The day finally arrived yesterday when I had to come to terms with the fact that I am now *30*. Ugh. I had been sweating it all year, never enjoying my last days as a twenty-something-er. It was not shaping up to be an extraordinary day, either. Work has been so hectic the last couple of weeks, and I was scheduled to be on teleconferences all...day...long. The only thing getting me thru the day was the knowledge that Chris would be taking me out to dinner and I would be getting presents. Then everything started falling into place and the day couldn't have gone better:
1. My telecons got cancelled at the last minute! Woohoo! I was free to 'coast' thru my special day at work.
2. Meredith and Sarah (coworkers) made me a de-lish upside-down apple cake/pie thing that was phenomenally tasty. They also got me all the gear to make my favorite drink, Tequila Sunrises, from scratch. They gave me an electric juicer, oranges, tequila and grenadine. They rock the house, most def. :)
3. Yay! Quittin' time!
4. Got home to open my first present from Chris before dinner: an Aeron Chair!! I've wanted one for SO long and while it's more of a practical gift, Chris really outdid himself on the non-practical stuff to even the score.
5. Dinner. This is where the day became THE BEST BIRTHDAY. EVER. We went to our ordinary, favorite local place for dinner. But what wasn't ordinary about *this* day was my surprise, shock and sheer excitement to find MY PARENTS sitting at the table when I walked in!!! My Dad masterminded the entire thing and they all flew in from Illinois ON A WEDNESDAY to wish me a happy birthday! It was so great to see my mom, my step-mom and my dad that I instantly turned on the waterworks out of pure amazement that everyone kept such a great secret from me. But man am I glad they did, because it was the best gift I got that night. It meant so much to me that they came out.
6. More presents! The best things come in small packages for sure. My dad and step-mom got me a gift certificate to the local nursery. For a budding (no pun intended!) gardener such as myself this is awesome because plants can get expensive! My mom got me a gift certificate to Red Door Spa which I'm really looking forward to. I sure do love a good pampering and don't do it enough for myself. And then, the piece de resistance. Chris pulled out a little blue bag from Tiffany's. Oh...Mah...Gah! First one in my life I've ever gotten. I am SO keeping it. :) Inside was a beautiful necklace that has two diamonds and an aquamarine spaced out over a platinum chain. It's GORGEOUS and since Chris picked it out all on his own, I couldn't be happier with it.
See? How could anyone say my birthday wasn't awesome?? And it's still going on, too. Meredith and Sarah are taking me out for drinks tonight and my friend, Steph, is taking me out to dinner on Friday! But wait, there's more. On Saturday, Chris and I leave for vacation for a whole week of sun and fireworks at Spirit Lake, IA. It may not be a tropical paradise, but it's still loads of fun.
I think 30 is going to be OK after all...
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Happy Father's Day, Dad
My dad is my biggest blog fan. He'll call me to tell me I haven't updated in a while and what gives? So to honor him this year, I thought I would regail my audience, and him especially, with my favorite memories of growing up with him (in no particular order):
1) Our bike rides. Every so often we would hop on our bikes and just tour the neighborhood. I really enjoyed these rides because it gave us time to just talk about everything and nothing. We never had a planned route or decided end game on these rides. It was for pure enjoyment alone. Good times, good times.
2) Dad/Daughter dances. My high school held these dances every year and we went to two of them - my junior and senior years. Dad would 'suit up' and I would dress to the nines. It wasn't often I got to dress up AND go out for a night on the town with my dad so these were always extra special events.
3) My eighth grade graduation. There we were, sitting in a hot gymnasium in Canton Middle School, my dad with a borrowed video camera that used those oh-so-small and technologically advanced VHS tapes that required a full-sized adapter for playback. The ceremony seemed endless and I just wanted to start my summer vacation already. Finally, it was all wrapped up and we went home only to watch it all over again. We throw the tape into the VCR and what do we see? After the processional and a couple of speeches we see about 5-7 minutes of my dad's lap because he forgot to put it on pause. Classic.
4) Bowling night. To this day my dad is on a bowling league. It's our heritage (and really the only thing to do for fun in the midwest). When I was a mere 3 or 4, Dad would take me to the alley with him on league night. Debbie, my preschool teacher, moonlighted there and was the jolliest woman I knew. These were great times, because while my dad was bowling and being an adult, he would fork over money whenever I asked for it so I could go have fun. Mind you, a dollar went a long way in those days so I was a cheap date. To this day, I get all nostalgic when I walk into a bowling alley because this is THE memory that makes me think of my dad. The sounds of bowling balls being rolled down lanes, hitting pins with that distinctive crash and yes, even the standard alley smell of stale cigarette smoke and rental shoe spray all take me back to my happy place.
So there you have it, Dad. I hope you've enjoyed walking down memory lane with me. I love you.
1) Our bike rides. Every so often we would hop on our bikes and just tour the neighborhood. I really enjoyed these rides because it gave us time to just talk about everything and nothing. We never had a planned route or decided end game on these rides. It was for pure enjoyment alone. Good times, good times.
2) Dad/Daughter dances. My high school held these dances every year and we went to two of them - my junior and senior years. Dad would 'suit up' and I would dress to the nines. It wasn't often I got to dress up AND go out for a night on the town with my dad so these were always extra special events.
3) My eighth grade graduation. There we were, sitting in a hot gymnasium in Canton Middle School, my dad with a borrowed video camera that used those oh-so-small and technologically advanced VHS tapes that required a full-sized adapter for playback. The ceremony seemed endless and I just wanted to start my summer vacation already. Finally, it was all wrapped up and we went home only to watch it all over again. We throw the tape into the VCR and what do we see? After the processional and a couple of speeches we see about 5-7 minutes of my dad's lap because he forgot to put it on pause. Classic.
4) Bowling night. To this day my dad is on a bowling league. It's our heritage (and really the only thing to do for fun in the midwest). When I was a mere 3 or 4, Dad would take me to the alley with him on league night. Debbie, my preschool teacher, moonlighted there and was the jolliest woman I knew. These were great times, because while my dad was bowling and being an adult, he would fork over money whenever I asked for it so I could go have fun. Mind you, a dollar went a long way in those days so I was a cheap date. To this day, I get all nostalgic when I walk into a bowling alley because this is THE memory that makes me think of my dad. The sounds of bowling balls being rolled down lanes, hitting pins with that distinctive crash and yes, even the standard alley smell of stale cigarette smoke and rental shoe spray all take me back to my happy place.
So there you have it, Dad. I hope you've enjoyed walking down memory lane with me. I love you.
Progress!
That's right, folks, we're actually getting off of our butts and closing in on the finish lines on our two biggest on-going projects! The garden isn't quite complete yet, but we got off to a great start yesterday...PLANTS! I know, I know, it's not the ideal time to plant and we'll have to water like it's going out of style, but we're just happy we aren't looking at dirt all the time. We'll probably plant the far side in the next couple of weeks or wait until the fall. I haven't decided yet.
Here is the side garden in between the driveway and staircase. In the back row, we have two Hosta 'Salute' on each end with three Speedwell in the middle. The Speedwell don't look like much now, but if we did it correct, they will grow to 2-3 feet tall with purple spires jutting out the top. The border in the front is all Coral Bells 'Creme Brulee'.
This next photo is in the front as you walk up to the house. In the back row, we have two Foxgloves flanking the sides with two Pandora's Box Daylilies in the middle. Before we went to New York I never knew Foxgloves existed, but they were in the Conservatory Garden in Central Park and I just had to have them. Again, they don't look like much at the moment, but they will be about 2-3 feet tall when mature. In front is a row of Coral Bells 'Dolce Licorice'.
We really hope this works, because we're not gardeners by any stretch of the word so it would be great if my research and planning paid off.
Now on to the storage room. We have drywall and we're actually at the mudding/sanding phase, but I didn't take the most up-to-date photos. This first one is looking at the storage room from the rec room (i.e. outside looking in).
This one is from the inside looking out:
And this is Chris' pride and joy. A Ridgid air filtration system he bought to hopfully help us with dust control from sanding. The above pic doesn't show it, but we've put up a plastic wall just outside of the wall to contain the dust even more. And then, of course, there are plastic bags all over our furniture, TV, etc. for added control.
Yay us!
Here is the side garden in between the driveway and staircase. In the back row, we have two Hosta 'Salute' on each end with three Speedwell in the middle. The Speedwell don't look like much now, but if we did it correct, they will grow to 2-3 feet tall with purple spires jutting out the top. The border in the front is all Coral Bells 'Creme Brulee'.
This next photo is in the front as you walk up to the house. In the back row, we have two Foxgloves flanking the sides with two Pandora's Box Daylilies in the middle. Before we went to New York I never knew Foxgloves existed, but they were in the Conservatory Garden in Central Park and I just had to have them. Again, they don't look like much at the moment, but they will be about 2-3 feet tall when mature. In front is a row of Coral Bells 'Dolce Licorice'.
We really hope this works, because we're not gardeners by any stretch of the word so it would be great if my research and planning paid off.Now on to the storage room. We have drywall and we're actually at the mudding/sanding phase, but I didn't take the most up-to-date photos. This first one is looking at the storage room from the rec room (i.e. outside looking in).
This one is from the inside looking out:
And this is Chris' pride and joy. A Ridgid air filtration system he bought to hopfully help us with dust control from sanding. The above pic doesn't show it, but we've put up a plastic wall just outside of the wall to contain the dust even more. And then, of course, there are plastic bags all over our furniture, TV, etc. for added control.
Yay us!
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Catching up
Hey all, it's been a while for whatever reason. I'm not going to apologize. It is what it is, so just be happy I'm posting at all, ya ingrates.
Anyway, in the last month quite a bit has happened. We took a quick trip up to NYC (see obligatory Rockefeller Center pic below). We had a great time. The point was to see an off-off broadway play written by the wife of a cartoonist. I read his comic and blog everyday (see "Sheldon" link to the left) and since I find him entertaining, I figured his wife is more of the same. Besides, we won't be doing any major traveling this year (read: no major vacation planned like last year's Napa Valley trip) so little weekend sojourns are the next best thing. I have to say I appreciate NYC more now that I've taken the time to walk around it. I used to think it wasn't all that, but I got to see new neighborhoods and quite enjoyed this trip. Oh, but this was the crowning glory of our time there. One cupcake from that place kept you fed from breadfast until dinner! Hearty doesn't even begin to describe these puppies. On the two separate occasions we went I had the Oreo cupcake and the Red Velvet cupcake, respectively. They were way yummy. Chris had an "Artie Lange" and a coconut cupcake.
On to Memorial Day weekend, or as we like to now refer to it: "the other 'labor' day weekend". To tell you why, I have to tell you a story first. We had our house built back in 2004. As is customary with most new developments these days, especially to profit-mongering developers such as ours (why should they be any different right?), the standard MO is to gut the site of natural resources, blast thru whatever hill they are building into and then backfill your yard with said debris. Then, so as not to show their hand, they plant a couple of measly bushes, mulch the hell out of the site and call it 'landscaping'. Well, in the 3 years we've been here, all but 2 of the original 5 bushes died. This prompted a wild hare to find its way into my nether regions and plant (no pun intended) the idea of ripping out all of the plants, digging up the garden bed and replacing the debris with honest-to-God topsoil/compost perfect for an honest-to-God garden. Now, dear readers, we come to the crux of the story. I point you to Exhibits A-C:
[Exhibit A]This is but 1/3 of what we ripped out of the ground...
[Exhibit B]...to produce this ditch...
[Exhibit C]...and this, too...over two days. When all was said and done we moved in excess of *3 TONS* of earth. 3 TONS, people. And during the hottest weekend to date this year no less. It was about 90 degrees with about 60% humidity or more. Niiiice. Putrid would probably best describe our odor at the end of the day.
Be sure to note where the red clay stains on the stairway facade are...yeah, we dug that deep (it's about a foot if you can't tell). "What's the big deal" you may ask? Did you happen to notice that one of the tools we had to use in Exhibit C was a sledgehammer?!? It's not pictured, but our best friend throughout this whole ordeal was a freakin' pick axe! Shovels were useless. You couldn't go a 1/2 inch without hitting a rock. So yeah, we appreciate 'day laborers' (read: undocumented workers). We labored for a day and didn't get too far. Were we to do this for our livelihood, we would starve to death, no lie. So why did we do it? Because of the aforementioned wild hare, and because of this:
Ain't that a thing of beauty? We were so proud we almost handed out cigars. Now it's ready for some proper plants and flowers, but that's for another day, another blog.
Anyway, in the last month quite a bit has happened. We took a quick trip up to NYC (see obligatory Rockefeller Center pic below). We had a great time. The point was to see an off-off broadway play written by the wife of a cartoonist. I read his comic and blog everyday (see "Sheldon" link to the left) and since I find him entertaining, I figured his wife is more of the same. Besides, we won't be doing any major traveling this year (read: no major vacation planned like last year's Napa Valley trip) so little weekend sojourns are the next best thing. I have to say I appreciate NYC more now that I've taken the time to walk around it. I used to think it wasn't all that, but I got to see new neighborhoods and quite enjoyed this trip. Oh, but this was the crowning glory of our time there. One cupcake from that place kept you fed from breadfast until dinner! Hearty doesn't even begin to describe these puppies. On the two separate occasions we went I had the Oreo cupcake and the Red Velvet cupcake, respectively. They were way yummy. Chris had an "Artie Lange" and a coconut cupcake.
On to Memorial Day weekend, or as we like to now refer to it: "the other 'labor' day weekend". To tell you why, I have to tell you a story first. We had our house built back in 2004. As is customary with most new developments these days, especially to profit-mongering developers such as ours (why should they be any different right?), the standard MO is to gut the site of natural resources, blast thru whatever hill they are building into and then backfill your yard with said debris. Then, so as not to show their hand, they plant a couple of measly bushes, mulch the hell out of the site and call it 'landscaping'. Well, in the 3 years we've been here, all but 2 of the original 5 bushes died. This prompted a wild hare to find its way into my nether regions and plant (no pun intended) the idea of ripping out all of the plants, digging up the garden bed and replacing the debris with honest-to-God topsoil/compost perfect for an honest-to-God garden. Now, dear readers, we come to the crux of the story. I point you to Exhibits A-C:
[Exhibit A]This is but 1/3 of what we ripped out of the ground...
[Exhibit B]...to produce this ditch...
[Exhibit C]...and this, too...over two days. When all was said and done we moved in excess of *3 TONS* of earth. 3 TONS, people. And during the hottest weekend to date this year no less. It was about 90 degrees with about 60% humidity or more. Niiiice. Putrid would probably best describe our odor at the end of the day.
Be sure to note where the red clay stains on the stairway facade are...yeah, we dug that deep (it's about a foot if you can't tell). "What's the big deal" you may ask? Did you happen to notice that one of the tools we had to use in Exhibit C was a sledgehammer?!? It's not pictured, but our best friend throughout this whole ordeal was a freakin' pick axe! Shovels were useless. You couldn't go a 1/2 inch without hitting a rock. So yeah, we appreciate 'day laborers' (read: undocumented workers). We labored for a day and didn't get too far. Were we to do this for our livelihood, we would starve to death, no lie. So why did we do it? Because of the aforementioned wild hare, and because of this:
Ain't that a thing of beauty? We were so proud we almost handed out cigars. Now it's ready for some proper plants and flowers, but that's for another day, another blog.
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