I actually put on make-up and did my hair. He was actually ready on time.

July 5, 2008 - Right before Vinnie’s Wedding Ceremony.

This was the start of not only our first night away from baby - but our first date in a looooong time.

Baby was excited to get rid of us - she had a keg hidden in the garage.

A perfect day to jump on a bandwagon…

Where was I ten years ago - July 4, 1998.  Washington, DC.  My first 4th in Washington.  If you have never done it - you should.  It’s kick ass.  A moving and wonderful way to spend the holiday.  I had finished college in January earlier that year.  Finished in 3.5 years and spent my last semester “working” full time for a professor.  Ha!  In May I had  moved to Manassas, VA, I lived in an old carriage house in the Manassas National Battlefield (that would be the Battle of Bull Run to us northerners).  This was by far one of my most favorite places I lived.  That park moved me in many ways.  You could literally feel the history there.   I was there as part of an Student Conservation Association / Americorps internship.  I worked to help restore some of the natural ecology of the park while still keep the historical landscape intact - not an easy task.  I was dating a very weird boy (completely lost track of him, I wonder where he is) and nursing a broken heart.   I was generally having a good time in DC.  Life was good.

Five things on Today’s to-do list - well it’s late and my day is done so I’ll do tomorrows.

1.  sleep in (Sophia didn’t sleep much while we were gone, therefore neither did i)

2.   spend time with Sophia who will hopefully not be as grumpy as she has been these last few days. (see number 1 above)

3.  go to the wedding of one of my nearest and dearest - Vinnie.  We have known eachother since we were 12 (?) - 20 years.  We grew up together and managed (along with a few other mutual friends) to stay close.  He is one of the reasons why coming back home was more pleasant.  It’s amazing to watch your childhood friends become adults and turn in to more incredible people every day.

4.  go to the wedding reception - rob and i are spending the night at the inn where the reception is located.  initially this was supposed to be our first “weekend” away since having baby.  but our trip to kentucky had to take place and the weekend was cut to a night.  we’re only going a short distance from our home….but it’s long enough to warrent a night at the inn.  it’s on a lake and we’ll be able to have a bit more fun this way.  i hope.

5.  Relax and be young.   It’s really a shame that we have to remind ourselves to do this.  But, there it is - relax and be young.  You should put it on your to-do list as well!

Snacks I enjoy.

I have a bit of a sweet tooth.  I inherited it from my Dad, who inherited it from his mom, who likely inherited it from her parents.  Damn Italians.  It’s bad - but not out of control.  Lately (and most of the time) ice-cream kicks it…but I also love chocolate, store bought cake, fruit (especially strawberries, blueberries, grapes, and mangos), fresh cannolis (they cannot be old, I destest old cannolis).

Funny story about my Grandma.  When we were cleaning out her kitchen cupboards after she passed away we found a box filled with chocolate bars hidden up on a top shelf.  hehehe.  None of us were surprised.  We all had similar ones in our cupboards.  We learned from the master!

Things I would do if I was a billionaire.

Blah, blah, blah.  I really don’t have anything new to offer here.  I would pay off my debts and the debts of those close to me.  I would quit work and start a foundation to help disadvantaged women in my city.  I would travel.  A lot.  But I would bring Sophia’s entire bedroom set and walls with me wherever we went so that she would sleep and I could sleep and we could all sleep and that sleep would bring us happiness and bliss and non-sleepy days and sleep filled nights.  Man, that would be great.

Places I have lived.

(in order of appearance, with duplicates removed)

1.  Dallas, TX  - where i was borned until i was 9 months

2.  Rural upstate NY, outside of Rochester, NY - from when i was 9 months until i was  11

3.  Suburbs outside of Rochester, NY - from when i was 11 until i went to college at 18

4.  Oxford , Ohio - during four years of undergraduate

5.  Luxembourg City, Luxembourg - for a semester of undergraduate

6.  Manassas, VA - for nine months after undergraduate

7.  Athens, GA - for two years during graduate school

8.  Boston, MA - for six years after graduate school

Guess where my heart still is?

Jobs I have had

babysitter, pizza parlor worker, waitress, camp counselor,  garden store worker, fund raiser, research assistant, lab tech, national park service intern, database manager, nanny, teacher, environmental scientist, research manager

That’s all - enjoy the long weekend..

Travelling wears me out.  I love it - but man, I will be happy to get home this time around.  Wish us luck as we traverse three airports and three cities tomorrow.  See you on the flip.

For better or worse when we come to Kentucky we eat out.  A lot.

We come to visit family.  Rob is the youngest of six kids.  All siblings are either married or in a serious relationship and most have grown children.  It is quite a task to have the entire family over for home cooked meals and most are not brave enough.  In the end a few will end up going out to grab a bit here or there.  We are straight smack dab in the middle of Strip Mall America.  Strip malls as far as the eye can see and the chain restaurants to adorn them.  To sit down and enjoy 3 meals a day in a restaurant is increasingly more difficult for us as Sophia is in full blown toddler mode and there is only so much restaurant, car, restaurant, car, etc she can take.

Our approach this trip has been a little bit different - we’ve aimed for quick and dirty.  My stomach does not thank me.

Dinner:  Steak and Shake (I love me some S and S - we don’t have this in upstate ny and lordy do I miss it).  Can’t pass up a shake with dinner

Breakfast:  Bagel  / Coffee

Lunch:  Mexican blech (I typically love Mexican food but this place is not good for you.).

Snack:  Who says you can’t have 2 shakes in less than 24 hours?

Dinner:  Pizza

While I wouldn’t categorize myself as a health nut - I do eat pretty well normally.  Whole foods are typically the rule, rare is there a processed dinner or lunch in my house.  I realize how different this type of eating is when I Feel It…you can only feel it after you do it.  And man, do I ever regret it.  Unfortunately, we have over 24 hours of this schedule and the limited quick and dirty options remain.

Oy.

I was writing a post about how we were traveling to Kentucky yesterday. How we took forever to get here. How they lost our bag. How Sophia has molars coming in and the tylenol was in the lost bag. How we have to worlds smallest rental car (first time EVER not getting an upgrade at the Nashville Airport). How when I finally got in bed the internet at the hotel didn’t work and I was in bed in my underwear (pjs were in the lost baggage) with Sophia sleeping in the hotel room with me. So I couldn’t do my daily post (I’m back dating this one - I’m not ruining a perfect record just because stupid Kentucky ate me and spit me out a floppy moppy).

It wasn’t a great post.

So I started to tool around in my archives looking for a post about how Rob proposed to me… it doesn’t exist apparently. BUT I did find the post that documents the start of my friendship with Jackie and Elisa. October 15, 2004. I was still on blogger back then and when I migrated to wordpress I never updated the pictures. But there it is…the start of two wonderful friendships. Blogging is so cool. I love that I have this. I am also stunned that I have been doing it for as long as I have. Four years. I started right after I got married. Soon after I started I made some super great friends around the country. I am not sure if I would be able to do that if I started these days (the blogging world has really exploded). How cool that I did what I did when I did that. You know? I feel that way about much of my life!

Dooce is giving away a few Wii’s and she has just about 10,000 comments.  No, that is not a typo.  10,000.

Crazy talk.

Sophia swears up and down that she did not eat any strawberries.  Just picked ‘em. 

Photographic evidence says otherwise.

Dribble much?

They were sooo juicy.

She would suck all the juice out and throw the leftovers back in to the basket.

Hands stained red - a sure sign of a good time.

Even with her help we managed to pick 16 lbs of strawberries.  What the heck were we thinking?  We are headed out of town on Tuesday.  So I do not really have time to do much with them. Anyone wanna come eat some strawberries?

I just got out of the shower.  11:49pm.  I’m about to miss the daily post.   Why am I so late tonight?

Baby did not sleep last night.  Screaming, crying, throwing her body across the room.  The morning came with me in her crib with her.  Ever done that?  Desperation I tell you, I had tried everything else.  Including carrying her (she did not want to be in the stroller) around our block about 3 times.

In anycase - I was beat today and we had a full plate of household crap to accomplish.  We did and it wasn’t such a bad day.  The evening ended with fresh local strawberries and homemade vanilla ice cream.  Yum.

We got baby to sleep and I snuck into my car to renedevous with…

…. a bottle return machine.

$44.45 in bottles dropped off at a local grocery store.

That, my friends, is what I call an ass-load of bottles.

Don’t fret.  You too can have a Saturday night just like me.  It is a reachable goal.  Truly - you. can. do. it.

#2 - Well, as I was pulling into my driveway this evening after work I ran over a baby bird.  Didn’t even see it until I got out of the car.  We are pretty sure it was alive before it met my tire.

I am going to hell.

I absolutely cannot believe how well you all know your Sound of Music lines and lyrics.  Unfreakin believable.  You silly kids.
I’m stunned to silence.

(ps - you rock)