Our Picket Fence

Chains, whips and skulls

2011-05-18T09:47:00.003-04:00

Singing along with the radio to Rihanna's "S&M" this morning, I drove past Chester's Ancient Burial Ground and felt really weird. How do you think these 1600s ladies and gentlemen would feel if they knew someone was speeding past in a Dodge Ram, belting out, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me? Nana nana nana come on!"

What has the world come to?

Sorry, great-great-great-great grandparents.

Nail Salon People-Watching

2011-05-18T09:37:00.002-04:00

There are 3 types of people who go to nail salons:

1) Those who have been given gift certificates or some amount of money to spend on themselves, and have decided to give themselves a treat; just a little pampering for a day.

2) Those who have a prom, party, wedding, vacation, or other special event to go to and want to look their absolute best (like H and me yesterday when we got pedicures and full sets to get ready for our big trip).

3) Those who have no job, nothing to do and no one to talk to, and just need some time where someone is paying all of their attention to them and they can talk away about everything going on in their lives to this person, regardless of whether the person is fully listening, responding or even completely understanding.

At the salon yesterday, there was a woman who went on and on and on some more to this poor man doing her manicure. There was nothing she didn't tell him about her unexciting life. I felt bad for her, to be honest. I don't mean to be mean about it, it just intrigues me. She just wanted some company and someone to hear her speak.

The same man ended up doing H's full set on her hands and when I got closer to him as I was finished with my nails before H and went to sit next to her, I realized he had wires coming out of the neck of his shirt attached to earbuds that were stuffed into his ears.

He must have turned up the volume when the Talker was at his station. They were barely noticeable, but I sort of found it interesting. Not so much rude, but I can see why someone else might think it was rude. I actually think it's clever... they must get tired of listening to the sound of nail files and lonely drones all day.

Then there were the ladies sitting at the nail dryer station preaching to other ladies who came to sit down with them to dry their nails. I only got part of what they were saying, but I heard the name Jesus, I heard something about "what a blessing," and as H was closer, she said she heard something about how everyone makes some mistakes in life. Then, as the victim was leaving (I think, if I remember correctly, the victim was the woman who spent the last 30 minutes venting to Earbud Man), Preacher Lady made her hug her and then said, "God bless you."

What a day.

Osama bin Laden is DEAD

2011-05-02T14:42:00.001-04:00

"And then the man behind the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil died from an American bullet to his head" (Apuzzo, 2011).

Source:

Apuzzo, Matt. (2011). Inside the raid that killed bin Laden. Associated Press. Retrieved May 3, 2011 from http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20110502/US.Bin.Laden.The.Raid/.

College

2011-03-16T23:53:00.002-04:00

1) Daniel did not get into his top choice school, Northeastern. I don't know if he knows yet. (He doesn't read this blog, trust me.) The e-mail came to our family e-mail which only Rod and I check, and we had to forward it along to him. Luckily, all it says is, Your admission decision has been made, please proceed to such and such a web address and log on using such and such user name and password... Rod read it and told me that he had been declined admission, and we decided just to forward him the e-mail and let him see for himself because there's no good way to tell someone that, right? They should see it for themselves, and unfortunately, Rod had to see it before Daniel, but oh well. So, it is likely that Daniel will be going to Bryant, his second choice. I've gotta find out if they have an Accepted Student's Day so the whole family can maybe go check it out together. We went for a tour and info session back in the summer/fall, but it was just Daniel and me, so it would be good for everyone to go and for us to see it again and ask more questions.

2) Don't remember if I mentioned I applied and was accepted to Endicott College, the Van Loan School of Graduate and Professional Studies for their online Psychology degree. Well, I made the decision to transfer from Ashford to Endicott. I just finished up my last course at Ashford on Monday and will be starting my first class at Endicott in the near future. I'm excited! I decided because Endicott is closer to home, I have been to the campus twice (once when I applied after high school and once with Daniel since he applied, too... hasn't heard back yet) and I think it will look better on my resume.

On another note...

2011-03-16T23:52:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to add, after my last post... Things could be a lot worse, and despite recent ailments previously described, I am very thankful for what I have. The recent traumatic earthquake and tsunami in Japan are just devastating. It's all over the news and on everyone's minds these days, and it's just unbelievable. My thoughts and sympathies go out to all the Japanese people and loved ones of those affected.

Update on anxiety

2011-03-16T22:59:00.007-04:00

1) Thank you all who vibed/prayed for me regarding my anxiety! This episode has proved much less debilitating and difficult than the two in the past, so I am extremely thankful. I am doing much better. I have such a great support system and have many skills that I learned in the past to help me through.

2) This post is going to be a rant and explanation of what I have been through, so please skip or skim if you aren't interested or feel it is TMI. I just a) wanted a place to document it for my own records and b) wanted people who are struggling with similar issues to be able to use it as a reference and to know they are not alone, as this is one of the things I have found most helpful.

I will start at the beginning. Early February, my parents went to Cabo San Lucas (Mexico) for a week with my godparents. I noticed I was starting to feel a little anxious at night time without an obvious explanation. I started to think I may have some sort of adult separation anxiety and started researching it a little. It's something I think could be related to my being adopted as an infant, but that's something to discuss more in depth at another time. It wasn't too bad, and I was able to handle it.

Then, a few weeks ago, it started again a bit. I talked to my mom about it and felt that I could handle it. I could talk myself down from small panic attacks that usually happened when I was home alone at night. I practiced my deep breathing, meditating and remembering that my symptoms (racing heartbeat, nervousness) was just adrenaline and that it would have to pass and wouldn't kill me. It always passed within a few minutes (although it felt like hours).

It wasn't until recently when the anxiety began being accompanied by slight depression and more serious physical symptoms that I started feeling like I couldn't handle it as well. Specifically, I was having some fluttering in my chest (palpitations) that I was convinced were serious arrhythmias (after reading an e-mail about female heart attacks) and tightness in my chest (that I later decided was from exercising incorrectly, and from the anxiety itself).

In the past month or so, I have been exercising every day, which is a significant change in lifestyle, as I hadn't been exercising at all on a regular basis for the last seven years. I have been walking at least ten minutes a day and had recently (a few days before these symptoms) been using an exercise ball and doing some strenuous muscle exercises. I was also taking 100mg Zoloft, 500mg Metformin HCL (usually at least 1 daily - sometimes 2 - I am supposed to take 2 but forget often), Isagenix Omega fatty acids capsule (at least 1 daily), and Isagenix multivitamin once a day. I had also taken Provera for 10 days at the beginning of December to bring on a period, and then on March 1st and 2nd I took it, as I'm supposed to take it the first 10 days of every 3rd month. Because of having PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), I do not ovulate and do not get periods, so this is why I take Metformin and Provera. Anyway, I stopped after March 2nd because that was the day that I had the "major event" and decided Provera was not a good idea at the time. (I ended up having a period anyway after only taking it two of the ten days... hmm.)

So, on March 2nd, I was talking to my mom on the phone about how I had been having this tightness in my chest and fluttering, both when I was exercising and then once or twice when I was just sitting still, supposedly relaxed. I couldn't stop worrying about if something was really wrong with my heart. My mom assured me it was just my anxiety and that lots of people with anxiety disorders believe they are having heart attacks and end up in the ER with only symptoms of their anxiety. (She's a clinical social worker with a private practice doing psychotherapy.) After talking for a while, she recognized that I wouldn't feel much better until I got checked out by a medical doctor, so she offered for me to drive over to her house and we would go to the clinic nearby.

I had gone to that same clinic a couple months earlier when Daniel thought he'd broken his pinky playing basketball at the Y, and we were in and out really quick, so I assumed that even though we were going at 10 o'clock on a Wednesday night, we probably would make it home before 11 and maybe even beat my dad back from his meeting. (FYI, Rod was working that night, so I didn't ask him to help out with all this, which he later explained upset him because he wanted to be involved and needed.) Well, we ended up staying at the clinic until 1:30am... on my birthday... My wonderful mother was a good sport and very helpful to me.

After an EKG, hours of observation, blood tests and x-rays, it was determined that there was absolutely nothing immediately wrong with me and that it was probably just the anxiety and strain from exercising. They did offer to admit me to the hospital for further testing if I was still worried, but that it probably wasn't necessary. I said no thank you and we went home and went to sleep.

The next day, I went to work and shortly after I got there, could not control my emotions. I was all waterworks. I had called my psychiatric APRN to talk about doing something different with my Zoloft in case that was the problem (although it had always worked great for me), and she called me back at work and as soon as I heard her voice, I started hysterically crying. I had to go outside and my boss eventually came out of her appointment and got on the phone (her in the office, me in my car) and asked what was going on. I told her I'd be right in and she calmed me down and made me a cup of calming tea, which I only took one sip of because I don't like the taste of tea. I was able to continue working until about one o'clock when I had made an appointment to see my APRN. Rod came and ate lunch with me before that, which was sweet. It was partially because it was my birthday, and partially because he was worried about me and I wanted to see him. A drug rep brought my favorite Greek salad and some desserts, which I graciously shared with him because I didn't have much of an appetite (although more than previous episodes).

At my appointment with my APRN, we decided to switch me from Zoloft to Lexapro because it might have less of a weight gaining (or weight-loss-preventing) affect.* I have since titrated the Zoloft completely and have replaced the 100mg of Zoloft with 10mg of Lexapro and it seems to be working just as well. Only side effects with that were tiny headaches toward the end of the day, but they seem to be going away.

A couple days later, I had an appointment with my general practitioner who I really like; he's great. I also made an appointment with a psychotherapist here in town. I met her the other day, she's great, too. So far, so good. She's interested in the fact that I was adopted, as well. I've only had one session so far but have my next one on Monday. I was lucky to find a good one on the first try... in my experience, this doesn't always happen and you have to be picky.

I also had an appointment with my gynecologist to make sure there aren't any drug interactions with the things I'm on. I also talked about the Provera and told her I'd stopped it after the 2nd day this cycle because I was so over-emotional and felt either the Provera was causing this or that it was at the very least adding to it, and she agreed. She prescribed a different, related med for the next cycle which will be in June. Around that time I may actually decide to switch to Chlomid to make myself ovulate so we can start trying to get pregnant. :) But that depends on how things are going with me. I also talked to her about this, about my concerns that pregnancy will not be a good idea for me with anxiety and dependency and she explained that it could or it could not, you just never know. I also explained my concerns about not being on the Lipitor that my GP had prescribed to me and she took me off of because it's "devastating" to be on if you should become pregnant, and she said that even though my cholesterol levels have come up again now that I have been off of the Lipitor, that it won't be bad for me to not take it for a few years until I am done being pregnant. So that was good news.

My therapist also told me that in her experience, all women she's known with anxiety disorders who have become pregnant, have had no problem and actually have gotten BETTER during the time they were pregnant, maybe due to the hormones or due to the fact that their focus is elsewhere. This was good news.

Again, I sometimes wonder if it's selfish to become pregnant when I am thinking about myself and my issues, and also selfish to pass on my mental illness history to children, along with Rod's history of addiction (family members, not him). But in talking with my therapist, I realize that this shouldn't stop us from having babies, that everyone passes along something to their children and with our knowledge and experience, we can help and support our children should they ever face what we have been through. And Rod has never had a sip of alcohol (except in church communion) and can pass along his judgment to our children on this, too. It's not inevitable that our children will suffer from these struggles we might pass on.

* Speaking of weight, today is Wednesday, my weigh-in day, and unfortunately I have gained a pound this week! Better luck next week... gotta get back on track here. Trying to remind myself not to push myself too hard, though, because losing too much too fast will probably have adverse effects on my body and I definitely don't need that right now.

Did I mention I also have poison ivy now? The same night I went to the ER, Rod had an "exposure" to scabies, of all things. He was wrestling a kid and his mother, and the mother announced that she was pregnant and had scabies. We took all the general precautions and Rod got the cream and prevented as best he could, but of course when I woke up the other day with little bumps on my inner elbow, I was like, "You've got to be kidding me!" We went to the doctor who said it didn't look like scabies and probably wasn't because of how careful Rod was and we didn't even have contact with each other between the time he was exposed and the time he took a shower and put the cream on. But he prescribed me the cream, too, just as a precaution. Not fun. But now I definitely think it's poison ivy or poison something (oak or sumac) because it looks like it and it is spreading that way, and doesn't look like what scabies rashes generally look like (from what I've seen on the internet). Anyway, just lovely, huh?

"Happy birthday sweetie, here are some scabies to go along with your anxiety!"

Episode #3

2011-03-09T19:42:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted in a little while because I've been struggling *again* with this stupid anxiety disorder. I hate to use the word 'remission', but I suppose that's what I've been going through since a few years ago when Episode #2 subsided. This would be Episode #3, and - knock on wood - has not seemed quite as bad as Episodes #1 and 2. I don't really want to get into much of it now because I'm trying NOT to think about it more than I already have been, but I will write more about it later.

For now, I want to post something from an e-mail newsletter I got today regarding the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs in Ethiopia's intent to reduce the number of intercountry adoptions by 90%. If you want to sign the petition asking that the Ministry consider alternate options, please click here.

I don't exactly know how I feel about this, though. I would think they would only do this for good reasons. According to the e-mail I got, the two main reasons they are planning to reduce intercountry adoptions is because 1) There is a lot of corruption in intercountry adoption and 2) they want to focus their financial efforts on children and families in-country. This makes a lot of sense to me, and I do think that it is important to focus more on keeping children and families together and in their country of origin, and also to weed out the bad agencies and individuals who are putting a bad name and face on international adoption... BUT, at the same time, there are so so many orphans in institutions throughout the country, and on the streets, and this will leave them there and ultimately have horrible consequences on their lives. I mean, we'll see I guess... again, if this is a true consideration of the Ministry, they must have good reason to believe that this will be better for children and families than intercountry adoption... and hopefully they do whatever is best.

Either way, signing the petition can't hurt... all it means is that we are hoping they will look into other options to prevent corruption and to spread out the money more evenly because intercountry adoption really can be the best thing for many of these children, and stopping these adoptions by 90% is dramatic.

Anyway, read more about it if you wish. It shocked me, needless to say.

Awww!

2011-02-25T21:55:00.006-05:00

Yup. We'd make some pretty cute babies!

Belated weigh-in post

2011-02-25T21:17:00.002-05:00

Oops! I forgot to post on Wednesday when I weighed in again. 235 this week. Still moving very slowly, but still moving! I've been walking every day after work... very short walk but again, something. I've also been eating really, really well.

More next week... hoping to speed things along here but trying to be realistic, too.

Buying locally, organically

2011-02-22T00:15:00.003-05:00

I think I've probably talked about this in previous post(s), but I want to stress how strongly I feel about buying locally. Connecticut is so fortunate to have CT Farm Fresh Express.

CTFFE allows you to choose and order the food you want from their website, they pick it up from farms around the state, and deliver it to your door weekly. No membership or minimum fee required, and everything is made locally so energy costs are cut and we are supporting our local economy!

There are many other reasons, as well, which you can find on the "Why Local" section of their site.

One thing my friend Kaley has educated me on is Raw Milk. I know I must have mentioned this in the past because it's something I advocate for, but hardly ever talk to anyone about because it's not a widely accepted practice. Many people don't realize that raw milk is actually much better for you than pasteurized & homogenized milk, when from the right farm. See Real Milk site for answers to all questions and an endless source of information. I haven't bought pasteurized/homogenized milk since, except for a few times in a pinch when I needed to get it that second and even then, I bought Farmer's Cow (from Connecticut) at Stop & Shop.

I recommend everyone educate themselves -- obviously make the decision that is right for you and your family, and always question (and even visit) the farms you get your milk from to see how they treat their cows, how the cows are fed and what sanitary measures they take.

I also recommend everyone do a Google search for their own state's version of CTFFE. Even if you have to start one yourself or just shop the local farmer's markets for a while, it's worth the trouble when you'd rather just cross the street from your house and buy your groceries from your grocery store chain. You'll thank me later! :)

Endicott!

2011-02-17T23:07:00.003-05:00

When I was applying to colleges out of high school, I applied to 10 and got into 8. Endicott was one of the colleges I was accepted to, and was high on my list but decided to go to Eckerd instead. I went to visit Endicott with Daniel a few months ago (he applied also but doesn't really have much interest in going there, I don't think) and fell in love with it. Not only that, but I found out they have an online Psychology degree! So, I started thinking about transferring because Endicott feels better to me than Ashford. Ashford is fine... and I chose it because it has a physical campus as well as having online degrees... but, really, it is mainly known as an online university. Endicott is mainly known as a private campus college.

So, I applied, just to see if I could get in again. Tonight, my mom called me saying that there was a big packet from Endicott at their house addressed to me. Not sure why, since I'm sure I gave them my address, but obviously because I'd applied in the past they sent it to the address I lived at then.

Anyway, to the news... I GOT IN! I asked my mom to open it while we were on the phone together and she started reading the, "We are pleased to inform you..." (or something similar). Now, I'm trying not to get too excited because I don't know how many of my 80+ credits will transfer. If fewer than 70 transfer, I doubt I'll do it because I don't want to have wasted that money spent on those courses that won't transfer. So, crossing my fingers and we'll see!

It'd be nice to just go to Massachusetts for graduation instead of Clinton, Iowa. :p Rod will stay at Ashford, but he refuses to go participate in his graduation so I decided I'd just throw him a graduation party and get him a gown and hat when the time comes. But I'd like to go to my graduation, I think.

So, please send vibes that my credits transfer!!! I'd love to be an Endicott alum. :)

Ethiopian thoughts

2011-02-17T22:53:00.008-05:00

My birthday is coming up. When my mom asked me what I'd like to do for dinner on my birthday, I decided I'd like to try out one of the two Ethiopian restaurants (that I know of) here in Connecticut. Telling additional family members elicited different reactions, but I think everyone will enjoy it. Rod loves spicy foods, and everyone will get a kick out of eating with their hands. Pop Pop doesn't like spicy foods, but there are plenty of non-spicy options. In fact, there are options for everyone--meat, poultry, vegetarian and vegan. They even have lamb, which I know Pop Pop and Dan both adore. My parents are very adventurous and I think they will appreciate it the most out of everyone.

I am excited to try injera, and a little nervous about it being very sour... but still more excited than nervous.

Speaking of Ethiopia, I've been doing more and more reading, and it seems that more and more, adoptions from Ethiopia are getting a bad rap. There are talks about "trends" and "ethics" that bother me. Specifically the ethics, which I will get into in another post in the future because it's something I have MANY words about and many thoughts that change every day. It's not something that can be taken lightly and there will be one day where I feel like it can't be that bad, and then the next where I think there's no way to ever guarantee a 100% ethical adoption so why even risk it? It's something I'd have to put serious thought into and sit down and write it out so that I can fully understand my feelings.

As far as the "trends" topic... Now, come on. I can understand buying a purse you saw Lady Gaga sporting, but I can't understand adopting a child because Angelina Jolie/Madonna/Sandra Bullock did. Who cares? I mean, it's great for them that they brought children into their lives... but no one goes around thinking, "Well, I've GOT to adopt now that she did!" That's absurd and I don't believe it for one second.

I honestly don't remember where or when I first thought about international adoption. Honestly, what sticks out most in my mind is wanting to sponsor a child because of those ads on TV with the adult Americans hugging the frail, malnourished, teary-eyed children from developing countries with the melancholy music playing in the background. It broke my heart the same way the animal shelter ads do. And, again, I was adopted, and a few of my best friends when I was growing up were adopted from South Korea and Thailand. International adoption has always been part of my life.

There are countries all over the world that are in need. Ethiopia just happens to be the one that Rod and I are eligible to adopt from due to our ages and medical histories. That and the culture, people, food, and history all intrigue me.

So, until things change in that area, Ethiopia will be the country I am most interested in, along with the United States of course. But it is a moot point at this point until we are actually ready to adopt. I don't see it happening any time soon.

But, I am still looking forward to the Ethiopian restaurant in a couple weeks!

Getting there!

2011-02-17T10:20:00.002-05:00

237 lbs. at my weigh-in yesterday. Not quite as low as my goal, but getting there! We'll see if we can do any better this week. So far, we are 2 lbs. behind. I got a Victoria's Secret catalog yesterday and love some of the bathing suits and clothes in there, and I'm hoping I can wear some of them on our Bahamas trip... but who knows? I'm trying to be optimistic because it will get me farther, but I'm doubting with as big as I am now that I will be able to reach that goal by the Bahamas. I've been doing really well, though! The last 2 days I've walked the dogs up and down the street (not far/long, but better than nothing!) and have been eating much less and better than I had been. A lot of goldfish and navel oranges, but better than fast food and other fatty foods....and not nearly as MUCH, which is the key to my success I think.

In other news, Valentine's Day was nice. We had the family over the night before and I made pork tenderloin, green beans and wild rice and a salad, my mom brought chocolate cream pie (I gave half of my piece to my dad) and we played Scategories. It was a lot of fun.

My birthday is coming up soon! I've decided I want to go to one of the two local Ethiopian restaurants. Hopefully everyone will be brave and come along because I think they will all enjoy it. I'm looking forward to trying injera and eating with my hands and seeing what it's like!

Also debating getting my hair highlighted again like I used to. Kinda bored with my hair right now. I always say I am going to let it turn back to its natural color, but it never happens... and I think I looked best with blonde hair. Hmm.

Other than that, just school and work going on right now. Nothing too exciting!

Dreams of fostering

2011-02-12T15:34:00.002-05:00

Last night I had a vivid dream that Rod was becoming very interested in foster care. We were sitting in the living room and the phone rang. He answered the phone and it was a social worker in Connecticut offering to provide us some information on a little boy named Dawit (an Ethiopian name, not sure why the foster child here in the U.S. would have the name, but who knows? Probably because I was reading a Yahoo! groups post about a family with an Ethiopian adopted child with this name). He was about three or four and Rod was extremely interested in fostering him. I woke up to Rod coming home from work and getting into bed, and I had a sinking feeling you often get when you wake up from a dream you wish was reality. I didn't know I was that interested in foster care myself! I know it's what Rod would prefer if we can't conceive... at least, that's what he told me a couple of years ago, and his mind changes constantly.

We'll see.

WHFC Sponsorship

2011-02-12T14:57:00.006-05:00

Today we received a packet from Wide Horizons with information on the child and family we just started to sponsor this month. He is a 10-year-old boy living in Kebado, in the Sidama region of Ethiopia. We will call him "MB".

The way the program works is by a monthly fee of $35, families in Ethiopia are able to fulfill basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, medical care and education. They are also provided social work support like counseling.

The area of Ethiopia where MB lives is lush and fertile, but unfortunately, agricultural infrastructure is poor so only the wealthy are able to have large harvests. Many of the families that are sponsored by WHFC are encouraged to start small businesses such as "rearing livestock, owning small shops, mule transportation, honey bee hives, craft making, making and selling tea, and photography to name a few." (letter I received about the Family Empowerment Program)

Most of the families starting entrepreneurhip - like MB's family - have only completed the initial steps and need support and advice on how to save funds and handle the startup process. As of exactly a year ago, MB's family was receiving counseling and was starting to spend more money on daily consumption. The family has only saved up 80 Birr so far, which is less than $5 U.S.

MB's family's targeted business is bicycle rental, rearing animals, retailing local drink in their home, and their monthly income generated is 300 Birr, or just under $18 U.S. Their business was initiated in September of 2008. The challenges they have faced in the past was little or no customers, but they are fortunate enough to have their own house that they can use to run their business out of.

As of last year, the estimated time for the family to reach self-sufficiency was two years.

Both of MB's parents have died of chronic disease. He lives with his grandmother, aunt, cousins and siblings. Thankfully, he is in good physical condition and is currently healthy. He likes to play football and ride a bike. His daily activities include cleaning the house, looking after cattle and helping his family.

This information was sent to me in the packet from the past two years of sponsorship. They update annually. According to the 2009 update, MB's previous sponsors didn't correspond with him. Not cool!

I am going to write to him often, and hopefully visit him and his family one day!

I'm hoping another update will come shortly, since it has been a year since that last annual update.

If you are interested in child sponsorship or any other type of humanitarian aid, you should definitely check out Wide Horizons for Children. They are reputable and experienced and have some great programs, not just sponsorship and not just in Ethiopia. Check them out here.

Quitters!

2011-02-11T21:27:00.004-05:00

The same day I decided to take on this personal weight loss challenge, I found out that my father-in-law Dan has decided to quit smoking. He went to his doctor and his doctor told him that if he didn't quit right now, he was going to die. He has already had two heart attacks in the last 10 years, one of which was only a couple of months ago. At this appointment a couple days ago, the doctor asked if he was having any angina pains, to which he answered yes, slightly (although he told me he was fibbing, he was actually having worse pains than he admitted). So the doctor asked him how badly he wanted to live. And that did it, apparently.

I'm so excited for him! And proud. Now, he's tried to quit in the past... but, hey, I've tried to quit eating badly in the past too, and we both failed on our attempts, so maybe this time will be different. He did mention he wants to be around to see his grandkids. :) We really, really want that, too.

I have been doing pretty well the last couple of days. I shopped and got a bunch of healthy snacks, I've been eating oranges and goldfish -- which I realize isn't necessarily a super healthy snack, but it's better than McDonalds french fries or frozen pizza, that's for sure!

Today I ate some spaghetti and meatballs, which I really should cut back on. I didn't eat as much as I usually would have, but it was still too much. Again, I'm trying to aim for 1000-1500 calories a day, and I think today I was probably a little over that. I had a lot of carbs. BUT, again, it wasn't fast food or super fatty stuff.

The other thing I have yet to do is exercise. I haven't in the past two days and I really need to do that every day. Maybe I'll force myself tonight. It helps when I use my stepper and watch TV at the same time... that is, it helps me exercise for longer before I get totally bored and quit... it helps to distract myself and time goes by faster.

I'm hosting the whole family Sunday night for dinner (except Daniel who has to work and maybe Dan who said he might be too cranky from his nicotine withdrawal to have to come to dinner and be all jolly--we told him we didn't care and to re-think and come). It's kind of going to be a pre-Valentine's Day celebration dinner, I guess. I have to think of what to make! Something Valentine's Day themed, if possible...my mom's bringing dessert so that leaves me in a pickle with how to make a main course Valentine's-themed. We'll see!

Toward My Goal!

2011-02-09T14:57:00.015-05:00

Is it possible to lost 70 lbs. in 15 weeks? Well, we're about to find out! That's my goal, and I know all the experts would say that it wasn't a healthy one because you're not really supposed to lose more than 3 lbs. each week. Although, I am pretty overweight, so I don't know that it would be that bad to lose 5 lbs. a week or so. The challenge is whether or not I have the willpower to diet and exercise daily. Anyway, here's the idea:

Wednesday, February 9 -- 240
Wednesday, February 16 -- 235
Wednesday, February 23 -- 230
Wednesday, March 2 -- 225
Wednesday, March 9 -- 220
Wednesday, March 16 -- 215
Wednesday, March 23 -- 210
Wednesday, March 30 -- 205
Wednesday, April 6 -- 200
Wednesday, April 13 -- 195
Wednesday, April 20 -- 190
Wednesday, April 27 -- 185
Wednesday, May 4 -- 180
Wednesday, May 11 -- 175
Wednesday, May 18 -- 170
Wednesday, May 25 -- 165

May 25 is Rod's birthday. I'm not trying to give him a thinner wife for his birthday or anything, it was more of a coincidence that the dates turned up that way while I was writing out the schedule today.

I know 165 is still above the preferred BMI range for someone my height (5'6"), but it was the weight I was in my senior year in high school and first year in college when I looked like this (below), so I'm not going to complain! :)

One plus of many: As soon as I reach this goal, I will probably have a much better chance of my reproductive system correcting itself and achieving pregnancy--a safe and healthier one at that!

I'll need all the vibes and prayers I can get! I plan to walk/step at least a half an hour each day, eat between 1000-1500 calories a day and get plenty of sleep. My boss and I are also looking to start a Weight Watchers weekly meeting at our office.

I think I'm going to start a page up top for my weight loss progress and pictures, so stay tuned that way if you'd like!

Snowing...again.

2011-02-08T09:50:00.000-05:00

Yup.

Bahamas, here we come!

2011-02-07T14:47:00.000-05:00

Soon (within the next 6 months), we will be sitting in those chairs!

Our best friends (we'll call them Hailey and Warren) and we are going to be going to Sandals Royal Bahamian in the Bahamas. We just booked the vacation last week. We're all very excited, especially with the huge amounts of snow, ice and rain we've gotten recently... it will be a great change of scenery. :)

Source of all above pics: http://www.sandals.com
I would have slightly preferred a vacation with a little more culture and change from the typical, tropical vacations that are the only times I've ever been out of the country, but Hailey and Warren aren't big on vacations that aren't all-inclusive and Americanized. (Hailey's afraid of wildlife and crimes, and Warren's afraid of the outdoors, haha.) I had suggested Belize, which is both tropical AND cultural (Mayan ruins, etc.), but they didn't have any big resorts that were what we were looking for exactly. Hailey and Warren like the brand name of Sandals because they went to one in Jamaica for their honeymoon and they know what to expect. Rod wasn't complaining because all-inclusive means all you can eat - for one set price!

And, at the end of the day, we're not too picky - we just want to go on vacation with them. We can take plenty of cultural vacations in the future. Maybe in a couple years we can convince them to try Belize or Australia or something... that'd be the next step up, I think. ;)

Why International, not Domestic?

2011-02-07T14:29:00.000-05:00

No adoptive parent should have to justify their reasons for choosing one path over another, but I know that if we ever adopt and decide to go international, there will be people asking us (or to themselves) this very question.

This question seems to me to be patriotic in ways... like, citizens of a certain country have a duty to take in children of their own nationality rather than from abroad. This is logical in many ways, including the fact that it's always good for children to stay in their own culture when possible. Well, in the United States, children are always adopted domestically, so it's not like if we or anyone else was to adopt from another country, we would be thus shipping an American child off to another country in return. And, as I mentioned in my last post, Americans and Europeans are not "stealing" children from other countries. If they weren't adopting, the children would be orphans forever, as there simply are not enough (nor very many at all) in-country families able to adopt domestically for those children to stay in their own country.

For others there are many reasons to adopt domestically (less travel, younger infants, more complete records, etc.) but for us, the only real reasons I can see to adopt domestically would be 1) to avoid the racial challenges of raising a black child in a white home and community, which can be difficult for the child (but then again, domestic adoptions are placing mainly African-American and biracial infants as well, and a high percentage of adoptive parents are Caucasian), and 2) if the adoption is from foster care with older or special needs children who are not likely to be adopted before they "grow out" of the system. There is a great need for homes for these children, there's no doubt about it. This is a possibility for us, although we'd have to take into consideration how we would be as parents to older or special needs children and if we could provide for their needs. At least for our first child, I see that we would do best with a young baby. Although Rod has mentioned in the past that if we determine in the future that we are infertile, he would like to partake in foster care of older children. So, that is a possibility for sure.

Additionally, there are just so many things to think about as far as the needs in other countries. Here, there are fewer diseases, easier access to medical care, cleaner water, etc. It would be important to look into the institutionalization differences abroad and in the U.S. The needs are just so great overseas, especially, like I say, in Africa. Children here, although struggling and in need of loving families, have certain advantages and better opportunities than in other countries. Not great, but better for sure.

These are my reasons for African adoption being high on my list, higher at the moment than domestic. However, Rod may feel differently and I may change my mind... If and when we decide to adopt, these will be considerations.

Adoption vs. Humanitarian Aid

2011-02-07T13:37:00.000-05:00

To anyone who knows me, it's no surprise that I am immsensely interested in international adoption and humanitarian aid -- specifically in Africa -- even more specifically in Ethiopia. Many countries in Africa (and all over the world) are in desperate need, but Ethiopia just happens to be one that is most available for information and access through agencies in the United States at this time.

My obsession comes and goes... for a couple months I will be doing nothing in my spare time but reading websites, blogs and books... then for the next few months I will stop thinking about it as much.

The past couple of weeks have been some of those where I am totally engrossed in research. I love to think ahead and in the case that we do adopt someday -- which is about 75% likely, Ethiopia is at the top of my list. There are certain doubts and concerns I have, and I know Rod will have some of his own, but I could go on and on and on with the reasons TO adopt from Ethiopia that take precedence over the doubts. There are other countries I have been seriously interested in, like Ukraine where there are children living on the streets and a high percentage of them become prostitutes and/or join a life of crime and/or commit suicide by early adulthood, not to mention that my dad's family was from the Ukraine.

But, still, Ethiopia seems to resurface every time.

Regardless of whether adoption is an option, humanitarian aid is necessary. Humanitarian aid is a way to make an impact that is always available. It is my personal opinion that everyone who lives comfortably should at least do a little, whatever they can, to help others around the world who don't have a choice but live in poverty, disease and have limited to no access to health care, clean water, etc. I will post more information about Ethiopia in the coming posts so that it's not all in one post, but you should check out some of these resources in the meantime... (I am also going to start putting my fave links on the side of this blog)

AHOPE for Children
Wide Horizons for Children Humanitarian Aid
WHFC Blog
Gladney Humanitarian Aid

(There are SO many others, but these are just a few that are my fave at the moment.)

Yesterday I initiated a child sponsorship with Wide Horizons for Children, an adoption agency that also does lots of humanitarian work in several countries, including Ethiopia. We will have correspondence with a child or family, probably in the Tigray region or the capital city (Addis Ababa) of Ethiopia, and we will be contributing monthly to WHFC's projects in the areas. They are in dire need of medical facilities and schools, specifically.

We used to sponsor children through World Vision, which is a nice establishment as well, but I feel much more comfortable with WHFC. World Vision just gives me a weird vibe and I am not entirely positive of how the money is spent. Also, WHFC provides many options and is also a resource for adoption if and when that day comes, and they have offices right here in Connecticut. All of those are huge pluses for me. Plus, they've been around since the 70s and have a terrific reputation.

Gladney is a great agency, as well, along with CHSFS, WACAP and Adoption Advocates. From what I hear, it's best to stay farrr away from Christian World Adoption. Check out this and this for more info.

Here are some reasons to participate in humanitarian aid in Ethiopia:

Ethiopia is listed in the top 10 countries for the world human development index worldwide
5 million, or 16% of all children in Ethiopia are orphans
1 in every 13 children dies before his/her first birthday
1 in 14 women will die from complications during pregnancy or childbirth
More than 1/3 of children under age 5 are malnourished
4 out of 5 families live on less than $2 a day
In rural areas, fewer than 1 in 3 families has access to a clean water source

(Source: http://www.whfc.org/WHFFC/projects/ethiopia.asp)

International adoption should be a country's LAST RESORT for its children in need. Humanitarian aid is necessary and support the countries and projects that will help citizens have the resources and health to raise their children so that fewer and fewer will need to be relinquished. It's always best to keep families together, whether with a birth parent or extended family members or even other individuals in the country. Unfortunately, this just isn't possible for many of these families and children, so until things change, international adoption is a great way for children to have families and families to have children.

I will address the main concerns and challenges of adopting internationally, specifically transracially and transculturally, in later posts.

Annie and Rod Capps

2011-02-05T14:28:00.001-05:00

Wow, so who knew there was a musical couple named Annie and Rod Capps? How funny!

http://www.maynardmusic.com/bio.html

SNOW! And more SNOW!

2011-02-02T21:40:00.001-05:00

So back in November I posted about how I'm glad we don't live in California.

I think I spoke too soon. You would not believe how much snow we have gotten so far this winter! I think I've been to work one day in the last few weeks. We've had four feet of snow and today, we had several inches of ICE from rain and sleet. It's been terrible. I think it is just now starting to subside... knock on wood...

Anyway, I thought that was funny because the other day I jokingly mentioned we should just move to California. Oops!

I love the snow, I always have... it's just a pain to shovel, plow, slip, drive on ice, and worry about icicles falling from the roof onto your head when you walk out the front door... eek!

Our driveway:

Driving into work:

Holding off

2011-02-01T14:24:00.001-05:00

Today marks the day we agreed to "officially" start trying to expand our family. I don't think I'm quite ready. It's hard to believe I'm typing these words...

Am I ready to be a mom? Heck yeah! I've been ready since I was ten years old, it feels like. Am I ready physically? Nope. I'm still very much overweight, and Rod keeps telling me this doesn't matter because obese women give birth all the time and everything's fine. But it's not fine. It creates risks for both mother and baby, and I want to be healthy so I grow a healthy baby and can deliver him or her safely and as easily as possible.

Not only that, but my reproductive system still isn't working. I've been on these new drugs for a couple months now - the Provera and Metformin. The Provera I took the first 10 days of December and had a period, and then had another period in January without taking the Provera (you're only supposed to take it every 3 months to bring on a period). I was excited at first thinking, maybe the one cycle of Provera did it - maybe it jump-started my cycles back to normal! But alas, I haven't gotten a period since. I keep forgetting to take the Metformin. It's not like the Zoloft where if I don't take it, within 6-12 hours later I have a terrible, "dizzy" headache. I can't tell a difference whether I take the Metformin or not. It's supposed to help with insulin resistance, which is probably from my obesity and causes the offset of my menstrual cycles.

I have a few more months before I go back to the OB/GYN. I'm going to exercise and diet until then (I hope), try to get on a better schedule with the Metformin and if I don't ovulate between now and my appointment, I will talk to her about other options (Clomid, probably) and probably get an SA for Rod just to be sure there's no problem there.

To be honest, I want to adopt. This is not to say that I don't want to have biological children, too. I would love to grow a person inside me and experience pregnancy, and bring something into the world that is genetically the love of my life and me combined. But it's not as important to me as just having a family and raising a child, and there are so many children that are in need around the world already. Why not bring one of them into our family? Unfortunately, Rod doesn't share this same desire. Although he agrees to adopt in the future, he wants to try biologically first.

His main reason for the order of biological first, adoption second? He's afraid of being a bad dad. He's afraid he won't do it right, and that with a biological child, he feels more comfortable with the chance of messing it up than with a child that we adopted. He has a hard time explaining it better than that. I try to reassure him that I married him because I know he's going to be a great dad. I see it in him. He's a different person than his dad. He's not going to disappear, he's going to be a big part of his childrens' lives, forever, no matter what. We have a different family, and he is a mature, responsible and loving man. But I suppose what he's feeling is normal.

With Clomid, if I am remembering correctly, you can only take it for 6 months, no longer. After that, it's either more serious interventions or letting God and patience control whether we ever get pregnant, and begin expanding our family with adoption. We are both happy with this scenario and waiting until that step presents itself to make the decision.

Rod hates that I think ahead like this and seem pessimistic. But I know my body and I know nothing is happening, and it's been two and a half years since we stopped 'preventing'. In other words, we haven't been trying, but if I was working correctly, I would most likely have gotten pregnant already. I also know from others I am close to who have been through infertility, so I am familiar with how the process typically works. So, I like to think that I am prepared.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T14:59:00.001-05:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

So, a few updates...

The other night, Rod and Daniel went to a Patriots-Colts game. I had bought them tickets maybe 6 months ago and the game was on the Sunday the 21st. They left at 12pm and the game was supposed to start at 4:15pm. They called me at 2pm to say that they'd just gotten to the stadium and realized they forgot the tickets! So, I had to drive ALL the way to Foxboro and got there about five minutes before the game started. It was either that or they drove home and missed the game altogether, or they went in and tried to buy tickets and then the $500 I spent on the original tickets would be for nothing.

Right now I'm sitting here doing this because I'm waiting for my clothes to dry. I put them in at least an hour ago to wash and did a "quick wash" which, according to our washer, is 33 minutes, but really it's about 45. Then I put them in the dryer and checked them a minute ago and they're still wet. I was supposed to be at my parents' house right now. They said between 3 and 3:30, and it's exactly 3 right now. So, hopefully I can leave soon! Because I'm going Black Friday shopping with my friend H tonight, I have to leave my parents' house at 8:30. So it's not like I'll be there very long anyway.

Rod's grandfather was in the hospital for a hip replacement about a week ago and he's doing great. The surgery went very smoothly and his recovery was just as smooth. He'd been in a nursing home type facility for the last few days and today Daniel picked him up and is bringing him to his house and then to my parents' house.

Last night, I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready and I heard Rod get on the phone with someone. By his tone of voice, I figured it must be his brother. All I could tell was they were discussing what was going on for Thanksgiving, and I suddenly felt the need to run in there and tell him something about what to wear over to my parents' house... I grabbed the phone and said:

"Hey, love muffin!" (I thought this would make him laugh.)

Well, it would have been nice... IF IT HAD BEEN HIM ON THE PHONE. I heard chuckling on the other end - it was Rod's grandfather.

Luckily, he's an understanding guy. But I felt like a weirdo for a few hours.

Anyway, we'll be taking lots of pictures tonight, hopefully. If my clothes ever dry so I can leave.

My memories of Gran

2010-11-19T22:35:00.001-05:00

About holidays and happenings:

* The boys watching football in the library
* The smells of Gran's house
* Jenga
* Friends/neighbors just walking in the front door any time
* Climbing onto the shed roof
* Aunt Irene's purple dessert
* The little fort against the side fence with the table and chairs
* The sandbox
* The branch on the tree out front
* The fort under the front closet
* The piano
* The typewriter
* Watching movies/tv in the library
* Sitting at the kitchen counter eating egg salad/tuna fish and tomato soup
* Elise and other fancy dolls
* The attic...looking at all our parents' old stuff
* Place cards
* Candle snuffing
* Pictures on the fridge
* Pictures on the kitchen island (specifically one of Ruth I remember...and the 4 sisters in the pool)
* Electric blankets
* Goat farm
* Picking up sticks around the yard and putting them in the pile next to the big tree in front
* Playing Barbies on the upstairs twin beds and in the front stairway/landing
* Cranberry juice/ginger ale in the kitchen pantry
* The small space between the dining room table and the breakfront
* Drawing pictures at the kitchen table
* Dad's funny stories at the table
* Sunken gray couch in the kitchen
* Pool down the street with the stone patio
* Library to sort books for the book fair
* Sitting in lawn hairs on the side of the house with Gran and everyone walking by and talking to us
* Riding bikes on the sidewalks along Fair/Broad Street and the one part of the sidewalk with the roots that you'd have jump over
* Lucy Ferrar's dogs
* Gran's scalloped potatoes
* Aunt Con's chocolate cream pie
* Sitting around the fire, talking
* The coffee table in the living room with the wings
* Trivial Pursuit
* The metal toy with the ball you had to get from one end to the other without it falling through
* Holding hands, grace, "ah people" instead of "amen" and kissing around the table
* Walking on the green - specifically the big statue(s)
* Fonicellos
* Casual clothing until dinner, then change into fancy
* "Repairing" old bikes in the garage (scraping off rust)
* Jungle green Subaru station wagon
* Stony Creek market
* Small grocery store on the green
* Yoga mats and ironing boards in upstairs landing
* Strange orange and black painting with man riding horse? something like that
* BLTs
* Frayed oriental rugs in living room, worn out from the footsteps of so many people I love!
* Referencing a dictionary at least once per meal
* Putting electric candles in every window at holiday time
* Driving around looking at Christmas lights
* Wondering who the people were who lived in the big fancy house on other side of fence
* Big tree out from with walnuts all over ground
* White picket fence
* Worrying about falling backwards on the steep stairway
* Falling asleep listening to the cars going by on Fair/Broad Street and the lights from them on the walls
* The doll house
* Old fashioned Barbies
* Opera music

More specifically about Gran herself:

* How her feet arched so far upward in the middle
* How she always scolded me whenever she suspected I wasn't being 100% respectful to my mother
* How she was SO strong and independent
* How, at 83 years old, she would stand on a chair and replace lightbulbs in the kitchen by prying open the light covers with a KNIFE...and would insist on this until someone practically yelled at her to get down
* How she volunteered to help with so many things around town from church sales to book sales to other library things to repairing and cleaning up an ancient red house (all into the last couple of years of her life
* Memories of going to the library to help her volunteer with calling people whose books were in
* Sam
* So many dinners with both her and my dad's parents at my parents' house
* Our trip out west and "Vortex"
* "Dran"
* Going to the Taste Bud (is that the name of it?)
* Going to the thrift/consignment shop next to Taste Bud (or whatever the name is)
* Buying mini brussel sprouts for me after I told her how much I loved them
* Buying me a strawberry rhubarb pie after I told her how much I loved it
* How she took me to a farm that happened to have chickens and eggs, and I subtly implied that I'd love to take home an egg - little did she know, I wanted the egg so I could try and hatch it (I really thought I could), and I went into Aunt Sarah's bedroom and held it under the lamp and rubbed it to keep it warm and she was supportive of this clueless attempt but also warned me it might not happen
* Letting me read through and even keep some of the things I found in the drawers I organized for her - from newspaper clippings from her school days to love letters, etc.
* Her writing! Especially one particular play about a woman whose husband was away at war
* Bathing cap she wore while swimming
* How everyone in Guilford knew her so well and raved about how wonderful she was
* Her voice, I still remember it
* Her love for pets, no matter how crazy they were (like Toby, she always wanted my mom to bring Toby over, even though he's nuts)
* How she got scammed by those chimney cleaners because she's so kind
* "Arsom Grissom"
* Song paradies and endless poems
* Red snowflake candle holders I got for her that she thought were truly amazing (or so she said) but were truly very tacky :)

Last but not least... how much my mom is just like her, and how I am more and more like them both every day...

(I will most likely continually update this list)

Red cardinal & memories

2010-11-18T21:22:00.000-05:00

Today is Gran's birthday.

This morning, when I got into work, my boss said to me, "Oh, you wouldn't believe it- this morning, I saw the most beautiful red cardinal right out in back of the office. I grabbed my camera, but by the time I was able to get the flash working, it had flown away. It was a really magnificent one, too."

What does this have to do with my grandmother? She LOVED birds and when she passed away, my mom and Aunt Sarah were sitting in Gran's kitchen silently, staring out the window Gran used to watch birds from, and out of nowhere, a gust of wind whizzed by and with it flew a red cardinal. They took it as a sign of her spirit departing.

It was just really neat that there was a red cardinal "experience" this morning (even though I missed it, it still presented itself to me in the form of my boss telling me about it) on her birthday.

Because it's the holidays - specifically Thanksgiving time - along with her birthday, my family and I have been doing lots of reminiscing about Gran, her house and the holidays we all spent together while she was alive. My cousin Ben sent us all a sweet e-mail yesterday:

"Dear family,

With the holiday season nearly upon us, I am reminded of the Thanksgivings past. I have so many vivid memories of this particular holiday at Gran's house and I wanted to share them with you all. I hope that you do not find sadness in this, but rather take joy in remembering the many traditions and moments that we have shared together. As Elizabeth and I begin a new journey of family holidays and tradition, I am honored to be carrying forward this uniquely Mermann history.

Here they are, in no particular order. It will become apparent that many of these are from when I was a kid. Feel free to share your own memories if you like, and forward this on to anyone you like.

Assembling a cornucopia with old, wrinkly fruit
Putting leaves in the table
Lugging in fire wood
Making fire and standing on the hearth for hours
Old, strange people at the table
Seat assignments and place cards
Setting the table
"Ah-people"
Wearing nice clothes
Commotion
Peas
Ice cream
Candle snuffing
Bob's breakfast with no kid friendly food and other old, strange people
Watching the parade and football in a cold library
Perusing magical Christmas catalogs that only Gran received
After dinner discussion and couch time - perhaps the best part?

Love to all
Ben"

It made me smile, for sure. I called my mom shortly afterward and we talked a bit about our memories. Later, I sent this e-mail (copied to everyone):

"Ben-
Thank you so much for this! I just spent the last 1/2 hour writing down a lot of my general memories of Gran/6 Fair Street. I don't know if I have many other Thanksgiving-specific memories than the ones you mentioned (most of which resonate with me as well), they sort of blend in a lot with my other memories of Gran/the house... see below for my unorganized/incomplete list if you're interested... I'm sure many of them you can relate to. :)
Love,
Annie"

(I'm going to make my memories of Gran and her house my next post so that it's its own separate thing, and I'll probably add to it again and again in the future as I think of things and want to remember them. To those who aren't part of our family, they probably won't make any sense, so it's more for my own record-keeping!)

I have received e-mails from other family members. Aunt Sarah responded with:

"Dear Ben and Annie,

Thanks so much for these memories. Not only is Thanksgiving upon us, but with tomorrow being Gran's birthday, you've evoked many wonderful things. Made us laugh, too.

Love,
Sarah"

From Uncle Willie:

"Ben and Annie- love this- now here are some additions from the parent perspective

Cooler full of Rolling Rock on the back steps and always some excuse to crack one @ noon
taking out a wasp nest from my car after it stung many of the children
checking the batteries in the smoke detectors I installed for Gran
the back room woodstove ALWAYS smoking
scratchy volume control on the back room stereo
Crab cakes and ham @ Bob's- yummy adult food
Round of golf day after t-giving with uncle steve that included scrambled eggs before with of course turkey in them
shoot the moon game
skittles game that included mens tournaments that included beers
cleaning up after thanksgiving which included Sandy and I "picking" at the turkey in the kitchen
raking tons of leaves
gran always finding a pool for us to swim in somewhere in Guilford
stay tuned for more- much love uncle wiggly( ha,ha)-"

From Rachel:

"What wonderful memories to share and keep the spirit of Gran and 6 Fair Street alive. Here are some that came to mind for me (aside from many of those previously mentioned).

Love to all,
Rach

Standing over the heat vent in the living room
Eating breakfast with Gran in the kitchen by the window
Trying to find a place to put your chair on the uneven patio
The rug near the porch door that was liable to kill someone
Visiting the yacht club (rocks, picnics, the piano, ice cream sandwiches)
The tiny rocking chair in the back room [We now have this in our guest ("family") room]
Playing the out of tune piano (singing, poor lighting)
The ottoman in the library
Lighting the candelabra over the back room table
Decorating tiny Christmas trees (and the Santa on the top)
Cocktail napkins & coasters in the living room
Toasts at dinner
Crab apples
Accompanying Gran to the late service at church on Christmas Eve
Hors d'eourves
Fighting over who would clean up after dinner
Gran's hair appointments"

Glad I don't live in California..

2010-11-17T13:38:00.000-05:00

According to Forbes.com, 7 out of 10 of the dirtiest cities in America are in California! Ranked from least to most dirty, here are the top 10:

1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, California/Nevada
3. Modesto, California
4. Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, Alabama
5. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona
6. Hanford-Concoran, California
7. Visalia-Porterville, California
8. Fresno-Madera, California
9. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, California
10. Bakersfield, California

These are ranked due to the worst particle pollution and ozone pollution. Yuck!

Raising a teenager

2010-11-15T15:43:00.000-05:00

It's tough. I'm only 24 and I'm raising an almost-18-year-old. He lives with his step-dad but Rod's his guardian. Unfortunately, neither Dan nor Rod want anything to do with disciplining. Dan's not sure how and just wants to remain on Daniel's good side and be buddies, and Rod feels as long as Daniel's not flunking out of school or doing drugs, nothing else matters.

He gets a speeding ticket... no punishment. He ignores his chores... no punishment. He stays up all hours playing video games and neglecting homework... no punishment. Somehow, because the high school's curriculum is what it is, he's able to do all of his schoolwork in study hall and in class and after school.

He is a terrific kid, so it's hard to be mad at him. He does all the right things, mostly. He plays sports, he gets good grades. He's applying to colleges (with my help). But certain things are just not okay.

I remember when I met him, he couldn't lie. He'd look you in the eyes and start smiling. Now, he's lying without flinching and making it so believable. I've caught him on a lot of these lies recently.

I know I should be thankful he's doing as well as he is. He's polite, he's kind, he has good friends (I think) and stays out of *big* trouble. But I want him to have more structure and discipline, and yet I'm not in much of a place to give him this because 1) I don't live with him and 2) I have no legal authority over him, only his brother does (although I'm his wife... how confusing is that logic?).

Tonight we're celebrating Dan's birthday, which Dan is completely and utterly depressed about. (He is a week younger than my mom, whose birthday we celebrated last week.) Dan doesn't like to celebrate his birthday because it reminds him that he hasn't accomplished all that he could have in his life so far; which is totally absurd as he has a loving family and is very talented in his career - see this post. I just got off the phone with him and he's not thrilled about going out tonight.

We're meeting at Rod's grandfather's house for gifts before going to a hibachi for dinner. I think he'll like his gifts. We got him a puzzle with pictures of Sharon and the family, and then some ceramic knives he'd mentioned he wanted.

Hopefully we can have fun tonight and urge him out of his funk.

Then I have to come home tonight and write an 8 page paper I haven't really started. :)

Veterans Day

2010-11-12T00:21:00.000-05:00

Deepest thanks to all of our veterans.

Happy Veteran's Day, everyone!

I Write Like...

2010-11-04T18:44:00.001-04:00

Apparently...

I write like
Kurt Vonnegut

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

Someone told me about this site that analyzes your writing style instantly and tells you who you write like. I don't know how accurate or reliable it is, but decided to try it anyway. I copied and pasted a paragraph from the story I posted in a previous post, and got these results!

Famous Chef Dan!

2010-11-01T14:32:00.000-04:00

Something exciting happened recently.

My father-in-law, Dan, is the head chef at an old farm that was turned into a beautiful banquet hall that does weddings and other events. A wedding that was scheduled back in September was for a couple who had signed up to be in an episode of the show "Four Weddings" on TLC. The show is about four different brides who each go to each others' weddings and rate them on 1) overall experience, 2) wedding gown, 3) venue and 4) food.

So, of course, Dan was having a conniption because he knew he was responsible for the food ratings for this wedding. He stressed about it for several weeks until the wedding took place, and then we had to wait another month before the episode aired on TV to find out the results (the owner of Dan's facility was the only person who knew beforehand if they won or not).

And... THEY DID WIN!

Not only did they win, they won mainly because of the FOOD! It was awesome. We all watched the episode (twice) and of course we weren't surprised - we know how amazing Dan's food is.

Here's an article from a local newspaper about it:

Wedding gets national audience
Pair compete for free trip on TLC show
By Emily Groves, Norwich Bulletin
Posted Oct 20, 2010

New and helpful OB/GYN

2010-10-28T19:32:00.000-04:00

A while ago, I had a bad experience with a new gynecologist. She was rude about my weight (not in a helpful way), practically threatened that I get back on BC, and had no interest in discussing how to resolve my apparent anovulation until we were "officially" trying to conceive. I never went back.

Even my general practitioner was more helpful. He ordered and ultrasound and sent me for minimal blood work, which was all "unremarkable". Of course, I still needed an OB/GYN specifically to help me more. Even though Rod and I aren't actively "trying," we're not "trying not to" and have not been preventing pregnancy for the last 2 years, with no pregnancies resulting.

Then, my mom went to her GYN who, remembering I'd gotten married two years ago, asked if my mom was expecting any grandbabies. My mom told her no and that she was concerned we'd have trouble conceiving because I don't ever have periods, and have always been irregular in the past. Her GYN said, "Oh, we can help her with that, no problem!" So, she was able to get me in!

I had my first appointment today, and already I feel hopeful. The doctor was much more helpful, is sending me for more specific blood work (prolactin, HCG, glucose, testosterone, a bunch of other things I don't remember), requesting previous records and even started discussing options with me for the future, describing the steps we should take in my specific situation.

I'm so thrilled!

I know we're still not "officially" trying yet, but doesn't it make good sense to know what's going on and have it resolved sooner than later so that we don't have to wait longer when we're actively pursuing a pregnancy? We would be more than happy to get pregnant now, but we're not going to put all our energy into trying hard until we're close to finishing school, several months from now.

Anyway, just wanted to give a little background because I am sure this will be a topic I will updating about in the near future. Wish us luck!

Maybe I should write more often

2010-10-14T19:10:00.000-04:00

I received a letter today that read:

"Dear Anne Constance, It is my pleasure to tell you that your entry, Tradition and Family, has been awarded 14th place in Inspirational Writing category of the 79th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition. You will receive your Certificate of Achievement which honors your accomplishment in the near future. Finishing among the top 100 entries is an accomplishment you can be proud of. Your success in the face of such formidable competition speaks highly of your writing talent, and should be a source of great pride as you continue in your writing career. All 1,001 winners will be listed at www.writersdigest.com after the December issue is published."

I am overly excited! Here's the story for those who are interested (I can't seem to fix the formatting to make paragraphs...oh well):

Tradition and Family

You should know that I don't often find myself at a loss for words.
Until recently, I considered myself full of answers and endless insight; an open book just waiting to be picked up and read. Little did I know, I still had plenty to learn before understanding the moral of my own story.
This year was the first year I spent Thanksgiving in a restaurant and not in my Aunt Linda's dining room. My cousin, Pete, had come down with a rotten case of influenza and my parents had been offered a deal on airplane tickets to Egypt that nothing -- not even breaking a twenty-five year tradition -- could stop them from accepting.
In the end, Aunt Linda canceled dinner.
I slumped down onto a bar stool at Rita's Tavern that holiday evening and, choking down dry stuffing and canned cranberry jelly, got to discussing tradition with some of the other folks.
Joel came to Rita's every year to avoid his roommate's heavy drinking. Luiz was from Brazil and didn't celebrate Thanksgiving, and Jackie didn't understand why the holiday was such a big deal in the first place.
The three of them could see that I was in a funk. Explaining that I normally enjoyed Thanksgiving at a family gathering led to a question by Luiz that completely threw me off guard:
"So, you come from a traditional family, then?"
Let's start with 'come from.' Maybe others are able to say with confidence that they 'come from' their mother's womb, a province in Italy, or God's creation, for example. I, myself, sat struggling with how I 'came from' anything or anyone in particular. Should I focus on the physical aspects of my coming into being, or describe the wishes and hopes in my parents' hearts that helped place me into their lives?
What about the word 'traditional?' What is a 'traditional family', anyhow? If I had to guess, I would assume that it means a mom, dad and children; the parents were married before they got pregnant, and both children shared their DNA.
If that was the case, could I just answer that no, I didn't 'come from' a 'traditional family?' Would I have to explain how I didn't 'come from' a 'traditional family'?
Would I have to describe all three of them: Gina, the woman who created me in her body; and Karen and Deirdre, the two women who created me in their hearts? If I left out any one of them, my story wouldn't be complete.
I supposed I could start by describing how Gina shared my blood but ironically, looks nothing like me. She has olive skin; large brown eyes and lots of thick, dark brown -- almost black -- hair. She had an Italian mother whose parents came from Sicily just before the turn of the century. Her father was a mixture of many European heritages including English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish.
At the same time, everyone says I look just like Karen and Deirdre, who have fair complexions and light hair and eyes. The difference is in our figures. Karen and Deirdre are both slim and athletic; I have always been hefty and sluggish.
When Gina was twenty-five years old, she and her boyfriend of eight years, Sam, discovered she was pregnant. Gina was an independent, career-minded woman who had no intention of every marrying Sam. She decided to put the baby up for adoption through a local adoption agency.
This devastated my biological father, who ultimately moved to Louisiana in an attempt to escape the emotional turmoil.
Meanwhile, only thirty minutes away, two women had been in love for ten years and were desperately wishing to start a family. They were unable to get married let alone conceive children, so their options were scarce. They had been working with a local adoption agency for four years with no luck.
No expectant mother wanted to place her child with two women; an non-traditional couple.
That is, no expectant mother until Gina. Karen and Deirdre were just who she was looking for to raise me, and I have to say that was the best choice she ever made.
Scanning the bright, eager, waiting faces around the table, I could tell they were all curious as to the intricate processes occurring in my mind at that moment. I decided I should answer.
"Traditional family? Nah," I finally eased out in response. "Loving family that cherishes each other and their traditions? Yes."

Obviously, this is only based on a true story. A lot of the facts and descriptions were altered for various reasons.

I think I should start writing more. I decided, when I won a place in a writingroom.com competition and got my "Skipping Stone" story published in one of their anthologies, that I would then try for a Writer's Digest competition, and then try to get something small published.

So, maybe I should try for an article in a newspaper or magazine now. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Success as a substitute parent

2010-10-06T23:47:00.000-04:00

From: Daniel
ik ur driving right now but i want to thank u, whenever im having trouble being hheard or understood u always seem to be the only one i can turn to. love.
Oct 6, 5:20 pm

Casino fireworks

2010-08-27T10:59:00.000-04:00

AWESOME fireworks at the casino last night (with even awesomer friends).

Good husbands

2010-08-17T20:57:00.000-04:00

Long day at work... so the sweet husband of mine is making dinner. So exciting! :)

Refinancing

2010-08-16T10:54:00.000-04:00

Refinancing the mortgage... yay for being true homeowners by the time we're 40! :)

Our original mortgage is 30 years, with around a 6.5% interest rate. The one we're applying for now is a 15 year with around a 3% interest rate! Basically, we're going to save thousands and thousands of dollars in the long run, with almost the same monthly payment.

Dreaming of Africa...

2010-08-15T22:54:00.000-04:00

I can't explain it... I just want to go to Africa!

My green thumb

2010-08-15T19:47:00.000-04:00

Some recent pictures of my plants 'n things. My Aunt Con came over one day and brought some plants from her gardens (she lives in upstate NY on a beautiful farm).

Insurance woes

2010-08-04T14:52:00.000-04:00

Why don't BCBSMA and Express Scripts communicate with one another?! If you hire an outside company to do your work for you, at least be on the same page, right? How many times will Express Scripts tell me they don't have a record of our patients' prior auth, and BCBSMA say they do? And then no one calls me back? Now I see why we don't take insurance... UGH!

"Australia"

2010-08-04T12:53:00.000-04:00

We watched Australia last night. It is quite possibly my favorite movie now...

2 Years Today!

2010-08-02T19:43:00.000-04:00

Happy 2 Year Anniversary to us! ♥

Engagement party in VT

2010-08-02T11:06:00.000-04:00

My cousin Rachel is getting married! This past weekend we went to her and her fiance's new house in Vermont for their engagement party. It's such a gorgeous house and town, and it was so nice to see all the extended family on my mom's side!

(Click on a picture to view it larger.)

Fresh veggies

2010-07-26T22:35:00.000-04:00

Mmm...fresh grown veggies! Thanks to Jim & Cheryl!

One of the herd

2010-07-19T22:27:00.000-04:00

Today we went to the Southwick Zoo in Massachusetts with our friends H and W and their kids. Here's Roddy feeding the deer, and Rod and W together on the ride that takes you on an aerial tour of the zoo.

Castle repelling

2010-07-17T13:03:00.000-04:00

Little D is in Wales today. Guess he's done repelling down castles in Scotland! We're here babysitting R, transferring our butterfly tree because it's in the way of where our new CENTRAL AIR is going... hooray... visiting Grandma and Grandpa and then making dinner for mom tonight! School work? Ehh, it can wait.

Chef Annie

2010-07-16T02:01:00.000-04:00

My first Rachael Ray 30-minute meal :) pomegranate/vinegar chicken with arugala and fig salad and pancetta hash....OH, and homemade, freshly squeezed lemon and EVOO salad dressing! mmm...I am really a housewife now! ;)

Grace Elisabeth

2010-07-15T22:42:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the outside world (finally!) Grace Elisabeth! Congratulations Kaley & Billy and big brother Noah! :)

France & Maui

2010-07-14T10:41:00.000-04:00

Danie's in France... Dad's in Maui... we're in Connecticut... hmm, what's wrong with this picture? :)

Bound for Europe

2010-07-12T10:40:00.000-04:00

Little D leaves for Europe with People to People tomorrow... very jealous... and a little nervous.

Spring cleaning or...

2010-07-11T02:44:00.000-04:00

...summer rearranging? Here's the before shot:

After:

and later, making a nice dinner :)

Hot tub is working!

2010-07-10T22:45:00.000-04:00

We now have electricity in the hot tub! Woot woot!

By the way, we're not using chlorine or bromine. We're using a special, natural chemical that we buy from the same pool/spa store we would if we were using chlorine. It's a substance similar to peroxide that is odor-free, safer to swallow and be on your skin, and it's so natural you can even water your flowers with the water from the tub. I highly recommend this option, as it is just as effective as a harsh chemical to keep the water clean.

The fuzzballs

2010-07-10T20:13:00.000-04:00

Some pictures of our cutie-pies from recently. :)

Dining room dinners

2010-07-08T22:39:00.000-04:00

Having dinner in the dining room most nights instead of the living room in front of the TV can TRULY make a good marriage GREAT. :)

Need some air

2010-07-07T00:45:00.000-04:00

Air-conditionless upstairs = 90 degrees. Air-conditioned downstairs = 68 degrees. Ahhh. This week would be the PERFECT time to install central air.

One estimate down, two to go...

Researching geneology

2010-06-12T00:43:00.000-04:00

So my mom and dad have the same great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather! Good thing I was adopted. ;)

Sweet boy

2010-06-07T00:44:00.000-04:00

I got this text from Daniel shortly after resolving an incident where I got involved with Dan's lack of discipline but complete and utter exhaustion with Daniel's teenager-ness, and it made Daniel angry, saying that it should have just been between him and Dan (which offended me for some reason at the time):

From: Daniel
just want u to no that never once liked arguing or being angry with u, u mean to much for me that and it wont ever change u mean the world to this family and i would never even think of treating u as if u werent part of the family. love
June 6, 8:15 pm

Heartbreaking

2010-06-06T00:37:00.000-04:00

Heartbreaking. "This photo of a bird on the beach at East Grand Terre Island, LA yesterday is hard to look at. But we have to face where our addiction to oil has taken us - and this photo brings that home. Share with your friends, and sign the petition to Congress and the White House today: http://bit.ly/aiuz.Fz

that just happened.

2010-06-05T14:04:00.000-04:00

Who's that stud?

2010-06-04T00:30:00.000-04:00

Rod went to one of Daniel's tennis matches the other day. Here he is - he's such a good player, there are articles in the local newspaper about him all the time. I'll have to find one of them soon and link it here.

Memorial Day

2010-06-01T00:21:00.000-04:00

Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all service members. ♥

Today I learned a lot about the history of Colchester, as well as its military. Here are some pictures from the parade and ceremony on the green.

Summerrrr

2010-05-30T23:41:00.000-04:00

sunburnt and happy.♥

My green thumb

2010-05-30T16:42:00.000-04:00

Beautiful day! Time to declare war on weeds.

Some of my beauties this season:

Baaad baby fever

2010-05-27T02:48:00.000-04:00

Me: Not feeling like doing any office work at all today...I just wanna be a MOM.
May 25, 2:10 pm

Tiffany T: are you and rod trying to get pregnant?
May 25, 2:22pm

Erica H: It is the most amazing role you could have! You'll be a great mom Anne!! :)
May 25, 2:31 pm

Mark F: Is there some news camouflaged in that comment that Auntie Nancy and I should know??? 8-)
May 25, 3:32 pm

Heidi R: When the time is right you will be.
May 25, 3:41 pm

Elizabeth H V: Yay!!! :). I can't wait!! (though I hope you are getting all the sleep you can now!)
May 26, 4:58 pm

Robin P: is there some important information that you have kept from us?
May 25, 7:10 pm

Me: haha no no, i really should have been more clear... i am WANTING to be a mom but it's not close to happening yet :( another year or so if all goes as "planned"
May 25, 10:12 pm

Mark F: Auntie Nancy and I will add this to our prayers for you guys!
May 26, 9:38 am

Robin P: that would be awesome you let me know. I am excited for you
May 26, 4:52 pm

Tiffany T: Well that's cool!!! Why are you in such a hurry?
May 26, 5:35 pm

Me: I'm not in a HURRY really, or we'd be trying already. Just feeling the maternalness/baby fever extra today.
May 26, 7:05 pm

Another emotional venting post...

2010-05-26T22:49:00.001-04:00

Getting involved with the good just makes it that much more painful seeing the bad... I keep asking myself: all those years, why couldn't I make more of an impact? If I had done something differently, been harsher, been gentler, tried harder...would it have helped more? The answer - I'm sure - is no, and I know that deep down.

Got to keep reminding myself.... getting involved with the good will only make it that much harder to watch the bad. And getting too close will just pain me, because I know deep down that I cannot help no matter how much I've tried and want to continue trying.

How do I go about this in the adult way? How do I "end things" with someone I care so much about (no, of course not my husband, fyi)?

Why is it so hard for me to keep friends? Lately, it's been hard for me to even make friends, and that was never a problem for me in the past until a few years ago. It could easily be because of poor self esteem. Will they not like me because I'm overweight? Am I too dull because I don't drink and I like to just hang around and don't always want to get up every night and do something exciting?

I really have fun with my friends but I feel like those I've made in the last few years haven't been the best quality, whether they don't treat me well or don't treat others well or both. I have made one or two real true friends, and a few more I thought were true friends, and then a few I really knew were not the best people for me to get close with but I did anyway because I was comfortable with them. Does this make me a bad person? Did I do something wrong?

This is a venting post, I apologize if it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Pain in the neck - I mean head

2010-05-25T22:05:00.000-04:00

Headaches remind me why I avoid soda... and any other source of caffeine for that matter...

The Big 25!

2010-05-24T04:42:00.000-04:00

♥ Happy 25th to the most incredible husband (and friend) a girl could ever ask for! I am so fortunate to have him today and every day. :) :) Looking forward to the rest of today.. time to sleep now, though finally!

Emotional Lately

2010-05-24T00:24:00.000-04:00

Why do I care so much about people who don't care much about me?

Why do I get so involved in other people's problems when they themselves don't even realize them?

When will I realize I can't reach someone I feel needs saving, no matter how close I get?

When will I say it's enough and that I cannot sit and watch the awfulness continue?

WHEN will I realize that it's out of my control?

It's been over three years already.

It hurts so much because I've put so much in emotionally and I am just now realizing I have to get out...

I think it will take some time, but please just keep reminding me it's what's best.

Things You Should Know but Probably Don't

2010-05-21T20:24:00.000-04:00

I got this e-mail forward from my godmother that I thought was really interesting. I'm sorry, I don't know the source information on who originally wrote this.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BUT PROBABLY DON'T

1. Money isn't made out of paper, it's made out of cotton. (Didn't know, but makes sense. I don't know which is better for the environment...probably cotton?)

2. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp (marijuana) paper. (Hmm!)

3. The dot over the letter 'i' is called a 'tittle.' (Never knew this.)

4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top. (Useless piece of information, but interesting nonetheless.)

5. Susan Lucci (Who?) is the daughter of Physllis Diller. (Who?)

6. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals. (This is surprising to me.)

7. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled. (That's reassuring..)

8. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor, who had red eyes. He was albino. (Seriously?)

9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily. (This is extremely upsetting to me.)

10. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister. (OK.)

11. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small-sized dog. (I did know this one, but not the specifics.)

12. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode. (That's awful, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.)

13. Most lipstick contains fish scales. (Yum! Glad I don't wear lipstick.)

14. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants. (Give me a break.. It's a duck, not even a human!)

15. Ketchup was sold in the 1830's as medicine. (What?!)

16. Upper- and lower-case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the 'upper case' letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters. (That's really interesting!)

17. Leonardo Da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time, hence multi-tasking was invented. (Nice.)

18. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood. (Cool!)

19. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos. (Don't want people to see how much time they're wasting, I'm sure.)

20. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan; there was never a recorded Wendy before! (I like this fact... very interesting. That's the same with Olivia from Shakespeare. I checked this with behindthename.com and apparently it was very rarely used before 'Peter Pan' as a nickname for Gwendolen.)

21. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange and purple. (I knew this one.)

22. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips. (Are you serious?! I don't know if you know, but that original painting is also very - surprisingly - small.)

23. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go mad and sting itself to death. (I wonder who figured this one out. And that's sad... even if they are vicious, dangerous little creatures.)

24. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original 'Halloween' was a Captain Kirk's mask painted white. (Hmm.)

25. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar. (Useless piece of information, haha.)

26. By raising your legs and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand. (I knew this one.)

27. The phrase 'rule of thumb' is derived from an old English law, which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb. (I think I'd heard this. There are a lot of crazy things like this.)

28. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola. (Cool.)

29. Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with. It's the same with apples. (Are you sure with apples? That's sweet, though.)

30. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying! (Neat!)

31. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher. (Certified, even. That's good.)

32. Guiness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries. (That's great!)

33. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a space suit damages it. (Interesting!!)

34. George Carlin said it best about Martha Stewart, "Boy, I feel a lot safer now that she's behind bars. O.J. Simpson and Kobe Bryant are still walking around; Osama Bin Laden, too, but they take the ONE woman in America willing to cook, clean, and work in the yard, and they haul her off to jail." (Hahaha.)

Parents' travels

2010-05-18T22:55:00.000-04:00

Text messages from their journeys:

From: Dad
Estamos in Iquitos. We made it. luv u
May 15, 2:45 pm

From: Dad
Leaving Amazon had a great time on to Lima and the coast love M & D
May 18, 12:27 pm

Milestones

2010-05-04T23:27:00.000-04:00

Roddy teaching Daniel how to shave for the first time.

My babies

2010-03-19T23:08:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, Cheryl and I went to a couple pet stores and an animal shelter to look at puppies and dogs for her. The pet store was cute because all of the puppies were as young as can be and they were adorable to look at. The first two we played with... a lahpso apo or something like that, was cute but I only lasted a few minutes with it because all it wanted to do was bite my toes and ankles. (I never knew "ankle biter" was a real thing!) The next was a chocolate lab, who also just wanted to chew and wiggle out of my arms when I tried to hold it. The third was a beagle, which is what Koko is half of we think, and she was as sweet as can be. She chewed a little, which is understandable because they're all puppies, but she also stayed in my arms and was sweet! I love beagles.

When we went to the animal shelter, though, that was what really was important. All of the dogs there were full-grown, and most were fierce breeds, but all of them had a story of some degree and needed homes. The puppies need homes, too, of course, but they didn't have homes already and were given up or abandoned or forgotten or abused.

It really made me think of Koko. We don't know how old she was, we don't know where she was before we got her. We got her from the SPCA in Virginia Beach, and they actually had no information on her at all except the word, "Stray." There was a while there when I believed she'd been mistreated because I would go to pet her and she would wince a little. She was definitely stressed... she was missing fur on her backside where she'd chew at herself from anxiety, I assume.

Just a minute ago, I thought of it and almost teared up and hugged her. She's the best dog I've ever had, I think (of course I love Bear, too!) and I hate to think of her alone in the world, or with owners that don't care about her and hurt her. She's so sweet and loving. The other day she was limping around, she must have irritated her leg or hip outside playing, and for the rest of the afternoon and evening she followed RIGHT by my side every second. If I was in one room, she was right next to me... if I went into another room and then came back, she didn't wait for me or lie down, she was RIGHT there at all times. When I went to bed, she didn't go sneak with Bear as they usually do to sleep on the futon or the couch, she was right there by the side of the bed, so instead of getting into bed, I took a pillow and lay down on the floor with her for a few minutes.

When she broke her pelvis in 2007 after running after a bird and being hit by a car, we were living in the townhouse in Virginia Beach, I moved the futon mattress downstairs and slept with her on the floor because she couldn't walk up the stairs (she could barely walk at all). I think of how much that set her back and how far she's come since then. It seemed then like there was no way she'd ever walk again, but after four weeks she was pretty much healed! It was to the point before that where I would take her out to go to the bathroom and she would be squealing the whole way and it just broke my heart.

She and Bear are like our babies. Anything that happens to them is devastating to us. I was just miserable when Koko got hurt that year. Since then, I haven't taken her off her leash for one second outside unless she was fenced in. Luckily, we found a house with a big back yard that we could easily fence in for her to have plenty of room to play on her own without us worrying. She's part beagle, like I said, and they're big on hunting (once she caught a bird in MID AIR) and no matter how much I call her and how obedient she is at other times, if she spots a squirrel or a bird or a bunny, she's gone and can't hear a word I say.

We have a serious ladybug infestation right now. They are EVERYWHERE. I don't know what to do. I've heard if you squish them, they can bite and/or let off this horrible stench. I've never experienced either of these situations, but I've only killed one. There are plenty who have died by other means, though, and I haven't smelled anything. Who knows? Cheryl says these aren't real ladybugs anyway, they're some related type of beetle. Rod thinks they're good luck or something, he got upset when I killed the one the other day. Strange. But anyway my point was that Koko is obsessed with them. She'll sit in the living room and just STARE, unmoving for long periods of time just watching them in the corners of the ceiling.

They're silly. Bear tries to follow along and copy what she does, but he has no clue what's going on.

I'm thinking about ordering one of those test kits that you can send in to a lab and they can tell you what exact breed(s) your dog is. I know they are both mixed with black lab (because it's obvious, but you never know), but there's a great chance Bear is mixed with something because he's smaller than normal labs, and a definite possibility Koko's mixed with something else because she's only 30 lbs. and has been since we got her in 2006, and she's got big, beagle-like ears. :) It'd be interesting to confirm this theory!! Maybe for Roddy's birthday.

Love

2010-03-17T18:44:00.000-04:00

From: Roddy
just saying hi. I love you.
Mar 17, 12:35 pm

Journaling

2010-03-16T11:33:00.000-04:00

Ironically, I was just looking for a blank notebook in our bookshelves to use to keep track of my Isagenix program and weight loss, and I found a journal from when I was twelve years old! I tended to start a lot of them, write one - MAYBE two - entries, and then that was it.

This journal I found is small and bright pink (I mean bright). The front has "journal" printed on it inside a little cartoon chat bubble. The first page looks similar to the following, with 'My Journal' in bubble letters:

my
JOURNAL

Annie P******
began on: December 13, 1998
ended on:

The next page says:

Introduction

This page is just to tell about myself. My full name is Anne Constance P******. Don't worry - everyone calls me plain Annie. I am about 5 feet 4 or 5 inches tall. I think I weight something around 115 pounds. I have thick blonde hair to my shoulders and dark blue eyes. I have glasses and braces, but that will change soon. I'm getting my braces off and I'm getting contacts next year. I'm also getting my ears pierced soon hopefully. I'm also growing out my bangs. I am really healthy. I barely ever get sick.

That's all. The next page is the beginning of a pretty pathetic note to my then-boyfriend Jeff that I will spare you the details of.

Isn't that really bizarre? At a time when I'm feeling extremely overweight and unhealthy, I stumble upon that journal entry while looking for something to record my current goals and achievements in! How crazy?

Oh, and on the following page (which happens to be the last page I wrote on) it has a checklist with the following:

- John Winthrop break up end 8
- Williams
- Go to college
- Become author and actress
- Meet Jeff again end of college 21
- Fall in love again
- Move to Essex CT by the river
- Propose on 2/14/ and gets married

Interesting! Worked out much better than that. As it turns out, Jeff and I were NOT compatible. We did break up after 9 months (a long time for a 7th grader) and he was in love with me until the end of 8th grade at least. We stayed friends, and when I was at Eckerd College in FL for a semester, he came to visit me and it turns out we cannot get along, at all. We are totally different people. Needless to say, I am glad my plan didn't work out.

Here's what the updated and completed checklist would look like:

- John Winthrop break up end 7
- Williams
- Meet Josh, date for 2 1/2 years
- Break up end 12 beginning of college
- Semester of college
- Become nanny and secretary
- Meet Roddy again end of semester at college
- Move to Virginia Beach
- Get engaged
- Get married 8/2/08
- Move back to CT (kind of by the river, but not in Essex)
- Start going to school online for Psychology
- Work for psychiatric APRN

...and the rest we'll just have to see! :) I would still like to become an author, no matter what. Right now I have a couple of ideas and many more stories started and never finished...

I have a long weekend right now because my boss is spending a night at Mohegan Sun with her mother. Rod and I are going to our aquarium dealer later to try to find a small stand for our quarantine tank. We have two places we really love right now... one is called Noreast Wet Pets in Vernon, and the other is Fin & Feather in Groton. Both have excellent, knowledgeable customer service and great supplies.

Joe is putting the lattice up on our deck this week and then putting stone pavers at the bottom of the steps. Our deck is coming along! I can't wait to have patio furniture out there (Rod's birthday's coming up...we're all going to pitch in for an outdoor furniture collection, I think)!

Today is a Cleanse Day for me with the Isagenix. I might just use this blog as a journal. I've been back on track with the program for about a week now, and I decided I'd make Tuesdays my Cleanse Day this time. Last time, before our two trips, I was doing really well with the program and had lost about 10 lbs., but then plateaued because of our vacations where I didn't bring the products with me and just ate whatever was available or served to me. At least I didn't gain any weight (I don't think), but I certainly didn't lose any.

Wish me luck!

The lovies

2010-03-13T04:28:00.000-05:00

I just had to share these...

Destination: Peru

2010-03-12T14:37:00.002-05:00

My parents are going to Peru in a couple of months! They've known for a while, but recently my dad officially decided to learn the Spanish language. He's always tried to speak a little of it here and there... in very slow, broken sentences. When I was in high school, he would try to say "hello" and "goodbye" and "how are you?" and "my name is..." but it was comical to listen to.

He tried the Rosetta Stone software by testing out the free demo they have on their website, and he can tell a funny story about trying to speak the Spanish words and having Rosetta Stone beep loudly to tell him he pronounced the word or phrase wrong, and then a few seconds later, the refrigerator would make a noise, and Rosetta Stone would take that as the right answer. Needless to say, my dad gave up on that avenue and decided to go with a face-to-face Spanish class on a weekly basis.

So, yesterday, I went over to my parents' house to have lunch with my him, and even though it's only been a few weeks, he's already writing ESSAYS in Spanish. This week he had to write one about his family, and I could comprehend almost all of it except one line about hoping to learn a lot in Peru when they go.

I know I said I was going to keep my blog updated on current events, and I haven't been doing a very good job. Recently, there was a horrible mudslide in Peru.

A mudslide on the famed Inca trail to Machu Picchu in Peru killed an Argentine tourist and a Peruvian guide Tuesday, as authorities evacuated dozens of tourists by helicopter from a flood zone where nearly 2,000 more were still stranded. Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/01/26/peru-mudslide026.html#ixzz0hzdoI3Ye

There have also been terrible earthquakes around the globe in the recent months, starting with a 7.0 in Haiti on January 12th. According to CNN, it went on for 35 seconds1.

As of 12 February 2010, an estimated three million people were affected by the quake;^[7] the Haitian Government reports that between 217,000 and 230,000 people had been identified as dead, an estimated 300,000 injured, and an estimated 1,000,000 homeless. The death toll is expected to rise.^[8]^[9] They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged. Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake

Since then, there have been 6.0+ earthquakes in Chile and Turkey, all within the last couple of weeks2.

Spring is Here! (Maybe)

2010-03-09T01:22:00.000-05:00

It was snowing only a week ago...and then yesterday I was outside with shorts on! You never know what tomorrow will be like. But, I'm not complaining! I love all kinds of weather. So, I guess it's good that I live in New England, huh?

The babies are loving this weather! We went on a small hike at a nearby state park yesterday with my mom, and today they were outside for the majority of the day. I think they may have discovered we have a bird feeder now and the following pictures seem to indicate that they were nuzzling around the ground underneath it trying to find some fallen sunflower seeds...

So, yes...I'm 24 now. Only 1 year until I'm eligible to adopt from Ethiopia! :) I only wish...

Today is Heidi's birthday, by the way. Happy Birthday, Heidi!!! Wait, it is after midnight, so I guess I have to say yesterday was Heidi's birthday.

After my last post, we've returned our aquarium twice. I woke up one day to Rod suggesting we get a different shape tank because the original one was too tall and narrow, whereas for saltwater aquariums you really need longer so that there is more surface area for oxygen and gas exchange. So we got a 55 gallon, 48" long tank. Then, this morning I woke up and Roddy said, "I think we should get a bigger tank." Apparently, 40 is really the smallest the books tell us anyone should do with saltwater, and 55 isn't that much bigger. With a 55, people recommend you don't have that many fish (really 1 inch of fish per 4 gallons). So, we went back again today and got a 75 gallon tank.

I think we're satisfied. We'll see. I hope, because we're filling it up with water as we speak.

It's super late (or early) right now and we both have to go to work in the morning (Rod's taking an extra job tomorrow, probably to help pay for all this money we've just spent!) and we just finished doing some homework but are too excited and eager to continue working on the tank.

We decided to put it in the north-facing corner of our bedroom to keep it far away from any direct sunlight, and so that it's not in a high-traffic area of the house where fish can get spooked. I'm going to try to keep a log/journal of the tank set up and stocking and maintenance, etc. so that I can go back and look at. We're expecting a lot of hard work and trial and error, but we're reading SO much and really into this, so we have high hopes.

I'm rambling because I'm tired, so I think I will try to get some sleep. Goodnight!

Virgin Islands

2010-03-05T00:00:00.001-05:00

Last week, we got back from the Virgin Islands! We were gone from Valentine's Day until Feb. 22nd with Rod's grandfather, aunt, uncle, cousin, Dan and DJ. It was an amazing trip...beautiful weather, fun times, great people. We flew into St. Thomas and then chartered a 43' catamaran sailboat around the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

On the way there, one of our planes was overbooked, so we got put in first class!

Before we left, Rod's Uncle Bruce cleverly designed some cute diagrams of all of us who went, our awesome accommodations and our planned route, which was somewhat altered along the way (click to view larger):

We had a BLAST!!! We went snorkeling a lot and saw some beautiful marine life. The water was gorgeous, the boat we stayed on was just really neat, and Big Dan made some very, very yummy food.

Here are a few more pictures to give you an idea:

At one restaurant we went to at the Bitter End on Virgin Gorda, there were these performers who DANCED on STILTS for a good hour or so. It was incredible. They did all sorts of crazy things and the ground was uneven and I was almost positive they were all going to fall down. It was a lot of fun that night.

In other news... Yesterday I had my 24th birthday! It was arguably one of the best birthdays I have ever had. I received some very, very special gifts from some very, very special people... too special even to mention to be honest, mostly because I'm afraid people will read this and want to break into our house to steal one of them. Seriously. But if you're considering it, don't. Not only do we have a central alarm system and two dogs, but this gift won't be kept at our house, it will be kept in a safe deposit box at our bank.

Anyway, one of the other extremely special gifts I received was an aquarium! It's 56 gallons and Rod got most of the stuff needed to set it up as a marine (salt water) system. Dan gave me two books on starting/keeping fish tanks ("...for Dummies") hehe. Rod - even though he was the one who got me the gift because he's extremely sweet and loving and knew how badly I wanted one - was very worried I wouldn't be able to keep it alive, but now he's just as excited as I am. He actually took one of my books to work with him today so he could start learning. I can't wait! It'll take some time, though, to get everything going so that we do it the right way.

Tomorrow I'm going to NYC with my parents. We're going to a couple of art museums and then hopefully visiting the 9/11 memorial, since I haven't been to the city since 2001 - can you believe it? It's supposed to be somewhat rotten weather, but I plan to wear my Uggs and a crummy weather jacket, so it'll all be good.

I'm excited!

Happy Bday to Me!

2010-03-03T22:57:00.000-05:00

From: Warren S
Happy Birthday!
Mar 3, 1:16 am

From: Sarah B
happy birthday!!!!!!
Mar 3, 1:26 am

From: Andy S
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Mar 3, 4:28 am

From: Heidi W
Happybday biatch!!!! Yes im up damn kid kickinshit outa me lol.
Mar 3, 5:16am

From: Jamie P
Happy Birthday
Mar 3, 6:24 am

From: Kara S M
Happy Birthday!!!!
Mar 3, 6:39 am

From: Ginny G
happy birthday!!
Mar 3, 7:27 am

From: Ashley M
Happy Birthday!!!
Mar 3, 7:34 am

From: Aunt Con
HAPPY 24TH BIRTHDAY ANNIE
much love to you, aunt con
Mar 3, 8:02 am

From: Rachel V
Happy birthday Annie!! Adam and I send our love and best wishes :)
Mar 3, 8:26 am

From: Elizabeth H V
Happy Birthday!!! I hope you have a wonderful day!
Mar 3, 8:33 am

From: Lauren B
Happy birthday miss annie!! Hope all is going great! ( : Enjoy your special day!
Mar 3, 8:45 am

From: Kristen H
Happy Birthday Annie! Hope you have a great day! :-)
Mar 3, 9:00 am

From: Melanie L S
Hapy Birthday Annie! hope you have an amazing day ♥
Mar 3, 9:01 am

From: Frank R
Happy Birthday! Have a great day!!
Mar 3, 9:02 am

From: Brian D
Happy Birthday Annie!!! Hope your day is full of joy!
Mar 3, 9:14 am

From: Sarah R M
Happy Birthday to you!!! I hope your day is great! :)
Mar 3, 10:03 am

From: Sarah C
Happy Birthday Annie!!
Mar 3, 10:04 am

From: Kate R
Happy Birthday!!!
Mar 3, 10:31 am

From: Lucy D
Happy birthday!! Next time I'm in CT we'll have to meet up for a belated celebration!
Mar 3, 10:44 am

From: Jason K
happy birthday anne!
Mar 3, 12:23 pm

From: Kate T
Happy birthday, Annie! I hope you have a fantastic day :) Enjoy it!!
Mar 3, 12:55 pm

From: Kyle N
haven't talked to you in forever! hope you're doing well! happy birthday!
Mar 3, 12:55 pm

From: Taryn M
happy birthday!!!
Mar 3, 1:00 pm

From: Tiffany T
Happy birthday!!!!!!
Mar 3, 1:24 pm

From: Devon C
Happpyyy Birthdayyyy :) Hope all is well with you and Rod!! Have an amazinggg dayy ;)
Mar 3, 2:14 pm

From: Mark F
Annie, We hope you have a wonderfully happy birthday! -With Love ♥ Uncle Mark adn Auntie Nancy
Mar 3, 2:39 pm

From: Ashley M S
Happy birthday I hope you have an amazing day! I miss you and we must catch up sometime its been WAAAYYY to long :)
Mar 3, 3:46 pm

From: Nicole H
Happy Birthday Annie!
Mar 3, 4:34 pm

From: Wendy W
Happy Birthday Annie. I remember designing your birth announcement!
Mar 3, 10:07 pm

From: Isabella D
Happy Birthday!!! Hope, you are having a great day!!!
Mar 4, 2:10 am

Trip texts

2010-02-27T23:08:00.000-05:00

Trip texts:

From: Mom
Hi sailor, snowed 4 inches last night. More on the way. Hope you're having fun. Hi to all. Love you. Mom and dad
Feb 16, 8:02 am

From: 7626
Free Msg. Welcome to British V.I. Dial 1+ 10 digit number to call the U.S. Local calls Dial the 7 Digit number.
Feb 16, 7:13 pm

From: Mom
Sounds like a fantastic trip-Can'T wait to see you and hear all about it. Love you both, dad and mom
Feb 21, 8:45 am

Kids' ideas of love

2010-02-13T01:36:00.000-05:00

I love this kind of thing!

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." -Billy, age 4 Read more of these...!

Thong, tha- thong, thong, thong!

2010-02-12T23:02:00.000-05:00

In a couple days we leave for the Virgin Islands!

"Only one and a half more days! Tell Annie to get her bikini on 'cause I'm gettin' on my thong!" -Pop Pop (Rod's grandfather, who also asks us weekly when our hot tub is arriving so he and I can go skinny dipping)

Lake Tahoe Part 2

2010-02-03T23:25:00.000-05:00

I love skiing!!!

We got back from Tahoe almost a week ago, and I'm just finding time now to update my blog. I skied again after that first day, and I did much better and had a better attitude about it. And, now I really enjoy it! (:

On the day we 'had off,' we went on a sleigh ride pulled by a 2,600-lb. draft horse named Captain who can pull twice his own weight. It wasn't nearly as romantic as I was expecting, but it was fun. That afternoon, we went on the M.S. Dixie II boat which took us on a cruise of scenic Emerald Bay. That was spectacular.

I have zillions of pictures that I'll upload to my next post -- I wanted to save this one for my skiing achievements...

Take a look at a video Rod took!

Lake Tahoe Part 1

2010-02-02T12:28:00.000-05:00

Today is our third day in South Lake Tahoe, California. Actually, I'm not sure if we're in California or Nevada...to be honest, I think the hotel might be directly on the line. We got here on Sunday afternoon around two o'clock pm. I was really nervous about the flights since I haven't flown in five years, but I did great! The trip was flawless and our bags followed us - everything went well!

The hotel is amazing. We're staying at Embassy Suites, which I think is a subsidiary of Hilton, and it's really nice. We're on the first floor in a king suite. There's a complimentary breakfast every morning, and we have all sorts of discounts because we're with the Ski Club we belong to.

The night we got here, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and just hung around...we were pretty wiped from the trip. Then, yesterday, we got up at 6:30am to get ready for skiing. We thought we were going to Kirkwood for the day, but the bus never showed up at 7:50am like it was supposed to, so Joe (our club leader) called the bus company and they had messed up apparently. So we switched things around and skiied at Heavenly yesterday, the mountain that we're right next to. Literally, we can walk out of our hotel, cross one block and jump on the gondola.

Now, it must be known that this was my first time skiing since I was maybe eight years old, and I hated it then. We used to go up to some friends' houses in Vermont and they are pro skiers pretty much. I remember being embarrassed because I was eight and going down the bunny slope in between my mom's friend's legs and her son, who was four at the time, was on one of the really experienced trails (I want to say black diamond, but I'm not sure if there's an age requirement for those things).

Anyway, Rod taught me a little in our hotel room the night we got here, and then yesterday morning we got on the gondola (which had beautiful views going up of the mountains and the lake) and went to the bottom of Heavenly Mountain, which had the lodge and the ski lifts. He had me practice on this tiny (and I mean really TINY) hill that was in between the lodge and the "Big Easy" ski lift to the top of the bunny slope (called "Easy Street" or something like that) and I fell twice. Just on this maybe four foot long slope that was really not much of a slope at all...people could ski UP it...which is what I tried to do at one point and that's when I fell forward with my legs twisted completely backwards under me and I started freaking out. It was not fun.

So, after that, I was pretty much determined not to ski again for the rest of the trip and just videotape Rod doing his skiing. I didn't want to get in his way, because he's an intermediate-to-experienced skier, but it seemed all he really wanted to do was teach me and watch me mess up and joke around and have fun. So after about an hour of sitting there stubbornly refusing to ski anymore, I finally agreed to go up this little slope that wasn't even the bunny slope, it was a slope that ski instructors were teaching adults on, and there was no ski lift except for this cable with handles on it that you could grab onto and it would pull you up the slope to the top or wherever you wanted to let go and start humiliating yourself.

The first time, I made it to the top of the slope and let go of the handle, and started to slide backward (as was expected) and let myself wipe out and laid there on my side for quite a bit until I figured out how to get up without taking my skis off. Luckily there was no one behind us on the cable thing. Then I fell a couple more times skiing down the slope sideways back and forth. BUT, I managed to teach myself how to turn a little and got more confident and had fun with it. SO, I decided to go back up and do it again, and the second time I got even better, I almost got all the way to the bottom of the hill without falling at all, until we got to the very bottom and it started to get steeper going down to where the lifts were and I started going too fast for my liking and instead of waiting for myself to turn and stop myself without falling, I just let myself fall so I could stop. :) But before that, I was actually skiing back and forth a couple times without stopping completely to start over, which is what I did the first time before that.

By this time I was exhausted. Even though I had only been skiing for maybe 20 minutes collectively, I had been out there standing in my ski boots and my skis for almost 3 hours. I was exhausted, and I have also been struggling with the altitude I think because EVERYTHING exhausts me, even going up one flight of stairs.

The only other thing I have to complain about is the dryness up here. It's great for the snow but HORRIBLE for your body, specifically your nose. My nose is so dry that it's uncomfortable, and the other day I had my first (sort of) bloody nose. It wasn't running blood or anything, but when I blew my nose there was quite a bit of blood on the tissue, and ever since then there's always a tiny bit whenever I use a tissue. But it's OK.

Other than that, it's GORGEOUS here and lots of fun.

We're doing plenty of other things besides skiing (Rod's out skiing right now and I might join him in the afternoon, but it's nice to let him ski on the bigger, more exciting slopes so he can actually ski haha). Tonight we have a Welcome Party put on by the hotel for our ski club in Joe's suite. Then we may or may not go to "Fire and Ice" for dinner, depending on how full we get from the hors d'eouvres they serve at this thing (it's a drink and appetizer thing, not dinner) and then tomorrow is our "Day Off" from skiing, and we booked a day cruise on this boat that takes you to Emerald Bay/Cove on the lake and we're going to take lots of pictures. Hopefully it won't be bad weather. I think it's supposed to snow a lot this afternoon.

Then on Friday, my cousin Kate and her boyfriend Logan are joining us for the evening. We'll probably have a nice dinner, maybe go across the street to one of these "Old Fashioned Photo" places where they dress you up in old-fashioned clothes and then take pictures of you. I've never done it, and I think it might be fun.

Oh and last night we went to the pool and jacuzzi, it was fun. Unfortunately, someone from our ski club broke her wrist yesterday. She wasn't even skiing, she went into the ladies' room for a moment and slipped on the stairs or something in her ski boots and broke a couple of bones and dislocated something, I don't know. We saw her in the elevator this morning and she was saying the doctor suggested she might need surgery when she gets back home. Ugh. Poor woman, and kind of ironic how it happened when you'd expect injuries from skiing, not from bathrooms.

Well, I've probably written enough! I'm sure I'll have much more to tell later. Right now I'm really online just to sign onto my classroom at Ashford to fulfill my attendance for the week. I'm probably going to go get my bathing suit on and do some laps in the pool, and then go to the gift shop and get some souvenirs and postcards.

Wish me luck this afternoon if I brave the "slope" again! :)

Walking to the WTC!

2010-01-04T01:34:00.000-05:00

Today I decided to walk 135 miles from my front doorstep to the World Trade Center memorial in NYC. Well - it's hypothetical - I'll really be walking in our study on my "lady stepper" that Rod gave me for Christmas last year (Happy Holidays, by the way!). Some girls and I are all doing this as a sort of fitness challenge. We each picked a location a certain distance from us and are trying to walk/run that distance by March 31st.

So far, I've walked 1.25 miles of the 135 miles I need to. (I'm assuming each mile is about 2,000 steps.)

Wish me luck!

The work of a border collie

2009-11-03T15:34:00.000-05:00

I stopped by my parents' house today to steal some of my mom's homemade minestrone, and, upon my arrival, here is what I found:

Current Events

2009-10-28T23:50:00.000-04:00

I decided I wanted to start jotting things down here that are going on in the world today, so that I can look back and remember. To sum up... the economy was crappy for a while, but the recession is officially over! Things were bad, I guess the worst they've been since the Great Depression of the 1930s... although, maybe I'm just fortunate, but it didn't seem THAT bad to me.

Two other big things stick out in my mind right now. One is the spread of H1N1 around the United States right now. It's a virus nicknamed the "swine flu" because it is usually found in pigs, but occasionally mutates and becomes infectious to humans.¹ It is a harsher version of the flu, so I hear, and can be much harder to treat.

A friend of ours has a brother who is married to a Chinese woman, and apparently he traveled to China recently to visit relatives and was quarantined at an airport in China because he had a slightly high fever - he was taken away in an ambulance full of personnel in haz-mat uniforms! Crazy, but this thing really has people panicked.

The biggest thing I think that is important to share is that our president, with whom I have the utmost respect, Barack Obama, is currently working on a plan for universal healthcare. There are many reasons people are for or against this policy. I, personally, am for it, but Rod is against it. He, as many others do, feels that we should all have to work to afford healthcare for ourselves and our families, and that if you don't work hard, you don't deserve a handout. However, Obama made it clear to me in his addresses to the nation over the last several months that it will improve healthcare for those of us who already have it, as well as offer it to those who cannot afford it, whether because they're lazy and don't work or because (and more likely) they can't afford it for a reason that isn't really their fault. Not only that, but Obama makes a good point in reminding us that our taxes pay for uninsureds' medical bills, so universal healthcare will benefit us in that way, as well.

Anyway, that's what's going on right now.

Ecological Footprint

2009-10-27T01:08:00.000-04:00

Right now I'm taking an environmental science class in school called "Dependence of Man on the Environment," and this week the instructor had us take the Ecological Footprint quiz online. According to my results, if everyone lived the same lifestyle I do, we would need 4.5 Earths!

This is truly, extremely disturbing.

What's even more disturbing is that my score were significantly lower than the country average! So, PLEASE go to this website:

http://www.myfootprint.org
(You do NOT have to provide a donation or your e-mail address - that is OPTIONAL.)

...and calculate your Ecological Footprint. It's very short, it won't take up a lot of your time, and it is worth it and important. At the end, there's a link to advice on how to lower your score.

2009-10-25T16:04:00.001-04:00

It got cold so early this fall that I thought winter was coming too soon and the leaves might not even get a chance to change - they were already starting to drop without turning their pretty colors first! BUT, luckily, I was wrong and they ARE changing. Here are some beautiful bushes on our street:

(I would like to make it known that I stopped the car to take this picture with my phone...I was not endangering myself or others!)

Hooray for fall.

And....on an even (much) more exciting note:

ONE OF MY VERY BEST FRIENDS IS PREGNANT! K and B have one son, N, and are now expecting #2!! I am so thrilled for them and wish we lived closer to one another so we could share all the excitement with them in person.

They're due on July 4th. How neat!

Unexpected compliments

2009-10-20T17:33:00.002-04:00

Pop came home last night from Maine for the winter. He got in around noon and we all went over to Dan and Daniel's for dinner which was mmm mmm delicious! Dan is one of the best cooks I know (check out Wright's Mill Farm in Canterbury, CT...he's the head chef)! It was great to see him and to spend time together, although the last time we spent together was two months ago when Sharon passed away.

Rod's working on a big case at work right now - a burglary. He wasn't too thrilled going into work last night because I guess doing this can be tedious. He'd much rather be out driving around dealing with things going on on the streets than sitting around in the office writing up reports.

I'm the opposite. I love sitting at a desk at a computer and doing random, relaxing but mind-challenging tasks. It's a good thing we even each other out with things like this. It's the same as how we are at home with chores, which is why he does things like takes our cars to get the oil changed and I sit at the computer and do our bills.

He's such a hard worker and is so darn handsome. I'm so glad that I have a husband I love so much. I think lately, we've been really happy and falling even more in love. It is true that the first year of marriage is a little hectic. Even if you've been living together for two years before you get married, like we did, there are still things to get used to in marriage, and it can be rough at first. But, if you're lucky, you make it past that one year mark and are still best friends.

I'm not the only one that thinks he's special. The other night at a McDonalds the cashier asked for his number! We both got a kick out of this, but it proves just how stunning and impressive he is. :)

I work for a Psychiatric APRN who specializes in child therapy and medication management. One of her patients is a young girl, late elementary-school age, who is very blunt. I really don't think she's capable of lying. One time, a few months ago, she came in and said something very straight-forward that she probably shouldn't have shared with anyone, but did...with the entire waiting room. (I can't remember what it was that she said, but even if I did, I wouldn't say.) I know quite a bit about this patient just by observing her, and I believe that she probably has trouble keeping friends because she says exactly what's on her mind even though it might hurt someone's feelings.

Today she had an appointment and afterwards, her mom came and sat down in the office with me to pay her bill. The girl - I'll call her Charlotte - was standing in the doorway. Today I'm wearing an old blue sweater and black baggy dress pants, and my hair is halfway up and hasn't been washed (I normally don't wash it every day anyway because doing so dries out my already-extremely-dry scalp).

Needless to say, I don't feel like I look my best, and I was honestly thinking to myself when she first came in, "Oh my gosh, if this girl blurts out that I look ugly or that something is wrong with me, I will seriously have motivation to make myself up more often."

Charlotte did stand there in the doorway staring at me, and after a minute said loudly and matter-of-factly, "You're a really pretty girl."

I love my job.

Sharon

2009-09-26T15:39:00.002-04:00

I haven't written in a long time. There has been a lot going on, and I didn't really know how to write about this one particular tragedy that recently occurred in our life. But, I will give it a shot now..

My mother-in-law, Sharon, passed away on August 13th. She first told us she wasn't feeling well shortly after her birthday (which was when we went to Pepe's with the Cs), and a week later Rod and Dan convinced (forced) her to go to the hospital. However, it wasn't until a few weeks after that that she was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease - or, at least, that's when I heard it for myself from the doctor (I think the family was in much denial, which is understandable).

We had a small, immediate-family memorial service about a month ago.

It has been a very rough time for all of us, especially Roddy. Daniel is doing okay - he's not very communicative, but he seems to be doing alright. Dan was having an extremely tough time at first, but now he's keeping busy working long hours, making up for the time he spent at the hospital for the few weeks before Sharon's passing.

It was somewhat of a shock and seemed to happen so quickly, but we were all there for the last couple of days with her at the hospital. Trudy and Pop came down from Maine (we had just gotten back from Maine ourselves). Sharon spent the last night of her life in Hospice at Middlesex Hospital which, by the way, is amazing. They were absolutely incredible there and made everything so wonderful for all of us (as wonderful as could be, that is). She was in no pain and Roddy, Dan and I were in the room when she took her last, peaceful breath.

I never knew how much damage can happen to a liver and how much our entire body counts on our liver. TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURS.

Rod is now Daniel's legal guardian (per Sharon's wishes), but he's staying in the house with Dan, it's not being sold. Right now we're still getting through it together, although I don't think anyone ever completely "gets through" the death of someone they love so much.

She was an easily misunderstood, beautiful spitfire and will be greatly missed.

Family Night

2009-07-09T14:11:00.000-04:00

Last night we went to Pepe's in New Haven with the C side of the family. It was a lot of fun and the pizza was yummy. Then we went next door and had gelato, Italian ice, cheesecake, canolis, etc. (I had cappuccino gelato).

(Left to right: Daniel, Sue, Lisa, Dyllin, Devon, Shannon, Theresa, Marty, Grampy, Joyce, Nancy, Adam)

It was really great seeing them all again. We hadn't seen them since the wedding! The occasion last night was that Rod's Aunt Sue was visiting from FL. It was the first time I met her and her partner, Lisa. I was so glad to finally meet them!

Now that Rod's weekends are on actually weekend days, we're going to try to plan a cookout so everyone can finally see our (not so) new house. :)

Retirement Party

2009-07-08T09:52:00.000-04:00

Yesterday afternoon was my dad's retirement party.

It was really nice. The weather, however, was not.

It poured rain and thundered, but everyone still had a great time. By around seven o'clock, the rain stopped and a beautiful rainbow appeared!

We all went geocaching for a "special" geocache that Emily and Cary hid for my dad. It was a lot of fun.

It was so neat to see how well liked my dad was (and is) at work. He was given several awards and certificates and many gifts, it was really impressive. You can definitely tell how much everyone is going to miss him.

The weirdest thing happened, too! There was a woman there who I thought looked extremely familiar. When I heard someone call her "Gina," I suddenly thought, "I think that's Cheryl's cousin!" After gaining my courage and going over to her with my mom, we asked if she knew Cheryl Main. She looked at me, screamed, and hugged me. Turns out she's known my dad for years! At first, she asked how I "knew Sandy." When I said I was his daughter, she was even more shocked and my mom told her, "...and I'm the other mother!" Gina commented more than once how happy she was that they were "the great parents" that raised me and how it's just so much better when you find out that not only were they great parents but that she really knew my dad and what he was like, so it was just even more amazing.

Cool, huh?

Rod took a zillion pictures with our new camera (as you could probably tell by now). It was nice to meet everyone my dad worked with, especially Cary who threw the party and really looked up to my dad.

All around, it was a nice evening! We're so proud of Mr. P! (:

What is it that I love about July 4th?

2009-07-05T13:59:00.000-04:00

It's about waking up to a beautiful, warm, summer day in Connecticut and having arrived at your much-anticipated favorite day of the year.

It's about the picnic on the farm with your family, and all you do all day is pet horses, look for four-leaf clovers and take turns on the tree swing.

It's about throwing on a bathing suit and sundress and heading to Westbrook at noon. (It's about not wearing make-up because it will block the sun from your skin, and who wants that?)

It's about reuniting with friends, family and neighbors that you haven't seen in days, months or even years. It's about the pang in your stomach when you remember the old times. It's about wondering where the years went and realizing how much different and yet the same everyone is.

It's about going out on the motorboat and tubing. It's about getting over the fact that a jellyfish stung you in your rear end.

It's about potato salad and cheeseburgers and hot dogs on the grill. It's about being seventeen and sneaking upstairs with your friends to sip your first Corona.

It's about the sun beaming down and kissing your shoulders until they're pink, red and then finally brown. It's about the first time a boy ever asked for your number, and how bummed you are later that you didn't have time to give it to him before his parents whisked him away.

It's about karaoke, and never having the guts to participate.

It's about fighting with your high school sweetheart all afternoon until the first firework when you immediately forget everything negative and curl up under the stars. It's about him whispering he can see the glow of happiness in your eyes as you watch the fireworks. (It's about realizing that's the nicest thing he ever said to you, and now thanking God for not answering your prayers back then that you'd marrying him. (;

It's about looking left to right and seeing the hundreds of townspeople and their friends lined up along the seawall. It's about everyone facing up at the sky with their mouths partially opened saying "ooh" and "ahh." It's about gazing across the coastline around you and across from you, counting to see how many dozens of private firework displays there are along the Long Island Sound.

It's about lying on a blanket on the beach, laughing with friends and squealing when a sand crab scampers across your bare foot. It's about your neck becoming sore from turning from left to right, left to right to see fireworks close, far, and everywhere around you.

It's about trying to take pictures of the fireworks and ending up with little squiggles of color on a black background in every photo.

It's about listening to the waves rippling along the shore in between every burst of gorgeous, colorful light. It's about the line of smoke that streaks across the moon above you.

It's about clutching your husband's arm as a firework is set up ten feet away from you and you're convinced it will tip over in the sand and shoot in your direction. It's about ignoring every gnat that bites your ankle, and it's about accidentally knocking your heads together and realizing you just killed one of those gnats in between your foreheads. (What weird team work!)

It's about after the firework display, someone yells, "GO!" and all the kids run to collect the little parachute soldiers that soared down from the fireworks.

It's about the sound of Montgomery Gentry singing "This is My Town" as a little boy skips by with a sparkler. It's about Kenny Chesney singing "Back Where I Come From" as you wish every day could be this amazing.

It's about our country's freedom. It's about realizing how far we've come since that miraculous day we won our independence. It's about efforts to decrease global warming, the first African-American president of the United States of America.

I'm in love (with our camera)

2009-07-02T16:44:00.001-04:00

Our camera arrived on Tuesday, and it is amazing!!!!

For example:

(Click on the thumbnails to view larger version.)

Obviously, I need to become a better photographer now, but isn't the camera spectacular?! (;

Cholesterol

2009-06-29T15:39:00.001-04:00

Today I found out that I have extremely high cholesterol (in the 300s).

Well, I've known I had high cholesterol since the pediatrician told my mom when I was three years old. I was born with it...it's in my genes (just another reason why I should adopt!)...and although it's been made worse with lack of exercise (not diet because I don't eat bacon, I use skim milk and margarine and probably eat eggs and red meat once every six months) I'm not supposed to be hard on myself because no matter what I did, it would still be relatively high.

Dr. B had given me a couple months to try dieting and exercise before he checked my labs again to see if anything improved, and it didn't. Granted, I missed my "daily walks" once every few days, but I was eating lots of veggie soup, NO fatty foods, NO fast food and very little of anything bad at all. I even ate oatmeal.

Oh well. Better safe than sorry...better to be on medication than having a husband worrying you'll have a heart attack, or worse - dead, that's for sure!

Money money money

2009-06-26T23:37:00.000-04:00

Less than a month ago, my dad found out he'll be retiring as of July 1st; which to some might seem like a joyous occasion....not so much for my dad. He loves his job and loves working. He works in computer mapping with UConn. Unfortunately they're ceasing to receive grant money (or enough grant money), so he's decided to "just retire" instead of worry about whether he'll have a job in a few months.

It's pretty clear it's not exactly what he wants; I think he doesn't know what he's going to do with his time, although I hear my mom has quite a long "honey-do" list going. ;) They've been talking about spending the whole month of September on Martha's Vineyard, and he and Rod keep talking about walking the Airline Trail (the whole thing, not just the little bits and pieces we do on weekends...that place is SO peaceful and gorgeous!! I can't wait to have our new camera to take pictures there...oops, shh, that's news for later..)

Earlier, we received this e-mail from my mom:

"Cary asked me to ask you and Rod to join us for Dad's retirement picnic if at all possible--I know you work. His coworkers are really nice and, besides, I would be there (big draw I know). I think it would mean a lot to Dad, maybe even stopping by after work for a little while."

(She then said other things irrelevant to my blog post.)

After the message was this e-vite:

We're going, of course! I love my dad...I hope he starts to feel better about all of this soon. It's a huge life-changing process and I'm sure it's not easy.

Today Rod and I broke our bank. Honestly, we probably did with the amount of money we spent. You might even begin to think that we aren't under 25 or have a hefty mortgage - HA! Here are our purchases:

1) Kenmore dishwasher (model name escapes me--called "Best Buy" by ConsumerReports)

2) Canon EOS Rebel XSi SLR camera (takes amazing pictures with 12.2 megapixels and 18-55mm lens)

3) Lenovo (IBM) IdeaPad S10 (extremely durable mini netbook).

We already have a computer that basically doubles as a TV in our office/future nursery. It's enormous and somewhat unnecessary but Rod loved it and really wanted a desktop. It's actually really great, except for those nights that he and I both have school work due and decide to do our assignments/exams at the very last minute (which is more often than not) and have to take turns. Last week I was late on an assignment, so I figured it was about time to get another laptop. This time I decided to go for one of the minis (the IdeaPad screen is 10.2"). Lenovos are apparently the most durable aside from the uber-expensive MacBooks, and it'll be great for portability seeing as I'll be carrying it everywhere with me, and much less expensive than regular 15" screen laptops. Plus, I don't need much memory or hard drive space when I'll just be using it to browse the internet and do schoolwork. Pictures, music, movies, games, etc. I can do on our desktop.

Computer we have now: the HP Touch Smart.

We got the dishwasher at Sears. I got the camera and the netbook from Circuit City because they're much more reasonably priced than the main manufacturer websites. Together, the camera and the computer were just under the amount of money Rod plans to spend on a new gun in the next few weeks (doesn't need it for work but wants it for work and it will enhance his abilities at work). It's actually a rifle...but I won't go into details.. not everyone enjoys information about guns or is used to it like I am by now. :)

We're saving the rest of our accumulated "pleasure money" for our vacation at the end of the summer. We're spending 4 nights on Martha's Vineyard with my parents and from there, 5 nights in Southwest Harbor (Mt. Desert Island, Maine) with Pop, Rod's grandfather. We're pretty excited, this is a tradition for us that we've had since we started dating but didn't do last summer (much too busy with the wedding, job changes, town and house hunting, etc.). It's going to be strange going to Maine, I think, without Rod's grandmother there. :( But I know we'll have fun, and while we're on MV we'll be having our 1 year anniversary! I cannot WAIT to share with you what I'm getting Roddy for a present (first year is paper, and this paper I'm giving him is going to be very well received).

Daniel (my brother-in-law) will be staying here with the dogs and probably with a friend while we're away. So don't even think of breaking in. ;) Not only will we have two young men and two vicious dogs (haha...although I shouldn't laugh because they would probably be vicious with break-ins - for those of you who have ever knocked on our door and not taken our advice to just walk in, they go nuts when they think people are intruding) but we also have a central security system and have already had the police come to our house once when I was too tired to remember to turn it off before I let the dogs outside one morning, so take my advice and stay home. ;)

Speaking of Daniel, did I mention he got his license earlier this month?! Very exciting. Even more exciting is that yesterday, he got his first car! It's a 2006 Chevy Cobalt.

Yes, I'm aware that it's orange.

Oh well. He loves it, it's safe, reliable and good-on-gas, so that's what really matters!

Famous tragedy

2009-06-26T01:51:00.000-04:00

Today, two legends passed away... Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.

Fawcett had been battling cancer and Jackson apparently had a heart attack, although an autopsy will be conducted tomorrow to determine exactly what happened.

Just wanted to make a note of this. Very sad day...

Three Graceful Stone Skips

2009-06-22T00:00:00.000-04:00

For Father's Day today, along with a new hiking backpack and some silly cards, I gave my dad a copy of WritingRoom.com's anthology of short stories from its contest a couple months ago (in which I won second place).

It's semi-exciting...I technically had my first story published! You can even purchase the anthology on www.PublishingRoom.com.

"Three Graceful Stone Skips -a collection of stories from WritingRoom's November and December 2008 short story contest" by WritingRoom.