Today is a sad, sad day

It's the end of Spring Break, my friends.

I'm always a little sad on normal Sundays because I know I have to go back to work the next day.

Today is extra sad, though, because I've had a whole week off. And, it's even more sad if I stop and think about what I did over spring break. . . lots and lots of work for grad school and two classes.

Here's a re-cap.

Friday:
Brewer's home-opener. Couldn't be there in person, but could enjoy some beers and burgers with friends.



Saturday:
A visit to the Little Man. Seriously. This kid is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. If babies came with a Just-Like-Luke guarantee I'm pretty sure I'd be forced to have one. He's smart and funny and always smiling. One of these visits I'm going to be forced to toss him in my purse and take him home as my very own.


Sunday:
A visit with the fabulous Miss Mirielle and her parents and a stay at the HoJo and a visit with its proprietor. I'm so happy for Em and Justin. Miri is perfect in every way! She (unlike Luke) would probably actually fit in my purse. Better watch out, Em. I might steal her away.



Monday:
Brad thought it would be fun to go to a Brewer's game. It was. Until it started raining and snowing all at the same time right as we were trying to tailgate. I ended up sitting in the car with the bag of BBQ chips. I did pass a few through the cracked window to Brad.


Tuesday:
Lunch at P.F. Chang's - Brad's first time. Too bad the food wasn't real great - the company was, though. :)


Wednesday:
What I wish I was reading instead of what I actually spent the day (and a good part of the night) reading.



Thursday:
Work. All day. Aspiring Administrators seminar followed by finishing my portfolio (due at midnight and pictured below). I did watch Southland, though.



Friday:
Fun day! Pedicure and lunch with Stephanie (Panera finally opened!) and shopping with Natalie. Little Miss needed a very special outfit in which to celebrate her fourth birthday. She had her heart set on a flowered dress and decided she absolutely needed purple sandals to go with it.


Saturday:
70 today! And I was in class. Memphis sure loved the sunshine, though.


Sunday:
Grocery store (quick stop at Penzey's). Laundry. Natalie's birthday celebration.



Off to bed. Must be well-rested for tomorrow's big return to work.

Randomness

Random Thing 1:
Why do I prefer cheeseburgers to salad? Seriously. Is this some kind of a genetic disposition? I have really never found myself thinking, "Gee, I'd love a great big salad." But, I do find myself thinking, "Yum. A big cheeseburger." I've even tried to think about nothing but cheeseburgers while forcing myself to eat a salad. It doesn't make it taste any better.

Random Thing 2:
The kiddos are taking a field trip tomorrow to the YMCA. Apparently, several of the children have been black-listed at the YMCA; their pictures are hanging at the counter, and they are not allowed in. How does one get on the YMCA blacklist? I'm just saying, there's no way I could work-out if I was on the blacklist. It would be the ultimate excuse.

Random Thing 3:
I haven't really seen Brad at a time when we weren't both asleep since Monday. I sort of miss him. It's so strange to live in the same house with someone but to be on such different schedules.

Random Thing 4:
Angie and I need to do a photo shoot sometime soon. A good picture of us together simply does not exist. Every time a promising opportunity presents itself, someone busts out a camera. But, each one seems to be a little stranger than the one before. My hair? Out of control. And, who knew that wearing a scarf would make me look like I weigh about 400 pounds. Someone really should have told me.



Random Thing 5:
I had "The Right Stuff" last night. I was "Hangin' Tough." It's possible I was even doing a little "Dirty Dancing." I may have been dolled up enough to be a "Cover Girl." Sigh. I continue to be amazed that even after all these years the Boys from Beantown are still so stinkin' cute.

Welcome to the World, Mirielle

I made a new friend today.
Her name is Mirielle.
I plan to spoil her and cuddle her and watch her grow up.










Congratulations to Emily and Justin.
I am so very lucky to have both of you as friends.
I so enjoyed watching you as parents today.
I'm confident that Mirielle will grow up to be a beautiful person.

Hello from Chicago

Spending a weekend in the Windy City. . . some work and some play.

Started with a quick trip to Michigan Avenue.

This girl didn't bring a jacket along, and it's going to snow. Yup. You heard me. Snow. So, I needed to buy a coat. I've been needing a rain coat for awhile. The problem with this coat - of course - is that it is brown and the recently purchased wellies are black with polka dots. So, I may need a different pay of rain boots.


Then, I did a little lip gloss shopping here and here. I wasn't looking for lip gloss. I was looking for hand lotion and cherry cola shower gel (both things Josie taught me to love). When I didn't find either - I settled for lip gloss.


I walked past the John Hancock building and had to call Brad to re-live the day I agreed to marry him (we were having dinner at the Signature Room).


All the while I was thinking about this. . .

Not the Chinese take-out - the Grey's Anatomy in the background. Some seriously brilliant television, folks.

Anyway.

Eventually I made it back to my hotel where I enjoyed a fabulous dinner with the amazingly talented Writing Project folks I'll be working with tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more about my Chicago adventures - including the cupcake crawl planned for Sunday.

Happy Birthday, Memphis

Memphis is celebrating his 8th birthday today.
8 human years.
56 dog years.

He asked for an ice cream cake and a visit with his favorite friends to celebrate.


(I couldn't capture the ice cream cake on film.)

Memphis did request that Maddie and Walker and Radar join him for the festivities, but the party was a little last minute. My apologies to the dog friends.

And, one last picture. If only being a parent were just about snuggling and bedtime stories. I could be persuaded if that was all there is to it.



Natalie could actually use the clues in the pictures and the repeated phrases in the book to read some of the pages. It is amazing how much she learns so very quickly.

The Tuesday Ten

It's time I brightened things up around here with a little list.

Here's 10 random thoughts to perk up your Tuesday.

1. Last night my dentist told me that my tooth (which was filled almost two weeks ago) hurts because it is "throwing a tantrum." She told me this right after she gooped it up with watermelon-flavored fluoride - the same fluoride "they use on the kids." Seriously. Just because I acted like a child when the tooth was filled does not mean she needs to treat me like a child.

2. There is nothing greater than a food and friend and laughter friend weekend. The downside? I think I'm in withdrawal now.


3. Josie has the absolute most amazing towels at her house. Ask Katrina. She'll confirm. The towels are fluffy and completely white and LARGE. No need to do the stretch and shuffle to try to simultaneously keep all your bits covered. These towels are perfect.

4. Dark and twisty is not hot on McDreamy.

5. I'm done craving Shamrock Shakes and have moved on to craving any egg-shaped candy, preferably egg-shaped candy that is chocolate with peanut-butter filling.

6. Have you ever noticed that Tuesday is the ultimate bargain day? In high school I worked at a movie theater where Tuesday was Buck Night. There was also a restaurant that featured BOGO burgers on Tuesday. Too bad I haven't found any of the local Tuesday night bargains.

7. After we had been dating for less than a year, Brad's grandma sent out a Christmas letter to everyone in her address book that explained that "Brad was dating a nice little Irish girl." Either Brad had a secret Irish girlfriend that he only introduced to his grandma or she had hallucinated an "O'" in front of my name. I'm not even a little Irish.

8. I bought a swimsuit last week. I'm not going anywhere that I need a swimsuit. In fact, I hate wearing a swimsuit in public. But, I saw it and thought it was cute and tried it on. I think it was the pressure of not really needing one that let me find a cute one.

9. Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. I used to be a champ about sending cards and gifts. I'm not sure why or how I fell off that wagon.

10. My aunt's church recently had up the following headline on their sign, "Our sermons are more uplifting than Viagra." Hmmmm. I didn't realize God had such a great sense of humor.

Paper and Scissors

I've made lots of things lately. Here's the catch, though. They're not really mine.

I'm not sure where my creativity went, so I lifted a few things from the Studio Calico gallery to try to get going again.

A few things from Studio Calico's January kit.

This is a total copy of a fun lay-out Scarlet made.


Loved the Stephanie Howell lay-out and had to make one of my own.


Made my own version of one of Tina's lay-outs to capture the photos from the first week of 2009.



Another lift of a Tina lay-out.



Made this all by myself with the January kit.


And, a few things from the February kit.

This was inspired by one of Tina's lay-outs from the August gallery.


Used the February kit to make this. It was inspired by one of April's lay-outs from the December gallery.


And, made one with the February kit all by myself.


And, I made a mini (of course!). I've had this mini since the July Studio Calico project kit. The kit was actually from an Etsy shop. The cover was inspired by how April used the mini. I filled it with more than 20 pictures from my trip to Boston last summer.

March: Scrap-tastic

Sorry I've been so MIA. Life has needed living.

There was a weekend with my favorite girls.
There was lots of homework.
There was some laziness.

Here are my March Scrap-tastic creations to tide you over until I have something more substantial to share.