Snow Yard January 17, 2009

Here’s our backyard last week in the snow.

As you can see when this photo was taken, it was snowing. We have over a foot of snow on the ground right now, and average snowfall in a normal Chicago winter is 38″., and we’re at a total of 39″ so far this year.

That’s our little detached garage off to the right, and Robert’s trusty shovel leaning against the garage. We don’t have a fence in the backyard yet that separates us from our backyard neighbors, but we hope to someday, maybe by the time the baby starts walking!

I like winter, but this winter of 2008-2009 in the Chicago-land area is getting me down. I think it’s just the lack of sunlight, because we have had millions of cloudy days and not very many sunny ones. And now the freezing arctic cold has set in, when it’s too cold to even venture outside unless you’re seriously in dire need of takeout Chinese food.

I know we’re almost rounding the bases into the home stretch of winter, but it seems endless. But on the other hand, I don’t want it to be spring because we have more and more baby preparations to do! This weekend, the goal is to paint the nursery. At least we don’t have to go outside to do that.

Oh, and by the way? More snow predicted for tomorrow.

A New Year’s Eve Baby January 1, 2009

Our good friends Anthony and Jodi just welcomed a New Year’s Eve baby – little Alexander!

We’re so excited for our friends and can’t wait to meet the new little guy and hear all about him. Congratulations Anthony and Jodi!

We’re only sad because we live in different states, and wish we lived closer so our babies could be friends, like Anthony and I were as kids living in Chatham, IL. Maybe someday!

New House Addition December 10, 2008

Robert and I are having a baby! Good thing we moved into a house with a yard. I’m 20 weeks along, and due May 2, 2009.

We are beyond thrilled – now that we’re well into the second trimester, we feel really good and have had very positive results from the blood work and ultrasounds, baby looks awesome. I’m starting to feel it move around, which is the weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced, and the coolest. I feel pretty good, although I usually have to go to bed by 8:30 PM.

We’re not going to find out if it’s a boy or a girl – we love surprises and suspense. We have 9 nieces and nephews between the two of us – 4 boys and 5 girls, and they are all amazing people, so we would be happy with either kind of kid.

We’re also not telling anyone our name selection because we aren’t interested in a lot of unwanted advice – although we are leaning towards the name Shecky, which works for either a boy or a girl.

It’s official. I’m growing a human. Hooray!

Sandwich Obsession November 19, 2008

We recently acquired a new appliance for our kitchen. Now, usually, I’m not much for extra appliances lining the countertops – I prefer uncluttered space in the kitchen.

But lately, I’ve been thinking about sandwiches. Thinking a lot about them. So my dear husband Robert went to the Target and purchased A PANINI MAKER.

Ladies and Gentlemen – the Panini Maker is the evolution of the perfect sandwich. I’m a fan of grilled cheese, but this takes the humble grilled cheese to a whole new level. And it’s so easy to use!

We’ve had paninis three nights in a row, going for the fourth. Turkey and swiss on rye, with tomato, yum.

Panini makers would make the perfect holiday gift. That’s my holiday tip for the day as the holidays are rapidly approaching.

Cel-O-Brate November 5, 2008

What an election. Crazy past 2 years. What a day yesterday. What an amazing speech last night. Congratulations America! Congratulations Barack Obama!

Flying home last night as we were landing at O’Hare, we flew north of Grant Park, where I could see the lights of the party downtown and millions of flashbulbs going off. I landed around 8:15 PM (early – can you believe it?), Robert picked me up, and we rushed home to get in front of the TV. Election returns were coming in fast and furious, and our level of hope was rising.

And then, the announcement! Obama Wins! Our hearts were full and our eyes were shining – what a proud and impressive moment in our history that we are all a part of. And then his acceptance speech – so awesome.

I’m elated and so is Robert. I woke up this morning thinking “we did it”. Never in our relationship have we watched a Democrat be elected to the White House, and we are so proud to give our support to a President like Barack Obama. Time to Cel-O-Brate! Yay Obama!

V.O.A.E. Part Two November 5, 2008

The next day, after our restless night at David’s house, we went to Boston, to see our favorite team play Baseball – the BOSTON RED SOX. We had a good time at the game, ate some Fenway Franks, and cheered on a winning game. Yay! That part wasn’t awkward at all.

After Boston, we made our way to Cape Cod, one of my favorite places on earth. Robert and I decided to continue the Vacation of Awkward Experiences by trying something we’ve never done before – stay in a Bed and Breakfast. We chose one on the internet that fit our vacation dates and location on the Cape. It was pretty awkward, especially because it was a clothing-optional inn.

No, not really. Sam and his wife Penny were new B&B owners – have only been in the business for 2 years, originally from New Jersey. They also have a lovely gift basket business if you’d like to buy a gift basket, they are for sale in the dining room.

Sam showed us around the property and to our historic bedroom, in the eaves of the second floor. The bathroom was across the hall from our bedroom, and that was way uncomfortable, but they provided robes to wear when we were out wandering the halls after our showers. Sam mentioned that we may want to make friends with the other guests like the folks from last weekend, who all went out to dinner together for every meal. Not a chance.

The most awkward part of the whole experience was that Sam wanted to control us. That’s why he got into this business. First of all, they don’t live in the “big house”, they live in a coach house in the back of the property. In order to keep tabs on the main house, there are baby monitors all around the common areas, so Sam can hear what’s going on, and come over and talk to you when you are outside of your room.

Every time we came back to the B&B, he popped up and wanted to talk to us. Common questions were: Where were you, where are you going, what are you doing next, how’s your room, when are you coming back, why do you keep sneaking around? We were accused of “sneaking around” every day we were there. We don’t even know what that means!

Talk about sneaking around – Sam even pops out of the bushes late at night. One night when we came back from walking on the beach, around 11 PM – he appeared next to our car to talk to us in the dark. Very awkward.

One Saturday morning, we decided to get up early and rent bikes, so we let Sam know we wouldn’t be joining them for breakfast part of the Bed & Breakfast.

We thought the most awkward way to ride bikes would be to do it together, so we rented a tandem bike and made our way down the Cape Cod Rail Trail – a bike trail made from an old railroad that’s been paved over. Very fun and very awkward, I laughed the entire time. We rode about 8 miles and then returned to the B&B for showers.

Sam and Penny were still in the kitchen, cleaning up breakfast. He motioned for us to come in – they had saved breakfast for us! When we said we’d already had breakfast (along the bike trail) he said “You’re cheating on Penny!”. Oh brother. Good thing we skipped that one too – it was a breakfast Robert would have hated with lots of sauces and souffles.

We like our vacations to teach us important life lessons. The lessons we learned on this one was – don’t stay at a bed and breakfast with stalkers, and always rent a tandem bike when you can.

GO VOTE! November 4, 2008

Today is the big day for change!

If you need help with voting, check out Obama’s voting site at Vote For Change.

Now, stop reading the internet and go VOTE!

I will be on a plane today coming home to Illinois from California, and so I won’t know what’s going on in the election until about 9:00 PM tonight. The anticipation will be too much! I hope the pilots give us updates.

Good Luck, and get ready for change. GO OBAMA!

Vacation of Awkward Experiences Part One November 2, 2008

This summer, we took a great vacation. For those of you regular readers of this little blog, you’ll remember our vacation of last summer: A Vacation the Hard Ways, where we rolled dice while on a road trip to see where we ended up.

This year, we determined that the east coast was where we wanted to be, but since we can’t have just a normal, nice vacation, we needed a theme. This year’s theme was the Vacation of Awkward Experiences. (My brilliant husband came up with that). Again, it was in the car, (the new mini!) and it was road-trip based.

The goal of this vacation would be to challenge ourselves by doing things we’ve never done before – things that may make us feel awkward or uncomfortable. Pulling ourselves out of our comfort zone. Turning over new leaves. Experiencing things we normally would be too timid to do.

We took 2 weeks at the beginning of July and started driving.

The first Awkward Experience we encountered was staying at a friend’s house, a friend we don’t really know very well. I have a really good work friend, David, who I respect and admire. He lives in a gorgeous part of New Hampshire, and invited us to stop by and spend the night at his 1766-built farmhouse.

We had made it to Vermont, and made our way through the narrow state to New Hampshire. We called our friend David at around 9:00 AM, with the plan that we would meet them for dinner around their house and stay at a hotel nearby. We had even researched the hotels. But David insisted that we stay overnight at his house – and since this would be the perfect official start to awkwardness, we said yes.

The country that David lives in is very different than Chicago – lots of giant rolling hills, forests, and even moose-crossing signs. We were very excited about the moose crossing signs – but we’ve since learned that they aren’t out just walking around, crossing streets, disrupting traffic. They are a little more elusive than that – we never saw a moose, sadly. Or a bear. Every person we asked, “Have you seen a lot of moose?” and the response was always “oh, when I was a kid once, I saw one” or “At the zoo”. Very disappointing.

We got to David and Mary’s gorgeous house around 5 PM. It’s pretty crazy to be in a house that old – it felt like staying in a historic site. David made dinner, picked fresh from the organic co-op farm they belong to (it was delicious!), and his daughter introduced us to the goat and two sheep.

The night passed restlessly, as we felt too awkward to sleep. It was nothing that David had done or said – we felt very welcomed. But it was the first time we had stayed overnight at someone’s house who wasn’t related to us. Usually we’re in hotels! So Awkward.

The story continues as the journey does – and as this is the second official day of NabloPoMo – (National Blog Posting Month) you’ll have to wait to see what happens next.

Escalation Photo November 1, 2008

For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath for a photo of our cool, awesome Obama sign, here it is, courtesy of Robert, my dear husband:

Remember to VOTE, people! If you don’t vote, you don’t get to have an opinion for the next four years.

Autumn Squirrel Report October 30, 2008

Last week we were enjoying the fall weather in our back sunroom, with the windows open, when we heard the most sad sound.

It sounded like a hurt animal of some kind, just crying. A mournful, lonely, sad sound.

We looked out the window, and there, laying on the fence, was a poor little gray squirrel, just crying his little squirrel eyes out. Arms and legs splayed, head down, he looked injured. He just lay like a lump of squirrel on the fence for about 20 minutes and cried. “Is it hurt?” we wondered. Or was it attacked by the neighbors dog and chewed up and spit out? Or just depressed? The way it was crying, we didn’t know, but knew it was in some sort of trouble.

In squirrel emergencies, sadly, we are unprepared. We don’t have tiny squirrel medical instruments, or a squirrel hospital nearby. So we watched, and waited to see what would happen. After about 20 minutes of crying on the fence, the squirrel hopped down and began foraging in the yard, like nothing was wrong.

Robert decided the best cure for a crying squirrel would be some delicious nuts. He found our stash of whole nuts, and took a handful to throw out the backyard door at the poor squirrel. One of the nuts landed squarely on the squirrel’s head, Robert has really good aim. For a moment, we thought the nut killed him. But no, the squirrel shook himself, looked around, grabbed the nut and ran away.

We still don’t know why the squirrel was so upset. But the nuts from heaven hopefully solved whatever squirrel problem it was coping with.

Early Voter October 21, 2008

Our ballots have been cast!

Robert and I went and voted early today at the nearby local mall. I like the early voting. You never know what could happen to you on election day – snowstorm, voter intimidation, long lines, underwear mishap. Knowing that our votes are cast is very reassuring.

The process was very easy. If you’d like to vote early in Illinois, you can check out the website here: Early Voting. We went to the mall, had to sign a document stating we wouldn’t vote again on election day, and then visited the electronic voting machines. I voted for Obama – and was happy to see his name was spelled correctly and he was listed first on the ballot. I’m happy that we got an “I Voted Today” sticker.

Read up on the issues in newspapers and on websites, it’s everyone’s responsibility. And then Vote Early! Or Vote on Election Day! Just VOTE!

Ducks A Plenty October 10, 2008

We like ducks, nay we LOVE ducks.

Here’s a duck we saw this summer at the County Fair, who looks like he’s wearing a Donald Trump Wig:

And here’s a sign that totally explains why I love the suburb that we’ve chosen to live in:

A town that loves ducks as much as we do is a perfect fit!

Escalation Part Deux October 9, 2008

Every time I get in a heated political debate with the young republicans in my work environment, it makes me go on Obama’s website and donate more money or purchase more Obama items to wear.

Go Obama!

Escalation October 2, 2008

As I’ve said before on this little blog, my husband and I are Democrats. That’s Democrats with a capital D, very liberal, very accepting of everyone. Except republicans. That was a joke. Some of my best relatives are republicans.

Our next-door neighbors started out with a small republican presidential sign in their front yard. It was a little close to our property line, but oh well, we thought, now we know who they are and where they stand.

Robert and I decided to fight back. He printed out a GIANT Obama O – it’s about 4′ in diameter. We’ve put it in our big window in our living room, so anyone who looks at our house will see this giant beautiful symbolic O. I love it. I’m o-for-it.

The next week, the neighbors added about 8 more signs to their front yard. Cluttered, littered with republican names.

Now, it’s on. I’m thinking we need a light-up neon Obama sign next. Or maybe giant rope-light O’s all over our lawn. Perhaps a giant Obama sign on our roof that can be read by airplanes. For every one republican sign they put up, I’m putting up 3 Obama signs. Escalation, here we come.

Have you registered to vote? The deadline is fast approaching! Make sure you are registered!

Water Plague Continues September 14, 2008

It’s raining here in Chicago. And when I say raining, I mean that the Hurricane Ike has made it all the way up here and is pouring its anger and tropical storm rage down on Chicago.

The rain is now coming in our house, it’s raining so much.

Our upstairs guest bedroom (which has a flat, but slightly sloped roof) is leaking. At first, it was just a small leak, a singular drip out of the ceiling fan. Next, it became a steady drip. Then, a stream. Next, a raging current of rain.

The rain has decided that it’s not satisfied with only coming in through the hole of the ceiling fan. Water has begun dripping from about 12 places in the ceiling. I think we’re going to lose the drywall ceiling.

And yes, we’ve had the roofing guy out, apparently it’s a flashing problem that will be fixed this week, of course, after Ike is long gone and the sun is out.

Stupid rain.

Basement, you may ask? Basement is bone dry.

I Love A Parade September 12, 2008

We love parades. The biggest parade we’ve been to is the Rose Bowl Parade or Tournament of Roses Parade – which, by the way, looks very different than what you see on TV. The smallest parade we attend is the one in my parent’s hometown in central Illinois. It’s a town of about a thousand people and doesn’t even have a stoplight, let alone a McDonald’s, but it does have a town square and a fabulous town picnic plus parade every year.

One of my lifetime goals is to be in a parade as a participant. And this year, that dream came true!

My parents are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary this year, (and they are vehemently opposed to a party) so we decided to celebrate with a float in the parade. We decorated the mini-cooper clubman with 50’s and anniversary sentiments, stocked our car full of candy and balloons and set off. My niece and nephew decided to ride with me to toss candy to the waiting throngs of people out of the sunroof:

The parade is only about 7 blocks long but those 7 blocks are full of fun, people cheering, and hopped-up-on-sugar kids and adults alike. Everyone in the town turns out at the parade, with the main goal being to get candy. We had a ton of candy and we RAN OUT in 7 blocks – that’s how many people there were!

The prize for the best parade float was $75, and sadly, we didn’t win. But my parents were surprised at the 50th decorations, and we had a parade-load of fun participating.

Next year, I’m going to win that $75.

Balloon-tastic September 3, 2008

While we were driving home from my hometown one evening, we saw a pretty cool sight for the middle of the Illinois prairie.

Two hot-air balloons, floating aimlessly high above us in the evening blue sky.

I wonder what they were thinking as they rode along?

It’s the unexpected sights like this, that make the days a little more magic-filled for me.

State Fair Roundup September 2, 2008

We love state fairs. August is officially State Fair time at our house. We’ve only been to two different state fairs – the Georgia State Fair and the Illinois State Fair, but Illinois wins, by a mile. Each year, we try to make it to Springfield, Illinois, near my hometown, for the State Fair. This year, we took a day off work and went on a Monday with my mom and dad. It’s really the best and cheapest entertainment for three bucks.

We have traditions that we observe each year, and most of them involve us obsessing over the State Fair food. We start the day with Tom Thumb donuts and Culler’s French Fries – look how delicious!

Mmmmmm…..french fries.

The other state fair food deliciousness is the beauty of the corn dog. There’s plenty of corn dog vendors to choose from – Cozy Dogs, Miller’s Corn Dogs, Corn Dog Alley, Corn Dog Heaven, Corn Dog on a Stick, Corn Dog Pretzel – but my favorite is the Pronto Pup:

Pronto Pups go best with a slathering of catsup and a ice cold lemon shake-up. Don’t let them sell you a plain old lemonade, you need the sugar blast of the lemon shake-up. There is a difference.

We also spent some time at the race track, betting on the horses. Now, I’m betting person and I love to gamble, so I was excited to bet on the ponies for the first time. I even won when my horse came in first place. What I wasn’t so excited about was that I didn’t actually win very much – on a $6 bet, I only won $14. I thought I was really going to hit it big and be able to retire comfortably.

The highlight of the State Fair is the Butter Cow. It doesn’t really appeal to my green and recyclable nature, but it appeals to the small-town person in me in a big way. It’s a life-sized cow, LIFE-SIZED, sculpted out of butter, located (where else?) in the Dairy Barn. This year’s Butter Cow was the cream of the crop, the best use of butter, a work of butter art, a butter masterpiece:

Notice the fine details of the butter calf and skunks and the grand and regal refrigerated case. It’s more than just a cow. It’s a state fair tradition.

Scrabble Conversation August 12, 2008

“If I wanted help, I’d make you a junior partner in my game!”

-My Dad, while playing Scrabble when one of us offered to help him find a word to put down with his tiles.

My Dad is funny.

Mini Took The States July 28, 2008

Saturday we attended the MTTS – Mini Takes The States Rally.

We’re new Mini Cooper Clubman owners, so we didn’t really know what to expect. We got up super early on Saturday, and drove down to Lincoln Park Zoo to start out the rally. Thanks to our new mini friend Dan, we got there in plenty of time, and were 5th in line for the rally!

Mini Cooper Rally!

It was a gorgeous day for motoring. After an unsatisfying continental breakfast at the Zoo, we gathered with over 400 other mini coopers and their owners for the drive up to Road America Wisconsin. It was quite a sight – hundreds of various-colored and shaped minis, all on the road together, traveling north. The only impediment to our driving fast, real rally style – was the stupid traffic on the Edens.

But we made it!

The festival was well-organized and pretty fun. The area was beautiful and the Mini-ambassadors made us feel welcome. We made Mini bumper stickers:

We also walked around, met some lovely people from Rhinelander, WI, made friends with Paul from Minnesota, talked to Steve from New Jersey, learned about teardrops from a fellow from Oklahoma, drank free vitamin-water, got swag, people watched, bought Mini t-shirts, met Todd from White Roof Radio, test drove the new Mini Cooper John Cooper Works car on a tiny track, got lots of sun, ate ice cream, and generally had a swell time.

The most surprising thing about the day was there were no two minis alike. We thought for sure that we’d find our Mini Cooper Clubman Twin, but we didn’t! There wasn’t any car that looked like ours. I love that. It makes us feel unique in this world of sameness.

The highlight of the day for us was driving on the 4.2 mile racetrack at the end of the day. It made me laugh – the sight of all these tiny minis, motoring around the track, and we were one of them! I giggled the whole time.

Sometimes, objects in mirror are smaller than they appear.

We did the wave, mini-style.

We finished driving on the racetrack and made our way back to Chicago.

A perfect day for Mini Friends, for Mini Togetherness, for Mini Fun and for a Mini Rally. The Mini owners we met were all very nice, and the event made me glad that we bought a Mini. I wish it happened more than once every two years – I’m ready for the next one!

Books A Million July 22, 2008

I have a book addiction. It all started when I was a child, reading was a comfort and my favorite activity, and then in high school, I worked at Waldenbooks in the White Oaks Mall, which was my dream job. That job enabled me to support my addiction – to buy books, and I haven’t stopped since!

This picture was taken a few weeks ago when I reorganized my bookshelves in our “library / guest room” upstairs. Yes, it’s a lot of books, I know. The books just multiply up there, left on their own.

But, I donate the books that are ready to leave the collection. You can always tell the books that want to leave – they grumble around, look shifty-eyed, and fall off the shelves. There’s a new great literacy charity in Chicago that we support:
Open Books. They will take most any books for donation, and then they sell them to support literacy programs. They are always looking for donations and volunteers, check it out!

My new, favorite summertime pastime is going to used book sales, and rescuing poor, lonely books to add to my ever-growing addiction – I mean collection. This upcoming weekend is my favorite used book sale in Chicago – the Newberry Library Book Fair. If you live in Chicago and have a chance to go, it’s an amazing, weekend-long event where the books are all cheap, and there’s over a 100,000 to choose from! Even the squirrels are into it.

It’s a book-addicts dream – I can’t wait.

Mail Pattern Wetness July 9, 2008

We aren’t prone to paranoia, usually. We review all sides of the issue, and often come up with rational reasons of why things are happening, instead of using our vivid imaginations.

Except when it comes to the mail. I think our mailperson hates us.

It all started out when we moved into our new house. The first time our new mailbox was left open, in the rain, we figured it was just an accident – oops, the mail person left the mailbox open – too bad.

The second time it happened, again, left open during the rain, we began to get suspicious.

Now, like clockwork, if the clouds are emitting precipitation, if raindrops are falling, if there’s a dense fog surrounding the house that has moisture in it, if there’s a heavy snow falling, then the mailbox top will be left open and the mail will be soaking wet by the time we get home.

We figured – well, maybe there’s something wrong with the mailbox. But it’s NEVER left open on a day with no rain. Never.

Last week, we came home to this:

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow will prevent the mail from being delivered, but I guess the phrase doesn’t suggest what condition your mail will be in. We need to make friends with the mailperson. Maybe I can bribe with cookies.

City vs. Suburbs July 1, 2008

When I lived in the city of Chicago, I was judgmental about the suburbanites who would venture into the city on the weekends, especially during the holidays or summer. I cursed their presence during traffic jams, I was annoyed when out-of-city drivers were in the loop, I was incredulous when anyone decided to move outside of the city limits.

Now, the tables have turned.

We’re in the suburbs. We no longer have the cache of saying “We live in the city”. We’ve moved 15 miles outside of the city limits.

Recently, I saw an acquaintance of mine who lives in Chicago, whom I haven’t seen since we moved. It was like Robert and I had suffered a death of a close friend or family member.

Her: “Wow, I can’t believe you live in the suburbs, how is it?” (said with a very sympathetic tone, and a fake-frownie face)

Me: “We really love it – we have a yard with real grass, trees, animals…”

Her: “But gosh, it’s just like you are in a whole ‘nother world – so removed from this world of being in the CITY. I mean, you’re so far away from THIS world.

Me: “Well, it’s the same world, just different. We love it.”

Her tone, her sympathy, her entire demeanor indicated that we were to be pitied, poor couple who couldn’t hack it in the city and had to escape. Exactly how I treated people from the suburbs when I lived in the city for 15 years.

So it was a good lesson to learn, but I wanted to point out that she’s actually BORN AND RAISED in the suburbs.

Birthday Report June 27, 2008

I had a fabulous birthday this year. Hooray Birthday! Cupcakes at work, a lunch out, dinner out, cards, presents in the mail, and presents with cake! Very fun and exciting, almost made me forget how old I am!

My favorite present was this bag that Robert gave me:
:

Cute, right? Perfect summer bag. Well, when I turned it over, it made me burst out into gales of laughter:

It’s a Mr. Breakfast bag! I love it – thanks for making my birthday special!

A Recent Conversation June 26, 2008

Me: “I’d really like it if you’d join facebook, so I can add you as a friend.”

Robt: “Facebook is kind of like watching the movie “Titanic”. I was hoping to hold out as long as possible before joining in.”

Dry Dry Basement June 23, 2008

At last, the basement is officially dry.

Robert supervised the installation of the drain tile on a fine Monday morning. The truck arrived with 7 folks to do the work, which they accomplished in just one day. When giant chunks of foundation concrete are removed from your home, that makes you feel like a real homeowner.

After much ruckus, the drain tile was installed and the sump pump operational. It’s strange to think that we’ve installed a system where the water is welcomed into the house, invited in to stay for a while, then sucked into pipes, and then thrown right out of the house. The new sump pump is like our house’s bouncer.

The post-sump-pump-and-drain-tile-installation-clean-up was significant, with much scrubbing of mud, removal of concrete dust, and mopping of floors. Don’t let anyone tell you that it’s not messy. It is. Messy and muddy, especially when it rains on the day of installation.

Happily, this weekend was the restore of the basement laundry room to a much prettier state:

Look how ice blue the new painted floor is! Such an improvement. My Mom and Dad (thanks Mom & Dad!) came up and helped us put the basement back together. We painted, installed wall paneling, and painted some more, with very exciting results. The laundry room is nice now! Now, we just need a huge rainfall to really test the system to verify that it won’t leak. I’ll go check the weather.

Wii Will Rock You June 16, 2008

Robert and I have joined the Wii generation and purchased our very own Wii machine.

We started out this relationship with a Playstation 1, upgraded to Playstation 2 and now have upgraded to the Wii. That’s how long we’ve been together – three video game systems. Now, kids, sit back and your Aunt Pam will tell you a story about her first video game system – the Atari. Back then, we didn’t even have color tv’s to play on! And we walked uphill through the snow without shoes to school!

But, in our new house, we have set up the Wii in the living room until our basement is finished, and the playing is addictive. Summer TV sucks, and we spend our evenings competing in various fun games. You have to be careful though, because it’s easy to hit yourself right in the mouth with the controller. Robert is really good at the baseball game (that red sox addiction comes in handy!).

My favorite game is MarioKart, and I will brag now, and say that I dominate. Not only do I dominate in our house, but on the internets too – I hooked our wii up last night and played MarioKart with friends far away.

I love technology. Wheeeeeeeee!

Recent Lunchtime Conversation May 27, 2008

Robert: “When is it appropriate to ask someone if they were a victim of a horrible shark attack?”

Me: “Never.”

Mini Arrival! May 20, 2008

At last, the new Mini Cooper Clubman S has arrived! Welcome to the family, little Mini! We have it now.

We’ve been tracking the car online, watching the ship it was on (“Integrity”) sail across the ocean on the way to it’s new home. The weeks flew by as the car was built, taken to the dock, and loaded onto the ship, but as the ship approached North America, time seemed to slow and virtually stop before we finally got the call from our Motoring Advisor that it was ready to be picked up.

We said goodbye to our old friend, the Blue Beetle Bug. The beetle was the first new car I’ve ever purchased, and it has been a reliable and trustworthy pal for the past 9 years. We gave it a good cleaning and took it into the dealer for the trade in.

Goodbye, old friend – we hope you find a new home with someone who loves you as much as we did!

The trade in process went smoothly, although we did have to threaten to take the beetle bug home with us a couple of times – but we ended up getting what we wanted for it.

Then, happily, we got to drive the new Mini Cooper Clubman S home!

It’s really awesome:

And we love the interior – Piano Black, Chrome, and Red combination:

Each day’s question is “Where can we drive to?” just so we get the chance to drive it. I can’t wait for our first official road trip. Maybe Memorial day? I predict lots of driving this summer.

I love it because it’s fast. And because it’s really exciting to drive, and it’s comfortable, shiny, swift, and cute. I’ve gotta run – must go drive now.

Birthday Report May 11, 2008

We finally celebrated Robert’s birthday a couple weeks ago. Every two years, I usually miss his birthday because of the way my work projects happen in April, but this year, I got home on the night of his birthday.

We celebrated a week later with:

Birthday Apple Pie!

and

Birthday Presents!

Happy late Birthday Robert! I love you!