My family is trying to kill me.

Phone conversation with Mom this morning:

Mom: Hey - am I waking you up?

NavyGirl: Nah, I've been up for a bit. What's going on?

Mom: I have an idea.

NavyGirl: Shit.

Mom: Young lady!

NavyGirl: Your idea?

Mom: So, you know how we didn't get a chance to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge when we visited Sister last summer...

NavyGirl: Yes...

Mom: Well, we're going to visit Sister this summer and RUN across the bridge! Won't that be great!

NavyGirl: Are you drunk? Are you drunk at school at 11:30 on a Thursday morning? Did you hit your head on something?

Mom: No! C'mon! We can do it! It's only like two miles. I'm giving you 'til August to get in shape and do this. It'll be like our version of The Amazing Race!

NavyGirl: Yeah, we've talked about this. We'd be kicked off Amazing Race in the first episode for refusing to bungee jump or eat monkey brains or you know, work hard in some way.

Mom: Well, I sort of already committed us to this...

NavyGirl: What do you mean, you "committed" us to this... did you... oh no, you didn't.

Mom: I did.

NavyGirl: YOU ALREADY TOLD SISTER ABOUT THIS?!?!?!?! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!


So, I guess I have until August to get my last will and testament in order. Cuz come this summer, my Sister and Mother are going to Bataan Death RUN me across the Golden Gate bridge.

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Photos from Wisconsin - Part 2

For 27 years I have tried to get my mother to take photographs. Aside from a 24 hour window surrounding my wedding in which she agreed to leave her camera-phobia at home, she has always refused all paparazzi attempts, using physical means if necessary. However, all NavyGuy has to do is hold a camera and ask nicely once. Mom'll plaster a grin on her face without so much as a single complaint. God damn him and his magical powers.


HistoryGirlie's daughter Kitty. Not typically so solemn, she was playing shy when NavyGuy and I arrived at their house to get ready for a Valentine's Day dinner. (Kitty finally started opening up later in the evening, pointing at NavyGuy and saying "Guy!" "Guy!" to which all of us were eternally amused.) I'll have to get some better photos from HistoryGirlie, because I swear Kitty normally looks more like a happy-go-lucky-toddler. (P.S. She's totally drinking from an UNCOVERED big girl cup now! Such a sophisticated lady.)

I realized that HistoryGirlie and I have almost no photos together (probably because our favorite activity - sitting in her basement talking and watching Grey's Anatomy - isn't conducive to photo shoots). I'm doing some searching though - stay tuned.

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Photos from Wisconsin - Part 1

MOH's baby, Lily, at a family dinner our first night home. She's 8 months now, and still a little peanut size-wise (excluding her 90th percentile noggin').


Lily's obsessed with pulling herself up on things, a skill she mastered since I'd last seen her two weeks prior. Her older "cousin," Shea-Lynn, checks up on her at day care every day once Shea arrives afterschool, so they're old buds.


I hadn't been drinking. That's just my "dear-god-take-the-photo-before-the-baby-blinks-or-cries-again" look.


Awwww. I'll spare you all the instructions, hints, directions, rules, and admonitions MOH and I were blasting NavyGuy with while he tried to peacefully give Lily her bottle.

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Not to make the rest of you feel bad on a Monday...

... but Sister definitely spent her Super Bowl Sunday running a half-marathon.

And finishing.

In two hours, twelve minutes.

(I know, we'd all hate her if we didn't love her so much.)

Here she is minutes before the race, when disaster - her iPod (with her specially designed running mix) stopped working! AGH!!!!


(This is Sister's I will kill look... I was occasionally on the receiving end of it when we were younger and it still haunts my nightmares...)

Luckily, her hubby managed to fix it before race time, so she was off and running (pun INTENDED)...
Congrats!!!

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Escape to Wisconsin: SURPRISE!

If you've never surprised someone before, you've simply got to try it. It's exhilarating. Plan a surprise party, or just show up somewhere unannounced - trust me, it's a legal high you'll want to experience again and again.

Our timeline left us at 10:40, Friday morning, en route to Mom's classroom. I was armed with my Culver's fries, a stealth plan, and nerves of steel. If all had gone to plan, Mom would be in her classroom, obliviously surfing the internet and snacking grading papers and planning inspiring lessons, none the wiser that her eldest daughter was creeping through the halls (torturing middle schoolers with the scent of french fry grease), ready to give her mother a heart attack. My own heart was racing as I turned the corner towards her room; if she had chosen today to call in "sick" I was never going to forgive her.

I peeked around the doorjam and looked into her room as silent as a mouse. Perfect. Hard at work at her desk, completely engrossed in spelling sheets or some such nonsense.

"Anyone up for Culver's for lunch?" I held up my bag 'o fries and flashed my killer smile.

I had contemplated taking a photo of Mom's face the moment I walked in, but a) she hates pictures, b) she'd probably be confused enough to see her daughter randomly standing in her doorway that the flashbulb might put her over the edge, and c) did I mention she hates pictures? Anyway, there's no real way to describe her face. I swear it flashed from "who is that?" to "is that my daughter?" to "oh god, what happened to NavyGuy!!?!?" to "wait, she wouldn't come here to tell me he fell out of his airplane" to "OH MY GOD!"

There were screams, tears, hugs, and a few loving smacks at my arm resulting from her indignation that I would fly into town unannounced. I swear she was a little disappointed that I'd denied her the motherly joy of counting down the days until she'd see her progeny (and her singular joy at watching flight tracker and seeing my little plane jump across the country). But she got over it. And when she found out I was staying until Wednesday, she got all weepy again :)

Mom was not the only one to get a shock though. Once I'd surprised her and seen how much fun it is (it's great for your self-esteem when every person you see screams your name and exclaims how happy they are to see you), I decided the fun must continue! The remainder of Friday was spent surprising the rest of the family...

-Mom and I ran over to the bank where Auntie T works, under the pretense of needing to drop something off for her. I walked into her office like I owned the place and we had round two of shock and awe.

-Next up was Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa bolted out of his chair, and Grandma popped right up and recognized me! (She's battling Alzheimer's so I wasn't sure she'd be having a good enough day to know what was going on.) And they force fed me peanut M&Ms. Gotta love grandparents.

-Dinner was a surprise visit to Cousin MOH's Friday night waitressing job. MOH had no clue I was coming, but her husband was there with their daughter Lily (who I hadn't met until this point), as well as Auntie T, Uncle J, Grandma, Grandpa, and Mom. MOH had her back to me as I snuck in, so I tapped her on the shoulder and said, "um when you have a minute can I have a refill on my water please?" Poor girl almost dropped her tray. More hugs, more tears, and once baby Lily awoke from her nap and got her first look at me, I got a giant grin! Melt my heart... :)

(You would not believe how hard it is to get a good photo of a six month old. No kidding - this was the best photo of the whole weekend. Trust me, her smile's adorable.)

-The surprises kept on comin'. Auntie E and Uncle D were out to dinner at a nearby restaurant, so I popped in on them. Then Mom and I headed out to their kids who were home watching a movie - another successful surprise!

By this point on Friday night, I was ready to drop. All this surprising was exhilarating, but exhausting! I needed to rest up because I had one more big surprise to pull the next morning...

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Escape to Wisconsin: The Plan is Hatched

So... as soon as we confirmed that NavyGuy would be spending the last week of January training with his squadron in Las Vegas (more on this later), I knew there was no way I would be moping around the house by myself the whole time. I could have gone down to Vegas to visit him, but why go to beautiful Vegas in January when I could go to beautiful Wisconsin in January?!?!?

The plan began to take shape. How fun would it be for me to sneak into Fond du Lac (under cover of darkness via a red-eye flight), run through a Culver's drive-thru to snab some french fries, and then show up at my mom's classroom all, "yeah, I just got bored and really wanted some custard and some cold weather, so I came home for the weekend!" Answer - wicked fun. As soon as I told NavyGuy my plot, he agreed that it could work, and that it would be a pretty awesome surprise for everyone.

I had to do some reconnaissance though before the mission could take place. First up, I put Sister in charge of chatting up Mom and making sure that she didn't have any major plans for the weekend in question (she didn't - she'd planned to get her taxes done... which clearly is way less fun than having her favorite daughter visit). Next I needed a babysitter for Tally pup, since both NavyGuy and I would be gone, and much as Mom may have liked a visit from her grandpuppy, there was no way I going to try to travel alone with the Tally. Third, I contacted an ally at Mom's school (one of her teaching partners) to nail down the bell schedule, where Mom would be at what time, etc. etc. Lastly, I had to not tell anyone! SO HARD!!! (But so worth it.)

So by last Thursday, we were ready to rock'n'roll...

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Thanksgiving Highlights

Here's the most memorable parts of our 2009 Thanksgiving holiday celebration...

*watching Sister's dog Lucy bound up onto NavyGuy's Dad's lap and surprise the crap out of him

*managing to get all of the Thanksgiving food ready at the same time and on the table (mostly) warm at our projected dinner time (and people made fun of my meticulous schedule, time table, planning checklists... fools)

*reading a hilarious essay on "Decorative Gourds" and then snickering at every traditional Thanksgiving themed decoration spread throughout our house... (warning: linked essay is not suitable for children or people without a sense of humor)

*watching Tally and Sister's dog meet each other and proceed to romp and chase each other for two days straight. Tally thought Lucy's ears tasted very yummy and couldn't figure out why Lucy never wanted to sit still and let her gnaw on them. Lucy found Tally fun, but slightly annoying when she would get near anything Lucy wanted :)

*peeling carrots and spending time with Sister

*having our traditional National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation movie viewing after Thanksgiving dinner, complete with inappropriate laughter and everyone reciting the lines along with the characters

What else family and friends? What were your favorite Thanksgiving moments at our house?

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Updates from Around the Globe

*NavyGuy has a HUGE test tomorrow. Basically, he has to know every tiny minute detail about the Prowler airplane. I think he's ready for it (whereas, I still have trouble differentiating a Prowler from a helicopter), however, he's uber nervous - which is cute - except, when he gets nervous he likes to tell me things about airplanes and flying and science and NOVA episodes and computers ... which is less cute.

*My sister-in-law has been attacked by germs! She has come down with not only swine flu, but pneumonia as well! I know - you can't make this shiznit up. Makes me feel bad for wallowing and carrying on for five days when I had a sore throat. SIL is surviving (girl has some good Midwestern blood in her veins), but it still stinks big time. Let's all send her some happy thoughts (and anti-bacterial wipes) so she can kick these germies where the sun don't shine.

*Brother-in-Law got a job offer from a law firm in Chicago! I'm still low on details (Sister, I probably should have asked more than, "so you guys will definitely be living in the Midwest, right?" when we chatted), but apparently this is very good news that he's been offered a job already. They won't be moving for a few years (I still don't quite understand how you go searching for lawyer jobs when you have two years of law school left...), but regardless, BIL got a job offer!!! Whoo hooo!!! That means Sister is one step closer to her dream of quitting her job to raise dogs and teach night classes in organic cooking :)

That's all I have to report for the moment - any other news, happenings, debacles, or announcements our little corner of the blogosphere should know about?

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San Francisco Trip Best Of...

Before my summer trip to San Francisco becomes a complete and utter haze, I present the best of the trip. I've chosen the Top 10 memories from my visit with Mom and Sister in the land of sunshine...

Ten Best San Fran 2009 Memories

1. Sister's New Apartment - it looks like a super modern, stylish hotel. They're on the 14th floor, they finally have cabinet storage in their kitchen, a small office inlet that's perfect for Brother-in-Law to toil away in, and a red accent wall in the livingroom. What more could Sister possibly want? ;)

2. Touring "the Rock" - Mom, Sister, and I toured Alcatraz, which is awesome. I'll hold back on the history geek stuff, but did you know it was a famous fort before it became a prison!?!? I know - cool!! Anyway, the audio tour is fabulous; you get headphones and it leads you through the prison. There are great explanations of the history of the prison, and I would highly recommend the tour if you make it to the Bay Area.

3. Watching "the Rock" - Mom was terribly slightly disappointed to not find Sean Connery waiting for her as we entered Alcatraz, but she did get her photo taken next to the movie poster, AND the movie was on cable twice while we were there! Score.

4. Muir Woods - ahhh, nature. Despite my general aversion to all this natural, I couldn't help but love this place. So peaceful, and even quiet, despite the throngs of tourists. We wandered through the huge trees and tried to soak up as much American beauty as we could.


5. Golden Gate Bridge - umm... so apparently San Francisco is foggy...? ;) Who knew. We drove over the bridge, but our only real glimpse of it came when we were taking the ferry to and from Alcatraz. So, we'll need to keep this one on our list for a future trip to visit Sister; Mom and I would both still like to cross off "walk across the Golden Gate Bridge" on our life accomplishments list.

6. Beef Jerky on a Plane - somehow, both Mom and I had seat companions on our flights to San Fran who were a) overnourished and b) eating beef jerky. Smelly beef jerky. Rah.

7. Farmer's Markets - Sister has become a hippie when it comes to food. I was paraded through not one, but TWO, separate farmer's markets, and a Whole Foods store (where I made my own trail mix!). On the plus side, farmers like to give away samples, so I definitely ate my weight in fresh fruit and vegetables; clearly they know the way to my heart is through free bread and fudge. Also, I discovered pluots - a sort of yuppie hybrid plum and apricot - which are quite tasty!

8. Sourdough - manna from heaven. Especially when it's in the form of a bread bowl and it's soaked in clam chowder. Thank you Boudin, thank you.

9. "The bus driver flipped me off!" and other transportation debacles... - seriously, a random San Fran bus driver flipped me off as he whizzed by Sister, Mom, and I desperately waiting to be picked up (at a poorly marked bus stop). Then a crazy Korean lady sat next to me on the bus that finally picked us up, and I think she was mad at me for some reason. Then, Mom and Sister almost left me on the BART (rapid transit) when I started to doze on the final ride home!!! Yes, that's my family.

10. Pooping - yup. Mom definitely took Lucy the puppy for a walk around Oakland and saw a man pooping in the street. And the part of the story she kept repeating was "and he didn't even pull his pants up when he was finished!". Cuz, clearly, that aspect of the incident was the most upsetting part...

Hooray for travel with family :)

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Baby Update!

MOH had a happy, healthy, and beautiful baby girl this morning :)

Details and (hopefully) a picture later...

Best wishes to Mom and Dad and new Baby B!

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Baby Excitement!

My MOH (cousin/best friend) just texted from the hospital - she's going into labor and could have the baby by tomorrow!!!!!

Super exciting around here, and I'm sitting on my phone waiting for the good news :) I'm really bummed to not be in Wisconsin to see the baby right away; it's times like this that make me sad to be living so far from my family.

Here's MOH and her husband at my wedding... the flowers helped camouflage her belly a bit, but you can't ever totally hide an 8th month baby bump! Can't wait to meet you Baby B (or B-squared as my Sister dubbed it).

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Bridal Shower!

I swore on my stack of twelve new cookbooks that I wouldn't blog about the bridal shower until AFTER I finished all of the thank you notes! Talk about motivation to get those finished in record time :) Now I can share some photos and stories from this weekend's festivities.

A good friend of NavyGuy's mom offered to host a bridal shower for me. She has known NavyGuy since he was five; her daughter and NavyGuy went to school together for years, and the moms have been friends for a long time. Linda, with me in the photo above, was kind enough to host a shower for this silly girl she's never met! Linda could not be any nicer though; she pulled together a simply beautiful little afternoon lunch for myself and all of the guests.

Despite the horrid weather (stormy rainy all day long... it showered for my shower), many of NavyGuy's and my relatives and friends showed up decked out in their finest, ready to celebrate. First up was a yummy lunch; chicken salad, fruit, croissants, and spinach salad. The meal was topped off with chocolate or champagne flavored cupcakes!

Here's a group of NavyGuy's relatives dining. Aren't the tables adorable? Linda really went all out with beautiful floral centerpieces (that also served as doorprizes for the person at each table who had the wedding date closest to ours), and colorful dishtowels rolled with ribbons that pulled double duty as a napkin at lunch, and a favor for each guest to take home. Check out the cupcakes on the tables, adorned with fresh fruit! Delicious! Plus, there were little take-out boxes to wrap up the extras for the ride home...
After lunch, I expected to have to do my duty and play some of those uncomfortable/corny shower games, but Linda spared me and sent me right over to a comfy chair to start opening gifts! Hooray! My MOH had quite the job ahead of her writing down all of the items I received; the shower was a "time" themed shower, where each guest got a time of day to shop for. For instance, my mom had bath time, so she got us a collection of towels, bath supplies, and a great bath caddy that matches the fixtures in our bathroom. MOH did an awesome job making sure to write down every little piece of each person's gift basket.

People came up with the most creative gifts! One person had "cupcake time" so she gifted us with a cupcake pan, carrier, decorating kit, and the super neat Hello Cupcake book. Another had "cocktail time," so we received margarita glasses and pitcher, decorative margarita lights, a dance music cd, party napkins, and margarita mix and tequila! We also got, seriously, twelve different recipe books - and not a single duplicate! Amazing.

As Linda knew all the "times" people were given, she figured I'd need a good apron to go along with all the other items I was getting. And of course, she got a pink one (it even has a white monogrammed M near the top!). I had to model it immediately, doing my best June Cleaver impression (all that's missing is the pearl necklace). It was really unbelievable the amount of gifts people brought. Even in these tough economic times, our friends and family were so generous and thoughtful. It really makes me want to make sure we put on a spectacular wedding for them to really enjoy.

And of course, the ribbon bouquet. The best man's wife (pictured at far right) took care of assembling not one, but TWO, ribbon bouquets (one regular size, one toss bouquet) while I opened gifts. The girls above are each from a different part of my life (college friend, work friend, NavyGuy friend), but they all bonded quickly and shared their love/obsession with checking out the blog - hello girlies!

Spending the afternoon with everyone was a nice break from wedding planning, and a good bit of perspective. Much as the ceremony programs and cake flavors are important details on the wedding day, celebrating with friends and family is hopefully the thing I'm going to remember most clearly.

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New Traditions

This is one of the first years that NavyGuy and I won't be home for Easter. I can't speak for him, but I'm only about 72% sad by this turn of events. Obviously I love my family and all of our Easter festivities; dying eggs, eating a nice ham, trying to pry the jello eggs out of their molds, being the last person to find my Easter basket - that kind of happy fun. But the other 28% of me is kind of excited by the fact that NavyGuy and I are going to spend this Easter with each other, and in turn, make some new traditions. We'll always have both of our families, but with our wedding... er, marriage... about a month and a half away, it's cool to have this chance to start being each other's family.
So, we'll be spending this Easter in Portland with my college roomie Miss A and her hubby (click here if you want the backstory of how she's responsible for NavyGuy and I). I have no clue what we're going to do yet, but I expect there will be lots of pictures, lots of laughs, and LOTS of beer!

The card above uses a dollar stamp from Michaels, Martha Stewart spring patterned paper, and yellow eyelets from an assortment pack. I just colored in the bunny with some colored pencils, and attached it with some foam to make it pop off the card a bit.

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Book Review: Still Alice

Still Alice
by Lisa Genova
292 pages

I grabbed this book on a whim when I saw it on an endcap at Target. A quick glance at the inside cover told me it was something that was going to be painful to read, but that I must get through. The story is the diagnosis, consequences, and changed life of Alice, a 50 year old Harvard professor with a family and a career, who discovers after a series of memory lapses and disorientations, that she is suffering from early-onset Alzheimers disease.

My grandmother has been suffering from Alzheimer's for several years. She's no longer the grandmother I remember from my childhood and adolescence. The toll on her is of course tremendous, but the mental and emotional toll on her family is equally horrific. Most books written about Alzheimer's are told from that perspective - the viewpoint of the victim's family or caregiver. Stories of decline and watching a loved one forget who you are; the burden of caring for a person who can be extremely volatile and whose personality and essence can change by the hour.

What makes Still Alice special is that it's not told from the outside - it is told from the inside... from the viewpoint of the Alzheimer's patient. Genova tells the course of Alice's battle with the disease through her mindset, and it's equally fascinating and terrifying. I'm going to highlight a few passages; thinking about them through Alice's eyes allows me to see my grandma's life and actions in the last few years in a different light.
(A discussion between Alice and her daughter Lydia post-diagnosis)

"Mom, what does it feel like?"
"What does what feel like?"
"Having Alzheimer's. Can you feel that you have it right now?"
"Well I know I'm not confused or repeating myself right now, but just a few minutes ago, I couldn't find [the word] 'cream cheese,' and I was having a hard time participating in the conversation with you and your dad. I know it's only a matter of time before those types of things happen again, and the times between when it happens are getting shorter. And the things that are happening are getting bigger. So even when I feel completely normal, I know I'm not. It's not over, it's just a rest. I don't trust myself."...

Lydia didn't flinch and stayed interested, and Alice relaxed.
"So you know when it's happening?"
"Most of the time."
"Like what was happening when you couldn't think of the name for cream cheese?"
"I know what I'm looking for, my brain just can't get to it. It's like if you decided you wanted that glass of water, only your hand won't pick it up. You ask it nicely, you threaten it, but it just won't budge. You might finally get it to move, but then you grab the saltshaker instead, or you knock the glass and spill the water all over the table. Or by the time you get your hand to hold the glass and bring it to your lips, the itch in your throat has cleared, and you don't need a drink anymore. The moment of need has passed."
"That sounds like torture, Mom."
"It is."

It's incredibly frustrating when there's a word on the tip of your tongue, and you can't spit it out. From the book's descriptions, it seems like that's one of the most common problems initially for Alzheimer's patients; looking, staring at an object that you want, or trying to tell someone what you need, and the word just won't appear.

This was another scene in the book that hit home...

She sat up in bed and wondered what to do. It was dark, still middle of the night. She wasn't confused. She knew she should be sleeping... She'd been having a lot of trouble sleeping through the night lately, probably because she was napping a lot during the day. Or was she napping a lot during the day because she wasn't sleeping well at night? She was caught in a vicious cycle, a positive feedback loop, a dizzying ride that she didn't know how to step off. Maybe, if she fought the urge to nap during the day, she'd sleep through the night and break the pattern. But every day, she felt so exhausted by late afternoon that she always succumbed to a rest on the couch. And the rest always seduced her to sleep...

With all the pills I'm taking, you'd think at least one would have drowsiness as a side effect. Oh, wait. I have that sleeping pill prescription.

She got out of bed and walked downstairs. Although fairly confident it wasn't in there, she emptied her baby blue bag first. Wallet, BlackBerry, cell phone, keys. She opened her wallet. Credit card, bank card, license, Harvard ID, health insurance card, twenty dollars, a handful of change.
She rifled through the white mushroom bowl where they kept the mail. Light bill, gas bill, phone bill, mortgage statement, something from Harvard, receipts. She opened and emptied the contents of the drawers to the desk and the file cabinet in the study... She opened the junk drawer... This drawer probably hadn't been organized in years. She pulled the drawer completely off its tracks and dumped the entirety of its contents onto the kitchen table.

"Ali, what are you doing?" asked John.

Can you remember what she's looking for? When John asks Alice this question, she can't remember and therefore can't answer him. He yells at her to go back to bed, that they'll look for it in the morning. So Alice goes back to bed. She lies there not able to fall asleep again. And she thinks about how she's napping a lot in the afternoons... and how her pills ought to make her drowsy... and how she has a prescription for sleeping pills... The scene ends with Alice walking back downstairs to look for her prescription.

I have seen and heard about this countless times at my grandparent's house. Grandma gets it in her mind that she needs to find something - a receipt, a photo, a specific piece of jewelry that she wants to give one of the granddaughters. Her confusion over looking for it can last days, with some version of the above scene's cycle repeating over and over again. It's unbelievably frustrating for those around her; I don't know if it's worse for her or if it's slightly better because at least she doesn't remember that she's attempted to look for the same postcard for two days.

The book is heartbreaking. I finished it in two days. The effects on Alice’s relationship with her husband are also addressed, and as a girl set to take vows of “in sickness and in health” a short time from now, it gave me pause. How would I survive if NavyGuy had a degenerative disease? What if I had to watch him change from the man I love, my partner, my companion, and my best friend, to a man I no longer recognize? What if the tables were turned? How would we move forward? How will he survive if I’m not able to help him find his lost jacket or the extra box of razor blades in the bathroom? I’m forcing NavyGuy to read this book next, and I’d be willing to lend it out to anyone who requests it after he’s done. It’s that good, and that important.

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Newsworthy and Noteworthy

Howdy folks!  I'm off to shop with TWP for all the last minute craft supplies we need to make the wedding invites.  I spent yesterday in Madison doing wedding-ness, but I'm going to wait until I'm back in Washington and have time to give each wedding task appropriate coverage (plus then I'll have photos to share).

In the meantime, I thought I'd update those of you who know me in "the real world" and fill you in on how some of the other people in my life are doing!

~ HistoryGirlie's daughter Kitty is going to have tubes put in her ears this morning to finally deal with all of the infections she's been getting.  Poor little girl has been suffering since before Christmas, and an ENT (ear, nose, and throat doc) was finally able to see her and fix the problem.  Doc says that this is going to make a world of difference!  Hop on over to HistoryGirlie's site and send her some love today while her little one is recovering.

~ TWP is recovering from her latest debacle... while playing on the floor with my godbaby last week, godbaby fell on top of TWP and broke TWP's nose with her rock hard skull!  Okay, so technically TWP's nose was only "fractured," but I think that's a technicality that should be ignored - girl got her nose busted!  TWP is on the mend though, and now has enough stories to guilt trip her daughter at least into her mid-20s... ;)

~ My MOH, who I mentioned is preggers, is doing great!  She's about 22 weeks along, and has a super cute belly bump.  Girl managed to get through the first trimester without any morning sickness (I know, completely not fair), and is feeling really good.  We did some baby shopping this past weekend and had a great time ooohing and ahhhhing over the crib she and her hubby picked out.  They're planning to be surprised by the baby's gender, so they're going with a neutral colored animal theme nursery.  

~ Sister is busy as ever with work.  She works for Sports-4-Kids (gratuitous shout out!) overseeing many of the school coordinators, and it seems like there's never a "down time" in her job!  Lucy the puppy is as naughty as ever (so happy that hasn't changed).

If I've missed any important news, throw a line in the comments!

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Vacation Recap - Fun with Friends

Contrary to common belief, I did not spend every single second I was in Wisconsin traveling from one fast food restaurant to another, gorging myself on all things fried, greased, smothered, or chocolately. A few days, I found time to catch up with some of my best buds :)

My cousin had a holiday party where I got to reminisce with the high school gang. I'll never get over the fact that we can go months without talking, then get together one night and catch everyone up to speed like old times. Our friendships aren't exactly the same as when we were in high school; we've all changed, expanded our circles of friends, and moved forward in our lives. But we still have a connection to each other. My girlies are all kicking ass out in the world (one spent the fall campaigning for Obama, another is well on her way to becoming the Bill Gates of weather and environmental change), and I was psyched that several were able to get to the bridal shower as well.

Despite NavyGuy's protestations, we spent one night bowling with good friends TWP and her hubby. I wiped the floor with all of them the first game, then decided to let NavyGuy show off a bit and take the second game. Earlier in the evening, we had celebrated TWP's daughter's first birthday. As a doting fairy godmother, I was delighted to be able to go to the party and see my little munchkin demolish a piece of ice cream cake (this girl is a powerhouse - she will be on the 2025 season of American Gladiators... possibly named Viper or Chunky).

Last, but not least, dinner at Texas Roadhouse (yea, rolls with cinnamon butter!) with Historygirlie and her daughter Kitty (yea for them!). We had a mini bridal shower since Historygirlie was quarantined with her germ-infested family the day of the shower. Kitty entertained us all evening with her "surprise" face (picture a 14 month old going "oooohhhh") everytime something exciting arrived at the table. NavyGuy was a saint and sat through our gabfest without complaining or checking his phone once! (Or at least if he did check his phone, he did it sneakily under the table.)

Seeing all these dear friends was bittersweet - it's great to see them, but it's harder then when I get back to Washington, because I'm reminded of how happy they make me. But, such is life.

The next vacation recap will start addressing the numerous wedding appointments we had while home, but before we get too far away from January 1st, I think the next post will be a review of 2008.

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Vacation Recap - Holiday Celebrations

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

I'm back! Mostly unpacked, and curled up in my bed, ready to share all the fun and frivolity of the past two weeks. My plan of attack for the vacation recaps is to ignore chronology, and instead share thematically (which makes me think of the never-ending curriculum discussions we'd have over how to teach our students... Historygirlie, I sincerely hope this debate has come up in at least one Wednesday morning meeting this year). So, we begin with the reason for the season - family togetherness and liquor.

NavyGuy and I spent Christmas Eve day with his family. We had a great time making an "interactive" brunch of eggs Benedict (where I got scolded by NavyGuy for not putting the Canadian bacon on the English muffins correctly) and ben-yays (no clue how to spell, so sound it out - those little donuty things from New Orleans that you cover in powdered sugar and then gorge yourself on). Presents followed; the best moment was watching NavyGuy hug his Playstation3. We also got the game Catch Phrase, which I introduced to everyone and it quickly became a hit, with much screaming and trash talking during the game. Then more eating (and drinking). Their traditional Christmas dinner is beef, popovers, and lots of Christmas cookies, all of which I was happy to accomodate.

We drove to my mom's to spend Christmas Eve night (with Sister and her spouse), and woke up early the next morning to attack the tree. My mom made new stockings for Sister's family, including a fabulous little one for the dog. Way too many more presents (yea for mukluks!), and then off to our big family gathering at my aunt's house. My little cousins had a blast showing off all their gifts (the iPod touch never left the twelve year old's hands), and I had the privilege of playing salon with the seven year old, and doing her nails with her new glitter sparkle nail kit. NavyGuy amused himself during the gift opening by texting Sister's hubby, sitting across the room, I drank brandy slush for myself and my pregnant cousin (couldn't let her share go to waste), and we even managed to get an entire family picture taken! (Which gave me a preview into the pain that is going to be family portraits at the wedding come May.)

More yummy food, and we rolled ourselves home to settle on the couch and play with our new toys. Our Christmas celebrations didn't foster a lot of crazy stories or mishaps this year, just happy memories with our families - which is fine by me! Next up: fun with friends.

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Quick Blip

Hello gang! I'm still alive and still playing hostess with the mostess to my mom and NavyGuy's family (hence the lack of posting and general laptop cuddle time). You can expect the next posting sometime on Sunday, after I've had a few hours to recover. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a tantilizing itinerary of our events so far.

Thursday
1. food prep
2. turkey frying
3. 6 bottles o' wine
4. placecard beheading
5. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Friday
1. Black Friday cricut cartridge quest
2. brunch
3. driving tour of Whidbey Island
4. hiking over Deception Pass
5. failed summit of Mt. Erie
6. Wall-E!
7. leftovers
8. heated Trivial Pursuit battle (old farts vs. young farts)

Stay tuned!

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