Still Totally in Shock

My BFF Laurie informed me five or six weeks ago that she was pregnant, and I was completely thrilled for her. For one, I know how much she's been wanting another child. Second, I know she's a wonderful mother. Her ten-year old daughter, Sloan, is honestly the sweetest, most caring, most well-behaved child I've ever encountered; it's pretty obvious that Laurie does great work in the parenting department. And three, well, it's selfish, but I felt she needed to have children closer in age to my child. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely adore Sloan and am totally looking forward to the day when I can use her babysitting services. But Laurie had already been waaaaay past the diaper and sleep deprivation stage by the time I had Asher. I can use all the friends I can get to be down in the baby trenches with me.

As if that isn't exciting enough, I read her blog last night and discovered some VERY interesting news...she had an ultrasound done yesterday and found out that she will need to purchase not one, but TWO car seats - she's having TWINS! How freakin' cool is that?! I had to read her post about three times and stare at the ultrasound picture for five minutes for it to finally sink in. Wow!

I am so very happy for her and her family. I can't wait for more pregnancy updates!

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Much-Needed BFF Fix

Angie made a spontaneous trip down from Chicago to spend the weekend with us, and man did it make me realize how much I miss having close friends nearby. We stayed up until 2 a.m. talking. We watched movies together. We took Asher to the playground. It was very low-key, and very, very nice. And, I can't even begin to describe how much of a relief it was to have an extra set of eyes to help watch Asher Bug. I am currently working on convincing Angie to move to the area so I can get my BFF fix whenever I need it, but in the meantime, I hope she'll come back and visit again soon.

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Life Sure Has Changed Since I Was Ten

Friday, we headed up to Chicago so I could get a much-needed dose of nostalgia with my BFF and so Stephen and Asher could enjoy taking a road trip. I was wary about dragging my ten month-old baby, Mr. Squirmy, along on a three hour car ride, but he surprised me. For 95% of the ride, he was either sleeping or a happy boy. I think it helped that Stephen's parents let us borrow the mini-van so we could more comfortably transport all of our crap and not feel like we were in a sardine can. If I wasn't yearning for a van before, I really am now.

We arrived at the hotel with things seeming to be beyond perfect. We were literally a block away from the Allstate Arena, so Angie and I could just walk over for the concert. There was a Target right next door, which was great considering our tradition of always forgetting to bring something along. When we checked into the hotel, we were upgraded from a suite with a sofa bed to a two-bed, two-bath with a full kitchen. Score! And, as I'd stated in a previous post, Angie won our tickets from a radio station. How much more good luck could we have?

Apparently, not much. We got in the arena to have our tickets scanned, only for them to come up as void in their system. The nice lady nonchalantly told us to go across the street to the box office, where they would reissue them for us. We didn't panic; she was making it sound like this had been a common issue. It was when we got to the box office that we panicked: we were told that the radio station had reported the tickets were lost, so they'd been voided out in their system. AND THAT THEY WERE NO GOOD. After making an angry call to the radio station, Angie decided, dammit, we're GOING to the fucking show! And, not only are we going, but we're sitting on the floor! Her trademark bad luck wasn't going to spoil her night, NOT THIS NIGHT, NOT WITH NKOTB! So, for my early Christmas gift/her share of the hotel cost, and with the hopes that the radio station would compensate her for at least the cost of the tickets she won, she bought both our tickets and off we went again, just a bit more pissed than excited this time.

The show was AWESOME, though. Our seats were great, we were to the left of the stage and only maybe thirty feet away (I made eye contact many times with The Kids, that's how close we were). Natasha Bedingfield opened for them, and she put on a pretty good show. I tell you what, I didn't realize how excited I was for the concert until the New Kids actually came out on stage. Within a snap of the fingers, I was ten again. And I wasn't the only one. The place was packed with screaming, giddy thirty-year-olds. They played all the old hits, with a few of their new songs peppered in. My favorite, of course, was "Please Don't Go Girl," belted out by my love, Joey, but Angie and I also thoroughly enjoyed Jordan's, "Baby I Believe in You," which he sang with his shirt open and next to a wind machine. As Angie would say, it was cheesetastic! They played for about two and a half hours. At the end of the show, I noticed they hadn't sang "Step by Step" or "Hangin' Tough." Sure enough, those were their encores!

At the end of "Hangin' Tough," the tall, dark-haired, gorgeous, skinny bitch a few rows down from us decided to get the band's attention by showing off her boobies. I'm sure she was after a backstage pass and a piece of Donnie's ass. I'll never know if she obtained her goals, but she did get their attention. Joey asked her what took her so long, while the rest of the guys pointed and slapped each other in the shoulders like, huh huh, BOOBS. Me, being in ten-year-old-girl mode, screeched at Angie, OH MY GOD, SHE'S SHOWING HER BOOBS!!! She can't do that! It's not a rock concert, this isn't Poison or Whitesnake or whatever crappy hair band was popular back then! It's funny because the majority of people around us had the same looks on their faces. It kind of cheapened my nostalgic moment, but, on the other hand, if I didn't have deflated mom boobs, maybe I'd have whipped mine out, too. Because, you know, the last time I was listening to "Hangin' Tough," I didn't have boobs. The one thing I really was pissed about, though, was that I didn't bring my camera. I do this at every concert. They say NO PICTURES! And then I get inside and EVERYONE has a damn camera but me. Of course, if I'd brought my camera, I'm sure I'd be the one and only person to have it confiscated. I took a few pictures with my cell phone, but they're absolute crap and basically worthless. I searched online for pictures, but can't find any! Boo!

So, despite Joey and Jordan practically begging Angie and me to come back to the bus with them, we were good girls and declined and were back at the hotel by 11:30. The boys were already in bed, so we stayed up for a few hours talking. You just can't go to a New Kids concert without ending the night with some girl talk with your BFF.

The next day, we did our usual Schaumburg shopping at IKEA and Woodfield Mall, and went to Chevy's for lunch. Asher was a very good boy the whole time, despite running on empty from a lack of napping. We were sad to leave Aunt GieGie so soon, and we were sad that we didn't spend a lick of time downtown, other than driving through to drop Angie off at home. Next time we go up there, maybe in the spring, we'll have to go to a museum or something touristy that we never do.

Long story short, to reference the title of my post, life sure has changed since I was ten, since I was last listening to The New Kids. I was so in love with them back then, I had like a trillion posters on my wall, I had a stuffed animal who I'd pray every night would turn into Jordan Knight. I would have killed to have gone to an NKOTB concert, but I was very young and we were poor. I remember when I was in fourth grade, staying up "late" one night to watch Disney Channel's big airing of one of their concerts. So, if nothing else, going to this concert on Friday was sort of like a gift to the little girl I was twenty years ago. Not to mention, it was great to go back in time with my best friend...I think it made us feel both really young and really old at the same time. Like, wow, twenty years feels like yesterday, but, wow, I'm old enough to know how twenty years feels.

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Asher Finally Meets His Lady

After a long eight and a half months, Asher finally got to meet Emerson yesterday at her first birthday party. The meeting wasn't quite as romantic as the below picture might indicate. It mainly consisted of Asher pulling out Em's pacifier, pawing and grabbing at her, and trying to climb her, with Em trying her best to push him away from her. It was cute, but I'm trying to teach Asher that if he continues to maul his dates, he's not going to get anywhere with them.

On second thought, maybe I should be hoping his badger-like ways continue at least into his mid-twenties.

Here are pictures from Em's big day!

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Giving Thanks

I'm afraid I've been a bit on the negative side lately - like, for my whole life. Honestly, I'm actually a very happy person and I do realize I have a lot to be happy about. For some reason, though, I have the annoying talent of overlooking the positives and focusing right on the negatives, and stress and pregnancy have further honed this talent recently.

This morning, I opened my inbox to find a very sweet e-mail that Laurie had sent on Thanksgiving simply stating that she was thankful I was her friend. Again, maybe it's those darn hormones, but receiving that little message made me feel so good and made my heart melt. It also made me realize that I tend to forget to stop and count my blessings regularly, so I thought I'd shake things up a bit on here and actually post something positive for once. No negatives. (At least not on this one posting.) I feel I need to make this list for those times in which I'm feeling sorry for myself, for when I feel like everything is falling apart, or for when I'm simply having a bad day.

The top ten things for which I am thankful this year:

(1) My husband. I could write a novel on how wonderful he is as both a person and as a spouse. He is my saner half, the glue that holds me together. He absolutely works his ass off and is always trying to better himself to provide as good a life as possible for us. He is going to be the best father a kid could have and I absolutely cannot wait to witness the bond develop between him and Baby Neener. I am so grateful that one thing I do NOT have to worry about is my child having a deadbeat dad or me having a deadbeat husband. I am thankful to have a person other than my mother in my life who will always be there for me, will always support me, and will always love me. I am also thankful to be married to a man who will actually cook me dinner, iron my clothes, and clean my toilet. It's really no wonder that I love him so much.

(2) My pregnancy. Yes, yes, I've whined and complained and moaned and groaned SO much about it over the past several months, and, let's face it, the act of being pregnant does have a lot of discomforts and scary changes attached to it. But I know the end result of this pregnancy will be the start of a new life that I will love more than my own life. It will be the start of a wonderful new chapter in my life. It will mark the beginning of my very own family. I am so very, beyond words, thankful for this baby and for everything he will bring to my life. And for as much bitching as I do about carrying him, I also know I'll miss him when he's outside of my body. After all the nausea, backaches, and exhaustion I've experienced, feeling him squirm around inside of my tummy makes it all worth it, even when it feels like he gets a foot caught in my ribs. I think I'll probably feel a little loneliness inside of me when the little critter moves out.

(3) Family. They are always there when I need them, and will do anything to help out. My life is in the process of changing radically and I'd hate to think how much more difficult this transitory stage would be without their support and assistance. And once the baby is born, I know my survival of the first year will largely be thanks to the assistance of family. I'm sure my baby will be as sweet as pie, but I'll be going crazy with all the changes - hormonal changes, sleep changes, stress changes, body changes, lifestyle changes, diaper changes - and on top of all that I know my evil perfectionist side will taunt me the entire time, reminding me that I could be doing things better, that I'm an awful mother. I know it will be family who will be there to offer advice, remind me that I'm human and am not Robo Mom, step in and help out when it's obvious I've been pulling my hair out, and most importantly, will love my child almost as much as I will. After all of that, I know they won't proclaim to the whole world what a mess I am. That would mean they would have to admit to being related to such a mess. That's what keeps family secrets within the family.

(4) Friends. They have given countless words of wisdom, listened endlessly to my whining and worrying, offered neverending support, have made me laugh and lifted my spirits. They are my family away from family, and even honorary members of my family (you know who you are, Angie). Without my friends, I seriously believe all of the crazies that live inside my head would escape through my nose and eat me alive.

(5) My kitties. They are soft, snuggly, warm, and greet me at the door in the evenings when I come home feeling like I've had the living Hell beat out of me. They say having pets lowers your blood pressure, reduces loneliness/stress/depression, and improves your mood, therefore making you a potentially healthier person. I am a firm believer in this. However, I do think that if they would use the toilet, feed themselves, and not throw up on our down comforters, they would be much more effective at improving my health. But maybe that's asking too much?

(6) Having a roof over my head. It's expensive. Like, VERY expensive. But, it sure is nice not living on the streets.

(7) Having vehicles in good running condition. Walking or riding my bike to work would just plain suck. Especially at eight months pregnant in November.

(8) Good health. (Knock on wood.) Actually, my health hasn't been the greatest this year, in comparison to most years. I've had the stomach flu twice, two or three colds, and, although it was from pregnancy hormones and not my health per se, months of nausea. However, to my knowledge I did not acquire any major STDs, leprosy, or emphysema. For this I am quite thankful.

(9) Naps. They have brought immeasurable comfort and relief to me in the past eight months. My only complaint is that I could greatly use more of them.

(10) Chocolate. I really don't think I need to say anything more.

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The Lone Pregnant Woman

It appears I have lost my two cohorts in pregnancy just since this weekend.

Stephen's cousin, Cassie, had her baby boy, John "Jack" Riley, on Saturday. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten to see the little squirt, yet, but Stephen was able to drop in for a brief visit with the Doyles yesterday after his work training in Cincinnati. I can see from the pictures he took he's certainly quite the little cutie, but I look forward to hopefully finding this out for myself soon. Baby Neener is very excited to have yet another little boy in the family to romp around with at all the *yawn* family gatherings.

Dawn had her baby girl, Emerson Paige, late Monday morning. I visited them in the hospital yesterday evening, and they both appeared to be doing great. Emmie had some issues during labor - she apparently thought she needed to come into the world all dolled-up for her awaiting audience. Unfortunately, a girl doesn't have access to many accessories in the womb, so the creative little gal tried to make herself a necklace out of her umbilical cord. Fortunately, her fashion faux-pas didn't do much harm - she did have to have ample tests run on her and was placed in the NICU, but she's doing well now.

I only have this picture Dawn sent to me off her cell phone (of course I forgot my camera yesterday), but you can be certain I'll have more pictures of her up in the near future. I have to say that Baby Neener's future girlfriend (you know, as soon as he gets his butt out of the womb, too) is quite the looker. I think I'm going to have to keep my eye on him...

Congratulations to Cassie & Pete and to Dawn & Jim! I'm sad to lose my pregnancy sisters, but relieved to gain two more people who can show me the ropes when Baby Neener arrives in his clueless mommy's arms in a few months.

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Baby Neener's Future Friends?

I received word today that Dawn is going to be induced into labor this upcoming Monday. I'm so thrilled! I mean, not only because I'm happy that she'll finally get to meet her baby daughter, but because I can get a head start on the approval screening process. See, Dawn and I have decided that our children will be boyfriend/girlfriend and will eventually wed. Dawn, I hope you realize I'm going to need some evenings of watching your child for you so I can get a full grasp of her character and integrity. I don't want my son marrying a floozy, you know. Of course, when Baby Neener arrives, I would highly recommend you do the same thing because with him being my child, he's very apt to have no self control.

And speaking of questionable characters, look at the picture of Rowan I found while perusing The Daily Squink. I guess this picture doesn't surprise me too much, considering the last time I held him he practically mauled me trying to get into my shirt to my boobs. Is this the sort of fellow my child is going to pal around with and look up to?!

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My Gemini Twins

Finding one person who shares your birthday is rare enough, but finding two? And those two people being a mother and her daughter? Impossible, you say? No, really, it's true!

Happy birthday, Laurie and Miss Sloan! I couldn't pick a more fabulous couple of gals with whom to share my birthday!

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Rekindling an Old Friendship: Not As Scary As I Thought

On Saturday night, we were privileged enough to be invited over to Chez Allen & Rob for dinner and catching up. It had been a good eight years since we'd visited with Allen, aside from the one evening last month when we stalked him, so there was definite potential for quite the awkward evening. However, our time spent ended up being quite the contrary, and we're both so insanely glad we went.

I've known Allen since my sophomore year of high school. We were both band geeks together. Alto sax band geeks, that is. Allen's quirky sense of humor and sweet disposition quickly made him one of my favorite people. I just don't think I would have made it through band without Allie Scallie eating my LipSmackers Kiwi lip gloss in pep band during the basketball games or giving me rides home after practice in his huge boat-of-car, belting along to the tunes of Culture Club. We remained close until sometime during my sophomore year at college. It was his freshman year, and I think between me being so wrapped up in Stephen, who had moved to Knoxville, and him being so wrapped up in the college experience, we just drifted apart. Thankfully, though, we've been given the opportunity to reunite, and hopefully we can maintain the friendship we started many years ago.

Also, Allen seriously makes the best chocolate cake I've ever tasted. If nothing else, that is all the motivation I need to keep this "friendship" thing alive from my end.

Thanks, Allen and Rob, for a great evening! You guys are the best hosts. Between the hospitality, the company, your cozy mod place, and the food, we were very tempted never to leave. I just hope when we have the honor of having you over for dinner, we don't offend you too much with our boorish ways. I'm sure the boxed Mac 'n' Cheese and corndogs we'll prepare for you will win your hearts over, though.

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Random Updates

Angie left us yesterday. Not as in "she died;" rather, she went back to Chicago. Last week she received word that she was hired at a cat hospital as a receptionist/fill-in vet tech, so she went up to begin her new part-time job today. Spring break also ended, so her classes were resuming. Her dad is doing much, much better, though he's still in the hospital and the doctors still don't really know what the future holds for his health. In other words, they're still playing the waiting game.

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We still haven't discussed if, when, or where we're going to take a trip. Although I'd love to go someplace, I'm not yearning for a getaway as badly as I was before. Having Angie here for two weeks and worrying about her dad was a big distraction for my own petty woes and has put things more into perspective for me. Plus, I think the continuous nice weather and the ability to don spring apparel has cheered me up quite a bit. (I bought two pairs of shoes last week to wear with capris and, I know this makes me sound completely shallow, but retail therapy - I'm telling you - it totally works.)

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The whole MySpace thing is, so far, turning out to be a pleasant experience. (Though, thank you, Laurie, for suggesting on my last entry that Stephen needs to give me a credit card so I can do more shoppy and less computy. I would totally be all for that!) I got back in touch with a long-lost high school friend, Laura. She, Angie, Stephen, and I went out for dinner on Thursday and the reunion was so much fun that we made plans to go out together on Friday. We went downtown and had a blast, but I think the most fun part of the evening was stalking another high school friend of ours. Laura has remained friends with him, but we had lost touch with him after my sophomore year at Purdue. She had invited him to go out with us on Friday, but he declined, so she told us where he lives and we hunted him down. Although I know he was irritated with our tactics, he had a good sense of humor about it and it was very nice getting to see him and chat for a little bit. Like I told him, I really didn't like the drop-in-pop-in approach, but on the other hand, we had nothing to lose since we already weren't in contact with him. Anyway, back to MySpace: I'm getting back in touch with a few friends I haven't talked to in years, and it's also helping me, the one who is most terrible at picking up the telephone, keep in touch with those currently in my life, like my cousins and my sister.

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Yesterday we went to my mom's to bring her her new laptop. I'm still in shock over this - my MOM is finally jumping on the computer bandwagon! It's ridiculous how excited I am over this, but I'm now able to e-mail my MOM! You have absolutely no idea how long I've been waiting for this day. Now, whether or not she'll check her e-mail or write to me is completely up to her (although she'd better if she knows what's good for her), but still, I CAN E-MAIL MY MOMMY! Man, I'm such a dork. While we were there, I took this picture of Ella and am posting it because it best illustrates how happy I am about my mom's entrance into the magical and spectacular online world...(By the way, in my opinion, this is the BEST. PICTURE. EVER. Other than the very obvious hamming-it-up face, she had little pigtails on top of her head which she took out and the result was this Gwen Stefani-esque hairdo.)

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Addendum to Previous Post: I Told You It Was Baby Season

If you will, please refer to the second paragraph of my last post, written only a few days ago. I have two additional sets of congratulations to extend!

This morning my mom informed me that my Atlanta-dwelling cousin, Kelly, gave birth to her third child, Alyssa Jean. She is Kelly's and Shawn's second daughter. They have the most adorable babies, so although I have yet to see any pictures of Alyssa, I'm betting pretty strongly she's a hardcore cutie-patootie.

And, just when you probably thought you couldn't handle any more baby news...

By coincidence, the very next day after I wrote my last post, one of my friends announced to me that she is just over three months pregnant. Yes, Dawn and Jim (see pic below) will be welcoming a baby into their lives at the end of September!

I am quite pleased that all of the people in my life love me enough to have babies just to keep that biological clock inside of me ticking. And, I think Dawn wants me to repay her by getting pregnant myself so we can have babies close in age and have playdates together. Dawn, I'm working on that. Just for you! When I say I'll do anything for my friends, I mean anything. But not creepy stuff. And getting pregnant just because a friend wants you to definitely doesn't qualify as "creepy" or anything.

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Hospital Blues and Baby News

It's been *gasp* an entire week since I last posted anything. I'm going through some serious withdrawal.

Angie's dad has been at St. Vincent Hospital in Indy since Sunday. He's doing better in some respects, but is pretty much overall not the best. I can't really go into specifics as to what's wrong with him, because to tell you the truth, it's all a little over my head. A very poor Cliff Notes version is that his platelet count is ridiculously low (Ang said it's supposed to be around 150, and his has been fluctuating between 5 and 16), which means his blood isn't clotting. They speculate that his spleen is hyperactive and that it needs to come out, but they can't remove it until his platelet count is up to where it should be because, you know, you don't want to operate on someone whose blood isn't clotting (like, duh), but yet his platelet count continues to be low because of his spleen....a vicious cycle. But, they're starting him on new medications, so hopefully something will work for him very soon. Anyway, Angie is staying with us for the time being and has been spending her days and much of her evenings at the hospital with him. We've gone to see him the past three nights, and it seems like he's getting better, at least in the respect that his spirits are up and he's looking better each time we see him. So, when you all say your bedtime prayers like the good little God-fearing people you all are, please include the Sellers family in them.

On a happy note, it appears to be the beginning of baby season. Stephen's cousin, Jordan, and her husband, Brian, welcomed their first child, a healthy baby girl, Tatum (Tate) Elizabeth, into their lives on March 3. Stephen's mom forwarded to me the link to their photographer's website this evening, which is where I pulled these photos. All of the pictures were absolutely beautiful and, let me tell you, seeing them definitely has caused my baby itch to flare up worse than ever. Now that Jordan has kicked off the season, our families have several other babies to look forward to this year, including: my cousin, Kelly, is due with her third child any day now; Stephen's sister is due in a month to have her first baby; Stephen's cousin, Cassie, is due in September (I think) with her first child. On top of that, I also have a couple of expectant friends, you know, just to make postively certain that I feel like the only woman not pregnant in the world. But anyway, before I start sounding bitter and you know I will because I'm so good at it, congratulations to Jordan and Brian on such a precious baby girl! We truly couldn't be happier for you both.

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My Funny Valentine

This is my Valentine's Day gift from Laurie. I about peed my pants from laughter when she gave it to me. If you are a Simpsons fan, you may recall the episode when one of my favorite characters of all time, Ralph Wiggum, gives this valentine to Lisa and says something like, "I choo choo choose you! Get it? It's a picture of a train!" Seriously, there are very few things funnier than that. Also, we sometimes call our cat, Charlie, "Choo Choo" (Charlie=Char Char=Choo Choo) and I'll carry him around saying, I choo choo choose you, Choo Choo, I choo choo choose you!

Laurie is the best.

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Wired and Not Tired, so I'll Post an Angie Update

At around midnight we got home from taking Angie back to Chicago, after she had spent a week and a half with us while she recuperated from a very bad infection she had obtained following her recent appendectomy. She is doing a hundred times better than she was when we brought her down here; she still has a rather large gaping wound in her side for which she has to care, but she is mobile and able to function on her own again. I think I'm already experiencing a little bit of empty nest syndrome from her absence in our home, but I'm so relieved that she's healthy enough to go back to her independent life. Unfortunately, she still has a lot on her plate right now - aside from her own health problems, her dad was just admitted to the hospital yesterday due to an illness he's been struggling with for the past few weeks. When it rains, it pours...and Angie is experiencing a freaking monsoon right now. It was really difficult to leave her up there, knowing all of the stress she's having to deal with, and if it weren't for our darn cats who think they need to be fed or the darn jobs we seem to think we need to go to in order to pay the bills, we probably would have just stayed up there with her indefinitely. Like we could really do anything to make things better, but sometimes just being there for someone makes you feel like you're doing something.

On a positive note for her, however, she did get to reclaim her dog, Bailey, whose little nub of a tail I feared would fly right off of her with all the butt shaking (attempted tail wagging) she did at the very sight of her long-lost mommy.

During the drive home we stopped at Starbucks for some coffee. As usual, I opted for decaf, knowing that caffeine would keep me up through all hours of the night. And wouldn't you know it - I was up until 4:00 a.m., heart pounding and unable to sleep. I stayed up until two drafting this post, then spent an hour playing Sudoku, and finally another hour practicing the insomniacs' old fashioned method of tossing and turning in bed. Once asleep, I still managed to wake up about 150 times until I finally gave up on sleep around ten. Although my coffee was sweetened with the natural stuff, sugar doesn't affect me strongly enough to keep me up like that. Needless to say, I called in and am only going to work a half day this afternoon. Is a sugar buzz a good excuse for missing work? Probably not, so I'm going with the story that some punk kid barista at Starbucks spiked my supposed-to-be-decaf coffee with the real deal. Because you know, that's so much more an excusable reason to call in.

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Get Well, Get Well Soon...We Want You to Get Well

Reading the most recent post on Angie's blog makes me cringe. In it, she has some pretty rotten things to say about the year 2006, and was thrilled that 2007 is here. Surely it will be a much brighter year; after all, a year with butt surgery as one of its highlights shouldn't be too hard to top.

And I thought I was the only one with the special powers of jinxing myself.

Though it wasn't surgery on her rumpus, this past Tuesday she had to have an emergency appendectomy. As if that wasn't bad enough, she got so sick after the surgery that she had to make a second run to the emergency room yesterday. I spoke with her this evening, though, and she sounds 200% better than she did when I spoke with her last on Thursday night. My fingers are crossed that this is an indication that she's going to make it, because I really wasn't looking forward to having to take the poor gal out back and shoot her Old Yeller style to end her suffering. That would just be quite the bummer.

I feel just awful that, being several hours away, I can't do anything to help her. I am thankful that she has a few good friends up there who have been taking care of her, but then my territorial side also rears its ugly head whining, Hey, that's supposed to be MY job! Because, once again, you know it's all about me. How dare she get sick when I can't be there for her! Doesn't she know that makes me feel like a bad friend? The nerve of some people.

This is a picture of me and her from last month when we went to Chicago to visit her. Ang, I hope you'll be in good spirits again soon, but in the meantime, when Becky and Sarah are taking care of you, I hope you're picturing it's me.

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Trip to Chicago Was a Memorable One

On Saturday evening we drove up to Chicago to spend a day with Angie. We were looking very forward to our trip, as (a) we love Chicago and (b) we love Angie. Angie lives downtown in Lincoln Park - her neighborhood is absolutely darling and complete with a bazillion things to do within walking distance. We went to a little authentic Mexican restaurant on her corner for dinner (which was muy delicioso), and afterwards we took a cab over to The Second City. I'm very sheltered - this was actually my first cab ride ever. (Gee, and it was just like riding in the back of a car, imagine that!) We were privileged enough to be seated in the theater right in front of the stage (we were sitting so close that Angie was literally using the stage as an armrest and the actors were only about 10 feet away from us). The show was hilarious. At the end of the performance, they announced they would perform some improv. As they started their first skit, without any notice or forewarning, Jim Belushi walked out on stage and began performing. It was so cool - of all the nights for us to be there! Mr. Belushi and his son, Robert, were the special guests of the evening (probably because Saturday was the theater's 47th anniversary), so they performed for 30-45 minutes with the cast. During one of the goofy skits, Mr. Belushi was acting like a horny dog and actually crawled onto our tiny, wobbly table and humped it! It was so hilarious, and we truly felt so honored.

Sunday, we met Angie's friend, Becky, at a local cafe for brunch. Again, I couldn't help but feel a little jealous at how cool her neighborhood is - brimming with people, little shops, cafes, restaurants and bars. Then we made the trek to Bolingbrook to go to IKEA and Chevy's Fresh Mex restaurant, because to us, a trip up there just isn't complete without going to IKEA and Chevy's (since we don't have either in Indiana).

To sum it up - we had a fabulous time. It's too bad Stephen has to work weekends so we couldn't spend more time up there, but on the other hand, had we been able to spend more time there, we possibly may have never came back!

Unfortunately, we only took a handful of pictures. You can click here if you wish to see them.

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Birthday Wishes to Angie

Angie, I hope you're having a great day. I hope Will was well-behaved, I hope Sarah made you some delicious chocolate cake, and I hope you received lots of birthday cards and not just lame shout-outs on people's blogs! I can't wait to visit you in Chicago this weekend. I know your biggest birthday wish is to go shopping at IKEA with us, and gosh darnit, it'll be my top priority to make your wish come true! Happy birthday!

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Girls Gone Hog Wild

Laurie, Therese, and Angie were sweet enough to come over on Saturday evening for a girls' night of dorky fun. Stephen pampered us by fixing dinner and dessert (though Mr. Barr was too good to eat with us). After much wine, we played a dirty board game, at which time we again tried to include Stephen - we named him our official x-rated terminology looker-upper. We learned what a "Hot Carl" is and what "Snowballing" means - the evening turned out to be as educational as it was entertaining! (And by the way, if you don't know what those terms mean, you don't want to know...unfortunately, Stephen found out there are often surprise video clips lurking along with such definitions.) The highlight of the evening had to be the singing stuffed pig Angie brought with her, which was a birthday gift given to her by her parents. She brought it as a joke; little did she know Therese and I would spend the rest of the evening compromising the pig's integrity.

Four girls + Five bottles of wine = Really bad gang signs (Angie & I appear to be members of the Love Gang?)...

...And sweet pig lovin'.

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Angie Gets Saved By The Bell-Ding

My friend, Angie, recently shared with me some of her photos of her wild night out for Halloween. I just had to share this picture - recognize the man in it? It's the guy who played Mr. Belding from Saved By The Bell! Looks like Angie was a bad girl and was sent to the principal's office. Who knew she'd be rubbing elbows with such high-profile celebrities now that she's living in Chicago? Who knew Mr. Belding would be looking so old? And the real question I know Angie's wondering, why the heck couldn't it have been Zach or Slater there that night?! Angie, just be thankful it wasn't Screech. We all know what he's been up to...

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A Shout Out to Sloan

Sloan, the eight year old daughter of my good friend, Laurie, was baptized on Saturday evening. Unfortunately, we were unable to attend, as we had the party in Dayton for Adam to attend, but Laurie was kind enough to share this photo with me. You can't really tell from this tiny picture, but Sloan is the cutest little girl and -get this - she's seriously not a brat!! She's one of those rare children you meet who actually support your theory that it's possible for your kids to be different from the rest (i.e., not little monsters). Laurie informed me that everything went really well during the ceremony, except I guess Sloan was just a little miffed that the priest messed up her pretty hair. I laughed when Laurie told me this, because the apple definitely doesn't fall far from the tree! Anyway, congratulations to Miss Sloan for this big step in her life and in her faith!

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