Sunday, December 30, 2007

Back to the future

Tessa found a website where you can do a time capsule email. It's pretty neat. Today I got an email that she composed to me way back when she was 14 . That would have been last year. Anyway, it's pretty cool.
http://bored.com/emailcapsules/login.php

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas to all...














































I'm ready to say goodnight!









What a fun day. Caroline is at the age where everything is an adventure. Tessa is an adventure. At one point Caroline was so excited she was on top of her gifts. We have so many boxes I can not even imagine what our recycling is going to look like. I can not believe Tessa's patience at putting all of this stuff together for Caroline. I'm just thankful she knows how to!


P.S. Caroline got her own digital camera and has taken a million pictures so far. She may be a future blogger!

Monday, December 24, 2007

Santa's on his way...







Caroline and her friends at school made some reindeer food to sprinkle on Christmas Eve. There are oats for the reindeer to eat, but also glitter so they can find their way. Our friend Katerina came and helped us spread the food. We also put carrots out. Katerina was smart enough to know that reindeer like carrots. As the day went on Caroline and I kept track of Santa's whereabouts online. If you ever need to know where Santa is, this is a very helpful website. Before bed (about the time Santa was in Greenland) we went to see our favorite Christmas lights. We're pretty excited to wake up tomorrow and see what Santa brought!












So much fun!


While we were in New York I took Tessa to see Legally Blonde the musical. It was more fun than I could have ever imagined! I could kick myself for all of the times I've gone to New York and never wanted to see a show. It was amazing! The weather was so nice that we rode to the theater in a bike taxi. We had a blast!

Friday, December 21, 2007


Tessa and I are headed to New York tonight. The trip was actually her birthday present. After we get in we're headed to Serendipity 3 for some frozen hot chocolate. Yum! Maybe we'll go shopping tomorrow...

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Santa came to work today

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Have I mentioned Twilight?


Traci and Jordan started talking about this book, Twilight. Telling me you have to read it, you have to read it. Traci had the book and offered it to me. But someone else wanted to read it also. I told her to let them read it first, I was kind of iffy about reading it just because it didn't really sound very interesting. In fact, it sounded kind of farfetched. (It's about vampires, totally not my thing.) Then I went to Bunco (which I love and is a whole other story) and everyone there was talking about it. Have to read it have to read it have to read it. Sure sure sure. I finally told Traci I would read it, almost just to not hear about it anymore. I told her I would let Tessa read it first and then I would read it. So I brought the book home for Tessa. And she read it. And she loved it. And I read it. And I loved it. And wouldn't you know, it is a series. So Traci brought the 2nd book in. Tessa and I got in a little scuffle over who got to read the 2nd book 1st. At one point I tried to pull "mom rank" on her and read it 1st but I felt guilty and gave it back to her. The 1st book was so good that I didn't have the patience to wait for Tessa to read the 2nd book and give it to me. I went to the bookstore and bought a copy for myself. And read it that night. And went and bought the 3rd book the next day! If you haven't read it, it really is a great series. I could not put these books down! (They are making a movie based on the series also)
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer


Brian's Christmas Gift


Brian has been traveling a lot so for Christmas I decided to get him a GPS unit. I was pretty excited about this and thought it was a pretty good gift. I'm not very good at saving gifts once I've purchased them, and last night I gave Brian the GPS unit. (He was leaving today for Kentucky for a few days) I could tell he thought it was an OK gift, but didn't love it. He said he wasn't sure how much he would use it, and that he didn't know how to use it. I told him to take it with him, and his boss Jack, who is going with him would most likely play around with it and figure it out. But of course that is not a good idea at all, as they know where they are going plus he is not going to ask someone else how to use it and hook it up. He told me he would figure it out on his day off. Or that I could put it in the Volvo since I'm not very good with directions. But as I told Brian, I know how to get to the daycare and back. (Not that I'm implying I have no life) Anyway, wouldn't you just know Brian calls me today lost somewhere in Kentucky. And his boss Jack said he would have been happy to help figure out how to use the GPS. Go figure.

Friday, December 7, 2007


Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Another good deal

http://www.blissworld.com/ (Awesome body products, free shipping and samples)

Monday, December 3, 2007

Christmas shopping

I'm done. Didn't even go to a store. (Am I a bah-humbugger or what?) I have done everything online and not paid any shipping charges and on some sites not paid sales tax.
www.beauty.com (Free shipping if you spend $25, and you get to pick 3 sample items. Much better deal than Sephora and the sample choices are better.)
www.amazon.com (I never knew this but you can create lists by person so you can see what you have already purchased for each person. You can also create a calendar so you remember important dates. They also have a lot of items that have free shipping.)
www.toysrus.com (Free shipping on lots of items, and fast! I ordered things on Friday and they got here Monday.)
Of course, I haven't done Christmas cards. Maybe I can just email them...
Happy Holidays!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007


Friday, November 16, 2007

I love shoes!


Check this out:


Cute shoes, free overnight shipping, and they deduct $5 off of your order! They have some of the cutest shoes for $35-$50 BEFORE the free shipping and $5 off! Check out the brand Naughty Monkey. Such cute shoes.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Caroline at Karate

I love the program here. Sensei Rodger Pyle is EXCELLENT with the kids.

http://www.usaseibukan.com/


Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.
Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.
One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute.
"Gimme a break," said Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids.
"We are talking about little kids who do not understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation and nor should they," she told the Telegraph.
"Leave Santa alone."

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Caroline goes to the dentist




Today was Caroline's 1st visit to the dentist. She was pretty excited to go, as you can see. It was a nice change from Tessa, who ran out the front door of the dentist office during her 1st visit.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Gobble Gobble




Saturday, November 3, 2007

Another free project for kids!

Lowe's does a Saturday morning deal similar to the one at Home Depot. Next Saturday morning at 10 a.m. you can go build a turkey recipe holder. This one is different from Home Depot in that you have to register in advance and only certain stores do it. The Lowe's on Sawmill Road is participating.
www.lowesbuildandgrow.com

Ahoy!




Here is the pirate ship Caroline made at Home Depot this morning. It was pretty neat. She got a Home Depot apron, stickers, and a pin. And best of all it was FREE! We're already looking forward to next month's activity.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Look what Traci made


Traci made these cool centerpieces for the Halloween party she had. (Which was fun) Anyway, they were so cool I wanted to keep one and she let me. We had them in the office for a few days and they got lots of compliments. Thanks Traci!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Trick or Treat
















Even our neighbors dog Daisy had a costume! The big inflatable spider is from my office. As many people know, I love inflatables! (I'm currently looking for an inflatable pilgrim. Not a turkey pilgrim, but a person pilgrim, I already have an inflatable turkey, which will soon be in my yard.)





A clean joke

Two brooms were hanging in the closet and after a while they got to know each other so well, they decided to get married. One broom was, of course, the bride broom, the other the groom broom. The bride broom looked very beautiful in her white dress. The groom broom was handsome and suave in his tuxedo. The wedding was lovely. After the wedding, at the wedding dinner, the bride-broom leaned over and said to the groom-broom, "I think I am going to have a little whisk broom!" "IMPOSSIBLE !" said the groom broom.
"WE HAVEN'T EVEN SWEPT TOGETHER!"
* I can't take credit for this joke- it came from my friend Kathy

Monday, October 29, 2007

Check out the fun at Home Depot!

I heard that Home Depot has a kids clinic where kids can go learn to build something on Saturday mornings. How fun is that? (And it's free!) It says that the activity is designed for kids 5-12 but from what I was told they can be a little younger, but the parent needs to help. Here is the info for this Saturday:
Pirate Ship Saturday, November 3, 2007 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Designed for kids 5-12, these free workshops teach do-it-yourself skills and tool safety, while instilling a sense of accomplishment. Offered on the first Saturday of each month between 9 a.m. and noon at The Home Depot®.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Happy Birthday to Tessa


A day of fun and chocolate was had by all

Friday, October 26, 2007

Congratulations Scott and Sara!

We got to go see their new baby Samuel tonight. He is so cute! Caroline calls him Camel instead of Samuel.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Happy Birthday Coach Bobby Knight!


I know everyone has their own strong opinions on Bobby but I love him!
"I don't have to wait until the next morning to regret something I did that was kinda dumb." Bobby Knight

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Tonight I called Caroline "pipsqueak." I asked her if she liked that name and she told me no. I asked her what she wanted me to call her and she said "I want to stay Caroline."

Monday, October 22, 2007

Lower sodium


Tonight my dear patient Brian got mad at me because I bought Chicken Noodle Soup that had 25% less sodium. OK... Again, I would not make a good nurse. If anyone knows a nurse, thank them. I can not even imagine all of the crabby patients they encounter on a daily basis. Not that I'm calling Brian crabby... (How much sodium is in sarcasm?)


Sunday, October 21, 2007

I am not cut out for nursing

What I really wanted to say is that Brian is the world's worst patient but I am trying so hard to be patient with him. Anyway, they wound up keeping him Friday night to monitor him after surgery. Saturday, he decided he wanted to stay that night too. Then, he decided he wanted to come home. But first, he asked me if I was going to let him watch football and baseball if he came home. Uh, and this is different from any other day in our lives how? Anyway, Brian got home last night around 7:30 or so. Shortly after he got home we realized that the nurse gave us gauze pads for his nose (surgery area) but no tape. So I used band-aids to hold the gauze in place. I slept on the sofa so that he could have the room to himself and enjoy some peace and quiet. Around 12:30 a.m. Brian came downstairs to wake me up for pain meds, and then again at 7:45 a.m. He was kind enough to let me know that he was officially eligible for pain meds at 6:30 a.m. and I should have set an alarm so I could wake him up to take them. Now he can have his pain meds again at 1:45 but he is arguing with me that since he missed them by an hour earlier this morning he should be allowed to have them an hour earlier now. He also complained about the size of the spoon I brought him with his Jell-O. One of the best things was the look on Tessa's face when Brian said he would do the same thing for me. Anyway, Brian is on the mend now.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Columbus Marathon

The Columbus Marathon runs right at the end of our street. We go every year and it's always lots of fun. Our location is mile marker 21 out of the 26 mile race. It is right at the Lane/Northstar intersection. If you've never been it is pretty fun. There is a water station right there and people come to cheer everyone on. I've got it all figured out. The race starts at 8:00 a.m. Anytime after about 9:05 a.m. the wheelchair participants and the race leaders hit our area. They have police escorts too. Everyone gets so fired up! It's pretty awesome because it is a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon and you will see some pretty serious marathoners coming though. You'll see high school kids and runners over 60. We've seen runners from as far away as Kenya and Ethiopia. And the wheelchair participants are awesome! People show up with signs, cowbells, you name it.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Zzzzzz......

About 3 years ago (or more) I started telling Brian how much he snored. It was so bad you could hear it through the entire house at night. No joke. I camcorded his snoring one night. I slept on the couch. I bought Breathe Rite strips. I woke him up several times a night to let him know he was snoring and I couldn't sleep. I begged. I pleaded. Then, in the morning he'd complain that he didn't get a good nights sleep because I woke him up all night long. Aargh! Then about 2 years ago or so he came back from a golf trip and told me that his buddy mentioned how bad his snoring was compared to a year ago on the same trip and maybe he should do something about it. Interesting. So a year ago September he spent the night at a sleep clinic. Then last December we met with a surgeon regarding surgery for Brian's diagnosed severe sleep apnea. Then, the surgeon kept Brian waiting for over an hour. Brian made it very clear to the office staff what he thought about that. There were some words used that I'm not even sure you would find in Webster's. Finally, after all this time and a new surgeon who runs on time Brian is finally set to have surgery tomorrow. Think good thoughts for Brian tomorrow. This has really been a long process to get to this point, and hopefully Brian will feel better and healthier once this is done. (And hopefully I can get a good nights sleep after more than 3 years!)

Monday, October 15, 2007

Oops I did it again!




My love affair with Volvos started around 3rd grade or so. I remember Dennis Reardon's parents used to bring him to school in a lemon yellow Volvo. I loved that car. I wanted to marry Dennis so I could ride in that car. So here I am, 36 and the proud owner of our beloved Volvo S40. I remember telling Brian when we bought it that we should buy the Acura instead of the Volvo because it wasn't worth a monthly payment to drive a car you did not love. (Brian liked the Acura more, but the Volvo was a much better deal.) Anyway, the Volvo was Brian's car up until this past winter when I drove the Volvo and put all of my crap in it. Then, it became easier to just leave my stuff in it versus clean it out and trade cars back with Brian. (He keeps his car clean on the inside. Whatever.) Well, then I had a little mishap with the seal on the window of the Volvo. And when it rained the Volvo filled with water. No joke. Again, it was easier to deal with the water versus having Brian gripe at me about it. And when it rains and it hot outside and water gets in the car the car windows steam up. Or even better in the winter the inside of the windows frost over and you have to scrape the inside of the windows also. (Not that this has been going on for several seasons and changes in weather) Then the headlight on it got broken. (You can see where this is going.) And one of the wheelcaps magically disappeared. Then I might have done something so that you can no longer play CD's in the Volvo. OK, and then somehow the mechanism that lets the carseat move forward and backward broke. And oh yeah, I may have spilled green paint in the car and then Caroline walked through it and now I have green foot prints in the front and back seat. It is a good thing green is my favorite color. I am absolutely determined to drive this car until it is time for Tessa to drive. And I most likely will as 1) Car payments stink 2) Obviously I can procrastinate dealing with stuff I don't want to deal with like nobody's business 3) There is still way more stuff I need to break on this car 4) Maybe I will quit talking about this while I am ahead in case Brian ever really reads this (I really did think about cleaning the paint tonight)

OSU ranked #1

Ohio State tops AP poll
New York, NY (Sports Network) - As the rash of upsets continued in college football this past Saturday, Ohio State has vaulted to the top of the latest Associated Press poll.
LSU and California both lost on Saturday, allowing the Buckeyes (7-0) to move up two spots to No. 1 -- a place the Big Ten powerhouse held all of last season until losing in the BCS Championship Game.
Ohio State didn't have to worry about an upset on Saturday, beating up on Kent State 48-3. The Buckeyes, however, will host Michigan State next week before the schedule really gets tough with a visit to Penn State and home games against Wisconsin and Illinois before the annual grudge match at Michigan.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Brian and Gordon Gee at the movies

Brian decided to go see a movie this afternoon. When I got home he told me that he ran into Gordon Gee at the theatre. Pretty cool. I guess Gordon said hi to Brian. I asked Brian if Gordon was wearing a bow tie and he was! I also asked if he knew what kind of snacks Gordon had but he didn't know. Brian has all the good OSU sightings. Last year he ran into Thad Matta at dinner and the year we got married we ran into Jim Tressel at the gas station and Jim Tressel had to tell Brian how to pump gas properly. Oh- I saw Greg Oden at Target last year. I followed him around for a little bit. And we've seen Coach Cooper at the grocery a couple of times. Anyone else have any good OSU sightings?

Train Ride






















Today we went with Katerina, Maria, Jaime and Athanasia to Lebanon to ride the Lebanon Mason Train out to a farm and pumpkin patch. They also had a petting zoo. It was a nice day for it and the kids had a blast with it. I had a lot of fun taking Caroline to her first porta-potty.






Saturday, October 13, 2007

I got sooo lucky!

Someone named FreckleFeet outbid me at $42 with 3 1/2 minutes to go!

Ebay is the devil


So, I was talking to Tessa about all of the great things from the 80's and we were on Ebay looking at Swatch Watches. Then we decided to bid on a couple. Or four. Anyway, today I got notification that someone outbid me on one. For some reason that ticked me off and we got in a bidding war. Now it appears that in about 2 hours I will be the proud owner of a used Swatch Watch to the tune of $41.00. I knew I should have quit at $30, I just felt like I was getting beat and it irritated me. Guess I showed them. I feel like Michael Scott from the Office when he bought his condo.


Friday, October 12, 2007

Cleaning is bad for your health...

Housework might be bad for your health, according to a study suggesting that tidying up as little as once a week with common cleaning sprays and air fresheners could raise the risk of asthma in adults.
Exposure to such cleaning materials even just once a week could account for as many as one in seven adult asthma cases, the researchers wrote in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Two-thirds of those in the study who reported doing the bulk of cleaning were women and fewer than 10 percent of them were full-time homemakers, the researchers said.

Moral of the story- Men seem to be less likely to be affected by this serious health concern. I need to either
1) Stop cleaning
2) Have Brian clean more often
3) Hire a male housekeeper

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Wheel of Fortune




Tomorrow night at 7:30 Traci's sister will be on Wheel of Fortune. (Her name is Erika) If you aren't sure who Traci is, scroll through my blog and you will find her picture taken with the stork from her baby shower.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Activity packed weekend...











Friday night was Tessa's homecoming game. Coffman VS UA. We decided to all go but take two cars in case Caroline got tired. After 5 minutes Caroline wanted to go home. We saw a fan who took it a little too seriously and had painted his face. Caroline did not like that and told me "That's not funny." Coffman won in OT. I went Friday afternoon to the high school to purchase tickets in advance so we didn't have to wait in line. Can I just tell you the shame of driving my 2001 Volvo into that parking lot? Have you SEEN the cars high school kids drive? They must have thought I was a sub or something...




Saturday afternoon was Adalynn's 1st birthday party. Lots of fun. Due to a gas leak we have not had a stove or home cooked food in a week so I was VERY excited to see all of the yummy food Jordan made for the party. Then Saturday night was the homecoming dance. I let Tessa tell me what looked familiar to drive her to her friend Anne's house for pictures first. My mistake. Once we hit a sign stating Delaware County I told Tessa I was pretty sure that no, nothing looked familiar and it might be time to call Anne's mom to clarify Tessa's directions. Tonight was Maroon 5. Brian got us hooked up with a clients tickets (Thank you Holly if you ever see this!) for the suite for that one, so it was catered AND we got a parking pass. AWESOME!


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