there, so it's kind of required.

I'll get a dinner at a really nice country club in Westchester. That's great. Too bad I'm not drinking any calories, and I'm hardly eating anything. (this is the good part)

(now for the bad part)
I'll most likely be the only woman there. The only woman in a room full of drunk men who work in construction and who have been out playing golf all day.

Should be interesting...

oh where is my airbrush?

2008-05-29T14:25:00.002-04:00

Anyone familiar with "Veggie Tales" can appreciate that title. (That is, unless you are as familiar with the Veggie Tales silly songs as I am... in which case, you hate me right now for putting that in your head.)

Katie's wedding is in 7 weeks. I'll be wearing a beautiful navy blue dress (that is currently 4 sizes too big, but we'll worry about that another day.) However, my "hasn't seen the light of day since last summer, nasty pale skin" self is not going to look so hot in the dress.

Here's my dilemma...

OPTION 1
Don't want to do a 30-day membership at a tanning salon. I would have to go every day after work, and I don't have the time for that. Not to mention, after my many summers at the Jersey shore, slathered in baby oil, I'm already the poster child for skin cancer - I see no need to rush the inevitable.

OPTION 2
I've tried Jergens Natural Glow lotion - which works fine, if you want just a bit of color on your face, arms, legs, etc... but the problem there is, it requires a very even application, EVERY day for at least a week. Again, that's too much responsibility for me right now. Not to mention, I need my back to look good - way too risky with lotion I'm applying myself.

OPTION 3
Get a self tanner that is strong enough that it only needs one application. That's scary. Way to high of a risk of ending up the color of an Oompa Loompa. (original Oompa Loompa, of course - not that strange looking guy in the re-make)

OPTION 4
I could get a "sunless tanning" treatment at my cousin's spa. But, that sort of seems like just a lazy and expensive version of options 2 and 3.

OPTION 5
Airbrush.
This could look really good, IF done properly. My only problem with this one is finding a place to get it done. I'll have to do some research. Basically, I would like to find the midpoint between my current self and a Dancing With The Stars contestant. (whoever does it on those people has a VERY heavy trigger finger)

I'll keep you posted, because I know you're all dying to find out how this turns out. Meanwhile, I'll continue to laugh at the fact that I used to have a dark wonderful tan every summer, from actually sitting outside in the SUN. Does anyone do that anymore? Does it still work? And who are these people that have TIME for that?

who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

2008-05-28T21:34:00.002-04:00

There is something loose in my neighborhood.

Remember that night a couple of weeks ago, when I actually took one of the dogs for a walk at night? Well, while we were walking past an area of trees, from the darkness came a really low, menacing growl. I quickly crossed to the other side of the street and walked very briskly towards some houses, looking over my shoulder for something to step out from the trees. Fortunately, whatever it was, stayed put.

Then, something else happened at 3:45 this morning... Dan and I were both wakened by a noise. At first we thought it was the yappy dog that the new neighbors across the street own. That yappy dog woke us up by barking at 2:00 in the morning - which kind of stinks, because now we have to hate the new neighbors.

Anyway... when we woke up again at 3:45, by an animal making noise, I thought it was the dog barking again. Then I realized that whatever animal was making the horrible sound I was hearing, it was clearly in some serious pain. At this point, Dan and I were both up, and Sammy and Olie were up and trying to get up on our bed, because they were frightened.

I still thought it was the dog across the street - but then I walked into our bathroom, which had a window open, facing our backyard. It was then I realized that something was happening right on the other side of our fence, behind the house.

I could hear a really deep, mean growl, and lots of snapping of sticks - at least one of the animals back there was a pretty decent size. But all that noise was pretty much overpowered by the horrible yelping and shreiking of whatever poor animal was being killed. Not that I'm an expert on animals or anything (as evidenced in the "do birds have sex before laying eggs" debate), but I'm going to guess that it was a rabbit.

So, now I'm scared to go outside after dark. I wish I knew what was back there last night. I'd assume it was a dog, but then again, two years ago we had a bear in the backyard - so who knows.

It's really pathetic to not be able to go for a walk in your own neighborhood at 9:30 at night, because you're afraid that something is going to eat you. I live in the city of Middletown for goodness sakes - I should be much more concerned about gang activity than I am about whatever is growling in the dark out there....

.... I expect any night now, I'll hear something growl, "open the door and let me in, or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down."

If this mystery animal does make an appearance, I'll just point him towards the yappy dog across the street.

what did I do on Friday?

2008-05-27T21:51:00.005-04:00

I've been way too busy the past few days to even think about blogging. And, now I'm to the point where I'm just angry and exhausted from being so busy.

I almost fell asleep driving to work this morning. It was kind of scary. I've driven while really tired before (ok, a LOT), but this time, I snapped awake, realizing that I lost at least a second. At that point, it shook me up so much, I was awake the rest of the way. I made it through the day, and now I can finally go to bed.... after I put away laundry.... grrrr...

Highlights from the wonderful 3-day weekend: Actually, let's make this a top 10 list...

TOP 10 THINGS I DID OVER THE WEEKEND

10. Cleaned the house and did a ton of laundry.

9. Got out of work early on Friday, and took Lauren shopping at the mall.

8. Watched National Treasure 2 with Dan.

7. Sang Bon Jovi, "I'll Be There For You", at the top of my lungs, while driving to church on Sunday morning. (Lauren thinks I should audition for American Idol. Sadly, Dan missed it because he was already at church)

6. Planted flowers and shrubs. Dan made a new border with boxwoods around the deck in the backyard.

5. Slept for at least 7 hours every night.

4. Went to Matt & Leah's house on Sat. for dinner and poker. (Actually, Kate and I came to my house and put Lauren to bed and watched Robin Hood - the Kevin Costner one - while everyone else played poker)

3. Ate ice cream. Ben & Jerry's "Half Baked" (crap. I have to weigh-in at work tomorrow)

2. Spent lots and lots of time playing with my little princess.

1. Date with Dan on Sunday night. Dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then to the movies to see Indiana Jones.

I know I did something really fun on Friday night, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was... Other than shopping with Lauren, I have no idea whatsoever... Hmm... If anyone was with me on Friday night, please remind me what we did!

My one picture from the weekend... Great minds think alike, because when we arrived at Maples Farm to buy our flowers, we ran into my father, who was there doing the same thing. So, here's Lauren running around the farm with her grandpa...

my way is the "right" way

2008-05-23T20:01:00.002-04:00

Life is good. It's Friday night, and there is a three day weekend ahead of us, full of gorgeous weather and lots of work to be done around the house. The festivities have already been kicked off with a family "pizza night", followed by an hour of the three of us crammed on to Lauren's little sofa reading books, singing, hugging and giggling.

Today, in the women's forum on PCCBoard, there was an interesting discussion on parenting. Basically a mini-debate on the issue of whether or not mothers should stay home and raise their children, rather than working - which then turned into a discussion on women trying to push their priorities on to others as the "right" way of doing things. Joy Geer, - someone I have gained much respect for over the past several years, posted something that really spoke to my heart. (For those of us who know her, we are constantly blessed by her wisdom and advice.)

With Joy's permission, I'm going to quote her...

"...it's vitally important that we as women do our best to encourage each other. We're going to have differing views on birthing methods, feeding our babies, discipline styles, and a zillion other topics. But if we who know Jesus can give each other grace on those things which are not directly addressed in Scripture, we can help each other grow instead of becoming more and more isolated in our "right" way. The older I get, the more I realize how precious and mysterious are good and true friendships among women, and what a potential for help there is in a good friendship. But in order to reach any kind of level of help (outside of "be just like me"), we have to get past competitiveness and smugness."

When I read that today, I immediately felt like I was both smacked and comforted at the same time. So often, I find parenting to be so stressful and so competitive. Joy - thank you for reminding me that by following a Godly example in our relationships, especially with other women, we can live much happier and more fulfilling lives.

my blog is better than Roger's blog

2008-05-22T21:27:00.005-04:00

Mike.... seriously? There is only ONE boy band.

But since apparently Roger is so cool, because "Roger listed the top 10 NES games on his blog", I too will list what I think the Top 10 Original NES Games are. I have not seen Roger's list, so you'll have to share it so I can compare.

10. Duck Hunt - the closest I've ever come to shooting a gun (picture the dog popping his head out of the grass and laughing because you missed)

9. Metroid - almost as cool as Contra, and it had that pink gooey brain thing you had to shoot at

8. Wizards and Warriors - no memory cards back then, so we kept the game running all night so we could wake up and beat it the next morning.

7. Mike Tyson's Punch Out - always a crowd favorite. (singing the music out loud right now)

6. Baseball - ahh... the memories of evenings at the Jersey shore, listening to the "dink, dink, dink... of the little men running the bases"

5. Jaws - I liked driving the boat around waiting for him to pop up

4. Super Mario Brothers - the birth of a legacy

3. Contra - (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, B, A, start) (press "select" before "start" for 2 player)

2. Donkey Kong - loved it on Intellivision, loved it on NES

1. The Legend Of Zelda - I rocked that game. Studied the guides.

I spent the day in New Jersey today. Visited some clients and filled my gas tank for $3.65/gal.

The season finale of Grey's Anatomy is calling to me...

gotta give the readers what they want

2008-05-21T22:20:00.003-04:00

Earlier today, I thought I'd be writing about how completely upset I am that Panera took the Chicken Tomesto sandwich off their menu.

Then, a few hours later, I thought it would be about how today I had to choose between being a good mother or a good sister. Instead of spending the time after work with Lauren, I accompanied Katie to her wedding dress fitting. But, then I did get to spend a few minutes with Lauren and rock her before putting her to bed.

I had every intention of going to the gym tonight, but instead decided to go over to Katie and Jimmy's new house and help Katie organize and put away everything in her kitchen.

Here's Katie, beating Jimmy with a rolling pin, and Mike and Kate playing wiffle ball.

While working, Mike told me that he had a suggestion for my blog. He said I needed to add some Top 10 lists or reviews - stuff to "keep the readership interested and encourage comments". I told him his suggestion stressed me out, because doing that would require me to actually do some work, rather than just sit down and process my thoughts from the day.

But, since it's my nature to never want to disappoint anyone, I'll make Mike happy by posting a Top 10 list...

TOP TEN CONVERSATIONS WE HAD IN THE KITCHEN TONIGHT

10. Lauren is going to lick the sliding glass door. Yes... lick.

9. Me: "Are you and Jimmy going to share a closet?" Katie: "Heck no!" Me: "Good girl."

8. "Do you not know how the batter and catcher dynamic works?"

7. "Girls... I have a suggestion for your blogs..."

6. Is the bump on Kate's stomach a fat roll, or the baby?

5. Explaining to Kate how when Mike and I were teenagers, we used to litter every night. On the way home from work, I would drive, and he would throw his soda cup into a large bush in our neighborhood and yell "THROW IT IN THE BUSH!" We feel a little bad about it now. The straws and lids are probably still there.

4. "Don't leave the tray tables in the living room. I promised Jimmy we wouldn't leave any dents in the new carpet"

3. "They're not really called 'silverfish', they're called 'house centipedes'. It's carcas just fell down the basement stairs."

2. Kate: "If the parrot died trying to lay an egg, does that mean that could happen to me when I'm trying to give birth?"

1. A debate over whether or not a parrot has to have sex in order to lay an egg. Leading to wondering if a rooster has to have sex with every hen in the chicken house so they can lay eggs every day, and if so, then when does he have time to sleep?

That was too much work. I can't promise any more lists any time soon.

the jury is still out

2008-05-20T20:31:00.002-04:00

Not sure how I feel about the Puffs tissues with Vicks Vapo Rub in them. It's an interesting experience.

Dan woke up with a sore throat this morning, so we're officially sick as a family now. I've also missed going to the gym for several days now, which really stinks. I really don't want to be the girl coughing her head off on the treadmill. Thinking people don't really appreciate that.

Katie and Jimmy close on their house tomorrow. I'm really happy for them. I can't believe that Mike, Katie and I all own houses in the same town, within 3 miles of each other. I never would have imagined that would have happened. It's pretty awesome. Not to mention convenient, considering how much time we all spend together.

On a completely random note... What on earth possessed me to replace the batteries in Lauren's HSM Microphone???

down came the rain and washed the spider out

2008-05-19T20:38:00.000-04:00

Lauren and I are both sick. That's what happens when you love someone so much that you can't help but kiss their sweet little face, even though it's oozing snot. Regardless, we all got up early today and did what we had to do... another Monday.

I just spent the last half hour cuddling with Lauren in our rocking chair. Which makes today pretty much the best day ever.

She fell asleep in my arms, and I'd probably still be holding her, but alas, I had a previously scheduled date with a bottle of NyQuil.

There is something so contenting about hanging out with someone who thinks the Itsy Bitsy Spider is the most hysterical thing in the universe. (unless you don't clap your hands when you say "washed" - that just makes her really mad)

There's a jar of Vapo-Rub with my name all over it.

what it feels like to be home

2008-05-18T20:16:00.000-04:00

Either due to a cold, or to allergies, Lauren's nose is running. So, per my own rule as Harmony Baptist Church's "Nursery Supervisor", I could not put her in the nursery today. Bringing her into the sanctuary with me is not an option either. I still can't get her to understand that Baptists do not run up and down the aisles. Therefore, my choices were to either go to a Charismatic church, or stay home.

It was a really nice day to get things done around the house and to un-wind from all the craziness that's been going on. Lauren and I read books and watched 101 Dalmations and High School Musical. Then while Lauren took a wonderful 4 hour long nap, I did a really deep cleaning in the living room and dining room. We're talking "get up on a chair and dust off the top of the hutch, move all the furniture" kind of cleaning.

My father came over in the afternoon and he and Lauren played and watched Veggie Tales together, while Dan and I continued to clean the house. Then we had 13 people come over for the "Young Adult" Bible Study that meets at our house the first and third Sunday of every month. It was a much smaller group than usual, which was fine with us. I was feeling too worn out to entertain a crowd.

I'm kind of exhausted right now. I feel like I'm crashing down after weeks of constant running. I'm going to spend the rest of the evening on the couch, filling my mind with trash TV. (2 hour season finale of Desperate Housewives)

Although, as much as I would love to just unwind... I've got three graphic design jobs I should be working on, laundry to do, my desk is still a mess.... it truly never ends. But, I figure, if I take the rest of the night off, it will all still be there tomorrow.

Tomorrow's another day.

bridal shower and barnyard animals

2008-05-17T20:12:00.000-04:00

Today was Katie's bridal shower. We had perfect weather for our garden party themed shower, that was held in Montgomery at Jimmy's parent's house. (a.k.a. Stone Ridge Farm).

A big thank you to all our friends and family who helped make this such a great day. I know that Katie and Jimmy feel very loved and very blessed with all the wonderful gifts they received.

Katie and I with the adorable cake. (It was delicious!)

The bridal party:
Katie Schupner - Bridesmaid
Logan Potter - Ring Bearer
Kathryn E. Hopper - Bridesmaid
Kristen Edge - Matron of Honor
Lauren Elizabeth Edge - Flower Girl
Kathryn A. Hopper - Bride
Lillian Potter - Flower Girl
Lauren Elizabeth Scott - Bridesmaid
Melanie Newman - Bridesmaid
Emily Lucas - Bridesmaid
Kendra Lucas - Flower Girl

After the shower, Dean took the kids down by the Alpacas, so that they could see the new baby. Kate fed it a bottle, and Lauren gave it a hug.

Now that the shower is over, the next thing to look forward to is the WEDDING! I can't believe how quickly it's coming up! It feels like the the Lucas family has been part of our family forever - it's finally time to make it official!

first time was a great time, second time was a blast...

2008-05-16T14:56:00.000-04:00

Today I paid big money to get a piece of my childhood back, if only momentarily.

From the moment rumors of a New Kids On The Block reunion tour hit the internet, there was no doubt whatsoever that I would be attending a show. To say that I was a fan would be a huge understatement. I was one of the obsessed.

When you're the little sister of an obsessed fan, you're bound to get sucked in to the madness... which means, that Katie was totally on board, whatever the plan might be.

When the tour dates were announced, we found a show that was perfect for us - Saturday, September 27th at the Borgata in Atlantic City. It's perfect... small venue - only 3,000, and we can make a weekend of it. Dan and Jimmy were also on board. They have no intention of going anywhere near the concert - but will be entering a poker tournament. Not to mention, we'll get to spend the night in one of the Borgata's amazing rooms. (Last time we stayed there, Dan and I got upgraded to a suite...doubt we'll get that lucky twice in a row!)

Here's where the insanity begins...
The plan was to buy tickets as soon as they go on sale, tomorrow morning. General admission, standing room only tickets are $125. If we did that, we'd have to stand in line in the lobby for several hours before the show, and then get let in to the venue 1 hour before.

OR
We could buy VIP tickets today. For $375, we get to go to a party before the show and get to meet the group and take photos with them. Then we get to be brought into the venue to be right up at the front of the stage. We also get some merchansise, etc...

Obviously - we went with the second choice. (After getting Dan and Jimmy's blessing, of course.) I bought the tickets this morning. We're pretty darn excited.

They performed their first show in 20 years this morning on the Today show. I TiVo'd it, so I'll check it out later. I heard it was mobbed, and that people were lined up as early as 11:45 AM on WEDNESDAY! Now, THAT is insane.

screeeeeeeeeeeeeeech

2008-05-15T20:38:00.000-04:00

My life came to a screeching halt today.

All day long, whenever I thought of something I needed to get done, I wrote it down on a list. By the time I walked in my house after work, my head was spinning with all the little tasks bouncing around in my brain. Although, I did feel like I at least had a handle on things. The next few days will be very busy, as Katie's bridal shower is on Saturday. But I still feeling like I was in control.

That is until I walked into the computer room.

This is what I found.

My desk and scrapbooking area looks like a bomb hit it. And I just can't function like this. No chance whatsoever. This mess has been building up over the past few hectic weeks, and it has finally gotten to the point where I absolutely can not do one more thing until I take care of this.

For a minute I stood there, horrified, wondering how on earth this happened. Then it all started to hit me... taught a scrapbooking workshop, bridal shower plans, bridal shower gifts mailed from people who can't come, freelance graphic design jobs from two different clients, scheduling for the church nursery, bills to pay, coupons I'll never use because they are buried in this pile, Mary Kay orders.... I'm sure there's more, but my brain hurts.

Oh - and all my sister's scrapbooking stuff and some Uppercase Living stuff she ordered is in there somewhere too. Hmm... she's closing on her house soon.... maybe her stuff AND mine should relocate.

The fact that I'm blogging today means that I have at least begun to fix this problem. This is what it's SUPPOSED to look like.

I may stay up all night... oh wait... forget this... The Office is on.

spent time with the dog

2008-05-14T21:43:00.000-04:00

In the time since Lauren was born, I've been accused, on more than one occasion, of neglecting Olie and Sammy. (For the first 8 years of marriage, I satisfied my maternal instinct by acquiring two golden retrievers). Well, I'll have you know... tonight I took Sammy for a walk. (Break out the "mother of the year" trophy.)

I've been a bit out of control all day - there's way too much going on. Finding time to go to the gym tonight was just not going to happen. But, after my horrific showing on the scale this morning (only lost .2 lbs this week), not working out tonight was not an option either. So, I drugged myself with Zyrtec, nasal spray and allergy eye drops, saddled up my attack dog for protection (yeah, right), and took a really refreshing 30 minute walk. (well, as refreshing as a walk gets, when you're completely stoned on allergy meds)

I tried to jog, but every time I did, for some reason Sammy would jump up on me and claw at me. Either he was afraid that by jogging, I would accidentally yank on the leash and pinch him with his training collar, or he was afraid that after laying around and doing nothing for the past 15 months, he might have a coronary if he tried to run. (The latter is the reason I didn't take Olie with me. He's currently not speaking to me, but it was for his own good. He's old.)

So, it was more like a brisk walk, while listening to Annie Lennox on the iPod. Pretty much everyone else in the neighborhood was sitting in their living rooms, watching TV. They all made sure to keep their curtains open - just to taunt me. From what I could see, no one was watching anything good, so I'm not too jealous. (I bet they all had a better dinner than I did too.)

it's not saturday

2008-05-13T20:36:00.000-04:00

When the alarm clock went off at 5:15 this morning, I hit snooze, rolled over, and said "so glad I don't have to get up... it's Saturday". That would have been amazing, except for the fact that it's Tuesday. Fortunately I came to my senses by the time the clock went off a second time. Still - that's a really depressing way to start a Tuesday.

One of the best things about major life events is that you actually get to have contact with people who are important to you, but who you never seem to make time for.

Katie's bridal shower is this Saturday, and as I am the RSVP person, every woman who has signifigance to my family has been in contact with me within the past couple of weeks. Some sent e-mails, and even though it's not personal contact, it was still nice to hear from them. Some called, and even though I usually hate talking on the phone, it has been really nice to have these conversations...

Yesterday, I had a great talk with my "aunt" Heather. She has been a great friend of my parents since they were teenagers, but the kind of great friend, who will always be a great friend, even if we all go five years and never talk to her. She's a riot. And I'm not just saying that because she used to sneak junk food up to me when I was really little and my parents would make me go to bed while they had a party. Caller ID has ruined her game though. Throughout my whole life, any time she has called, I would answer the phone to hear only the words "who's your favorite aunt?". The answer to which, had BETTER be "Aunt Heather!", under penalty of death. With caller ID, the fun is gone. I love that woman.

Today, my cousin's wife, Lisa, called me from California. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. It was so nice to talk to her and get an update on their 11 month old TWIN boys. They are not sure if they can come to the wedding - I would love it if they do!

Not two minutes after that phone call, my Aunt Marion called. She is my mother's sister, and even though she only lives an hour away in New Jersey, we don't really keep in touch. Basically, we see each other only on Christmas and other major family events. It felt good to catch up with her. I've been feeling guilty because I know she is sick and I have not reached out to her at all. She has cancer throughout her body, and is going through aggressive chemo treatments. Please pray for her.

On to another topic...
Dan's Nissan Altima has been dead for over a week. Thankfully, we have superhero mechanic, Jason Berube on the job! Jason is in the process of hooking us up with a new engine and catalytic converter. All this had better get us at least two more years out of it. The car is a 2002 model, so it has no excuse to kick it yet.

In the meantime, Dan is working from home tomorrow. Which means that instead of commuting to NJ in the morning, he gets to fertilize the lawn.

I was only going to show this photo to the immediate family, but it goes so well with my current mood that I've decided to share it with the world. Isn't she precious?

thinking outside of the box

2008-05-12T20:27:00.000-04:00

After being on backorder for two months, the pink sofa that we ordered for Lauren's room, arrived. It's kind of funny how I've been whining about how sad I am that she's not a baby anymore. Then, two seconds later, I'm all "Here. I bought you a couch."

This should make her Veggie Tales watching experience so much more pleasant. Or, rather, it would, if she would actually try out the sofa and forget about the box it came in.

Whatever. It's in her room, it's adorable, and if she doesn't use it, it will stay clean! Oh - and it folds out into a bed, so she's all ready to have sleepovers with her BFFs.

even better than stuffing on thanksgiving

2008-05-12T09:33:00.000-04:00

First, and most importantly - I don't have to keep a secret anymore!!! KATE IS PREGNANT! I am beyond excited that my brother and his wife are going to have a baby. So, this Thanksgiving, I have something else besides the stuffing to look forward to.

One great benefit of becoming a mother, is that mother's day is no longer one of the most depressing days of the year. Of course, I miss my mother, but I can think about her, and what an amazing mother she was. Then I look at Lauren and get filled with the realization that it's my turn now, I get to be the mom, and experience the overwhelming love that goes with that.

Yesterday was lovely. We started the day at church, where Mike made the big announcement. The place went wild! Then we went to lunch at the Olive Garden with my family, Kate's family and our friend, Kathi. In the afternoon, my father, Mike and Kate came over and we played with Lauren out in the yard. She LOVES her sandbox! Katie and Jimmy stopped by later on, they spent the day at the Mets game.

The plan was to eat the Olive Garden leftovers for dinner, but I decided that blueberry pancakes sounded like a better idea, and Kate agreed. So, Mike ran out to the diner, and we ate while watching the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movie.

MUST go to the gym tonight.

Dad continued his role of "most awesome gift-giver ever" and gave me a gift certificate to New York & Company. So, I can go and get some smaller clothes. (which I won't need if I eat any more blueberry pancakes)

I really love rainy Mondays. Sets the tone for a nice relaxing day after a busy weekend.

saturday in the park

2008-05-10T16:37:00.000-04:00

Between the years of 1989 - 1994, my social life pretty much centered around my church youth group. Today, to celebrate the 50th birthday of our leader, Don Nauta, we had a "youth group reunion" at a local park. Although many people couldn't make it, it was great to be able to get together with those who could. There were about 50 people there and we had a great time eating, laughing and looking at albums of old photos.

Me with Leah... my best friend back then, my best friend now, and I'm sure we'll be old, gray and wrinkled together.

Leah, feeding Lauren her first Blueberry Mountain ice cream. (In case you're not from around here - Blueberry Mountain is an ice cream shop where me, Leah, my brother, my sister, Leah's sister, several friends, etc.... all worked at. It's all homemade, premium ice cream, and we've all eaten an obscene amount of it over the past 25 years.)

Picture with the husband...

I would have like to have posted some photos from our high school years, but I let someone borrow my albums to put together a slide show. Yes, I know you're all disappointed. Because, really, looking at that picture of Kris Lucas wearing my bra never gets old...

less of me

2008-05-09T15:11:00.000-04:00

My brother said to me "every time I see you, there is less of you". Well, - that's the idea.

I am in the midst of a "Biggest Loser" competition along with 5 of my co-workers. Whoever loses the most weight and the highest percentage each get $1000 cash and three days paid vacation. Do both and you get $2000 and 6 days. If that's not incentive, what is? Competition runs from January 2 - July 2.

Those of you who have seen me over the past few months know that my life has drastically changed, as I have been extremely committed to this challenge. And to those of you who have not heard from me in months, I apologize, but as the weeks fly by, I am devoting more and more time every day to this, and less to everything else. Part of me feels really bad for being so self-absorbed, and I know that some people are probably really sick of hearing about it - but this is something that I absolutely HAVE to do.

We're four months into the competition, and so far I've lost 40 lbs. Sometimes that doesn't seem like much, but then I put it into perspective...

I gained 30 lbs during my pregnancy. Lauren is 15 months old now, and today I weigh 68 lbs less than I did when I went to the hospital to have her.

Today I weigh 30 lbs less than I did when I got pregnant.

This week, I walked into Gap and bought the same size jeans I wore when I was in high school. They look great. (for $70, they had BETTER look great!)

Right now I am tied with my boss for 2nd place. I'm 6 lbs behind first place. We have 8 weeks left to go. At this point, this is priority number ONE.

As a mother, am I allowed to say to say that? After all, time at the gym is time away from Lauren. I think I've come to terms with the fact that I am doing this FOR Lauren. When I think about her as an adult, I automatically assume I'm not going to be around - because that is MY reality. But, it doesn't have to be that way for her.

Huge thanks to everyone who has helped and encouraged me through this!

Why am I doing this?

2008-05-09T11:14:00.000-04:00

I don't have time to blog. Really, I don't. Not to mention the fact that my life really isn' t that interesting. If anything, it's just organized chaos crammed into 7 days a week.

Yet, here I am.

Maybe this is my attempt at organizing my thoughts... Or, maybe it's an avenue to feel more connected to family and friends who either live far away. Or, a way to feel less guilty about not keeping in better contact with the ones who live close by.

It's probably a good way to share updates and photos of my sweet little girl, who has too quickly transformed from a baby into a toddler. Or, maybe I'll just talk about myself.

We'll see.