Recap: 2010

Year in Review 2010

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before? Become a mom

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I never remember, so I'll just go with probably not, and perhaps. 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Ashley, Penny

4. Did anyone close to you die? Thankfully no

5. What countries did you visit? Stayed around this country this year.  Still traveled a bunch, just not too far from home :-)

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010? More time to carry out home improvement activities.

7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? January 19th, Cassidy's birthday!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?  Giving birth to and learning to become a mom to sweet, sweet Cassidy.

9. What was your biggest failure? Incorporating "me" time into my life!

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? ooohhh, there was an AWFUL stomach virus going around back in April.  Eric and I caught it at the same time.  Talk about miserable -- I had just returned to work, we were still learning how to handle Cassidy -- and then that.  Yuck, what a bad time.

 

11. What was the best thing you bought? I'm going to go with my Ashford Waterfall Faucet.  It has gotten SO MANY COMPLIMENTS!!  :-) 

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My mom's.  Not only has she selflessly given up two days during the week to watch Cassidy, she has all but kicked breast cancer's butt.  She is a warrior, and I love her for it.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My own, actually.  It was really hard for me after Cassy was born, and from time to time I'd lash out at the nearest person, usually Eric, for no real reason.  I don't like that at all!  And he is always very forgiving, saying at least I know I'm being crazy -- but that's no excuse.  So Eric is the other person whose behavior merited celebration :-)

14. Where did most of your money go? Saving for the house. Cassidy, the house, and Shepherd Gate.

 

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Bringing Cassidy home from the hospital.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010? Everything Is All Right by Motion City Soundtrack.  This is the song I will blast and shout along to if I am feeling sad, overwhelmed, stressed, etc.  A few rounds of this  and I am back on track!

 

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? I'm the same as last year, but for different reasons!  Last year I was happy with the anticipation of having a little girl, now this year I'm happy with the excitement that comes from this little girl and her first christmas!
ii. thinner or fatter? about the same, some places lost weight others gained.  I'd say it about evens out.
iii. richer or poorer? richer in every way

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Zumba, though I didn't discover it until late in the year.  2011 I hope will have me doing more of that!

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Crying.  The baby blues hit me pretty hard. 

 

20. How will you be spending Christmas? Starting with the Christmas Eve performance (I'm the angel again!), then seeing the lights, night before christmas gift and the pickle, Christmas morning at our house, then at mom's, then dad's christmas day dinner, then the day after heading down to the cabin for a few days!

21. How will you be spending New Year's Eve? Low key evening in at my mom's with mandy, mark, maddy, eric, and cassy.  Playing games, watching movies.

(Thank you Courtney ;-))

22. Did you fall in love discover any great new websites in 2010?  I've been visiting groupon and Living Social a few times.  I don't really scour the internet.

23. How many one-night stands weddings?  We didn't go to any weddings this year.  That's somewhat surprising!

24. What was your favorite TV program? all new (for me) this year, and all golden in their own way:  Desperate Housewives, Outsourced, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and The League.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?  Don't hate.

26. What was the best book you read? The Widow of the South.  It is a historical fiction novel about Carrie McGavock, owner of Carnton Plantation, who made sure the thousands upon thousands of soldiers that lost their lives in the battle on her property were given a proper final resting place. 

 

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Better than Ezra all over again.  I got to see them in concert, and fell in love with the personality of the band, not just their music.  It was so great!

28. What did you want and get? A happy baby.  She's so happy.  I love it!

 

30. What was your favorite film of this year? Zombieland, regardless of whether or not that was actually a 2010 movie.  I discovered it this year, and that's my vote.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?  This year I turned 29.  Unfortunately, I turned 29 over the same weekend as the women's retreat at my church.  I love the women at my church, but I don't ever want to spend my birthday away from my family again.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? more leisure time.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010? NOT MATERNITY CLOTHES!  I made it back to my pre-pregnancy weight and clothing size before returning to work in March!

34. What kept you sane?  A husband who is competant at raising his daughter.  Lots and lots of prayer.  A few good bouts of crying.

 

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I saved this for last because I really thought someone or something would come to mind.  It didn't.  So, this is the end.

 

36. What political issue stirred you the most?  Politics in general.  I'm tired of knee-jerk reactions to things, I'm tired of every political seat being in jeopardy for the slightest misstep.  If this nation wants healing, time has to be permited for plans to fall in to place -- it won't happen overnight, and it won't happen in a couple of months. 

37. Who did you miss? Facebook and blogs have really helped, but even so I miss my girl friends from college - Randi, Kim, Laurie, Gillian.  How did ALL of you end up in NC?!

38. Who were the best new people you met? All of the awesome helpers at The Nest Daycare!

 

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010:  You can still have a life after having a kid, if you really want one.  It's so easy to use kids as an excuse to not go out and do things.  Don't make excuses.  In the end you'll only be alienating yourself.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: I got a girl, she is so small . . . I got a girl, she'll knock down any wall!  "I got a Girl" by Tripping Daisy

Baby Steps :-)

Look at those little baby steps!

All About Town

I don't generally tend to head in to DC all that often.  In fact, I go to the city so infrequently Eric and I dedicated an entire anniversary trip one year to playing tourist in our nation's capital.  However, it seems that when I do get to DC for one reason or another, a bunch of other reasons follow and I end up going to the city several times over the course of a month. 

Most recently, our office had a holiday dinner party at Brasserie Beck.  It was delicious, especially the steak with hollandaise hors d'ouvre.  It's funny to pinpoint an appetizer as the highlight of your meal, but for me, this one is certainly worth it.  The rest of the meal was great, we had a super fun gift exchange, nice conversation.  Another awesome dinner for the books :-)

The following week was the BTE concert I posted about previously.

Just this week, Eric and I were planning on going out to dinner and a movie, and MK was going to babysit for Cassy.  This all came about because that was the original plan for the concert -- MK babysitting, and Eric and I going to the concert.  But Eric's work schedule impeded that plan, so he stayed home and worked and MK took his ticket to the concert.  But to make sure Eric had some fun out as well, we rescheduled an evening for this past wednesday for dinner and a movie, and MK was all about babysitting again :-)  Of course Wednesday approached, and I come to find an email from our friend JK in my inbox.

"Sorry for the short notice, but I've got two tickets (freebies) to the caps v. ducks game tonight if you're interested!"

Of course we're interested, so we snag the tickets and instead the two for one dinner at Ruby Tuesday and watching Dawn Treader, we made a very long journey back into DC to the Verizon Center for some icy action. 

Sadly this night marked the Caps' 7th straight loss (boo).  JK was down in the scorer's booth, though, so we got to hang out with him and Mr. Wes Johnson, the "Voice of the Caps" and otherwise actor/comedian.  We got this pretty sweet picture taken, too:

It was a great night, and definitely one Eric deserved!  So many thanks to JK for his thoughtfulness in offering us the tickets!

I'm not planning any more trips to the city for a while.  The Caps game, despite the loss, was definitely a high note to end on. 

That being said, you just never know what's going to pop up :-)

They opened with King of New Orleans

You know the type of concert that happens to be one of your favorite bands, but you'd been afraid to see them live for fear that they would royally suck and then you'd be out of a favorite band?  That totally didn't happen to me last night!

I went to see Better than Ezra perform at the 9:30 club.  JD, one of my friends and fellow BTE fan, mentioned they were performing and then just bought tickets.  So of course I snagged one for me, and one for Eric.  Unfortunately Eric couldn't go, so MK went in his place.  Eric can't tell them apart from 3EB or Eve 6, and MK had no idea who they were.  Also with us were JN, who actually knew some songs, JK & D, who knew them only by chance of a wayward CD that fell into their hands several months ago, and JF who didn't know them, but was in the mood for a fun evening, anyway.  So it was an interesting mix of people with only two bonafide fans, a limo, and a night of fun.

Ummm, so, how can I put this in to words other than it was simply one of the BEST concerts I have EVER been to?  Great opening band, great Headliner band, amazing, funny, witty stage presence.  I likened BTE to BareNaked Ladies as far as their on-stage quips go.  I love, Love LOVE the fact that the lead singer integrates other songs and genres into his repertoire.  Things like that just give bands so much more personality.  Because after all, what is it you're paying for when you go to a concert?  I'm not paying just to hear the music.  I can do that at home, without the crowds and drunkards everywhere.  I'm paying for a show, I'm paying for the band's personality, I'm hopefully paying for something more memorable than "oh, yeah, that band?  They just sang.  That's all."  BTE is so much better than 'that's all.'  They, for me, had every last thing I could possibly want out of a concert.  They even played every song I really wanted them to play, save for one -- but JD mentioned in all the times he's seen them, that one song has never made the set or encore list.  Ah well.  Oh, and one last point on this -- they knew all the words to their songs.  I can't tell you how I detest going to a concert to listen to a band play their OWN SONGS and forget all of the lyrics to them.  Seriously, how is that possible?  BTE is just awesome.  And has good memories :-)

BTE is currently on a tour called "Road to Mardi Gras" where they will be culminating on the "Krewe of Rocckus" on Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  Basically they'll be your party hosts.  Pretty sweet :-)

Thank you God and Prayers

Thursday, 3:00pm, Mom goes in for Surgery.
Friday, 5:00pm, Mom is home from the hospital.
Saturday, 2:00pm -- Mom is out Christmas shopping.

Needless to say, her surgery went fantastically well!!

I received a text from my dad around 4:30 on Thursday afternoon:  Sentinels are clean.  That was maybe the best news we could have gotten!  That means that mom's sentinel nodes, the first place cancer would likely be hiding, were free of cancer.  So that also means that the cancer had not spread, and was perfectly contained!  Furthermore, what that means is NO chemo and NO radiation therapy!!!  GooooOOOO MOM!!

So I would like to thank you all for your prayers.  I appreciate them, but I know that they mean more to my Mom than can ever even be said.  To have so many people interceding on her behalf helped her feel more confident that she could kick breast cancer, and it seems that she has.

God has been so faithful to see her (and our family) through this "blip" in life, as mom put it.  All things are in His power, and I know he held mom in the palm of his hand through this time in her life.  To Him be the glory and all of the thanks for mom's survival story.

Bells will be ringing . . .

Happy Dec. 1st. 

Yep, I said it, it's official -- we're in December.  The last month of 2010 starts today. 

Leading up to today, I have managed to decorate both my house and the church.  I couldn't have done either of those things without Eric's help, and the help of some people at SG last night.  I was honestly expecting to be at church until the wee hours of the morning, but instead six people showed up to help out, and the hours -- and tasks -- flew by!  Eric, Cassy, and I went to get this year's Christmas tree, and I managed to get that trimmed as well.  Lyrics and Trivia are set and ready for the holiday party THIS SATURDAY 12/4!!

The office holiday dinner is this Friday.  It just seems so strange that Christmas festivities are already upon us.  I feel like I barely had time to greet November, and here we are talking Christmas.  I'm excited for it -- excited for Cassy to see all the lights and decorations, excited to fill her stocking for the very first time.  I get these little flutterings of anticipation all through me, and it's very fun :-)

My mom's surgery is tomorrow, which I am very reassured about.  I am honestly not scared at all, I have a great peace about this whole issue.  I know that so many people have been praying for her and her recovery, and I know that God hears all of these prayers.  Her EKG came back just fine yesterday, so that means everything is set for the go-ahead.  Soon this will be behind us, and I know that will be a great weight off of Mom's shoulders -- right in time for Christmas!

* * *

Cassy has 4 teeth now that you can actually see.  She has another one, at least, that's trying to come through.  It's possibly two, but we'll find out soon enough. 

Just a few nights ago she started standing on her own.  She really enjoys doing this if she has toys in both hands, so she can sort of 'show off' her standing skills.  If she's not holding anything she doesn't bother standing, because what's the point?  She's funny.

Cassy now speaks perfect baby gibberish.  She's just about mastered all consonant sounds, and has had the vowel sounds down pat for months.  Even so, I think it's the cutest thing to actually hear my own baby say "goo goo ga ga."  Cliche, yes.  Adorable, yes.  :-)

Outside of baby gibberish, Cassy actually does understand a few key words.  If I say, "where's your ball, do you want to play with your ball?"  She'll crawl right over to her ball.  She knows "Green Monkey," a stuffed animal Eric and I brought back for her from Philly Zoo.  She seemed to have a solid grasp on primary colors a month ago, but since then she's decided she doesn't like playing the colors game anymore.  Ho hum.  She does like turning pages in her board books, and toddling around on her walker.  I can't believe she's almost 11 months.  Seriously?  Next month we'll be celebrating her 1 year birthday.  Goooodness.

A Little Something about Turkey Smoke

Does your family have a tradition that has somehow turned into more of a holiday than the holiday itself?  That's what Turkey Smoke has turned into for the Smith family.

This particular tradition started sometime after the tuna-cabbage roll incident, but before my dad transformed into the super chef he is today.  Little by little the idea of smoking a turkey all night long on Thanksgiving Eve in preparation for Thanksgiving Day festivities caught on . . . first in our family, with my siblings and I thrilled for an excuse to stay up all night long, then to the extended family, with my dad's brothers joining in for the excitement.  Shortly after, my mom's sisters decided they wanted to party, too!  Today, Turkey Smoke reaches beyond family to our friends . . . and even our friends' families!  We all gather at the Smith house for some good eats, horseshoes, games, and of course, drinks.  You can think of it as a sort of precursor to Thanksgiving, or tailgating the holiday, with just as much food -- but a whole lot more fun :-)

Ready, set, go.

Work today, then Zumba with Cary, Carrie, and others.

Maybe meeting at church tomorrow -- could possibly be canceled (I hope it is, I could use the extra sleep), then make spinach artichoke dip and head out to Matt and Courtney's Chili + Hokies party.

Church sunday, then meeting after church for the acapella group, then company Chili Cookoff.  Sunday night?  Decorating for Christmas.

I'm not crazy, I don't promise you.

Rar 5

Sink faucets that are too short for the sink bowl.  Or sink bowls that are too short for the faucet.  However you want to look at it, this is when you go to wash your hands and just by running them under the water you keep hitting the back of the sink.  Seriously, this just isn't right.

So many questions, so little time.

1. Name the most terrifying moment of your life so far.

 Hearing someone walking around outside of my window back in HS.  Then, hearing that person open the door to the basement outside of my room.  Thank goodness I had chained it before going to sleep.  It turned out to be some creeper kid that I worked with at BBV.  Nevertheless, I grabbed the knife I kept in my room and threatened to cut his arm off if he even thought about trying to unchain the door. 


2. If you could bring one character to life from your favorite book, who would it be?

Vanyel Ashkevron and/or Yfandes.  They essentially come as a set.

3. If you wanted to look very sexy, how would you dress?

 LBD over a corset w/ thigh highs.


4. Who would you most like to be stuck in an elevator with? Least like?

Most = Eric
Least = Nicholas Cage


5. List 5 people you know. Then describe each of them in 5 words.

 Eric - Thoughtful, warm, strong, Christian, love
Cary - high-spirited, active, strong-willed, clever, style
Amanda - heart, gentle, happy, capable, good
Mike - talented, musician, loyal, shy, rugged
Mom - fighter, sweetheart, giving, petite, kind

6. Have you told your partner about all of your past relationships?

Yes

7. What outfit or article of clothing do you like to see your spouse wearing the most?
 

Brew Thru shirt :-)

8. What was the most recent movie that made you cry?

 Jeeze.  Everything makes me cry.  Ummm . . . my sister's keeper?  Rocky?  I don't know.

9. If you could be any age again for one week, what age would you be?


 18, specifically a week in March when the WAJ boys and Slusher girls were inseperable.

10. You can cast any actor now alive to play you in a film about your life. Whom would you cast in the role?

 Kate Hudson

11. If you could have one superpower, which would you choose?

 Photographic memory


12. Have you ever been sexually attracted to a family member or a person of an inappropriate age? How did you deal with it?

 Nope. 


13. You can choose your method of dying and the place in which you will die. 

 At home, in my sleep, of old age.

14. You can choose your last meal. What will the menu consist of?.

 Filet Mignon with gorgonzola, white cheddar mac n' cheese (shells), asparagus with hollandaise, walnut and goat cheese salad (from Jackson's), garlic mashed potatos, and crescent rolls. 


15. If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?

Oh, the League.

16. If you joined the circus, what act would you most want to perform?

 I'd probably just want to get all dressed up and bedazzled.  I don't care what act.

17. You see three teenagers making fun of a mentally handicapped man in the street. What would you do?

 Go over, take the guy's arm, and just lead him away off the street.


18. A dear friend is in agony and wants you to help him/her to die. Would you?

 Death isn't up to me.


19. Your best friend dies, what would you do?

 Get to work on creating a photo memorium board.  It's my creative outlet when dealing with grief.

20. What do you think would be the hardest thing for you to give up on?

my marriage.

21. Imagine. It is a dark night, you are alone, it is raining outside, you hear someone walking around outside your window. Who do you call?

Ghostbusters!

22. If you could do anything OR wish for anything that would come true, what would you wish?

unending energy.  If i could survive without having to sleep, that would be nice.  Just never again feeling worn out or exhausted.

23. If you had only 24 hours to live, what would you do?

Spend it with my family, probably in the great outdoors. 

24. Have you ever cheated on your boyfriend/girlfriend?

Yes.

25. What's the worst thing about being your gender?

having to be the one that maintains familial etiquette as far as remember to get/write/send cards for birthdays and anniversaries.  I really think women are more prone to alzheimer's because we spend so much more of our mind's energy remembering things for our spouse!

26. What is the strangest dream you've ever had?

When I dreampt I was driving down the road and all of a sudden the road simply ended in this vast abyss . . . I kept driving, right off of the ledge, and ended up actually falling into one of those dream-paralysis states where I couldn't call out or move, just actually felt myself falling.  When I finally did wake up, I was sweating, and had been crying!

27. Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a heart break or have never loved before?

The love one.

28. Think of the last time you were REALLY angry.

no thank you.

29. What is more difficult for you; looking into someone’s eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someone’s eyes when they are telling you how they feel?

I just look at people regardless of the conversation content.  It's rude not to do so.

rar 4.

I promise I have other things to say aside from these random pet peeves, I just don't have time to write it all out right now.  These peeves, though, take less than a minute to type out and they are usually at least somewhat entertaining.  right?

Today's rar:  when someone says "Now that's funny; I don't care who you are."

First of all, it's probably not funny.  I say this because people who actually use that line tend to just not be funny.

Second of all, what does it matter if you do or don't care who anyone is?  Why should that at all be reason to state that something is funny?

Bottom line:  just say "now that's funny" and leave it at that.

Rar 3. I'm on a roll today.

How Facebook notifies you when other people leave messages/comments/etc. on someone else's page, that have nothing to do with you.  Just because I happen to say someone's picture is nice, does NOT mean that I should find out each time someone else happens to comment on that same picture.  SHEESH.  27 notifications?  PLEASE.

Rar 2.

People that misuse apostrophes. 

I keep seeing that more and more often, and I don't know why.  My most recent example is an entry on craigslist (I know, people on that site can't spell worth anything, anyway, but still).

"Two Gerbil's for sale."  Ugh.

Catch Up Photos - Philadelphia, PA

 

At the obligatory Liberty Bell stop                               This whole wall is tile mosaic.  Beautiful!               Right before dinner at Union Steak

hey yo Adrien . . . I DID IT!

And of course:

Rar.

I'm going to try my best to just immediately post whatever pet peeve happens at the time it happens, because I always think to myself, I should really keep a list of these, and I never do.

#1 - Trying to cancel out of a webpage, only to have some "live agent" message box say "HEY WAIT!  Don't leave yet, blah blah blah" . . . it's like, no really, I don't care what you have for me, I DON'T WANT TO BE ON THIS FREAKIN WEB PAGE ANY MORE!

And because of those live agent things, I seldom return to those pages, ever.

Rah, Rah, sis-boom-PHILLY

We got back Sunday mid-afternoon from our anniversary trip to Philly.  It was the icing on the cake after watching all the Rocky movies, and having the fresh prince theme song memorized. 

Seriously, I liked Philly.  It wasn't so dingy as a lot of other cities, and it had a nice flow to it.  If you were to ask me what was my favorite part of the trip, I'd say one of three things:

The 28-day aged filet mignon from Union Trust Steakhouse
The Philadephia Zoo
The Rocky statue/running up the art museum stairs

The steak was fork-tender, and topped with caramelized onions.  Add that to the most succulent lobster bisque ( . . . I mentioned the bisque . . . ) and creamy macaroni and cheese this side of the mississippi, and you've got yourself one happy camper.  Not to mention the ambience was astounding -- ornate cathedral ceilings reaching up to there, and being seated at a table on the second floor overlooking the dining area, with nothing more than a glass wall between us.  Vertigo city.

The zoo is the oldest zoo in America.  We saw some fun things, like hippos trying to eat pumpkins.  It was also "Boo at the Zoo" so all the kids that were there that day were dressed up in their halloween costumes.  *So cute*!  Funny though, one of my favorite things about the zoo is that they let peacocks roam wild.  I love peacocks.

And per my earlier Rocky post, of course I had to go to the statue.  It's no longer at the top of the stairs; rather it's off to the right at the base of the stairs.  But, it is still there, and we got the necessary "I DID IT!" pose in front of him.  Then, I ran up the stairs.  It wasn't difficult at all, I didn't break a sweat or start breathing any harder.  So I though, what was the big deal?  And then I remembered that Rocky did the same thing, only after running like 10 miles and working out before that even.  So I guess I'd be a little winded after all that, too.

We did a few other things, like a ghost tour, saw the liberty bell, hung out in the Omni bar/lounge area.  Had the best cosmopolitan ever.  We walked around the city, did some shopping, and relaxed sans bebe for the weekend.  Cassy stayed at home with my mom, and was evidently simply awesome.  She slept well both nights, took a two hour nap on Friday and a three hour nap on Saturday; she ate well and she just played and babbled to mom all weekend long.  I think it's such a sweet thing, this nana-baby time together. 

Pictures to come.  Sometime, somehow.

Next up:
Friday Fright Night
Maddy's birthday party! (Eric's and my actual anniversary)
Neighborhood halloween parade

Fireball Foos

Well, we made it to our first foosball tournament with a baby in tow.  Michelle joined us as well, to help out with Cassy but to also get her first taste of the foosball 'underground society.'

Tournament was held up in Timonium, at the Holiday Inn where MD states is usually held.  The table was Fireball, not Tornado, which was slightly different but not out of the question different.  I thought the defense would have three men, but it had five, just like a Tornado table.  But something still just felt slightly off the whole weekend.  Like the table was just a bit smaller, or something.  I don't know.

Anyway, I managed to adjust enough to eek out a 4th place finish in Amateur Singles, which was my highest placement in a single's event since Kentucky States back in like 07 or something.  I think I got 3rd there, maybe.  Eric and I as a team typically do better than we did this past weekend.  The only notable event was Open Mixed, in which we also took 4th.  Everything else was win one lose one win one lose one, or worse.  But, we went not expecting much since it was a new table, and we hadn't played, competively, since MD states 2009.  Plus it was just to see how things went having a baby on board.  They went swimmingly, by the way.

Next up -- Philly for our anniversary!  Then, I think we're actually in town for a few weekends in a row after that.  Which is good, 'cause I miss being at home.

Blast from the Past Memory of the Day

Gigapets.

Matt and I were commenting about some crazy cute baby hedgehogs seen here, and he called them pocket pets.  That, for some reason, reminded me of Gigapets! 

Did you ever have a Gigapet?  What was its name?  I think I had a frog gigapet but I don't remember its name.  I also know that I killed it pretty early on and didn't bother resetting it.  I just couldn't remember to hit the right buttons at the right times.

Baby's First . . . CAMPING ADVENTURE!

Each year in October the Smith family goes on a camping trip.  This year, of course, we had Cassidy in tow.

Dad planned ahead and purchased a pop-up camper for Maddy and Cassidy to be able to use, but unfortunately a cable snapped just a day before we were supposed to leave.  That, and the fact that it was POURING rain for four days leading up to the trip made me think that this year's camping extravaganza would have to be postponed.  And, I'll admit it -- that thought didn't bother me too terribly much.  The idea of taking an 8 month old tent camping was pretty daunting.

But, Friday dawned beautifully and it wasn't long before the temperature reached a nice mid-70's.  The ground seemed fairly dry despite the rains the days before.  And, I'll admit it -- even though the idea of taking an 8 month old tent camping was daunting, the adventure of it was rather enticing.  So, I left work around noon, came home, packed us all up, and off we went.

We camp at North River camp ground, in the GW National Forest, about 2.5 hours from our home in NoVA.  Mom, Dad, and Cary had staked out an awesome site, which mom later informed me was the exact site she and dad had camped at on their first anniversary.   The site was large, room for at least 5 or 6 tents, and was flanked by a small babbling brook on one side.  Good thing, too, since I'm typically flanked by a babbling baby on one side.

So the days were nice and toasty warm, the nights were cold but not freezing.  See, that was my biggest concern for the weekend.  How do I keep my baby girl from getting too cold at night?  I know she can't regulate her own body temperature at this age, and to add more obstacles she's a thumb sucker who needs at least one hand free to pacify herself.   The first night was . . . ok.  I brought this marshmallow suit (a big, puffy, white snow suit) to have her sleep in and it worked, but she had a fitfull sleep all night.  She kept waking up sporadically to just let out this little cry like she was annoyed, but never actually woke up.  Think of it like someone talking in their sleep while having a bad dream or something like that.  Anyway, so I thought she was just cold, of course, because I was crazy paranoid about that all weekend -- so I brought her into bed with me and Eric, and held her in my arms all night.  I've never done that before, and didn't bank on the fact that I would then get overly paranoid about her suffocating on the sleeping bag.  Needless to say, i didn't get much sleep that night since I was constantly checking to make sure Cassy was still breathing.

On Saturday we all drove into town to watch my brother's baseball games (he's a catcher for EMU).  They won.   On our way back to the campsite, we detoured to Target where I purchased a long underwear onesie and a sleep sack for Cassidy.  See, I figure maybe Cassidy wasn't actually cold on Friday night -- maybe she was just annoyed at the fact that the marshmallow suit rendered her immobile.  These things -- the onesie and the sleep sack -- would give added warmth AND the ability to move around more freely.  Note:  If you're going to be a parent, you've gotta be ready with plans A, B, C, D, E  . . . etc.  Sure enough, Saturday night Cassidy slept like . . . well, a baby!  all night long.  Seriously.  From 7p until 8a, she just lightly snored all night long.  I had her dressed in a onesie, under the long underwear onesie, with socks, under her flannel footie pajamas, under a fuzzy pink hooded jacket, under the sleep sack.  Worked like a charm.  Five charms, to be exact.

All weekend we were treated to my dad's cooking creations -- Friday night was southwestern eggrolls and chicken quesadillas, Saturday was grilled chicken and ribs, Sunday morning breakfast was bacon, eggs, and bagels.  I'm still not used to that -- Eric and I used to only ever bring hotdogs for dinners, and stuff to make PBJ sandwiches during the day.  So yeah, I feel like this is first-class camping :-)

Mike T. and Michelle K. were able to join us this year, which helped round out the group and added a very fun dynamic.  I will never know how Mike found us, since it was already dark and all I had told him was that we were at North River campground.  There are lots of winding roads throughout the campground, but luckily he found our specific campsite.  Genius!  So we played some games Friday night, and Saturday we just hung out chillin by the campfire.  The stars were incredible, and the time was very relaxing overall. 

Some pics from the weekend:

Enjoying the Marshmallow suit -- for the moment!

The ladies

Family camping picture!

Around the campfire

It's a Rocky world out there

I had never seen any of the Rocky movies before.  I might have known that Sylvester Stallone was the star, but there is a much better chance that I didn't even know that. 

So Eric, of course, decided that he should remedy the situation by putting all 5 (6?) Rocky movies, in order, on our Netflix queue (random tangent -- congratulations*, Netflix, for putting BBV out of business!!), and having me watch each and every bloody one of them.  Let me tell you how thrilled I was when the first one showed up in our mailbox.

Better yet, let me tell you how thrilled I was to know how awesome these movies are!  Trust me, I was very (VERY) surprised.  I don't really like boxing all that much, and Stallone has never been a favorite actor of mine.  He's Rambo, right?  Yeah, I can do without that.  I basically intended to watch the first movie just to hear him say "ADRIENNE!!" and to hear the Gonna Fly Now theme, since those are the only two things I ever knew about the movie, and thought it would be pretty cool to hear them for myself.  I didn't think I'd actually end up liking the Rocky character, and caring about what happened to him.  I certainly didn't expect to cheer.  The last movie that made me jump up and cheer was Grindhouse. -- I did expect to cry some, since I usually do at movies, but I didn't.

Now we've watched movies 1-4, and I've eagerly awaited each one.  I've thoroughly enjoyed 1-3, and found 4 to be a bit cheesy what with the big Russian guy and all.  Maybe I just don't care much for big, muscley, Russian men named 'Dolf.'  Oh, and that robot.  That robot just put it OVER THE TOP (haha?).  Anyway, we should get the 5th but not final Rocky movie today or tomorrow.  If we get it today, Netflix is amazingly awesome.  If we get it tomorrow, Netflix is pretty cool.  I'll be sure to let you know how that turns out.












*Congratulations:  I learned to spell this word by watching Full House when I was a kid.  There is an episode where Uncle Joey is supposed to audition for some TV show (I think the surfing kangaroo one).  So Uncle Jesse goes out and gets him a cake that says "Congrats Joey."  But Danny Tanner asks, "well, we don't know if he got the part.  What if he doesn't get it?"  And Jesse says "Oh.  Well, we'll just fix it to say 'rats Joey.'  As a kid I thought it was brilliantly hysterical.  As an adult, I'm happy to know how to correctly spell congratulations, and can't stand the graduation pun 'congraduations.'  Really?  Improper spelling AND a lisp?  Surely you jest. 





Oh wait, you do.  It's a pun.  I know.  I get it.  It's just not funny.

Cool People Get This

If you don't get it, it doesn't mean you're not cool.  But you are cooler now for having seen it.

Corral the Chorales

I miss singing with a group a LOT, so I started searching for a group to join.  I discovered that different counties or cities have their own chorales.

I looked at Reston Chorale, which consisted of fairly expensive membership dues, plus you have to buy all the music, the robe, and all this other stuff . . . not to mention you have to audition and all that jazz.

So I figure, let's check out Loudoun Chorale.  Here I find the dues are not even 1/4 as expensive, open membership (no audition), rehearsals are on the weekend, not a weekday.  This is much more my style -- it doesn't seem nearly as pretentious.

So, we'll see how it goes -- I'm going to go on Sunday to see what's up.

8 Months!

Cassy turned 8 months old yesterday!  We receive a newsletter called 'First Steps' from a lady from our church who works with children, and the newsletter details out what to expect from an 8 month old, what kinds of toys/how to play with an 8 month old, etc. etc. -- and just nice parenting tips.  For the first time, I think everything in that newsletter was already accomplished by Cassy during her 7th month.  So, I'm probably going to just read the 9 month newsletter to see what she really has in store for her.

I can't believe this kid.  In the same week she went from crawling to pulling herself up into a standing position.  She's actually really good at lowering herself back down again into a seated position.  She feeds herself little Gerber puffs, but I'm still wary of trying chunkier foods because she has just the two bottom teeth.  So we've been playing a lot with fresh bananas, which she can still mash pretty easily, but are also chunkier. 

Cassy loooooves the outdoors.  A neighbor recently gave us one of those turtle sandboxes, so Eric went out and got some play sand.  Cassy will happily sit and run her fingers through the sand, and squeals with delight if you bury her feet so she can wiggle them out again.  She enjoys her walks around the neighborhood, or just lounging in the hammock with Eric and me, watching the breeze blow the trees.

Cassy is still just all smiles.  She started saying 'Mamamama' just last Friday (success!!), so we've got the D, M, L, and B sounds down.  And the vowel sounds, of course.

* * *

Lots to do over the next few weeks:

Get together this weekend
Family camping trip + apple picking the following weekend
Amanda and Cary's 5k in Leesburg the weekend after that
Dylan's 21st BIRTHDAY!!!!  and Fireball Open The weekend after that
Philly Oct 22-24
Maddy's 3rd birthday + our 6 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! on Oct 30
Cassy's first halloween (yes, I ordered her costume!) on Oct 31

Courtney, when is the chili party?  I need to get that down, too :-)

AGT FINALE TONIGHT!

I cast (casted?) my vote(s) for Fighting Gravity last night.  I hope they take the spot.

Even though I figured he would be 3rd despite him being my second favorite act, Prince Poppycock put in a very poor showing last night.  He has a good voice, yes, but he is a showman!  And last night was only song.  And it was boring song.  Hhhmmm.  Michael Grimm, on the other hand, performed a fantastic rendition of 'when a man loves a woman' -- which I thought was a brilliant song choice.  I mean, who hasn't heard that song?  And he sang it *so well* that people would easily be able to tell how well he did, just because of how well-known that song is.  I think (think, mind you) -- that Grimm might actually find himself in third place, behind FG and Jackie Evancho. 

The Fall of the House of Hokie (?)

We're simply not stepping it up this season, so far.  Already a week into the season, and we're sporting a not-so-nifty 0-2 record, with losses to Boise St. (note:  Boise is NOT A STATE!) and JMU.

I didn't so much mind the loss to the Broncos.  They were ranked higher and all that, and we made it a game.  In our fashion, we lost the game in the last few minutes after holding a lead through the entire second half.  So, yeah, none of that is surprising.  I think Eric quoted some stat to me where Tech hasn't beaten a top ten school in however many years.  So, Magic 8 Ball, will the Hokies lose to Boise?  All signs point to YES.

JMU though, that was a killer.  When a school is better known for their marching band than for their football team, they have no reason to beat an initially ranked top 10 school.

Or do they?

A friend and JMU grad supposed maybe it's not that Tech isn't as good as everyone thinks this year, but that JMU is actually better than everyone thought.  That made me feel a little more at ease -- because it's not like it's impossible that JMU could never have a decent football team.  If that's the case, best of luck to them!  It would be nice to have a ranked school closer to NoVA than Blacksburg and UVA to get to to support those Hokies.

However, on the flip side, it's not like it's impossible that VA Tech could lose it's grasp on football.  Certainly the Hokies have ruled with an iron fist for the past decade.  Maybe not winning championships, but always succeeding at getting to bowl games.  Always being ranked.  Always being talked about.  That definitely shows for something.  But what if that momentum is slowly declining?  The coaching staff seems to be stagnating.  The fresh talent we bring to the team never seems to be 'the' talked about super star.  Magic 8 ball, Was losing to JMU a wake up call for the season, or could this very well be the start to the fall of the house of Hokie?  . . . Ask Again Later.

Kickoff in the Capital!

After knowing each other for nearly 10 years . . . being married for nearly six of them! . . . Eric and I FINALLY made it to our first Hokies football game together!

First, we tailgated with Team Silverthorn

Then, watched some crazy H-O-K-I-E-S HOKIES! action

And although the Hokies lost, we had an AWESOME time!

(not to mention, it was pretty cool attending the game as an alumna :-))

AGT Picks

AGT top four prediction, in order:

1st - Fighting Gravity
2nd - Jackie Evancho
3rd - Prince Poppycock
4th - Grasso (my dark horse pick)

Honestly, I'd like Jackie to be out of the running simply because of her age.  I don't think having a Vegas headline act is suitable for someone so young.  I really don't like the child acts at all, for the same reason (sorry Anna and Patrick).  If I could rewrite the regulations for AGT, I'd split it into two categories:  America's got Vegas for adults, and America's got Talented Kids for anyone under 18.  But, that's not how it is, and Jackie is obviously  the most vocally talented and captivating person out there.  So, I'm sure she'll be in the running -- just, behind Fighting Gravity (GO TECH GO!) :-)

Bird is the Word

Cassy's current favorite animal is a bird -- be it goose, grouse, turkey, or chicken. 

Introduction to Mash Ups

I love puns.  LOVE them.  I actually consider them a mark of intelligence.  So naturally I would take two things that I love and mash them up into what my brother-in-law termed "Mash Ups."  Illustrated puns, if you will.  I'll post them from time to time, basically whenever someone mentions a concept I draw it out.  Sometimes they're not true puns, just funny drawings . . . like the time I drew a unicorn biting the head off of a leprechaun.  It sounds morbid, but the sun was smiling so that made everything ok.  Anyway, here's a Mash Up to start us off:
                                         

Enjoy!

And, here I am

I joined the ranks of blogspot bloggers because I was tired of having to log in to LiveJournal, then visit C's and E's pages separately.  Then K joined blogspot.  Plus, I think it will be easier to keep up with Google-enforced blogdom.  Sorry LJ, you're something like a dinosaur now . . . which is sad, because I really like dinosaurs.