Blog Design

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Friday Hodge Podge

Ok it is Friday Hodge Podge time!

Well my little darling continues to get up on her own and get dressed without assistance, I am loving it, but I fear that the weekend will throw her off for next week. We shall see.

Thanks for all of you for your comments on my What the F$ck post. I have decided to go about my mother’s day my way and be done with it. I did send flowers but I am not sure if I will place the phone call because my fear is that words might be said and I don't want that to ruin my mother’s day.

Saturday is National Train day so we are headed to Union Station to check out the trains and the free concert being given by Sara Bareilles Sunday we are going to the baseball game but it looks like rain at least it won't be cold and a little rain never killed anyone.

Lauren's ear tube surgery is set for Tuesday at 11:30 am I am not happy with the time since she can't have any food or drink after midnight and she is a big breakfast eater. Tuesday morning will be a bear with her till we get to the hospital. At least then there will be some distractions from food. I hate taking my kids in for surgery I have done it 5 times and this will be my 6th and it is never easy. I always go to the operating room with her and leave once she drifts off to sleep. It will not be a long surgery but it is surgery none the less. Please keep us in your thoughts.

WORK has been kicking my ass! However I am so very excited about what we are doing and by this time next year I will have a full product portfolio to offer in the marketplace. Building something from the ground floor is tough but my guess is that the dividends are going to be HUGE; at least that is what I am shooting for.

Lastly I am not one to discuss politics with people other then my really close friends or my family. However I felt the need to vent a bit. First this presidential political campaign has been going on for what seems like forever and unfortunately we have not seen the worst of if yet. I have not decided on one candidate as a matter of fact I am having trouble with that based on the choices that are being put before me. I can't help but wonder is this the best we have to offer? And if so what does it say about us? Random thoughts yes but I think a lot of us are having random thoughts about this election.

Have a great weekend! Happy Mothers day to all of you. I look forward to hearing about your special day on Monday!

Ok it is official Hell is going to freeze over!

This morning at 6:20 my darling hard to wake, pull the covers back over her head six year old, got up on her own and got dressed without me asking a zillion times! This is what greeted me at 6:20 am this morning.

This has been going on all week, a little bit of background on this for you. At the beginning of the school year we had an au pair that was living with us who was responsible to for getting the kids ready and off to school in the morning as well as picking them up and staying with them till we returned home in the late afternoon. For reasons I will save for a different post, we let our au pair go and went the normal route of getting the kids up early and taking them to their respective schools where they were in before and after care. I was now the person waking the kids up in the morning. My daughter while usually chipper, is not so chipper when she is woken up. She prefers to do it on her terms. So I bought an alarm clock, a cute princess one which we set at night and she would wake up to in the morning, my thought was that I would set it about 10 minutes before she needed to get up so she could wake up a bit. No dice; it lasted all of about 3 nights and she begged me not to set the alarm anymore. So the clock has sat on her nightstand for months, 7 to be exact. Suddenly on Sunday night my daughter told me as I tucked her in; that she set her alarm so she could wake up in the morning. I said great; knowing she would have a fit when it went off the next morning. To my surprise she didn't; she woke up turned it off and came to find me while I was getting ready. The same routine repeated itself Monday night into Tuesday morning, and Tuesday to Wednesday. So on Wednesday night I said here are your clothes for tomorrow when you wake up why don't you get dressed that way you will have more time for breakfast. To my surprise she not only got up and got dressed she tried to do her hair! I am not sure how or why this has happened but I am going to enjoy it while I can!

Apologizes

I must send out my apologizes for my lack of blog reading this week. I have been up to my eyeballs on this new project at work and it has totally consumed me this week. I hope to catch up on all of your blogs this weekend. Thanks for continuing to visit me even though I haven't been to visit you.

I'll be back soon!

Wordless Wednesday......kinda

Yesterday was hubby's birthday the big 42! As you can see fun was had by all.

Ten places I would like to go

Ten Places I would like to go, that I haven’t been to.

1) Ireland- I would love to do a pub crawl with a few of my adult friends without the kids :)

2) Poland- my mothers mom was from Poland and I know very little about the country and it’s traditions

3) Italy- I have always wanted to go there then I read the book Eat pray Love and I realized I had to go there

4) Alaska- I have heard there are some breathtaking sites in Alaska

5) Hawaii – however I must be able to spend 2 weeks so I can totally relax

6) A cruise- I am working on this one for my 10 year anniversary I don’t care were it goes as long as I am sitting in chair poolside with a drink in my hand watching the ocean go by.

7) Paris- I am not sure why I want to go but I do.

8) New Zealand- We had an au pair for 9 months who was from NZ and between what she has told us and the pictures I have seen I want to go. During the right season of course.

9) Cabo san lucas – who wouldn’t love to hand out in Cabo for a week?

10) Finally I would love to join my blog girlfriends on a weekend trip anywhere to hang out and talk in person (I know I am cheesy)

WHAT THE F&CK!!!!!!!!

Sorry for the title it is just how I feel.

Ok 8 years ago on Mothers Day I was to go over to my moms house and we were going to go out to lunch. I called her to say I would be an hour late because I was going to the 11 am mass instead of the 10 am. We are talking one hour. She threw a complete hissy fit and went on and on about not bothering to come blah blah blah. At this point in my life I was married only a year; something that my mother didn't take well as I seemed to be her companion in life up until my marriage and my leaving was not a good thing. I tired as best I could to include her and do things with her since I knew that she was all alone. My mom has a way like no other human being to get under my skin, at the young age of 26 you can imagine just how much head butting was going on. (sorry I reread that paragraph and it is all over the place but I am going to leave it because it is how I feel)

So she continued to rip me a new one and fire off some pretty nasty comments for not coming at the time I said and I got right down in the dirt with her and started to sling back the insults. This is something I am totally not proud of but I had been pushed into a corner and I really felt as if being a hour late to go to church for God's sake was a reasonable request. I ended up not seeing her for Mothers Day, pretty much the day was ruined.

Since then every single Mothers Day, my mom has rubbed that argument in my face and why should this Mothers Day be any different then the others. This morning while I was on the phone with her (I talked to her about every other day) I asked her if she would like to join us at the baseball game this Sunday, Mother's Day. I thought since we have a new stadium here in DC and the fact that I know she likes baseball and would be able to see me and I would get to be with my family it would be a win/win. Not in her eyes apparently, she flatly turned me down and proceeded to say that since our argument 8 YEARS AGO!!!!, that Mothers Day really doesn't mean much to her. Ok I said, then she asked "are you going?" Well uh yeah that is why I asked you if you wanted to come I thought, but instead I said "I am not sure." I was pissed at myself because I should have said what I was thinking. It is my Mothers Day too and I want to spend it with my kids, and for the record it wouldn't have made a difference if I said come over for dinner, let's go shopping, or whatever because it isn't totally about her she isn't going to do anything.

But you think it ends there???? Oh no!!!!!!!

So I am in my office, and the phone rings, I can see it is my mom so I pick up thinking she may have had a change of heart. No she called to ask if I had bought the ferns I talked about last week then says, "Oh by the way don't send me flowers for mothers day, I have plenty of cut flowers in the house and I don't need it to look like a funeral home here." Oh course I have already ordered flowers! I responded "fine" then the conversation ended.

WTF!!!!! am I going to have to pay for this for the rest of my life???? I have apologized a gazillion times for the fight we had 8 years ago, I have tired to make up for it in every way possible but yet I keep getting smacked in the face by this woman. I have really had about enough with the games and truthfully if it weren't for the fact I am all the family this woman has I think I would just walk away. As I type this I can feel my blood pressure rising, my face getting red and my whole body tensing up.

In the past I have tried to go back after a conversation like this and tell her it hurts me but I always get the "well you should have thought of that before you did what you did speech" This time I feel like saying "whatever" and going about my Mothers Day the way I choose.

Thoughts???

Friday Hodge Podge

Is it Friday already??? Man this week has flown by. So here is the Friday Hodge Podge.

First here are the pictures from my Tuesday Toot that I was unable to load up. Not to shabby if I do say so myself.

Yesterday was my 9 year wedding anniversary; we celebrated by going to dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steak House. It was wonderful to have a dinner where we ate adult food (Filet and Lobster tail) and had time to talk with no interruptions. Dan gave me a lovely gift; this is a beautiful gold necklace. I think my gift to him of cuff links and a money clip pail in comparison; however he did really like them.

So on Tuesday I took Lauren to the Doctor after work, she has had chronic ear infections since she was 9 months old three sets of tubes later the ear infections have stopped but there is significant negative pressure in her left ear which comes and goes and can be quite painful. Since we are on the cusp of pool season which means swimmers ear, the doctor and I felt it was in her best interest to have the tubes put back in and do a little exploratory surgery to se if there is anything else that my be contributing to this negative pressure issue. I should be an old pro at this by now since my son has had 2 sets and Lauren 3, yet the thought of having the kids put under anesthesia never gets easier. So on May 13th I will be with her at the surgery center once again.

Earlier this week we received an expected invitation to Dan’s Cousins wedding late June in NJ, the event will be black tie only. I was a little taken aback as this wedding has already been pretty expensive with engagement parties showers and wedding gifts (their registry has plate not plate settings that are $350 each) I don’t know about you but that is a ridiculous amount of money to pay for a gift. As for the black tie thing I am fine with it and so is Dan because we have lots of formals we attend due to some of his work obligations so we have the duds already, but for others they will end up spending yet even more money. I guess what I am trying to say is; I think it is rather selfish to require a certain attire at your wedding. I think some would have preferred “Black Tie optional”

Finally I open the floor up to questions, ask away, something you want to know about me or my life just ask. Last week Law Student Hot Mama asked:
Does my ass look big in this? Heh. My response to that question: No but your boob’s sure do! :)

Have a great weekend and I will see everyone on Monday (or later tonight after a glass or 2 of wine)

Happy Anniversary

Here we are 9 years ago today!




9 Years ago today I became a wife! I was never really sure that I would get married. I didn't have marriage role models since my mom and Dad divorced when I was very young and mom never chose to date. So the whole concept of marriage was something that was lost on me and in my mind was a bit of an anomaly something that only really worked on TV and in the movies.

All through college I had my fair share of boyfriends I dated but never really found the one, I thought I had come close after college but he turned out to be a cheating loser, glad I found out when I did. Then there was the guy who broke my heart in a million pieces, after that I was done I swore off men. Then came Dan and my world has not been the same since!

It was the summer of ‘96, AOL had just really taken off a couple of years earlier and chat rooms seem to be the new thing online at the time, online dating had not yet taken off. Dan IMed me while I was in a Washington DC chat room and we chatted for a bit. This went on for like 2 weeks, soon he asked me if we could meet and I was very unsure of that. We continued to ask and finally one day I gave in, yet it was in the back of my mind that I didn't know him and he could be an axe murderer for all I know. But I was very interested since I had spent so much time talking to him. So I decided to meet him however I chose a bar where a lot of people knew me and I could shake him if he was a freak.

So we met, I will never forget it was 7pm at a place called Hard Times, this place is small but it was usually packed. I walked to the back of the bar not spotting anyone who I thought fit his description. Then as I turned around to walk back to the front he popped out in front of me and said “Hey are you Steph!” I was in shock because I was pleasantly surprised how good looking he was. We had dinner ordered a few beers and stayed there talking till 1:30am. We went out every night for the next 2 weeks. We had a brief split because I was afraid things were moving to fast, but I quickly realized I couldn’t live without him. We dated for a year before Dan was given orders to Korea, right before he was to go to Korea we were to go away for a long weekend, before we left that Friday night Dan called and asked to take me to lunch, strange I thought I will see you in 4 hours but OK. While we were at lunch he was acting strange but I thought it was because he was going to leave and we really weren't sure what the next year would hold for us. So mid way through lunch Dan says "we need to talk" Ok I say, he then says "Well since I am going to Korea I don't want to date you anymore" I was furious, all I could think of was how to leave without causing a huge scene. I then saw him reaching in his jacket pocket and then suddenly he thrusts a box across the table and says "so I got you this" in the box was the most beautiful engagement ring I have ever seen. Mind you I never did get the Will you marry me question, but then again that isn’t Dan’s style. We spent the whole next year apart planning our wedding. We went 6 months between seeing each other and I can truly say it was the longest year of my life.

We married in a lovely ceremony in my hometown of Alexandria VA and had a reception at the officers club on Ft. McNair in Washington DC. We had the most perfect day! I remember thinking this is the start of the rest of my life as I walked down the aisle with my mom. I was right and what a wonderful life it has been thus far. I never would have imagined I could be this happy. Everyday I think I am so lucky and hopefully he feels the same.

So to you Dan the love of my life, I thank you for choosing me and loving me through all my quirks and wacky ways, thank you for pushing me to succeed , believing in me and picking me up when I fall down. You surround me with love everyday and for that I am eternally thankful I love you and I look forward to many many many more years of happiness!!! Happy Anniversary honey!

These are some pictures from our wedding

album looks like we had a fun time huh?

Wordless Wednesday

Can you tell what kind of day I am having?