Old School Christmas Tree

According to old Hollywood movies people used to get and decorate their Christmas trees on Christmas Eve, or sometimes Santa himself would deliver it. How magical.

I personally prefer to have the tree up the whole month of December; however, in our life, things rarely go according to plan (someday I'll explain our family motto of "Completely Unprepared for Absolutely Everything"). So, its not really to surprising that being out of town in the beginning of December threw everything off. Add to that a big snow storm this past weekend and we found ourselves out on Christmas Eve looking for a Christmas tree.

The only "real" place (i.e. a plant nursery/tree lot) that still had trees was selling $80.00 trees for 40% off...I'm sorry, not a good enough deal for the Udys! So what if they were beautiful, they still shoud have been $20.00 - IMHO. So we finally gave in and headed to Wal-mart (not even the nice one in the next town over, but the trashy one down the street from us) for the tiny trees I'd seen leaning against the building for $10.00. And lo, they had been further discounted to...

...wait for it...

...$5.00!!

A Christmas miracle. (Okay - don't worry, we aren't that poor, we were planning to spend a lot more than that but still - FIVE DOLLARS! You can't loose!)

Before - Aaron is trying to put on a "poor me" face next to our shrimpy tree.

As you can see, it turned out wonderfully and I loved the idea that Tessa would wake up to a Christmas tree, lights, decorations AND presents. Yeah!

After - LOVE IT!

Christmas Surprise

I had an ultrasound on Tuesday, it was scheduled at the last minute so Aaron wasn't able to come. I didn't want to know the gender of our baby before he did, and so, since Christmas was right around the corner I had the u/s tech write down the gender and seal the paper in an envelope. Contrary to popular belief, I did look away from the screen when the tech got to "that part" and so I was as clueless as Aaron.

I carried the paper around in my purse for TWO WHOLE DAYS and it nagged at me the whole time. But I was a good girl and waited until Christmas to open it.

The note is now posted on our fridge and reads:

"Congratulations. Its a Girl."

We were both expecting a boy - but are thrilled to be having another girl. Yeah!

Grandpa's Trains

While we were visiting Idaho Falls, Grandpa's trains were a big hit. Believe it or not, I think he got bored with running them before Tessa got bored with watching them. I think a lot of fascination had to do with the train car that dumped M&Ms, but there was a lot of things she thought were magical.

Gift and ANOTHER endorsement

For Christmas my little sister Laura made me a book about our experience with Tessa's birth and hospital stay.

You can read it here

Laura is a consultant for Heritage Makers. Unlike other photo books and/or scrap booking systems Heritage Makers helps people to tell the story as much as on the pictures and layout.

I was really touched by the book she made us. Thanks Laura.

A Most Embarrassing Brag

I finished a quilt.



I'm not proud of myself.

I started it in 2006.

I actually gave it to my Mother-In-Law last year for Christmas, unfinished.

I took it home to finish it.

And it took me all year.

Talk about an anti-climatic gift.

Mishaps & Endorsements

I guess no Christmas travel is complete without its adventures, even if is a non-Christmas-early-December-attempt-to-avoid-travel-excitement trip.

Well to be honest, we (and by that I mean Aaron) only had one, pretty major, travel mishap. The other mishaps happened after we (and by that I mean I) got home. But I am going to use this forum to get sympathy for them as well. :)

Mishap #1: Aaron vs. Airport security - When Aaron got to work last Thursday and told a co-worker that he had lost his license she asked "What did you do?" She apparently was a bit scarred from being a passenger while he was driving them around Philadelphia on a business trip. He clarified that he had lost, as in "misplaced" it - not lost as in "had it suspended".

The timing of this was rather unfortunate. You see, Aaron returned to MA from ID a few days before I did via the 4:10 am shuttle to the SLC airport. At 8:45 am I get a call from him with the question "Have you seen my driver's license?" I insta-panic for a second before I find out he was already through security with an hour to spare before his flight.

However getting through security involved the following:

• A phone interview between some unseen security guy and Aaron, through the ticket counter guy. Various semi-random questions were asked that would come up on a quick background check and then what we assume was confirmation by the ticket agent that Aaron fit the description on his drivers liscense photo...which we assume is available to high level airport security via the inter-web.

• Removing an extra 7 lbs of luggage from his overweight suitcase (which he shoved in his carryon).
  
  
• A rigorous security screening which triggered a positive for nitroglycerin (2nd time this has happened to us...anyone with insight why?) and resulted in an even more up close and personal search of his person (clothes stayed on in case you wondered...like I did. I believe the phrase Aaron used to describe it was "just shy of invasive").

Moral of the story - it isn't the end of the world to show up at the airport without ID, but it is definitely better to check for your drivers license before you leave the house.

Non-mishap #1: Emily vs. travel with a toddler - Luckily Aaron was our weathervane for bad travel luck on this trip and despite my extreme anxiety about weather conditions and behavior (of both Tessa and I) our trip home was a breeze.

Related Endorsement #1: This was the first time we flew Southwest and I am a big fan because -
A) We got a screaming deal.
B) you can reschedule your tickets if you want (which makes total sense to me and I think other airlines are real ninnies for being so strict with their policies).
C) The flight crew attempts to be humorous.
D) the seats are unassigned and parents with children under 4 get to board very near the beginning of the group.

We had to use a smaller airport, Manchester, NH, which was only slightly farther away than Logan Airport but so much friendlier. And parking was even cheaper than we'd thought so perhaps next time we'll just suck it up and pay for parking (shocking) - Thanks to the Browns for letting us park our car at their house!

Related Endorsement #2: Southwest uses the Chicago Midway airport and in this airport they have a restaurant called the Potbelly Sandwich Works. I was drawn in by the reasonable prices of their sandwiches (even cheaper then I'd expect to pay in the "non-airport" world) and then as an added bonus because I had a baby with me an employee took my order and I didn't have to wait in line. I got teary-eyed at this. Seriously.

Mishap #2: Aaron vs. writing a check - First thing in the morning, after returning to "real life" at home I get a phone call from our local bank branch.

Turns out our mortgage check wasn't going to clear without over drawing our account by $1000+. Once again insta-panic...but for longer than a moment. The bank manager said if we could transfer the money into the account he would process the check after we did that...but what money would I transfer...and HOW did this happen? I had just gotten paid before we left, we didn't spend much money on the trip, and Aaron had just gotten paid that past Friday.

I asked the bank manager (whose name is Chad) if I could call him back...I checked the balance via the 800-number and we had more than enough to cover the check...what the...? I called Aaron...he hadn't written any big checks (I'll admit, I was a bit disappointed to find out I wasn't getting a mink shoal for Christmas)...there really must have been a mistake. So I call the bank back (after confirming the phone number Chad gave me was legit and I wasn't being scammed...I am so cynical), told Chad I was really confused, explained why, and somehow in the course of the conversation realized that, although Aaron had assured me that he "could handle writing a check" he had in fact written one from my "business account" which, sadly has no money in it, instead of from our joint account. WHAT A RELIEF...a quick transfer of funds and problem solved.

Related Endorsement #3: Sovereign Bank, Essex St. Salem Branch & Chad. True, we have unknowingly bounced a check (or two) with no phone call - but I was sooooo incredibly relieved that he called to solve this issue. They actually did a similar thing a few years ago when a huge check had initially cleared but 7 smaller checks didn't. Without a phone call they swapped the order and saved us $231 in over draft fees. AND when we refinanced our home equity loan the same week Tessa was born the manager at that time (Rhonda, I believe) was incredibly helpful. And of course it also helps that they haven't collapsed.

Mishap #3: Emily vs. spoiled toddler - While we were in Idaho, in unfamiliar surroundings I had to rock Tessa to sleep each night in order to have any success putting her to bed. So of course she was pretty mad that I just plopped her in her crib when we got home...so mad that she made herself vomit. Yeah...that was Tuesday night, Wednesday night Daddy was on duty (and he rocked her to sleep), so I am very anxious to see how Thursday night goes...

...just an update - I'm finishing this post during Thursday nap time and she went to sleep as she usually does (sans vomitting)...fingers crossed for tonight.

Mishap #4: Emily vs. Target parking lot - Picture me happily doing some Christmas shopping. Then picture me standing in the freezing cold drizzle trying to decide if I should have my car towed because it won't start or if I should just call a friend to get a ride home and let Aaron deal with it later that night. Don't worry, it all finally ended well when some amazing, wonderful, fabulous friends came by and managed to jump start our very very very dead battery. This was after a previous, unsuccessful attempt by a kind stranger who was parked in front of me. I was pretty much resolved that there would be a towing bill and a new alternator in my future...but that was not to be. After that I had some quality time with a box of chocolates...and I don't feel guilty at all.

Related Endorsement #4: Dusty and Crystal Pyne - who are amazing and wonderful (and have a really cute daughter). I am so grateful that in additon to a link to their blog I'm going to go ahead and link to the Chik-fil-a in the Northshore Mall. They own it, we love it - and if you order right it is very healthy. I do not - I order the chicken nuggets & waffle fries, which I coat in Ranch dressing, and a milk shake to top it off.

Suggestions please

I saw a great idea for an advent activity on one of my favorite blogs...

The Crafty Crow

The idea is to have a different Christmas book to read each day in December. I figure it'll take me around 5 years to collect 25 Christmas books if I only buy a few a year (actually, if I only buy a few a year that will take 10 years...but I'm not going to be THAT frugal!)

Anyway - I was hoping you could offer suggestions on children's Christmas books you love. I want uplifting (but not too heart rending in order to give my hormonal self a fighting chance) with cute pictures...not too much to ask. A good moral would also be nice.

Don't worry - I already have a special place reserved for "Poochy the Christmas Pup."

Stay tuned for travel adventure updates...

Just a note

By the way - I'm out of town. I still need to catch up on a lot of things but that will have to wait.

In the mean time you can anticipate hearing about Aaron's adventures at the airport on his trip home. Looks like our holiday travel curse strikes again.

More proof he's paying attention

On Tuesday night I saw Twilight.

I went with some girlfriends, which was good since Aaron may not have appreciated the 13-year-old-like giggling that was happening in the theater (not from me though...of course not).

When I got home that night I was on a sexy-seventeen-year-old-vampire-induced-high (yikes, I know, creapy). Aaron was waiting with his lips puckered - however the high could not cover up the need I had to visit the ladies room (16 oz. of soda) so I had put his kiss on hold. When I came back in the room he puckered up again and when I kissed him his lips were ice cold.


Apparently he had remembered this blog* I had him read...remembered and applied...good job honey. Good job.

I included this a the most recent pic I have of him - the cat has nothing to do with it...but he's cute.

*The blog I linked to is really long, so in summary, if you want your Edward infatuated wife to fall head over heals for YOU try, among other things, sucking on an ice cube before kissing her.

We chipped in our $20.99

We gave in and went shopping today, so if the economy continues to spiral downward, don't blame us.

Eye-opener

Often shyness is approached like a problem that needs to be overcome, but really - it is just a character trait - perhaps the opposite of being outgoing. Some people might think that being outgoing is preferable to being shy, but I disagree, the two personalities balance each other*. (That is the nice way to say: Just as a shy person might come across aloof, sometimes an out-going person just needs to be quiet. ;) )

Tessa is shy when we are in public and rarely leaves my side (rarely as in never). Despite my above opinion on the validity of a shy personality I sometimes get exasperated that she won't show her cute personality to more people. And sometimes I want to be able to walk without an extra 22 lbs clinging to me.

A few weekends ago we were at some friends house for breakfast and a bunch of kids were playing in the next room. Oh, Tessa wanted to go play with them, but she wouldn't go by herself, she wanted me to come, and being a party-pooper adult, wanted to be where I could chit-chat with the big kids. Later I was telling this story to Aaron and he simply said "Of course she wanted you to come. You are her best-friend."

I don't think he meant that so be so profound but it totally opened my eyes and made me even more appreciative of Tessa's sweet personality, and flattered that she wants me to be involved in all events of her life.

Emily's Helpful Marriage Tip

This will solve 0.5% of your marriage woes - you are on your own for the other 99.5%

Tip 1-A: Make sure your bedspread has a pattern with an easily recognizable center (I of course think pieced quilts work best for this). That way when you make the bed you know that each half of the bed has the exact same amount of covers.

Tip 1-B: Make sure you have a headboard with a easily recognizable center (combining this with a matching foot board works even better.) That way you know for sure that you are justified asking your partner to scoot over when they are hogging the bed! Of course this is always said in a loving manner.

Fait au Hasard

Sometimes I go to a store just to get some candy. (I know Aaron will have a comment or two about that fact alone.) Friday I went to the store solely to get ingredients to make the first FUDGE of the season! Mmmm!

(Aaron before you finish that eye roll you should be proud - I was also tempted to buy a roll of cookie dough and white chocolate covered Oreos and I RESISTED!!)

Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum.

While I was in the checkout line two adult women employees got in a fist fight.

Tessa Look-alike Meter

Because I definately needed to spend my time today doing this...

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Pedigree - Free family tree

November Colors

On Saturday I was heading to my office and got sidetracked for some time taking pictures of these leaves. Leaves on trees are fine...but I love newly fallen leaves. And don't even get me started on Japanese maple leaves (the pointy, bright red ones). I was busy crunching the yellow and brown leaves when I realized all the red mixed in. I love the variety of color.



On my walk home a few hours later all these leaves had been raked up. I'm glad I took the pictures when I did.

Desire

Friday night, after Tessa had gone to bed I was quite flattered when Aaron leaned over to me and whispered

"I want you.

Then he continued with

"To take a picture of this meal I made and post it on your blog.

Don't worry, I wasn't too disappointed because the meal he MADE was WONDERFUL.



P.S. Christin - The fish came from Haymarket, which means I actually remembered to ask Aaron to pick some stuff up! Yeah me!

October Fun - Part 4

The next visitor to stop by was a good friend from high school (pause for dramatic effect)

Christin! (Applause....)

The really great thing about having friends from the distant past (10+ years...geez!) is that you can just jump right into activities and conversations without that whole "So where did you grow up?" and "What did you major in at college" conversation. I was immediately able to ask her about...well...stuff...you know - gossipy girl stuff.

We had a lot of fun. This was her first visit to New England so I got to go back to the old-school tourist stops.

We had some fun times in Concord, MA.

Christin was such a fun playmate for Tessa! She was like a completely overqualified yet still amazing nanny! The three girls had a good time.

And the next day we traipsed around Boston.

Daddy bought this rose for Tessa...he haggled the seller down by 50% and the seller sealed the deal by "recognizing she was a girl..." as in "for this beautiful girl, half price..."

This is when Christin and I were papparazzied by Aaron - I feel violated.

You'll be surprised to find out that we went to Marblehead on Sunday (perhaps old age is making us predictable?)

Tessa has become incredibly fond of doing her own walking, particularly if she is holding the hands of people prone to swinging her on the count of three. While we were walking around Marblehead she was just tromping along and would not let me pick her up. When we got back to the car we discovered that she had been walking for who knows how long with her hat like this...can anyone see a trust metaphor in the making?

The big deal of the trip was HaLloWeEn (same day we went to Concord)...and we had so much fun.

Christin made a rocking Goldilocks costume...Aaron teased me for checking the stitching on the sleeves but they seriously looked 100% store bought!

Our pieced together bear costumes were a bit shabby in comparison but still super fun.

I know this post is about Chrisin's visit but I have to do a Tessa side note:
While we were getting dressed Tessa was cruising around the house laughing and chattering. She obviously had no idea what was going on but still got all caught up in the excitement. We trick or treated down the fancy street a few blocks from our house. Tessa and her entourage.

I am not kidding - this was one of the funnest nights I've had in a long time. Tessa got a LOT of candy for someone who weighs 22 lbs...but since we all helped we didn't feel guilty eating as much as we wanted.

Christin and I headed back out to walk around Salem (sans wallets unfortunately...with no abandoned cottages with porridge to be found). While Daddy was putting Tessa to bed she remembered the candy and be-bopped out to have a snack.

This is a picture of Mommy letting Tessa break the pretty strict family rule that "pretzels are NOT a snack!" Poor kid, I'm pretty sure all the adults were sneaking Snickers behind her back...wait, was it only me?

Hum...what other highlights of the trip might be of interest...

Oh yes - Christin got roped into making us dinner. I had meant for it to be a "cooking together" experience but she did all of it. However, it did fulfill one of my fantasies about participating in one of Christin's fabled dinner parties. Too bad I didn't get any pictures of the 3 game hen roasting, bum up, in our oven. It was delish!

October Side Note - Major Clue #4

Here is a picture of the whole family in costume, under the glare of the always flattering fluorescent lights.

Just in case you don't get it Aaron is a baker and I am an oven.

Get it...Get it...?

Cause a lot of people at the party didn't.
"Oh I get it, he's a chef and you're a microwave..."

Of course you all have the benefit of 3 previous clues...and above average intelligence.

I was afraid that this costume/announcement would be bordering on tacky (and who knows, perhaps it was), but so many people didn't get it that it ended up being rather clever*.


*Since I'm now addicted to using asterisks you should check out this funny post about Halloween costumes on the blog "Stuff White People Like" ...

October Fun - Part 3

The NEXT fun weekend quickly followed when Aaron's parents (hereby to be referred to as Grandma and Grandpa) flew in two days later.

Here is the run down from their trip.

Wednesday I picked them up and then picked Aaron up from work and we ate burritos from Anna's Taqueria on the way home.

Thursday: Grandma and I hit the fabric store in the am to prep for Halloween costumes, then they watched Tessa while Aaron accompanied me to a doctor's appointment*, then Aaron, G-ma, G-pa and Tessa hit the Saugus Iron Works again (luckliy Tessa is a good sport about seeing things 2x in one month!) while I did some work.

Friday: Everyone but me went and looked at pretty fall leaves while I got started on Halloween costumes for that night's Trunk-or-Treat party at our church. When they got home the prep continued. That night, obviously, we went to the party.

...three drivers?!

My entry in the "Scary Cake" contest...I was assured by the organizers that if there had been a 2nd prize I would have won it...
Check out the winning cake here...silly Mormon jokes ;)

The Three Bears

Saturday: Train show in Hingham, caught a view of the City from Hull (and ate yummy pizza at random sandwich shop), and tried to take the tour of the Adam's National Historic Park - unfortunately their website wasn't lying when they said "because of the recent release of the documentary, weekend tours sell out fast." We did get to take a tour of the Presidential crypt though (a very reverent experience I think) and then look around the grounds of the Adam's "big" house. Well, Aaron and his folks did. Poor Tessa fell asleep 3.5 minutes before we got there so I sat with her, I've already seen the John Adam's site (and in case I haven't recommended it to you - GO!)

Sunday: Church, lunch and a tour of Marblehead...sound familiar?

I love love love this picture!

Monday: Our original Monday plans were either too far afeild or closed so we headed to Ikea. We got some GREAT deals in the "as-is" department. Hopefully I actually use the stuff we bought and can post about it later. Then we killed just a bit of time by walking around the lake in Wakefield. By this time Tessa was completely into the "having four adults pay complete attention to her" vibe and loved loved loved the park there. We were killing time before going to Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner...oh...I ate SO much that I could only manage a bite or two of chocolate cake dessert. Can you believe it?

Tuesday: Aaron had to head back to work but Grandma, Grandpa, Tessa and I drove to Lowell to see the National Park site there as well as the New England Quilt Museum. We had originally also planned to see the Trolley Museum but it was only open on Thursday through Saturday...darn. We made up for it by going to Subway for lunch.

Wednesday was get up early and go to the airport day.

Another whirlwind of a week!

*Third clue here people!

October Fun - Part 2

The second fun weekend in October quickly followed Columbus day weekend.

My old roomate/college buddy Jen came for her annual New England Fall Getaway. The original plan was that she and I would run the "Witch City 5k" together...but I bailed out.* But we still did a lot of stuff. Hum...lets see if I can remember...

Thursday: Saugus Iron Works and PEM.

Friday: USS Constitution, lunch with Aaron at Wagamama, Museum of Fine Arts

Saturday: Boston Harbor Islands, the tail end of the South End Historical Society House Tour, dinner at Salem Beer Works (complete with an hour wait for a table and some baseball watching time).

Sunday: Jen ran the 5k...Tessa and I were in charge of pictures. These included me forgetting to turn the "record" function off after the beginning of the race, a few blurry "action" shots, and then a nearly perfect "finish line" shot of the timing clock...would have been more perfect if another runner hadn't moved into the line of sight. So...apparently I am not the professional photographer I thought I was. We made homemade Indian food (some sort of curry) that afternoon (picture of all our yummy ingredients below) and then went to Marblehead and found a Fort that I've never seen before. Having Jen visit is good for that.



Monday: House of Seven Gables, hotdogs from Boston Hot Dog company and then to the airport for Jen's trip home.

I'm sort of freaking out because I took a bunch of photos that I can't find...where oh where could they be?

*Clue #2

Doctor Overdose

Today I ended up going to three doctor's appointments.

Aaron had a sinus infection and so I gave him a ride to the doc at 8:00, then to the subway.

Quincy has been vomiting so off to the vet he went at 2:00.

And between those I had a doctor's appointment at 10:30*.

I wonder if Tessa knows how lucky she is/that she is being left out...actually, she has a pedi appointment sometime soon, I better find out when. I have to get her blood drawn before I take her...quadruple ugh...Aaron? You wanna do it?

*Clue #1

You know...

I was just realizing that I have a pretty good group of readers that comment on my blog, even if I what I write is mindless rambling. Thanks!

October Fun - Part 1

"Have you been to the Fair?" In how many towns across the country do you hear that question? I guess despite our incredible sophistication there is something inherent in our make-up that draws us the the wholesome goodness of the fair.

Well, goodness, except for the occasional shyster that tries to steal $10 from an innocent passerby/patron by using the ol' "Oh no, you only gave me a $10" trick. Luckily for this innocent passerby (you know of whom I speak) his wife was there to, in her sweetest, nicest voice demand the correct change back. Close one...that almost obliterated all possible enjoyment our day at the fair.

Other than fair food (you know in all actuality the "going rate" for fair food itself is a bit of a con act) our main goal in going to the fair was to show Tessa the animals in the petting zoo.

She was completely put off but the rooster who pecked at daddy's hand. But the bigger animals were okay by her and she tried to pat each one.



We forgot to go back and get a picture of Tessa next to the giant pumpkin. Obese veggies are apparently a fair favorite. But we did get to ride on a school bus which billed itself as a "shuttle" from an "economy" parking lot at the highschool. This picture, and the one with Tessa pushing the stroller show exactly how thrilled she was by the time we ended up leaving. We are lucky that when she gets overwhelmed it exhibits itself in out of control silliness instead of a more standard grumpiness.





Here are two pictures of the garden exhibit. The "greener" one is for my dad...this tree is really cool and the layout was very peace inspiring. I think would look great in an indoor pond (I have more pics if you are interested)...



And here is my attempt to copy a photo layout that Alicia did when we were in Palmyra...Alicia, how come you never posted the original pic on your blog?



And now moving a little into random territory:

We went to the Fair on the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend. On Monday Aaron went to work but invited us into the City to go to lunch with him and some co-workers. I was pretty much in heaven after getting to play all day Saturday and THEN have a lunch date on Monday. That afternoon Tessa and I played in the backyard - I took pics because her coat is sooo cute!







Tessa is such a good example - one day a few weeks ago she spend most of the morning reading an Ensign magazine.



And finally - we feel it is our duty as good parents and design professionals to teach our daughter that sometimes you have to pay good money for good art. Here she is handing over the plastic in exchange for "Tower of Learning" by A. Udy.

What excuse...

What excuse shall I use for my lack of blogging and general lack of creative motivation in general? Believe it or not I have tons - TONS - of wonderful ideas of cute, fun, educational activities to do but absolutely NONE of them have been implemented. I think that at this point the thought does not count. I get no credit for thought.

But anyway, we just had a visitor over the weekend (someday a post with photos will follow) and I am headed to the airport to pick up the next round of visitors (someday a post with photos will follow).

Living where in live (you know where) + it being October = My Excuse.

Lucky in love

This picture is not an uncommon one at our house. Am I enforcing bad behavior by letting Tessa pull the DVDs out of the cabinet? I don't really know, but it doesn't seem like it is worth the hassle to STOP her since it is not going to ruin the carpet, or hurt her, and frankly, if one of the DVDs gets ruined, well we probably won't ever watch it again anyway.


But wait...what is this...


Did my 18 month old STACK all of those DVDs gently next to the chest? I can assure you she did not!

I think the culprit can be quickly identified. If it wasn't Tessa, me, or Quincy - the logical, yet alarming conclusion is that it was the 31-year old male member of the family, who obviously thought if it was okay for the not yet 2 year old to do it, then it was okay for him. (I mean sometimes you just CAN NOT find anything to watch...and then you are expected to clean up after yourself!?)

Anyway - it is kind of petty for me to post this considering it happened a few weekends ago and he did (eventually) clean it up. And it is beyond petty when you find out that last night he spent all evening doing a deep clean of the living room in preparation for the 3 weeks of visitors we'll be having for the rest of this month. I have to say, it looks a-MAZ-ing!

While he was cleaning he found a note...written to me on 4/21/1994. It was unsigned and I don't recognize the handwritting from 14 years in my past (YIKES I'M OLD!) It was a chain letter that I was to "copy word for word and give it to 7 (double underline) girls in 4 (another double underline) days. Remember No (double underline) boys." Then on the "4th day drink a glass of milk and say a guy's name 5 (you guessed it, double underline) times." If I did this he would ask me out within 6 days, but if not I would have bad luck in love foRevEr!

Do you remember the part of this post when Aaron spent all evening cleaning the living room? I guess we can surmise that, although I didn't have a date invitation when I was 14, I must have followed the instructions because that doesn't sound like bad luck at all!

VP Debates

I hereby proclaim: I think either political candidate would make a good** president.

Though they each have things I disagree with, and though there is one who more closely matches my beliefs and addresses my concern than the other* I am pleased to say that I feel both presidential candidates will do a good job. I am unbelievably pleased and surprised to realize, and strongly believe, that for once we are not choosing between the lesser of two evils.

I wanted to post my impressions of the VP debates before I heard any commentary by the press because I was so impressed by the results. You could easily argue that the bar was set low, and that may color my opinions. However, in reality the VP candidates were leaps and bounds above the presidential candidates in terms of clarity, focus, and of course one of my pet characteristics, civility. And, shock of all, they seemed to follow the actual debate format that I learned in high school (time limits, rebuttals, next question). In terms of stating their principle's platform clearly they both did a good job and I feel like I can be confident that I understand the differences between the tickets. And like a breath of fresh air, they admitted that they agreed on certain issues. Agreement, you are kidding right?!

With one more month to go I hope I still feel confident about either candidate on election day (come on press, don't ruin it for me.) Of course ultimately I hope I feel this way four years from now...

*ha ha, not telling who, care to guess?

**whatever that entails

Unremarkable Me

(This is a tag...not (just) me bagging on myself)

1. I make plans to exercise but don't.
2. I eat breakfast.
3. I waste time on the internet.
4. I can drive.
5. Some times I take a deep breath, just because.
6. I'm right handed.

If there is anything unremarkable about you as well,
I encourage you to blog about six of them.

How many licks...

Well - if you are teething and have a cold...all that extra drool comes in handy.

More cuteness...

Luxurious PB&J eating


Funny face
In addition to being the general "Oh, I'm excited" face, this is the face she makes when she hears Daddy coming up the stairs at the end of the day.


Do you think she knows shes cute? (I'm fairly sure she does)