June 25, 2008

On our way back from Yellowstone in 1998, Tom and I talked about marriage. He asked me why I wanted to get married and, even then after 8 years of being together I was guarded, afraid to let too much of myself out. My response, if I remember correctly, was that I wanted legitimacy. Wow, that’s sexy. Romantic, too. Hard to believe he didn’t drop down on one knee right then and there.

Remarkably though, he did drop down on one knee just a few months later and just six months after that we were exchanging I Dos in the clearing of a forest overlooking Lake Tahoe, smiling at each other as the sun streamed down between the branches.

If he were to ask me today why I wanted to get married my response would be this:

Because I am in love with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to watch you become a dad and fall more in love with you every day. And I want everyone else to know that you are the one I choose. I want to stand up in front of our family and closest friends and declare that you are the man of my dreams, the one I will love and cherish for the rest of my life. That is why I want to get married.

Our wedding day was filled with laughter and emotion, not unlike our life together. And here we are 9 years later and I'm happier than I ever dreamed I could be.

An excerpt from a poem read at our wedding:

It Couldn't Be Done
Somebody said it couldn’t be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That ‘maybe it couldn’t,’ but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing and he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
~Edgar Guest

Happy Anniversary my love.

Kelsi

Milestones . . . of a sort

As we pulled up to daycare this morning:

Jack: Oh! James is here!

Dean: And Frank?! Is Frank here too?

Both boys scramble to unlatch seat belts and jump out of the car. They both start waving madly and yelling HI JAMES!!!

James: Hi Jack. Hi Dean.

Dean: (with a look of amazement) I can't believe he remembered me.



Oh, the reverence for the 6 year old Kindergarten graduate.

Another Kate Update

She has gained 4 pounds in a week.

Buy stock in Alpo.

Preschool on TV

Noggin, a kid's TV network, has an ad campaign that likens it's network of shows to being like pre-school. "It's like pre-school on TV", it boasts. In other ads it is suggested that everyone wishes their day was structured like pre-school. There would be naps after lunch and storytime!

Clearly the ad men behind that campaign have never been in the car when two pre-schoolers were having an argument about whether boogers taste good or gross.

A Father's Gift

Fathers get a bit of a bum rap these days, right? I mean, look at any sitcom and you’ll find a lovable but bumbling dad, somehow managing to barrel through family life despite seeming somewhat, well, dim. Meanwhile, the mom is managing the household and holding down her full time job, picking up after the kids and, of course, cleaning up the dad’s mistakes all within the allotted 22 minutes.

What? I’m not saying it doesn’t represent reality.

But seriously, it’s generally the case that the mom knows just exactly how many teaspoons of Tylenol to give to a sick child (or, in the case of a certain set of twins, which child only responds to Tylenol and which one only responds to Motrin – guess right in the comments and you might win a prize). The mom is more likely the one who will hire the babysitter, fill out the school applications, and plan the birthday party (or RSVP as the case may be). We are the organizers, the task masters, the list keepers and underwear washers.

So what then is the Father’s gift? You’ll find it in the quiet moments. It’s not so visible; not so full of sighs and responsibility. It’s the patience in the voice of a man who is showing his son how to string fishing line and attach a bobber. It’s the look of awe that crosses his face when his son shows him the caterpillar, the moth, or the june bug that he found. It is heard at night through the crack in the door as he tells stories to his children in the dark. It is in the unconventional approach whether it is watching planes move across the sky instead of telling a bedtime story or taking a late night stroll to calm an upset babe. Dads care about experiences, memories, journeys – they don’t care if the shirt matches the pants or that the child needs a haircut. They let the kids stain the cabinet even if it means the color is uneven. They let the kids drive the boat because it’s in the middle of an empty lake and the kids will never forget how big they felt. They take the kids camping where they get to stoke the fire and feel like big kids as they look at the stars and tell stories around the campfire. Theirs is a unique gift – not so celebrated, but no less important.

On this Father’s day, I am so grateful to have a partner who ignores my worried looks and lets the kids drive the boat, who calmly and patiently packs up his fishing gear after having his line in for only 15 minutes, who encourages me to go away for a weekend, who quietly adds favorite movies to our tivo just to surprise me and the boys, who loves watching the basketball game with his sons cheering right along with him, who can’t wait for soccer games and t-ball, who is honestly the most wonderful man I could have chosen.

Happy Father’s Day.

Balloon Festival

Here are some shots from our weekend at the balloon festival.

The boys get in one of the baskets.

Jack watches the balloon get fired up from a safe distance.

Dean gets a lift from his dad.

The girls get in the balloon.

Tom lends a hand.

Sunday we went to a local lake and rented a little fishing boat.
Dean did his share of driving.

Not surprisingly, Jack loved to drive.

In other news, the boys got into the elementary school that I was hoping for (yippee!) so that's one less thing to worry about.

Don't worry, I'll find something else to fixate on soon.

Kate Update

She is recovering well. She came home on Saturday, picked up by my friend and neighbor Kelly while we were at the hot air balloon festival. She takes her oral medication like a champ. My old dog Max was never fooled by mozzarella cheese or peanut butter and I'd always find his pill lying in a slobbery puddle on the floor. Kate, on the other hand, loves people food of every variety and is so excited to eat it that she couldn't care less about what you try to sneak by her.
I've been adding some wet food to her dry and she gobbles it up voraciously. It seems she had been suffering from this disease for a long time and we thought she was just a picky eater.
I brushed her last night while the boys watched the basketball game (Go Celtics!) and she was so happy.
Speaking of the boys, I can't tell you how amazing it is to be sitting in my backyard in the darkening twilight brushing my sweet, devoted dog and hear these sudden bursts of emotion and cheer ringing out of the living room. It's how I'd always hoped my life would be.
Sweet and simple, full of love.

Kate

Our beautiful girl has been in the hospital since yesterday morning. Her behavior suddenly got very strange on Wednesday and we took her to the vet yesterday. She was lethargic and disoriented and completely pooped out after just a short walk around the neighborhood. It turns out, after extensive testing, that she has Addison's Disease. Her sodium level was too low, potassium too high and according to the lab results she has no cortisone in her blood. She is on an IV drip now to replenish her fluids and she received a shot of prednisone and cortisone. She will be able to come home tomorrow and will recover fully but will need ongoing medical care with monthly cortisone shots and oral medication every other day.

Happy Birthday Momma!

Happy Birthday Momma!
This is me sitting on the balcony just outside my office enjoying a frosty Guinness in your honor!
I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Love,
Kels

Weekend Wrap Up

We went to a festival last weekend. You wouldn't know it from the looks on their faces but the boys were really excited to go on this ride.

See?

It was really hard to get a good shot of them on this one.

It was a festival to celebrate the Parks and Recreation centers. It was held at a big park with tons of vendors, three stages with bands and other performers, booths of merchandise and arts/crafts. We thought we'd be there for an hour or so.
This picture was taken about 5 hours after that:

In case you can't tell by the lighting - it was nighttime. Almost an hour past their bedtime. But, there were fireworks to be seen and that last batch of tickets to be spent. They had a great time.
The next day was spent in our backyard playing with water and climbing trees (and I played with my camera).

I love this picture of Dean. He looks so grown up.

Dean sticks out his tongue when he's hard at work. He had just looked up when I took this.

Doesn't Jack resemble Peter Pan?

Jack still loves climbing the peach tree and can get pretty high now. I try not to watch when he goes too high.

This is Kate. She is waiting for Jack to throw the ball. She will not take her eyes off him until that ball flies.

And when it flies, she catches it almost every single time.

This is what she does when she's ready for a break. She lays down by the shed with her toy in front of her. She is still a sweet, smart dog and we are continually amazed at our good fortune.

This is just one peach-laden branch on our peach tree. We are going to be swimming in peaches in just a few weeks. I'm collecting all recipes for cobblers, crumbles, jams, and pies so if you have one that's fabulous, send it my way.

In other news, the boys will not be performing in High School Musical. They were so miserably unhappy at rehearsal that we finally decided that it's just not their thing. So, no future actors in our midst.

We are going to a hot air balloon festival with the Sullivans this weekend and then Tom's cousin visits from Pennsylvania next weekend so June is really busy for us.

We find out on Friday if the boys got into the elementary school that we're hoping for. Fingers crossed please.

Knock Knock

HI! I've had a beer so I'm silly!

Tonight was one of those nights wherein the children think everything is hilarious and I'm a boring adult who just thinks they're being a little to loud for the car, or, you know, earth. It's all potty talk and knock knock jokes lately and it's a rare occasion when they're actually funny. And if I could just get over myself for half a second I would realize how breathtaking the sound of their giggles is. But, I'm too busy being a boring adult. So, I drank a beer with dinner and suddenly became a bit more laid back. Hey if I had any rescue remedy I would have taken that but beer was in the fridge and handy and besides, it's just fermented wheat, right? It's practically a health food.

Um, so where was I?

Swimming lessons! The boys are doing amazingly well. Tonight Jack swam from the steps to the other side of the pool, stopping once for a breath. Dean's stroke has gotten much more coordinated and strong - quite a difference from a year ago when he cried most of the time. Even the teacher said to him the other day, "Remember when you used to cry and say you didn't want to do it? And now look at you! Do you love it?" - and he just smiled and said he loved it.

Ok, beer is making me sleepy now.

Oh, one more thing. I have almost 500 pictures sitting on my new camera just begging to be downloaded but I haven't had time. I'm taking loads of pictures so I can practice all the settings. It's really fun but I have a lot of pics to wade through.

Oh wait, still one more thing. I'm trying to determine where the boys will go to kindergarten in the fall and it's overwhelming. I'm in the process of filling out open enrollment applications for all the schools, navigating policies about permits with child care, permits with transportation, work permits, etc. Work permits require a most recent paystub and naturally our system at work is down so I can't print a stub. And, I'm on call for jury duty this week. It's practically a sitcom episode.

Seriously.

HSM, Home Edition

First, a quick synopsis of High School Musical for the uninitiated:

So, there's this guy named Troy and he's a big basketball star at East Side High School. He's at some vacation spot with his parents and through a random karaoke incident (I KNOW!) he meets Gabriella who is a super cute girl who can really sing. Fast forward to the fall and SURPRISE, Gabriella has been transferred to East Side High. It's like Grease for the elementary set. Of course East Side High is swimming in cliques from the jocks to the intelligentsia to the super rich. Super rich girl Sharpay (I KNOW!) and her super rich brother Ryan are the stars of the school and perennial stars in the High School theater production. Until, Troy and Gabriella get the bright idea to step outside their cliques (jock and smarty-pants, respectively) and try out for the school musical. Naturally, they're in love and can sing and knock the pants off the seasoned theater professional known as Mrs. Darbus.
So, that's the gist. Jack and Dean will be playing "jocks" in the play - no lines, no pressure. And here's the conversation that took place in the car yesterday on the way to school:

Me: (during the basketball song) Hey, you guys will be in this part 'cause you're the jocks! I bet you'll get to play basketball and run up and down the stage! (I'm doing my best to convince them this was a good idea)
Jack: I don't want to do it. I don't like basketball.
Me: Oh but you're such a good dribbler. Hey, do you know why mommy and daddy moved out here?
Jack: Yes, because you loved each other.
Me: Well, yes we love each other but we didn't know each other when we moved here. We met after we moved here.
Jack: And I know how it happened. You just looked at each other and then you loved each other. Just like Troy and Gabriella.
Me: Well, yes it took a little longer than that but yes, we liked each other and then we loved each other. But, that's not why we moved out here. We moved out here because we were actors. We wanted to be in the movies!
Jack: What are actors?
Me: Actors are people who pretend to be other people. Like when we go to the movies, the people that we see up on the screen.
Jack: But they're not real.
Me: Yes, they're real people that are pretending to be other people. That's what Daddy and I moved out here to do. To make movies.
Jack: And you are (in the sweetest, most awed voice).
Me: Well, yes I work for a company that makes movies but I'm not in them. My point is that it's really fun being in a play or in a musical and you guys will have so much fun doing this show.
Jack: I don't want to do it.


It was kind of a lot of work just to get back to square one.

Stream of Consciousness

Would you believe that I've had a bit of writer's block lately? I have a number of half composed posts sitting in my drafts folder just waiting to be finished. Ain't gonna happen. So, this post will be stream of consciousness so I can get all these thoughts out of my head, hopefully I can type fast enough to avoid self-editing. The backspace key is not my friend these days.

*********************************************************************

Ok, so the running update is this: I don't have a stress fracture (yeah!). I have the bones of a 25 year old (double yeah!). My foot injury was a result of doing too much, too fast and I have since been cautioned and lectured by the podiatrist that I need to stretch, get properly fitted for new running shoes, heat and anti-inflammatories applied daily and, here's the capper, 'you're not as young as you used to be and you just can't go out and bang out 3 miles after not running for a few months'. But! I have the bones of a 25 year old! Just ask Dr. Mark! He was amazed by my scan!
Yeah. Anyway. Another week of rest, heat and advil and then I can run again with lots of stretching before and starting out slowly. I'm looking at the silver lining which is that starting slowly will force me to work on my form. So, there's that.

*****

Mother's Day weekend in Santa Barbara was fantastic. Great food, fun shopping, relaxing in the wine country and in the spa. I got home on Sunday just 5 minutes after the boys returned from their mountain retreat. I spent the rest of the day doing grocery shopping, laundry and making dinner but I couldn't have been happier. It was great being away for a few days but I missed them and it made my Mother's Day all the sweeter to just be with them.

*****

The boys are back in swimming lessons this week and I am amazed at Dean. He seemed a little hesitant at first but last night that kid went under water with his eyes wide open so he could retrieve the ring that the teacher placed on the lower step. It's unbelievable! And Jack is working on his stroking and kicking and has excellent form. I'm so glad we're doing these lessons again.

*****

The boys are also in a community center production of High School Musical and have rehearsals every Wednesday. So far they haven't gotten up to do any of the singing or the dancing - they just sit and watch. Jack tells me that he doesn't want to do it so I don't know what will come of it. If nothing else at least they're gaining the experience of the work that goes into putting on a show.

*****

I got the surprise of my life on Monday night when I got home and there was a box sitting on the countertop which Tom said was my Mother's Day present. I thought my weekend was my present so I wasn't expecting anything! I opened the box and there was a beautiful new Nikon D40 digital camera with an extra lens. OH! It's so beautiful! I can't wait to start using it.

*****

Last night at my MOMs club meeting we had a panel of women (members mostly) who talked about challenges that they have faced. One mom's challenge was her twins' diagnosis of ADD and ADHD, another mom's challenge was one of her twins was diagnosed as severely autistic, a third mom talked about her both her twins' diagnosis of autism, the fourth mom talked about her twin girl's deafness and the last mom talked about the loss of one of her twins at 3 months of age. It was an incredibly emotional night. Listening to these women as they talked of the challenges they faced, their inner struggles, the difficult decisions they had to make, the thoughtless comments they had to bear . . . it left me feeling so blessed, so incredibly fortunate. These women were incredible in their faith, their courage, their strength. It was a surprisingly uplifting, if emotionally draining, night. And it sure illuminated how easily it is to get caught up in the moment without enjoying the present. Every moment, no matter how difficult, is a gift.

Cherish your gifts. Enjoy your present. Love your life.

Running Strong

I recently started running again after a 3-4 month hiatus. My first run wasn't too bad - less than 36 minutes for 3.2 miles. Slow, for sure but considering how long it's been, not bad.
My second run was 34:00 for that 3.2 miles. Nearly the fastest I've ever run those 3.2 miles. Weird, I thought. I was very proud.
My third run was 32:19 for that 3.2 miles. That's almost under 10 minute miles! I've never, ever run that fast - not even in a race.
I think before this year is out that I will break 30:00. That is my goal. After all, if I can cut off nearly 4 minutes in less than a week, I should be able to knock off another 2 1/2 minutes by the end of the year, right?

Ed. I think I have a stress fracture in my left foot. I have an appointment with my doctor today to find out. Perhaps I pushed myself too hard, too fast??

Weekend Wrap Up

What a weekend! Friday night we went out for dinner at a nice little Italian place and then to the bookstore to buy a birthday present for a friend of the boys. Saturday morning we went to the birthday party, then hung out at home for a while. Our friend Roxann came over in the late afternoon to babysit the boys so Tom and I could go to Fish and Brooksie's baby shower - which was lovely.
But today! Whew! Cousin Jamie is reading "Flat Stanley" in kindergarten. Flat Stanley is about a boy who gets flattened when a bulletin board falls on him. He doesn't get too upset because he realizes that if he's flat he can mail himself anywhere he wants to go! So, Cousin Jamie made his own Flat Stanley and mailed him to us so we could show him around a bit and then send him home. So, after we did our Sunday morning marketing at the Farmer's Market, we picked up Flat Stanley and went to the Griffith Observatory. It was a beautiful day, sunny but not too hot. After we toured the observatory and took a few pictures, we drove down to Hollywood Blvd. so we could take a picture of Flat Stanley at one of the stars on the Walk of Fame. Then, we headed north to Universal Studios and Citywalk. We took more pictures and then had dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp. Finally, we came home for baths and playtime before bedtime. It was a fun day.

Bedtime Conversation

Dean (holding up his hand so I can see the ring on his finger): I got married today.
Me: Oh, you did? Who did you marry?
Dean: Sophia, Bianca and Evy.
Me: Wow. Three wives! Where did you get married?
Dean: Mount cerebellum. It's in Texas. Texas, Canada.
Me: Oh, is Mount cerebellum very far away?
Dean: So far. I had to get on a plane and it took a day.
Me: What did you do there?
Dean: We went snowboarding and hiking. We went to the movies and more snowboarding.
Me: Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun.
Dean: It was. It was.

Words

Here is a list of words that Jack can spell. He did these on Monday with virtually no help from me.

ant
bug
cap
dad
end
fox
get
hot
ink
jug
kin
lap
men
nap
odd
pet
quiz
run
sat
tap
under
van
win
yum
zip

I gave him the words but he sounded them out and wrote them down in his notebook. This kid is obsessed with spelling!

Rather than do a play-by-play of the last week, I'm just going to touch on the highlights.

• Last week I took the boys to a community theater audition for a production of High School Musical. They had to get up in front of everyone and sing a song, any song would do, and Dean sang Happy Birthday. Jack refused to even sit with the others and tried to run out of the room. Despite my assurances that he wouldn't have to do anything and he didn't have to be in the show. Two days later, he told me that he would like to do the show. Of course.
• We went to the circus on Sunday. Dean's favorite part was the pretty ladies with the hula hoops, the juggler, the elephants and the acrobats. Jack's favorite part was the motorcycles. It was pretty fun.
  
• I've started running again after a 4 month hiatus. It feels really good and I'm not nearly as slow as I thought I'd be.
• Jack spelled 25 words today. He did some on the way to school, some on the way home, and some at the table while I made dinner. He loves homework.
• Dean came out of his room tonight (Tom thought he was asleep) and accused Tom of leaving while he was still awake. Tom insisted he was snoring and so he thought Dean was asleep. Dean said,"No, I didn't hear myself snoring."
• I'm going out of town for Mother's Day weekend and a little excited about it. Just my girlfriend and I for a little wine tasting, shopping and a spa day.
• I'm so tired right now I keep falling asleep while I type.
• If I don't make snese, that's why.

'Night, 'night.

Letter to Dean

Dear Dean,

Where do I begin? You continue to surprise, delight, defy, and frustrate me on a daily basis. You are smart, sassy, funny, defiant, imaginative, and emotional. Sometimes you are all those things within a time span of 3 minutes. Here are just a few things you're up to lately:

• You love watching High School Musical and want to wear your hair like 'Troy Bolton'.
• You love to sing and you walk around the house singing songs from Playhouse Disney and without a beat you go to a song from High School Musical. I see musical theater in your future.
  
• You hate getting your hair washed. You scream and cry and twist your head around to make it more difficult. You succeed at making it more difficult but a byproduct of that is that you get a lot more water in your eyes so, it's kind of a flawed strategy.
• Tonight for the first time in many, many months I washed your hair and you didn't even flinch. It was great.
• You love drawing and painting and you've got a knack for it. Sometimes you say you want to be an artist. You ask me to sign you up for art school on a regular basis. You also want to take music lessons.
• You love wearing costumes. Just today you were in 5 or 6 different ones before lunchtime. One day last week you told me that you wanted me to make you a costume and you would put feathers on it and wear green glasses and you would be Chicken Little. You were so delighted when I told you that we already have a Chicken Little costume. You wore it to school the next day. And the day after that.
  
• A few nights ago you suddenly announced that you need glasses. You were so adamant about it, insisting to us that you couldn't see. Daddy found some toy glasses, nothing more than paper without lenses, and you put them on. Oh, you were so relieved to finally be able to see.
• You love shoes. Uncle P & Uncle J brought you a pair of plaid converse - oh my gosh, they are so cute - and you wear them every single day. You call them your "cons". They brought Jack some Vans and you've been coveting them. Tonight when you didn't cry during your bath you asked if I would get some new shoes for you as a reward.
• We went to Sears yesterday to buy some new vacuum cleaner bags and we sat for an hour so you could watch Spiderman on the big screen tv. You watched with your hands over your ears. You also cried when we left because you wanted us to buy you new clothes.
• Tonight you announced that you have a date tomorrow with your girlfriend Bianca. You told me that you need to wear a white shirt and black coat and asked that I dry your hair just so. Later you changed your mind and announced that you would wear the Chicken Little costume.
  

You constantly amaze me, continue to surprise me, and always inspire me. I am so lucky to be your Mommy. I love you dearly.

Love,
Momma

Letter to Jack

Dear Jack,

I've been sitting here trying to figure out how to describe you. I started to say you're just such a good kid but that is so unoriginal and a total understatement. Instead, I think I'll just describe some of the things you do that are uniquely you.

• You have recently become enamored of moths. You catch them and put them in a box with holes in it. You always name them Mothy. They always seem to die within a day or two and you quickly replace them. I don't know if that's a good thing or not.
• You clean your bedroom without being asked and you do a really good job. Your motivation is money - even though we don't expressly tell you that you'll get money for doing it. But one time we gave you a quarter for making your bed and ever since then, you do it out of hope.
• You love money. You are always looking at the ground hoping to find a nickel, a dime or a penny. You get especially excited when you find a quarter. You save everything you find and you have amassed a miniature fortune (for a 5 year old).
• You have grown out of your red phase. Lately your preference has been to wear light colored linen pants, a hawaiian shirt and flip flops. You look very handsome. There are still some days that you wear blue camo pants with a green and orange top though. So sometimes I still wonder about the color-blindness.
• When you get angry you become stiff as a board with your arms straight at your sides, your fists balled up. Your voice becomes thick with emotion and you won't look at me.
  
• You had a hard time faling asleep last night and I think it's because Daddy is out of town and he told you to take good care of me. I think you take your responsibility very seriously and you couldn't fall asleep last night because of it. You finally lost the battle at 10:30pm last night.
• You have become a very adventurous eater and I'm so excited about that. You have tried so many new foods this year - from simple foods like peas and avocado to more exotic foods like sushi and thai.
  
• You don't like you hair to be spiked up or messy. You want it neatly combed straight down your forehead. Definitely not parted on the side.
• You don't like to be the center of attention.
  
• You throw a mean spiral.
• You sometimes make up songs about me and sing them quietly.
• You long to know how to make traps and potions and are disappointed that I don't know anything about traps or potions.
  
• You have an insatiable curiosity about the world and your place in it.
• It's hot tonight and you are laying on the hardwood floor as you've done every hot night for the last 3 years. Some nights it's the only way you can fall asleep.

I could go on and on. You are a miracle. You make me want to be a better mommy and you have definitely made me a better person. I am so lucky to have you in my life.

Love,
Momma

All in the Family

Hey Everyone,

My sister in law just started a blog! Go give her some love and see my beautiful nephews!

We went out to dinner tonight at our favorite sushi restaurant. Dean didn't really like anything but the rice and edamame but Jack! Jack ate spicy tuna, yellowtail sushi, salmon sushi, shrimp, and an eel/avocado roll. Wow. He ate almost as much as me.

Afterward we went to Cold Stone for ice cream. And now, I'm feeling full and sleepy.

Good night!

I am @ the train

I am @ the train station waiting 4 Tom. Listening 2 high school musical. Boys r having a rasberry contest. My eye is twitching. Its no wonder.

NaBloPoMo - Day 9

This is my mom's response to an earlier post:

Dear Kelsi,

Responding to your April 3 post. I remember all of it.

You would tell me "I don't need a nap" so I would say "OK, you don't need to take a nap, just rest on the couch with your blanket." You would almost always fall asleep.

Oh, the anticipation of Christmas Eve on the farm. Then we would go downstairs and work until midnight setting everything up under the tree. Tying the stockings on the backs of dining room chairs with rubber bands because the tree was in front of the fireplace! Did you ever wonder how Santa got into the house with that tree in front of the fireplace?

We still do the throwing the food in the air at the grocery thing - it adds a little excitement to a mundane chore.

That was a little silver paring knife that Grandma Wright gave me - and that sharp is still very, very knife!

The stick shift! We were on Raab Rd. just east of Greenbriar. I had just bought that silver car - can't remember the make or model. The clutch was very mushy. You did OK once you were out of first gear! Shortly after that I bought that new little Nissan Sentra (1990). You didn't even have to step on the gas when letting out on the clutch, it was so tight. You perfected your skills on that long, blacktop driveway at Bernie's house out in the country. All Sunday afternoon you drove up and back, up and back. That late afternoon you drove all the way back to Bloomington. Confident.

I don't remember the guy being on a tractor. I just remember the road was seldom used and it was dusky or near dark. I thought he was just one of the rare cars who ever used that road and just happened down it as you were trying to learn how to drive that car. We were surrounded by cornfeidls, though.

You water skiied. I sat on the sand and drank electric kool-aid, as I remember it! Fun times. I do remember the floating dock got away from us and you swam way out and got it and pulled it back to its place. I was a nervous wreck, pacing and smoking cigarettes!

You would still sit on the toilet in the bathroom and watch me put my makeup on if you didn't have two 5 yeard olds to supervise.!

The Screaming Eagle at Six Flags! I didn't know you were terrified. You were too busy screaming!

Garcia's Flying Tomato Brothers hot air balloon! It landed right by Lancaster Heights (or Lancaster Depths as we used to call it). They tethered it to a stake with a great big rope and took people 50 feet or so up in the air. I remember the heat on top of my head from the flames heating and expanding the gas in the balloon. What a ride. It was so quiet and peaceful up there. I can't believe you didn't go up in it. The hardest part was getting in and out of that basket - there was no door.

Peeking through the curtain at the window in my dressing room at the church to see you, my maid of honor, standing at the altar waiting for me to walk down the aisle at my wedding.

Did you think I was going to be a "Runaway Bride?" Oh, no, I was just letting the anticipation build. It was fun peeking through that window and watching people start to look around like "Where is she?" HA!

Dancing at my wedding - we did enjoy that. I throw good parties.

I love the Brian Regan DVD you sent me for Christmas. He is funny, funny, funny. Science Fair Dirt Cup. "It's a DIRT CUP. It's a CUP with some DIRT in it. It's a CUP of DIRT."

We still laugh until we can't breathe over America's Funniest Home Videos. After all, people fall down. I took the DVD you sent me for Christmas of AFV Kids and Pets along to Texas and watched on my portable DVD player last week.

I believe the presents we opened on the floor of our house in Geneva were wedding presents.

The day you left for California. The darkest day of my life - it surpasses the day I my dad died and the day I had to have Meischje put to sleep. I pray you NEVER have to know the pain.

You were working at Bombay Bicycle Club, living in your first little apartment in California. I believe your roommate got busted that same day!!! Anyway, we painted your bedroom furniture on that little balcony.

The I Love You sign. We still do that, although tears don't stream down our faces anymore. That doesn't mean that I've reconciled myself to it. My heart still cries.

My graduation party was a blast! We rode to it in the '31 Buick. As mentioned before, I throw good parties.

Your wedding. Beautiful setting, beautiful bride. So final.

I was standing in the kitchen when we lived on 9th St. in that 100 year old Queen Anne house when you called to tell me you were pregnant with twins.

If I knew then what I know now about your high risk pregnancy, I doubt that I would have left California. Now that I've been working in labor/delivery/recovery with some high risk thrown in, I shudder. I am at work right now and my patient is 24 weeks 2 days with pre-term labor and on 2.5 grams of mag. She's miserable. I told her about you just like I tell every one of my mag patients about you. You are an inspiration.

I was having lunch at the Cracker Barrel with Fishers and Todds when you called as you were being wheeled into the OR.

Wow, those babies were so little but so feisty. Wimpy, little white boys, true. Two little miracles.

I remember it all...

Love, Mommy

NaBloPoMo - All Messed UP!!

I know, I know. I have no excuse other than Friday night I wanted to lay down with the boys because I wouldn't see them for two days (they went camping). But I really have no excuse for Saturday, Sunday or Monday so I'm not even going to try.

Instead, look here at these pictures:



I went for a helicopter ride! Below is a shot of my office building and yes! that's my foot! hanging out the door of the helicopter! which actually, didn't have a door! yikes!

NaBloPoMo - Day Three

Dear Mom,

The most important lesson I’ve taken from Grandpa Jack’s life and death is the absolute necessity of letting your loved ones know how they’ve touched you. Too often we wait until a person is gone before we reflect on the wonderful moments when our lives converged.

The following moments are memories that whenever I think of them, I’m always filled with warmth, humor and love:
• Curling up on the black couch in our house in Towanda with my little blanket while you watched TV and folded clothes
• Being tucked in at the farm on Christmas Eve
• You throwing groceries up in the air and me trying to catch them with the cart
• The time you warned me to be careful because ‘this sharp is very, very knife’
• Learning how to drive a stick shift on a dark country road
• Laughing about the farmer who stopped his tractor to make sure we were ok
• Water skiing at the gravel pit
• Sitting on the toilet in the bathroom watching you put your makeup on
• Riding The Screaming Eagle with you and being terrified when you wouldn’t put your arms down
• Watching you go up in the hot air balloon and being afraid you would crash
• Waiting for you to walk down the aisle on your wedding day
• Being relieved when you finally started walking down the aisle on your wedding day
• Dancing at your wedding
• Laughing at Brian Regan ‘it’s a dirt cup’
• Laughing at America’s Funniest Home Videos
• Opening housewarming presents on the floor of our house in Geneva
• Waving through tears the day I left for California
• The time you came to visit me and we painted my bedroom furniture
• Signing I Love You, tears streaming down my face, as you boarded a plane to go back home
• Dancing at your graduation party
• Dancing with you and Chad at my wedding
• Telling you that I was pregnant and with twins
• Doing crossword puzzles with you while on bedrest in the hospital
• Hearing your voice as I was being wheeled down the hall for my c-section
• The look on your face the first time you saw your grandchildren

There are others of course, but these are among my favorites. These memories just flooded back to me and some really surprised me – like the hot air balloon. Do you even remember that??

I love you Mom.

Kels

NaBloPoMo - Day Two

On Day Two: A letter to my young self . . .

Dear High School Kelsi,

Trust me, there’s so much more to life than this. I promise you that you will not care about most of these people by the 10 year reunion.

I have a book that was given to me on the cusp of my journey to California. The book is called “Oh the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss and I’ve kept it all this time. I now read it to my children and hope that someday when they’re choosing a path less traveled that they’ll remember the lesson of that book and know that sometimes you have to trust your instinct, sometimes you have to take a chance and choose the thing that feels right to you despite anyone else’s opinion.

It may not have helped you, H.S. Kelsi but it couldn’t have hurt. You were so insecure and full of doubt; sarcasm your only defense against the perceived criticism. Hey, maybe they were making fun of you. Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you, right?

Still, what I would tell you if I could just sit you down is that you’ll be fine. Really. You’re going to go on from that high school place and forge your own path. You’re going to take risks and make choices that will lead to a pretty nice life. And all that angst will be forgotten. Or, mostly forgotten. It will rear it’s ugly head at the 10 year high school reunion but then you’ll make the decision right then and there that you will never go back again. And when the 20 year comes around, you don’t! So, there!

And I would remind you that it wasn’t all bad. Well except for the crazy years long crushes you used to get. That was a little ridiculous, wouldn’t you agree? You’ll be happy to know that your husband is super hot – way hotter than Erik Johnson or Brad James. Seriously.

But really, the best thing that came out of Normal Community High School was your friendship with Jenny. I mean who would have thought it would survive that one summer, with her getting all crazy with the fun and you being all self-righteous and trying to play house, but it did. And she is the one friend who you can call and just spend an hour on the phone with and it feels like time stops. Trust me.

So hang in there H.S. Kelsi and know that this is just a brief moment in your life and all too soon the time will pass and you will look back and wonder why it ever mattered.

Oh the places you’ll go.

Love,
Your grown up self

NaBloPoMo - Day One

No, it's no April Fool's joke, I really challenged myself to post everyday for the month of April. The theme for April is LETTERS. Below is my first one. It's not what I intended to write but it's all that I can think about so . . .

Dear Soma,

It's been a rough day what with the not sleeping very well last night; a feverish boy wedged next to me on one side and a stuffed up husband on the other. Not surprisingly, I woke up feeling rather Quaisomodo-ish. You know, it's the kind of stiffness that leads you to believe you can probably take care of it on your own. A little self-massage and a quick head jerk and *pop*, the pain is gone. Except that it didn't help - it only made my neck feel more strained. And that's when I started to think about you.

Advil kept the pain at bay but it doesn't know me the way you do. Nothing relaxes me the way you do, baby.

I'll only take a piece of you, just a quarter is enough.

Soma, thanks to you I will wake up tomorrow morning with the ability to turn my head.

Too bad you can't do anything about a child's fevers.

Love,
Kelsi

Memorable Quotes by Dean Today

I love you so much. I love you more than a monkey loves his momma.

************

Wow Mom (looking around the kitchen). You sure have a lot of work to do.

************

Tonight I'm going to dream about Skateland, monkeys and happiness.

************

On special occasions, the sun goes down slow and comes up fast. And that happens to Jack sometimes 'cause he told me. And Jack's my best friend and I don't want to lose him ever. He's my favorite Jackie in the whole world. And I wish he was my brother when I was 67 years old.

************

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For . . .

Because I like to tease, first look at some pictures of the dining room! Remember there used to be a door in the middle of that wall. Also, there was a chair rail with really old, stained wallpaper on the bottom half and really old, stained walls on the top. Now it has a fresh coat of olive green paint and the trim is a cream color. We also painted the beams a dark chocolate brown but left the natural knotty pine alone. We still need to stain or paint the table but that's a project for another day.



Ok, so here's the stove side of the galley kitchen. Remember the backsplash used to be brick and there was a brick box to the right of the stove which could only be used to hold a microwave. We demo'd that and bought a new cabinet for the space. It's a pretty good match to the original cabinets, wouldn't you agree? We donated our old microwave and got a new one that was installed over the stove. It's not called a spacesaver for nothing. We also added new pulls. The microwave is the only new appliance. We may opt to tile behind the stove but we're still thinking about it.

And here is a shot of the sink side of the galley. We opted for corian countertops with a corian sink. The sink is molded into the countertop so it's completely seamless and because it's corian it's virtually indestructable which is good when you have 5 year old twins. Please ignore the curtain - we still haven't found one we like. It's strange that one silly little curtain is the last thing we need to purchase and we're having the hardest time finding one we like!


Here's a closeup of the sink so you can see the fixtures. I love these fixtures - you don't see water spots on them at all and corian is so, so, SO easy to clean. Most of the time soap and water does the trick. Every now and then I have to bring out the heavy duty abrasive - baking soda. Really. Please ignore the curtain.

This shot gives some perspective on how it all flows together. We painted the walls in the kitchen a creamy, pale yellow with white trim. The trim in the dining room is a shade lighter than the walls in the kitchen so it all kind of flows together. The green of the countertop works well with the green on the walls in dining room, too.

So, there you have it. There is so much more to do but with this major stuff out of the way, we can take our time with the rest. I'm loving my kitchen - it's amazing how these changes have made it so much more efficient and pleasant.

What do you think?

Easter Eve

It's late and I should be getting their Easter baskets ready but I just finished painting my nails and I have to wait for them to dry so why not spend some time on the internet?
Plus, I had to wait for Jack to fall asleep. He wanted to go to sleep on the couch just in case the Easter Bunny came and didn't know where to look for the egg that Jack left for him. He would hear him and show him where the egg is. He asked me to leave him a note that says if he can't find the egg to please wake up Jack and he'll show him. I can hear him now though - he's finally asleep.
And poor Dean is sick. He coughed all day yesterday and then in the evening he didn't eat dinner and he just wasn't himself. Although, he did perk up when Peter and Julian gave him a new pair of shoes for Easter. The cutest little black, pink and blue plaid Chuck Taylor's. Dean loves shoes. True to form, he spiked a fever and has been residing in misery-ville ever since. I slept between them last night and, consequently, didn't sleep too well. I really hope he wakes up feeling better tomorrow, with no fever, so we can all go to the Sullivans for Easter brunch as planned. He'll be so disappointed if he won't get to go.
And now, I must go fill baskets.
Happy Easter!

One More Thing

Oh, I forgot to mention that I will be participating in NaBloPoMo for April. The theme is LETTERS.

So, that's exciting, right?

Falling in Love

You're not going to believe this but I've fallen in love with my house again. It's amazing what a little sweat and a fresh coat of paint will do. I find myself exclaiming OH I LOVE MY HOUSE at really random moments. And it's true, I do. Anyway, I don't think I told you about this:

I'm sure I've mentioned before that the person who owned our home before us was a brick layer and whenever he had leftover brick he just built things with it. Hence, we had a brick box in our kitchen that could serve no purpose other than house our enormous microwave. Another similarly useless thing he built was this brick square that sat in our front yard. Apparently, he meant for it to be a post for a light fixture but he never bothered to run conduit through it or anything sensible like that. So, Tom borrowed Alex's sledgehammer and went to it with a little help from the guys.

Here is a picture of Dean priming the new trim in our dining room. Here is a picture of Jack staining our TV cabinet a deep, rich brown to match the rest of the furniture in the living room. He did an awesome job.

This is me filling all the nail holes in the new trim in our living room , prepping for paint. You can also see the color our living room walls used to be and in this photo it's not too bad. In person it's almost highlighter yellow. This is also me without makeup. I'm just keeping it real, yo.Here are the boys enjoying a rare moment off from work.

And here is a picture of the boys relaxing on our new couch. You can also see the new color on the living room walls - a soft gray with white trim. I LOVE IT.

I had hoped to have pictures hung and everything put away nice and neat before posting photos but just haven't had time. I have the day off tomorrow and intend on cleaning up the kitchen, putting away all the odds and ends, fixing up the living room a bit and then, finally I will take pictures of everything and post them here. I still don't have curtains but am slightly afraid to go shopping for them again for fear I'll pick out a new bedroom set.

What? It could happen.

A Load Off

• 3:30am. That's when I finally went to bed. Sheesh.
  
• I just sent an email to the current President to tell her I'm flattered but I cannot be President for the next term.
• Corned beef is in the crock pot. Hope it's good.
• Got Keynote but don't see what the big deal is. It's just like powerpoint but on a mac.
• Got candy and flip flops for the boys' Easter basket. Need to find the plastic eggs at home.
• Still love the color of my living room walls.
• Adore my new furniture.
  

The Ramblings of a Crazy Person

I can't sleep. Too full on corned beef, cupcakes and coffee. We went to the Sullivans for dinner tonight and it was delicious. But, after 2 glasses of wine I thought it would be a good idea to have a cup of coffee and, well, I should have known better. Still, after days and days of subsisting on 5-6 hours of sleep each night I really didn't think one little cup of coffee was going to keep me up tonight. That's what I get for thinking. So here's a sampling of what's rattling around in my head right now.

1. Crap! Easter is on Sunday and I haven't gotten anything for the boys yet. Must do that at lunch this week.
2. I still need to get curtains for the kitchen and figure out what we're going to do with the dining room window.
3. I had a dream about Heather Armstrong last night. That's weird.
4. I'm thirsty.
5. Work stuff. Maybe I should get Keynote to help me brainstorm our space restructure? Will request from resources tomorrow.
   
6. Oh! I skipped my resources meeting today and didn't call them. Must call them.
7. Can I make corned beef in the crock pot?
   
8. I have to make a decision about curtains in the living room, too.
   
9. Wow, I really love the color of my living room.
10. I need to start running again. I'm worried about my knees though which didn't much like all that bending down I was doing to paint the living room.
11. The Mother's Day Brunch is coming up soon and I need to request a donation from work this week.
    
12. SFVMOMC wants to nominate me for President for the next term. I don't want to be President but feel guilty about that.
    
13. I can't be President! I am already way over scheduled and that doesn't even include activities for the boys! And they start school in the fall. What if I want to join the PTA?
14. How much of a time commitment is it, really? It's only two Tuesdays a month. How bad could it be?
15. There's also two State conventions each year that the President has to attend. And not just the fun part - the boring meetings, too! And, the President has to go to every single function from the Get Acquainted Teas to the holiday parties, skate party, and every other event there is. And don't get me started about the financial responsibility of being in charge of a non-profit organization.
    
16. But there's already such a strong executive board in place for the next term. And, I'd have the strongest Parliamentarian ever because she's been a member for years and past President several times.
17. Absolutely not. Kelsi, you cannot take this on.
18. I'm still not sleepy.
19. I am still thirsty.
20. I love my new couch.
    

Weekend Highlights

Gosh it seems like ages since we last talked! Please do note the time. It is late on a Sunday night and I think this is perhaps the first time I have sat down all day. Maybe all weekend. It's been a busy one. At last I'm sitting in my brand new chair and I have to say, it's doing right by me.

This has been one heckuva long week prepping for the arrival of the furniture. Starting with the systematic removal of the old furniture, prepping walls for paint, painting, painting and painting some more. Then? Another coat, just for good measure. And while we have the brushes out are there any other spots that need to be touched up? Hey! Let's paint the door! And the threshold! Oh, let's paint Kelsi tired.

Some highlights from the weekend that didn't have to do with painting - we took the boys to see Horton Hears a Who. That was fun and I got to sit down for almost 2 hours! We went to Peter & Julian's for breakfast this morning. We had homemade blueberry pancakes, l'il smokies, and egg and potato scramble with fresh squeezed orange juice. So good. And about a hundred espressos. I used my kitchen aid stand mixer for the first time on Friday night. That was fun. I cut Tom's hair.

Ok, so enough about that stuff. I love my new furniture! While the boys spent a few hours at their friend Frank's house, we rearranged the furniture. It feels good. It's open and inviting and just the right amount of pieces. I took some pictures but I'm too tired to post them. But I will soon. And I'll also post pictures of the kitchen soon even if we don't have curtains on the windows. You've waited long enough.

Heartburn

Dean: Ohhh, my heart is burning.
Me: Why?
Dean: Because of Amanda (teacher at school).
Me: Your heart is burning because of Amanda?
Dean: Yes because she sings such beautiful songs.

Our Dean the romantic.



Happy Birthday Eddie!!!!

MarBlo and Lists

So, I had every intention of trying to post every day in the month of March but here it is March 2nd and I've already missed a day.

I also had every intention of posting pictures of the kitchen today but it isn't quite finished. Tom touched up the paint in a few places and it looks great. He still has to install the lighting in the dining room and then we still need curtains for the kitchen window and the dining room window. We had every intention of getting the curtains today - it was on our list - really the only reason we went out today. In fact, our list went something like this:

curtains for kitchen and dining room
look at lighting

We purchased lighting and new living room furniture.

Do you see living room furniture on that list? No. But, Macy's was having a sale and it ended today and we fell in love. I mean, so in love. And it will be delivered on 3/16 so now we need to pick paint for the living room and paint it before the new furniture gets here. I'm not going to describe it though. I'll take a picture after it gets delivered and you can see for yourself. And I promise I won't drag it out like I am the kitchen. Two weeks from today - you'll see it.

Patience Please

Nope. You'll have to wait a bit longer for the pictures of the final outcome of the kitchen project. We still have a few more things to put away. I'm shooting for Saturday. Pictures on Saturday and maybe I'll post on Sunday morning. So, stay tuned.
Tonight's entry is a public exhalation. A virtual sigh, if you will. An acknowledgment that the last few weeks have been really tough but I'm on the other side of it. Ironically, not because of the kitchen but rather other problems that I've had to work out in my head. Don't worry, everything's fine. The family is great, life is good - even with the construction and the chaos. It's just that sometimes, there are things that you need to work out in your own head. And your partner or you friend can listen to you and even offer advice but ultimately, you're the one who has to decide how you want to handle your problem. And that's where I've been. One of my new favorite slogans is "everything is a passing memory". Nothing is permanent. The pain or anger or frustration that I was feeling was a passing memory - it's already gone. And every time the fear popped up in my mind, I reminded myself that it was simply a passing memory and the anxiety faded. So, this post is all about me feeling at peace with myself and my newfound tool for redirecting my focus so I can let go of the things that weigh me down.
Everything is a passing memory. My new mantra.

Oh! The Suspense!

Oh the pictures are coming, don't you worry. It's just that I decided to wait a bit until everything is put back together before I post the pictures. Call it an unveiling if you will. Or, in reality television, it's called The Reveal. There are still a few little things to do. Plumbing the sink, for instance. Oh, that's a big one and it's in process. After that, the new light fixture goes in and then we'll begin to put the room back together. We're close, so close.

As you know, we've had to do a lot of eating out due to this project. Luckily, Jack and Dean have demonstrated that they are delightful dining companions and I can honestly say that every outing with them has been not just bearable but enjoyable. Even when it's been just me and them.

Alright, well Tom just walked in the door with a bag full of In 'N Out burgers so off I go.

More later...

Polishing it off

They've been working on installing my countertop now for the last 2 hours. The first two pieces went on so easy - POP! and there they were. But the other piece, the big piece with the sink? Not so simple. Our walls? They are not square. No, no, no. They are decidedly unsquare. They had to shave off a bit here, sand off a bit there. A bit more here and a bit more there. A shimmy and a shake. More shaving and sanding. Finally, that sucker went in. And now they're sanding and polishing the top so its purty. And it is. It is purty. I like it. I can't wait to put the new pulls on the cabinets and clean all the shelves and connect the plumbing for the sink and wash all my dishes and put everything back in the cabinets and on top of the cabinets and vacuum my floor and remove the pile 'o crap from my dining table which is in the middle of the living room blocking the boys' most precious toys and generally driving me crazy with all the clutter and chaos!
I seriously thought all that in my head with only one breath.
But, I must be patient because there is so much to do before that can be done.
First, Kate needs some attending to. She was spayed one week ago today and her incision is looking a bit weepy so off to the vet we go. As soon as these nice gentlemen leave.
Pictures of my beautiful new countertop will be forthcoming.

Addendum: Kate's fine. The vet says her incision is healing beautifully and that she doesn't need to wear the cone anymore. And that's good because she could not figure out how to navigate with that thing on her head. I can't tell ya how many times she has run into a door jamb or a wall and just stopped and stood there because she couldn't figure out what stopped her.

Quick Kitchen Update

The interruption in programming is due to extreme busyness at work punctuated by chaotic, dustyness (new word?) at home. I have updates to share but not enough time to download the pictures. I painted the ceiling in the kitchen on Sunday and did the walls yesterday morning. All it needs now is the countertop and that is being installed tomorrow. WOO HOO! I cannot wait to clean my cabinets and put everything back in!
I painted the dining room yesterday and realized we picked the wrong color. After I got 2 coats on it. Boo Hoo. It's a pretty color but it's too close to the kitchen color so it's too much of the same darn color. Ah well.

More to come . . .

Weekend playtime

We had really nice weather last weekend and the boys wanted to go swimming. This was the best we could do on short notice.

Six Steps and a Long Term Goal

As I promised here, I am outlining today what I plan to do in response to Lotus' challenge to contribute to the cleaning up of the planet (or at least my tiny part of it).

1. I will keep a trash bag and gloves in my car so I never have an excuse to not pick up trash when I see it.
2. I will walk a lap around the track after my run in the morning and pick up all the trash I see.
3. I will continue buying my fruits and vegetables from local farmers at my Farmer's Market.
4. I will make a conscious effort to buy other grocery items (such as meat and dairy) from within a 100 mile radius of where I live.
   
5. I will use those cool mesh bags for my produce that I saw here.
6. Once a month, I will take the boys to the park/beach/hiking and pick up trash while they play.
7. I have a long term goal to grow a vegetable garden so I can be somewhat self-sustaining but it may have to wait for a different yard.

I think that's a good start, right?

More about the kitchen

Here's where we left off, right? There was a door in the middle of our dining room. In years past, there used to be a wall that ran from the kitchen to that door and to the right of that door, was a laundry room. To the left was the dining room. Back then, it probably made sense to have a door there. I guess. Anyway, someone tore that wall down and left the door there. It was on our to-do list when we moved into the house and here we are, 6 1/2 years later, doing it.

And here it is, done. The taping, plastering, sanding, replastering, sanding, etc. is being done today. As promised, cabinets and appliances were re-installed yesterday and we finally begin to see how it will all work together.

In other news, I'm ridiculously stressed out about work (shouldn't be doing this now but procrastinating the real stuff) and starting to have the free-floating anxiety again. Woo hoo. Hives will be showing up any minute. Because, you know how that helps the stress level.

Charlie Bit Me

Go see this video because it cracked me up! I am amazed though that the older brother handled himself so well.

Charlie

A Floor!

The tile was laid on Monday so we went to dinner and a movie right after work so we wouldn't be tempted to walk on our new floor. We were pretty excited when we got home and saw how it looked. I couldn't wait to see how it would look with grout!


The boys were really happy to get to walk on the floor again. Dean said it was perfect for making snow angels. Wha??? Anyway, we love the color of the grout. I think it's the perfect sandy, dirty color so it will disguise the real dirt once we start using the kitchen again.

The cabinets and appliances go back in today and the company comes out on Friday to do the template for our countertop.



Also today? That door comes out and the wall gets framed in! I can't wait to see it tonight!!

Hidden Costs

of a kitchen remodel:

Thursday
Millies = $48.00

Friday
Hot's Cantina = $36.00
Penguins = $12.00

Saturday
Starbucks = $8.00
Jamba Juice = $14.00
Sizzler = $30.00

Sunday
Starbucks = $8.00
KFC = $30.00

Monday
Parking at Citywalk = $5.00
Nameless Pizza Place = $20.00
Movie Tickets = $37.00

Ultimately, the cost to our health is probably worse than the pain in our wallets. I can't wait to cook in my new kitchen!!

Dear Dean Letter

Cleaning out cabinets in preparation for demo/construction, Tom found a postcard given to Dean by one of the girls from the daycare who went to Kindergarten in Fall '07. Perhaps you recall the postcard that she wrote to Jack? This is Dean's:

Dean,

Thank you Dean for letting your brother be nice to me. I still love you.

T---