Quote of the Day

One more note for today. It's a quote I found when looking at the Baseball Hall of Fame site. (We're going there this weekend!)

"Hitting against Koufax is like drinking coffee with a fork."— Willie Stargell on Sandy Koufax

I found it amusing, and it made me think of Brian. He did appreciate it when I showed it to him.

On another note, we are planning to do this (scroll down) some time this spring or summer and will be ordering tickets soon. We're hoping to plan an actual vacation at the same time. Yay!

Yes, More Lamps ...and Birthdays!

After a well-organized birthday party for my nephew over the weekend (photos here) I am trying to gather as many ideas as I can for Tommy's party in two weeks. I have one train cake mould, but I want to make sure I plan well for snacks and decorations, so I'm begging for cool ideas, all in keeping with the overall train theme. If you think of anything, please comment!

In follow-up to my previous post, here's a picture of the new lamps. (Okay, so it still doesn't look that much like a bedroom... I mean, I still had to try to take the picture without including all of our random, mis-matched furniture, but at least it's a start!)

Now all we need is some sort of wall hanging to fill the empty space. I think a nice matted and framed black and white photo would be nice. -All the grey might get old, but I love the comfortor (so soft), and it works. We also have some fancy decorative shams to match our bedroom set, but Brian doesn't like them because he's too practical-minded to care for extra pillows designed for decoration only... particularly since we would have to move them every night before bed. Oh well.

Wow. I just posted about lamps twice in a row. I feel old. And I think I have problems.

...Thoughts? (Yes, it's ok to comment on the fact that I have problems. I already admitted it, afterall!)

Three Lamps and a Trampoline

Are you curious?

It's Tuesday, and my show isn't on. The WB should warn me before they change things like that! I do like American Idol, so I have been watching parts of that. Of course watching insanely talented people (I still critique with force) who also happen to be perfectly beautiful and in great shape makes me a little sour, so I don't exactly mind missing it either.

Anywho, I am excited over the strangest of things and must share. Over the weekend we awoke to the sound of breaking glass. (Bear with me. That's not the exciting part.) Thomas had come in early and climbed into our big bed, and then when he decided to get up again he must have stepped on the edge of the lamp because it crashed. Thankfully Thomas was fine. There was lots of glass on our floor that had to be cleaned up, but that was okay, mostly because I got to stay in bed with Tommy while Brian took care of it. (Love you!) Then of course we had no bedroom light, and that was a clear problem. The lamp was not fixable, so last night we replaced it with two very nice black swing arm lamps with grey shades (to match our comforter), and I am pleased... The price was higher than ideal... until I saw them in our room. It is actually starting to resemble a bedroom. What a funny thing a couple of lamps can do!

We tried to replace them Sunday night, but Lowes was closed by the time we made it there. We were coming from a birthday party at a kid's gym. -Thomas had so much fun. It was cute to hear him go on and on in the car about all the things he did. One big hit of the party was a trampoline on which kids were strapped to a belt and a man pulled the ropes so they could swing from way up high. Even I wanted to try. Really! Of course, there were 20 4-year olds there, and that was tiring enough just to watch. Only a handful of kids ended up getting hurt or upset, however (and that was not in the gym, but rather after pizza when they all decided to run around the party table). I actually think that's a pretty good ratio, all things considered. (Don't worry, all kids were fine.)

On a separate note, we officially have videos online at google video! I'm waiting to share until I upload a few more. The clips I have are short and not terrible exciting. Thomas likes them though, and he giggles hysterically when he watches them, so at least there's that!

Wasn't I going to post about Olympics and quilts and some other random stuff? Oh well. I must not have had very much to say after all.

...I think it's time to go to bed. We have moved on to some documentary that continuously mentions protons and neutrons. Correction. Brian has. OK, I feel better. He switched back to the Olympics. Still, I call early bed time tonight. Goodnight!

Home Videos

Our digital camera records video, and we have collected few short clips over time, but we haven't made many because they just tend to sit on our desktop and not be seen. Well, now that we have DSL, we can actually share them online, so today I uploaded 3 short videos to google. (http://video.google.com) They have to be verified by google, so they aren't available for viewing just yet, but I'll let you know as soon as they are! I'm excited to share!

Woohoo!

Today we actually got lucky and were sent home from work due to a power outage. (We work at an essentially paperless office, so work is tough without computers.) We were advised that power had been lost within about an hour's radius (or something like that), and that it wasn't expected to be restored before the end of the day. The cool part is that we do have power at home... Forget the fact that we live only 10 minutes or less from work. It's great!

Of course, it's still very windy, so we may very well lose power at any time... plus I will probably have to go in for a couple of hours this weekend to lighten the work load for Monday (ha), but let's not think about that.

Woohoo! Out at 2:00 on a Friday! I love it! :)

Greeeaaaaat

Hm, so tonight I'm on my own for a little while. Tommy is, of course, asleep, and Brian went out with Paul, Stephanie, Matt, and Denise to see Lez Zeppelin. Who is that, you ask? Well, apparently it's an all female cover band for guess who. I received an E-mail from work about it. Apparently it was discussed a weekend or two ago, and Brian and I missed it. Anyway, it's free, and it sounds like a good time, so I told Brian to go. (Of course, that was when I just thought it was some random Led Zeppelin cover band... not "Lez" Zeppelin, but anyway... ) I would have gone, if given the opportunity, so I certainly wasn't going to tell him to stay home. I really do hope they all have a great time. Of course, since most of our friends are going (I say most, and I really mean it; yes, we're sad), that means one of us has to stay home with Tommy. So here I am. And I feel old. I mean, I actually had the thought, "Who goes to a concert at 9:00 on a week night?" That is where I have come to. Five years ago, I would have said, "I'm there" without a thought. -I don't know if this band is actually any good, but I generally took all chances to go out in college. Now if you know anything about my past you'll understand that I was raised on concerts, but they were all classical, jazz, and folk. I loved art/music/drama/dance. Still do. And sometimes I go back to my middle of nowhere background and just enjoy the quiet and simple stuff - like listening to music at home or taking walks outside... In fact I miss a lot of the outdoors-y stuff I used to do. We're so busy these days, and Brian and I are opposites when it comes to desired physical activity level, so I haven't played a game of tennis or biked for an hour or two - in what feels like forever. (No hard feelings. We're happy as we are. -At least I am!) Anyway, I've rambled...

I discovered tonight that a couple of people have tried to comment on some of my posts, and I didn't know it. Apparently I set it up so that I would have to look for them in order to approve them. I thought I would be getting some sort of notification. So my apologies to not paying attention. I like comments. Correction: I like meaningful comments. So if you have something to say, let it out! Now that I know to look for them, I will - but remember, I'm still approving them, so if you're being obnoxious, your post won't make it! Ah, the power. Wait, that sounded strange, dorky, and just wrong. Delete, delete. Oh wait, I can....

Um, everyone just came home. Yeah, apparently the concert was GREAT. I'll postpone more comments for now.

(Wow, I'm really glad I threw on sweatpants and not some little nightgown or just a big t-shirt or something. Although Brian came in first, so I probably would have been safe. Too much info... and time for me to stop writing.)

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

In honor of Valentine's Day I feel it necessary to show a picture of the MONSTROUS chocolate covered strawberries Brian and Thomas had waiting for me when I came home. (I took the picture after eating one. -There was no waiting.) You can't really tell from the photo just how big they really are, but maybe I can put it in perspective for you. -I ate 3 or 4 over the course of the night, and I could have skipped dinner. (Think of big stuffed shells, and you're in the ball park.) ...We let Thomas try one, but he just ate the chocolate around the outside. Here are some more pics.

There were many other things that I wanted to touch on tonight, but I'm tired from the parenting challenges of late, and a little down on that note, after a particularly rough night. I love my little sweety, and I try my best. I know parenting is not easy, but sometimes I still wish I had all the answers! At least tomorrow is a late morning for me, so Thomas and I will have some time together in the morning. We enjoy that time.

I hope you had a wonderful, love-filled Valentine's Day (whether that be from your significant other or just those around you) and have a great night.

I'll follow up to yesterday's post another time...

Online Entertainment

In case you haven't noticed (haven't I said this before?), I spend a lot of time online. In fact, I'm sure I spend too much time on the computer to begin with. That being said, I have found some pretty cool stuff while surfing at home. If you've been reading for long (ha), you'll remember my link to Sandsicaf (sand art). I have since found another good video of sand art (by a different artist) here.

I won't go into any others tonight, but if you visit my site and follow directions to my links page, you can find some other cool stuff. I particularly like some of the kid's sites. Bembo's Zoo, for example, is great.

I have also found some amazing quilt photos, though I'll have to share those another time, as I'm missing the Olympics, and they're only on for so long. Do look at some of the sites I've linked to, if you have time. They're worth it!

Enjoy, and have a great night!

Next time: Olympics and my favorites, thoughts on awesome quilts, and something random.

Title?

Happy Birthday to my Gram!

In addition to Gram's birthday, this week marks one year at my current job. My one year anniversary happens to fall on Valentine's day, and as you can see in today's picture, we prepared for that this weekend. Thomas glued little foam hearts onto rectangle foam stickers. He liked it so much he didn't want to stop.

Soon we'll start planning his birthday party. I have a date set but no other plans just yet. I'm still trying to decide what to do regarding theme/kids party or just one big party/and more. I'm way behind this year.

While I'm posting I should mention that I've posted a new photo album. (I didn't send out an E-mail as I sometimes do.)

On that note, I'm off to watch the Olympics with Brian. We've enjoyed them so far, though our viewing is limited, not having cable. Mostly it's nice to have something on worth watching to begin with. -I've always liked the Olympics anyway, though I'll admit they were more exciting to me when I was little.

..And that's it for tonight! Have a great week!

Finished

Here's a photo of the finished afghan. Like I said, it's nothing fancy, but I enjoyed making it. Next time, though, I think I'll try something a little more creative/challenging.

Heaven, Babies, and Afghans

It's hard to follow up to my previous post. All I can say right now is that the funeral was beautiful and reminded me of the peace that can follow this life. I will hold my memories close and think of Missy often. I have many deeper thoughts on the subject, which I will save for a later post.

On a much lighter note I am very happy to share that Becky gave birth to a healthy baby girl on Superbowl Sunday. (No, not during the game. We received the phone call the same morning.) I can't wait to meet little Brooke!

I hear too that Andy and Kara are again expecting, though I haven't spoken directly with them, so I haven't officially confirmed anything. I want another one too!

I happened to finish Brooke's baby afghan on Sunday after the announcement. I'm not terribly happy with the way it turned out, but it is soft, and the color is nice. I haven't decided whether or not I'll give it to her though, because as my first knitting project in years it clearly lacks originality and skill. In fact one side is definitely shorter than the opposite end. Somehow when I was casting off I couldn't seem to keep the stitches as loose as they had been.

On the other hand I also picked up crocheting recently and have a large afghan for home in the works. I will admit that I actually like that one so far. I shouldn't admit too much until it's done, but it's soft, and again the colors are pretty. I'm getting to a point where I need to make decisions about where to change colors and how big to make the blanket, but I'm having trouble deciding just what to do. When I am done it will be huge.

Here are some pics of both blankets. The pink one is for Brooke. (It's bigger than it looks, as it's laying on our king sized bed in the picture.) I took the pic of the gray one last night and have already added significant width since then. I will probably switch back to dark gray tonight.