May 2010

Another exciting month in Luci's life.

We finally celebrated her birthday - pictures attached. It was full of family, friends and fun. Couldn't ask for anything more!

She is becoming more vocal now. Her vocabulary extends to "ba-ba" - which could refer to the song "Ba Ba Black sheep" or to saying good-bye if it is accompanied by waving. She points to my nose and says "naaaa" and to her belly button and says "bab bab." She also knows how to roar, quack, and spit when you ask what lions, ducks, and elephants do.

She is eating like a big girl now...feeding herself and loving it. She LOVES cheese and fruit, she can't get enough of either. We weaned her off of the bottle in no time. She drinks milk from a sippy cup that kinda mimics a bottle, but isn't one and she drinks water or juice from a sippy cup with a straw. She also weaned off of breast milk with no problems, so now she is on whole cow's milk.

We tried to go swimming today, but she fell asleep as we pulled into the parking lot of the pool. Then by the time she woke up, it started to thunder. Bummer! So we have yet to get her swimming in a pool, if you can believe it! But she enjoyed running in the rain!

We had many picnics this weekend and we are exhausted!

Here are pictures from this month:
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4110737009/a=40662473_40662473/

Pen Pal

In 5th grade, we had an assignment.
We received messages from another 5th grade class in Delaware.

The messages were distributed to us randomly.

We were required to write one letter.

I wrote mine.

She wrote back.

Her name was Lisa.

We continued throughout grade school.

We still wrote in high school.

We even met a few times.

My family would always vacation in Ocean City, MD.

Lisa's family would vacation in Fenwick Island, DE.

Not too far from each other.

So we got together at ages 12, 15, and 16.

We continued to write in college, and advanced to email.

We talked about school, family, careers, and of course boys!

As we graduated, our communication dwindled,

but we would still keep in touch here and there.

Lisa started to follow my blog

and contacted me a few months ago.

She is married and lives in Virginia.

Then I received an email the other day.

Her husband was in Slippery Rock for work.

She was traveling to see him over the holiday weekend,

and wanted to try to meet up.

So we did...after 16 years!

It was great, Lisa's husband drove down

and we all enjoyed an evening at my parents' restaurant!

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I dug out some old pictures.

Here we are at age 12 (August 1990) - our first meeting.

Loving the hair aren't you...can you say awkward phase?

Here is August 1993, only 3 years later,

but looking more like ourselves.

This picture includes Lisa's Mom, Marina, me, Lisa, my Mom, and Dani.

The following summer - August 1994.

We were posing for those cheesy telescope pictures.

Laugh all you want...I already did!Finally - May 2010 - still friends after writing for 21 years!

LOVED IT!

Of course I went on opening day!

Samantha was the hit of the movie...great one-liners!

Ali - Episode #1

Ah, yes...another season of The Bachlorette - bring on the drama!

The first episode is never exciting...just introductions to the various personalities that will eventually clash later in the season.

My top picks for the season based on first impressions:

Chris (from Cape Cod)

Frank

Jonathan

I think that I had another 1 or 2 that stood out, but that's all I can remember now.

The previews for the season of course show a lot of drama - we have another bad boy (Craig from Canada) who seems to be like David from Jillian's season. And there seems to be a guy there with a girlfriend back home (hmmm...is Wes back?).

Looking forward to Monday nights through the summer!

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I haven't peeked at Reality Steve's site yet...I know that he is going to spill the beans about the end...don't know if I want to find out already.

LOST

I'm sad - it's over!

The finale was great
but still with lingering questions.

It ended with the inevitable - WTF!

As I was trying to fall asleep, I had a revelation -
the ending was very "Sixth Sense"-ish with the characters needing a memory trigger to remember everything and then realize that they were all dead.

What do the fellow Losties think?

Deflated

Okay, so it's not THAT bad,
but they're gone...and it seems that it happened over night.

Tough Decisions

It has been do-able-
-working full time and being a Mom.

Do-able, but exhausting.

I guess it wouldn't be so bad
if I didn't wake up at 4 or 4:30 every morning.

For the past few months, I just have not been feeling well.
Tired, tired, tired.

That's not me, and I don't like it.

So John and I talked about it and the decision has been made:
I am going part time starting this Fall.

I think that I will feel more rested.

Therefore, I think that I will be a better wife and mother,
and I will probably appreciate my job more.

Quality of life is just too important to me right now,
and being a Mom (actually, a good Mom) is most important.

Problem solved!

problem - sour milk odor in my car

solution - baking soda paste spread over the affected area

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I purchased a gallon of whole milk for Luci last week.
I put it in the back of my Jeep, and away I went.

When I opened the back at home, I saw that the gallon had fallen over.
No big deal - happened many times before.

But this time, milk leaked out the top and saturated into the carpet.
When I examined the jug more closely, I noted that the cap was not securely tightened despite the safety seal.

I blotted the area and left the windows open for a few days.
It wasn't until post-incident day #3 that I applied my baking soda mix and Voila! Odor is gone!

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Lesson learned - always check the cap on the milk jug!

It went -

but it was WET!

Saturday forecast - rain
Sunday forecast - rain
Monday forecast rain

Saturday actual - sunny
Sunday actual - rain
Monday actual - sunny

Seriously - can I get better luck?

Despite the dreary weather, the party was a hit!

The food was good, the cake was great, and the activities were fun!

I had a pinata for the kids, and I even hired an airbrush tattoo artist (yes, I am crazy). It was hilarious though because the adults got into it as well as the kids.

Luci had a blast and that's all I care about.

Happy 1st Birthday Angel!