Last Weekend

Last weekend we took a little trip to my in-laws.  While there we took a little jaunt to the 4 Mile Beach on Lake Huron.  I had forgotten how nice it is to walk in the sand with the waves washing over my feet.  It was lovely.





Here is a little love note in the sand to my book club friends.  Love you ladies!  #jhbc



Ian on the stairs back up from the beach.  There were a lot of stairs but they had a little platform every third step which helped a lot.  My calves were cramping after but it could have been a lot worse.  (I just realized I haven't blogged about the issues with my legs yet.  I should probably do that sometime soon so you understand this reference.)



On this trip Eddie started something new, jumping up into Ian's lap in the car.  Hoo boy! Those two are trouble.  (Also, while on this trip Ian learned how to unbuckle his car seat using a toy for leverage to push in the button. Goodness, help me!)



We had a lot of fun in the back yard.  I want a back yard like my in-laws (but I don't really want to do the work involved to get my crappy yard there.)






(I tried to get a picture of my sister-in-law cramming smore into her mouth.  She was kind enough to pose for me since I didn't get my shot. Thanks!)



The windmills were so pretty in the evening light.

What We Have Been Up To

What we have been up to: in photos.

The iPad in now fully stocked with a small fortune in new learning game apps for Ian.  He is working hard practicing the alphabet, numbers, colors and even writing letters!  Ian is even starting to use my stylus to write the letters, so he is practicing holding a pencil.  I love that the iPad can be such a fun leaning tool.  Every parent should be able to have this for their kids!  

Memorial Day we went to Junction Valley Railroad and Ian got to ride on a real quarter scale railroad line.  

Of course we had to ride twice!  

We finally got Ian's hair trimmed up for the summer.  On our way out of the salon he told a random lady in the parking lot, "Look at my haircut! I'm so handsome."  Then we went over so Chris could join the same gym I had just joined, and Ian and I waited outside.  He told EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. that walked by to look at his haircut and that he was handsome.  It was a little embarrassing, but also super funny and cute.  

This weekend we took an adventure to a small zoo nearby.  Ian loved walking around seeing the animal, but was almost more interested in the fact that he was promised a toy at the gift shop before we left. 

The camels came as close to us as they could get from across their enclosure.  It was really clear that they came over to say hi to Ian.  Most of the animals ignore the people but these two just wanted some attention.  

My favorite parts of this zoo are the peacocks that roam around free.  This guy was just strutting along like he owned the place.  So beautiful!  

My other favorite part is the big cats.  You can see them outside or inside, and oh boy is the inside a thrill.  The "glass" is all that separates you from the big cats.  It is so impressive how large they are up close.  

This one looked very nervous.  I think that her babies were outside and she really wanted to be out there with them.  The three cubs were born in September and were big but still very baby cute!  

The farm area had a goat pen you could go inside and pet the goats.  They were all looking so hot and were really nice when the kids came up to see them.  Ian was so gentle, I was very impressed with how well he handled himself.  

My favorite picture from the day...the eagles together!  Stupid cell phone dude in the back photo bombed my awesome picture.  Perhaps I will have to try to work some magic to remove him at some point. 

It was a really fun day!

Final pictures are from last night.  Our friend Joe, brought over his corgi Penny to play with Mason and Eddie.  All three got along really well and had doggy smiles all night long.

Thanks for coming over to play Penny!

A Whole Decade

On Saturday Chris and I will have been married for ten years.  A whole decade!  I'm torn between two thoughts:

How is it already been 10 years!?
and
Only ten years! It feels like forever (but in a good way.)

Instead of giving each other gifts to celebrate we did something even better...we both signed up for gym memberships!  So in hopes, we will have another healthy decade together and look good along the way.

Over the weekend we got a little envelope of local deals, and there was one for a gym in town for a ridiculously low price.  I went in yesterday to check out the terms because I was sure there was a catch, and I ended up signed on right away.  Later in the day Chris went in and signed up as well.  The deal is awesome, you pay for two years upfront but the cost is only their cost to insure you as a member!  Crazy cheap, and perfect for us on our budget. Chris asked and they are using the deal to build up a customer base since the gym is still fairly new, but established enough they are going to open another location in town.

Happy Anniversary Chris!   Here's to many more happy and healthy years together!

Six Word Saturday

One decade: still feels like yesterday.

Nine Years Ago

On this day nine years ago I married my best friend and soul mate. Chris and I got married at the Thomas Edison Inn in Port Huron, MI June 2, 2002.  We just recently we decided that we are going to go back to celebrate our 10th anniversary at the inn as well. 
















I totally meant to scan some of our wedding pictures, but life and time got away from me.  So you are going to have to settle with these (9 year) old, really dark scans.  Our ceremony was on the patio and there was a little putting green beyond that.  That is the Blue Water Bridge (to Canada) in the background.  It was a fun place to take some pictures and play on the putting green.  Seeing wedding pictures these days and how fun and fancy they are, makes me a little sad that we didn't have more unique photos from our wedding day.  Of all our photos, I like this one where Chris has his feet around the hole so I have a better chance at making my putt.

Our Wedding Party: Matt (Chris' co-worker at the time), Melissa (Chris' sister), me, Chris, Sarah (my best friend), and Jason (a friend of both of us).  I kept the top of the arch behind us for more than 8 years, but earlier this year it was getting so gross I had to finally throw it away.








Today we are going to celebrate with a lunch date to Bennigans.  It is way nicer to have a lunch date than to find a sitter and and all that jazz.  Also, a local jewelry store sent us a $25 gift card to spend for our anniversary, and Chris agreed to go look for something to use it on. One can never complain about nearly a decade of happy marriage AND the potential of something shiny! 

Chris, I love you and you are the cheese to my macaroni! Here's to the rest of our lives together. <3

I Do It!

On my lunch hour today I spotted a little girl, dressed in purple, run ahead of her mother to drop a letter into the mailbox outside the pharmacy. She must have been about five years old, and looked so happy to be doing this little job.  You should see the pride on her face that she did it all by herself.

A memory suddenly struck me; an image of myself crossing the street at the corner by the bank, running ahead of my mom to put her mail in the mailbox. Then I would cross the street again and trail behind her to the grocery store. We always walked because the store and the corner with the mailbox were so close.

I remember the pride I felt in being helpful and doing a chore all by myself...even if mom was just a few yards away keeping tabs on me. It feels so good to be independent and helpful!

This in turn made me realize something else, something much more important. On mornings like today when it takes an extra five minutes just to get Ian dressed for the day because he is insistent that "I do it!" (I meaning him) I should push back the frustration that we are tuning late and let him take the lead. I might be a few minutes late for work but he is learning and I love the thought of the pride he must feel in accomplishing something for himself.

I love it when the universe finds a way of showing me something I should have realized all along but needed a nudge to remember.

Here Fishy Fishy

I don't know why but I kind of want to get a fish.  It is a pretty random want really.

My mom often had a Betta fish in a bowl in the kitchen.  We called it the kitchen fish.  Last year for Christmas my niece drew me the picture above of of our last kitchen fish.

I want a kitchen fish.

Except it will probably be a dining room fish instead because my kitchen counter is cold...I don't want the fish to freeze to death.

Baby It's Cold...Inside

Inspired by a Tweet by @showmyface "Guess we'll be sleeping in the Recliners of Death - a/c guy can't come til Saturday."


I remember growing up in a house where the only a/c we had was a window air conditioner in the living room.  On the hottest of nights the whole family would camp out in the living room to sleep.  We would make up a bed of blankets on the floor in between the sofas and under the dining room table (my parents dining room and living room are all one big room together.)  Someone would sleep on each couch, a couple of us on the floor, and usually my little brother would sleep under the dining room table.  At the time it probably was a big pain in the ass for all parties, except us kids who just thought it was fun.  Now that I am older I can appreciate those memories and look back on them with fondness.  However, recalling those nights of camping out in the one cool area of our house really makes me appreciate the luxury that is air conditioning.  On those days when it gets up over 80 degrees, I just can't imagine how the folks without a/c manage.


I am glad that @showmyface will be getting her a/c fixed soon.  Until then I hope she can find some way to make sleeping on the "Recliners of Death" a little bit fun and maybe even a little bit memorable.  

Eight Years

Today eight years ago I was marrying my best friend.  So much has changed over the years: we bought a house, got full time jobs, had a baby, and about a million other small things.  However, some things never change: Chris is still my best friend, we still work well together, and we still love each other like mad.

Excuse the poorly scanned photos, it was eight years ago after all (they were not using digital cameras yet.)

Our wedding was at the Thomas Edison Inn in Port Huron, Michigan.  This is by far my favorite photo from the wedding.  I like how it illustrates us working together (it is hard to see in the scanned picture, but Chris' feet are around the hole in the green) which I think is the foundation of what makes us a great couple.  That is the Blue Water Bridge in the background.

I really didn't care for the veil, but Chris didn't have many requests for the wedding...all he wanted was to be able to lift my veil.  So I wore a veil that the bridal shop picked out for me and Chris got to lift it before our first kiss as man and wife.

The bridal party: Matt (Chris' co-worker and friend), Melissa (Chris' sister), Me, Chris, Sarah (a friend of Chris and I, she introduced me to Chris), and Jason (a friend of both Chris and I).  Funny how much fashion changes over the years...these dresses are so eight years ago!  Ugh!

Our honeymoon was at Poconos Paradise Stream, it was Hawaiian theme night when this photo was taken.  Each night had a theme and they would set up a spot for photos.  It was so much fun being at an all inclusive place, nothing to worry about except what fun thing to do next.

I am looking forward to the next eight years, and many many more!

I love you Chris!

All Done!

This weekend was my sister-in-law, Melissa's wedding.  They chose to have an evening wedding on Friday, May 28 the anniversary of their first date.  So Chris, Ian and I traveled to his parents house after I got out of work on Wednesday.

Thursday was rehearsal day and decorating the reception hall.  In the morning the bride and bridesmaids traveled to the reception site and got to work decorating.  We put out potted plant centerpieces, M&M favors, and decorated the bar and dance floor with tulle and lights.  It was really coming together.  Unfortunately Ian had to come with us, and he was less than impressed with the lack of attention he was getting.  I have to give it to him though, he was amazingly well behaved for a hungry, tired and overheated little kid.  After a lot of crying, a few runaway attempts, and climbing two rungs up a latter while my back was turned I decided to head back to the house with him for a little nap.

After a very brief nap, Ian was up and at it again in time for the rehearsal.  Oh man, if we had to guess by the rehearsal how the wedding would go I think most everyone would have runaway in tears.  It was steaming hot in the chapel, everyone was tired, hungry and cranky.  I think we all felt a lot like Ian during the one and half hours we were there practicing our timing walking up the aisle.  Ian was completely out of it, screaming and crying from the heat.  His little cheeks were on fire and were all red from his skin condition (keratosis pilaris) and I felt so horrible that I couldn't do anything to make him or any of us more comfortable.  We are so blessed that a family friend, Teresa, stepped up to watch Ian in the basement of the chapel where it was a lot cooler and Ian had room to play.

At the rehearsal dinner Ian was feeling a lot better and ate some food, but he was so tired and we headed out just after the meal to get him in bed.  I asked Chris' mom if my parents, who where coming to the wedding, could watch Ian in the basement during the wedding the next day so he would be more comfortable.  She said that would be fine, and then the reverend piped up and said to me "I really like that idea."  From her tone and the various nasty looks I got from her during the rehearsal it was pretty clear to me that she didn't want a chance of having a crying kid at the ceremony.  My feelings were very hurt because I really wanted Ian to be able to be there but I wanted Melissa to have a wonderful wedding so I bit my tongue and I called my parents to asked them to come soon than planned to help out with Ian.

The next day for the wedding, the girls all got their hair done and we did our makeup.  Then Melissa treated us to lunch before the wedding.  As we were getting dressed for the wedding it become pretty obvious to me that I missed something after we left the rehearsal dinner.  Melissa give us all gifts of pink flip flops, a necklace, and some lotions.  All the other girls were putting on their necklaces and I knew that I missed learning that we were suppose to wear the necklace to the wedding.  I was pretty much ready to cry at this point because the necklace was more than a half hour drive away.  As luck would have it Teresa came to the rescue again by getting the necklace from Chris' parents house and bringing it with her.

Just before the ceremony was to begin, my parents set Ian up with a portable DVD player they brought with them and I knew he would be happy and cool throughout the ceremony.  So we headed upstairs and got Melissa down the aisle and everything went just wonderfully.  It was even a lot cooler in the chapel, which was great because we didn't need anyone passing out from the heat.

After a fast side trip to get gas, because having the van run so long with Ian sleeping inside it had us just about out of gas, we went on to have some fun pictures taken.  Then onto the reception which went well and for the late hour Ian was very well behaved.  Ian ate too many M&M's from the favors, and I ate too much food that my dress got very tight.  I had to skip having cake for fear my dress might burst.  Lucky for me I was staying where the leftovers were heading so I knew I would get to try the cake eventually.

The highlight of my evening was getting to slow dance with my son.  He was a great dance partner and seemed to soak up the moment as much as I did.  We got to dance to most of two songs before he leaned over and said to me "All done."

I am so happy that it is all over.

And to anyone who might think about asking me to stand up in another wedding, please don't.  I would hate to make you feel bad when I tell you hell no.  I am retired from the bridesmaid business for good.  All done, indeed.

He Loves Me

Last night my son didn't want to go to sleep.  He was so very tired but wanted nothing more than to snuggle.

When the usual bedtime routine failed and I couldn't take another moment of his crying out for me, I went into his room and snuggled up next to him on his bed.

He calmed down quickly and started to relax.  I could see his eyes growing heavy; it wouldn't be long until he would have to give in to the weight of sleepiness.

We were laying face to face.  I slowed my breathing and closed my eyes; faking that I was asleep and hoping it would help him over the edge into lullaby land.

I could feel him moving closer to me, his hot little breath on my face.

Then, he kissed me!  Right on the lips.

He settled back down next to me and drifted to sleep.

I have never felt so much love in my whole life.  That is a kiss I will remember until the day I die.

Blended Society

My son has this one particular toy and the way in which he plays with it amuses me to no end.  It is a toy blender that blends blocks of different shapes and colors while it, of course, sings ridiculous songs along the way. 

Those blocks are currently no where to be found, so my son has decided to put all of his Little People in the blender instead.  Little People of various persuasions; male, female, black, white, young, old.  He puts all those different types of Little People in that blender and blends them up.

What a great way to illustrate that while we are all different we share the same space on this earth and thus, blended up, we are all the same.

He has no idea how profound that Little People filled blender actually is.

Hypochondriac

Doctor: "Do you think that perhaps you're a bit of a hypochondriac?"

Man: "Sometimes I think I might be."

The Kitchen Fish

When I was in college I got a beta to liven up my dorm room. I named him Prince, after the singer as the fish was purple. When I moved back home at the end of the year my fish took up residence in my mom's kitchen in a giant cognac glass on the counter. It was renamed The Kitchen Fish and that is where he happily spent the rest of its days.

For Christmas I asked my niece to draw me a picture instead of getting a gift. She is an amazing artist and I wanted something she made for my own.

I was presented with a full color drawing of a beta fish. It was the most perfect drawing and the most perfect gift.

I am going to frame it and hang it in my kitchen.

Revival of The Kitchen Fish!

The Failed Italian

I am of half Italian decent. My other half is a mixture of various nationalities; including Irish, Scottish, Swedish, and Finnish. As I am mostly Italian it is the nationality I most identify with.

My paternal grandmother, Grandma Ann, was the quintessential Italian women. She made amazing food, loved her family, and was always there to feed you whether you were hungry or not. She has been gone for seven years now, and this holiday season I am missing her a lot.

In honor of my Grandma Ann I wanted to make some delicious Italian treats for the holidays. So I borrowed my mom's pizzelle maker and planed to make piles and piles of the sweet, crispy little waffle cookies to share with my coworkers and family.

Last night, armed with a recipe from the internet and my borrowed pizzelle iron I got working making some pizzelles and the chaos began. My batter was much thicker than I recalled it being when I made pizzelles with my Grandma Ann and I made them together years ago. I chalked it up to a difference in recipe. Then my first cookies stuck in all the crevices of the iron. I spent the next half hour cleaning it with a tooth pick.

For my next attempt I sprayed the pizzelle iron down with some cooking spray, well actually a lot of cooking spray. I didn't want to go through all that cleaning again. This time I was ready, they were going to come out perfectly. Except they didn't. The dough didn't set up right and fell to pieces when I opened the lid.

At this point I was near tears so I decided that was enough pizzelle making for one day.

I am a failed Italian. I can't even make simple waffle cookies that my grandma could have made them in her sleep.

The Birds

My mom told me that today there were a ton of pigeons in front of her house and they all flew away together. I imagine that was quiet the sight to behold.

For some reason it reminds me of the summer we had ducks. They were not our ducks but every day they would come and hang out on our suburban street for the day and fly off toward the lake at sunset. They were mallards, two males and a female.

The first day it was amazing to see ducks in the front yard. We didn't leave near the water by any stretch, and never before have we had ducks in the area. Pigeons yes, but never ducks.

What was even more amazing was that these three ducks returned every day for weeks that summer. They came to our house so often that we started to feed them bits of bread. We even bought a kiddie pool and feeder fish for them.

It is an amazing memory from my childhood.

Ornamental Memories

We put up our Christmas tree today. Or holiday tree for those of you readers that might not celebrate Christmas.

Decorating the Christmas tree is one of my most favorite holiday traditions. We don't have one of those uber coordinated, color matching trees. Nope. We have a memory tree. Every ornament has been collected by us through the years, and some have rather fond memories tied to them.

Here is our tree after it was completed tonight.
One of our new additions this year is a train that circles the middle of the tree. We picked it up on a trip to Home Depot, and it was very much an impulse purchase, but we knew it would be so much fun. Chris loves trains, and grew up with train sets. We thought Ian would love watching the train chug around the tree.
So far all Ian cares about are the ornaments within reach, particularly this red mirror ball ornament. He picked up one of my mirror ball ornaments and gave it a kiss. For his trouble the mirror ball left him a scratch on his nose. The mirror balls were some of my first ornaments when I moved out on my own. I got the first of them the Christmas I was in my very own one bedroom apartment.
I love this shot of Ian admiring the tree. I fear he will knock the tree over and hurt himself but also that he will break some of my memories, I mean ornaments.
Last week we went to Frankenmuth, MI and visited Bronner's. It is a huge Christmas store. My goal was to find some ornaments that will mean something to my new family. So I picked out some that represent our respective nationalities. For my husband we picked the Polish ornament below and a German ornament. Both have text on the back listing various traditions unique to the nationality.
For my side of the family I picked an Italian ornament with the traditions on the back. I am more than Italian but you know there are only so much dollars in the bank account.
My husband is a HUGE hockey fan and we have many hockey themed ornaments. Most are for the Red Wings...including a Santa in a Red Wings jersey. However, this new Smore hockey player is by far my favorite. While Chris does not play hockey himself hockey is a huge part of our lives most of the year, so it is only fitting it be a huge part of our tree.
My all time favorite ornament is this Lenox china snowflake. It was something I purchased for our first tree after we were married. The coloring exactly matches the Lenox cake topper we used on our wedding day. While it isn't the typical "First Christmas Married" ornament, to me it is the one that symbolizes us. We have at least two other standard First Christmas type ornaments but this is the one that really means something to me.

This ornament was made for Chris and I by a very good friend of mine, who I have known pretty much my whole life.  She is a great artist and love that she took the time to turn Chris and I into cartoon characters and painted them on an ornament for a gift.  I love this ornament and I remember my friend every time I see it.

Coming soon some pictures of the rest of our decorations along with some more stories and memories.

This One Goes Out To All The Teachers

Recently I read an article pertaining to the school district where I went to school from kindergarten to senior year. In this article there was a link to the school district website. A site that I didn't even know existed. During my time perusing the site I came to the staff directory and noticed that my junior year English/senior year speech and drama teacher still worked for the district.

In my senior year of high school I decided to take speech and drama with a friend. It turned out to be one of the most personally challenging classes I have ever taken. I was a very shy person throughout most of my formal education. Talking in front of the class was just not something I was every comfortable with. It was embarrassing because I just knew every single one of my peers was judging me. Of course in my mind I was also positive they were judging me harshly.

Somehow I made it though speech and drama class without feeling so judged. As the year wore on I felt more and more comfortable being up in front of people, and I gained confidence in myself. Those unrealistic feelings of judgment began to drift away and no longer matter as much to me. It really helped that my speech and drama teacher, lets call her Ms. W, was very patient and made the class fun and casual. We began with the speech portion of the class, and often we were given the freedom to select our our subject withing a theme. It really helped to talk about something you can personally relate to. That was lesson one: know your subject and speaking will come more naturally.

Ms. W would have us critique each other after our speeches. One classmate gave her speech and everyone raved about the flow of her words. One particular student told her "Way to flow!" It was such a positive experience to have people actually praise before constructively critiquing our work. Lesson number two: Only give constructive feedback and be sure to mention what was done well. Never complain of a problem without a solution.

As we moved onto drama, I was a little more out of my element. We started drama with a series of vocal exercises that amounted to nothing more that tongue twisters to me at first. I remember taking the study sheet with me to work to practice in my down time during cashiering at the grocery store near my parents house. It took me so long to memorize some of the exercises. One that gave me a lot of trouble was "while one black bug bled blue-black blood the other black bug blue." Try saying that out loud, articulating every syllable and still not mess up the order of the words. It took a lot of practice for me to get it right. Yet more than a decade later I still remember most of the exercises. We were tested on remembering them and how well we articulated them in class.

I became so much more comfortable with myself that I actually volunteered, during this time, to present a poem I wrote to my mother at a parents appreciation event. It was the first time that I spoke to a group that was far beyond my peers. I was very nervous but I did it, though I remember reading way too fast. Lesson number three: Don't be shy about showing off work that you are proud of.

For our final exam in drama Ms. W assigned us to pick a monologue or a scene that we would perform for our family and friends one evening in the auditorium. I choose to do a monologue as that I would not be compared to anyone else during my performance (as acting was not my strong suit). I cannot recall the name of the piece but it was a women confined to a concentration camp. It turned out to be one of the most fun events of the year, though it was so scary to get up on a stage and perform alone. Lesson number four: When all else fails just get out there and be confident. No one will know if you mess us as long as you look like you know what you are doing.

I decided to email Ms. W after finding her email address in the school district directory. I wanted to let her know that after more than a decade I still count her as one of the most important people in helping to shape the person I am today. Because of Ms. W I do not fear speaking my mind and I found the confidence I needed to speak to a group though I find it so uncomfortable. I don't know if she meant to impart all these life lessons but looking back they were lessons that really changed the way I interacted though college and in my professional life.

Ms. W replied to me today. She told me that my picture is still on her "wall of fame" and that she appreciated that I wrote to her. It made me feel really good to make her feel good. I will continue to think of Ms. W every time I recite a vocal exercise to help untwist my tongue before speaking.

Tell some who influenced you what they did for you. You can bet they will appreciate it as much as you appreciate what they did to help shape you.

Pretty Things

I received my beautiful Lisa Leonard necklace last week. I love it and I have worn it every day since it came. Lisa is an amazing artist and I can't wait until I can afford to buy another piece of her gorgeous jewelry.

During the epic cleaning of the front entry closet I rediscovered several things I forgot that I owned. One of those things is the silver bangle bracelet in the picture above. It was a gift from my Aunt Sophie so long ago I don't even recall how old I was. I believe she brought it back from a vacation to Mexico. It has spent probably the last decade in my keepsake box blackened with tarnish. When I saw it in that box I pulled it out immediately and planned to buy some silver polish to clean it up. I never got around to getting that polish. Today I noticed the blacken piece in the box I use to store my jewelry and decided to do something about it finally. Online I found that you can polish silver with a paste of baking soda and water rubbed on with a soft cloth. I didn't have high hopes but I rubbed that paste on with a paper towel during my lunch hour. In just minutes it was sparkling and I wore it back to work for the afternoon. Nothing like something old that is new again.

The Picture Taking Door

This is a picture of me and my little brother at Easter, in I believe 1984.

(You love my awesome Easter hat. I know you do!)

I scanned this picture a while back to share on my family blog. However, recently I noticed something about this picture that made me think carefully about all the pictures of my youth...it was the door!

In my family every single picture that was ever posed for was taking with us standing by our front door. If it wasn't for candid snapshots this would be the backdrop to every picture of my youth.

(Well, maybe not every picture but way more than half of them.)

It was the one and only open space in the house without furniture or various things on the walls to get in the way of the subjects of the photo.

You could say that this door, which remains quite the same in my parents home to this day, is a very important part in the background of my past. I am going to have to try and dig up some other photos of the door (and whomever happens to be standing, posing in front of it) to share.