FINALLY!

Thank God, St. Joseph & all of y'all that have been thinking happy thoughts for us: our house is officially SOLD! And we closed on our new place too. The relief is overwhelming. Or it was for about 15 minutes.

Then I started thinking about painting. And repairs. And packing up over 1,800 sq. ft. of crap. And moving 1,800 sq. ft. of crap 80 miles away. In what is likely to be the worst blizzard in a century, if history teaches us anything. And then UNpacking 1,800 sq. ft. of crap. (Once we dig out from the blizzard.) And finding people to help us move. (Anyone? We are not picky. We are also not above recruiting burly men off the street.) And finding a new job. And dealing with my old job for the next month. And moving away from my family. And, and, and . . . you have no idea how much fun it is, living inside my head. Even at the happiest of times, I can always find something to obsess about.

But! We love our new place. Have I mentioned that we have four bathrooms? Four! There are two I haven't even peed in yet! (TMI?) I used to live just a few miles away & I can't wait to revisit all of my old haunts, not to mention discover new ones. Oh, and I know I am the biggest dork in the whole entire world for admitting this, but you guys? The world's most glorious grocery store is just down the road. No, seriously. We stopped in on Saturday just to pick up some milk & stuff, and I totally could have wandered around all night. Helpful staff! Ginormous bakery! A bewildering selection of luscious cheese! And the pièce de résistance - a gourmet candy boutique, including a vast assortment of artisan chocolate. So if it all gets to be too much, you know where to find me.

Christmas Spirits

So, I never asked: how was your Christmas? Mine was lovely, thanks. We still spent far too much time in transit, but it was infinitely better than last year, when we attempted to celebrate in two different states at three different homes (none of them ours) in 24 hours. I believe that was also the year when Chris "closed his eyes for a second" and almost drove off the road. So, yeah, this was better.

The night before Christmas Eve (Christmas Eve Eve?), we had dinner at Mom's with my extended family. Lasagna, four different kinds of pizza, salad, wine, mimosas (yes, we know the mimosas don't really "go" with lasagna; we just don't care) & enough chocolate, cookies & pastries to feed a small country for a week. The wine may have contributed to a rousing discussion about Catholic guilt, movies the Pope would enjoy & how none of us could have, um, shall we say, marital relations, if we lived in a converted church.

My cousin Billy. Cute, amusing, Ivy League graduate . . .
wearing a Green Lantern t-shirt that was one of the more normal things on his Christmas list.
We will never be able to get this boy a date. He maintains that with a family like ours,
he would have to be crazy to bring a girl home. I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about.
Hi, Bean!

We spent Christmas Eve with Chris' family. More wine, more pasta, a similarly ridiculous amount of cookies & chocolate, PLUS the traditional Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes. Oh, and let's not forget the bourbon slush. Between Chris' two siblings, there are seven children in the family, five under the age of eight, so chaos can erupt at any given time. Fortunately, we can always depend on the A Christmas Story marathon to lull them into an after-dinner stupor.

And, finally, Christmas Day at my step-sister's. There was food, lots of food, but what I'm remembering is wine. And egg nog. And Crown Royal. And, of course, mimosas. And then, by the end of the night, there were many shots of Jager offered in celebration of "the baby Jesus' birthday". The kids (only six of them on this side!) had a good time, or at least they didn't seem to mind too much when we appropriated their coloring books & Connect Four for our own use.

But by the end of the night, even the dog was digusted with us.

Go away.
I think next year, we're all going straight to rehab for the holidays.

Cheers!

Happy Christmas to All

And to all, a Good Night!

Blue

Hallelujah!

It's A Boy!

Here's my newest cousin,
Micah Arthur.

He's obviously as even-tempered as the rest of us.

10.24.2006
7 lbs. 9 oz.

Congratulations, Frank, Heather & Mara!

One

Thank you for your patience, kindness, humor & intelligence. Thank you for still wanting to marry me after I was too clueless to realize that you had proposed. Thank you for opening the car door for me every time. Thank you for making me grilled cheese sandwiches when I don't feel well. Thank you for answering my incessant "why is that a penalty?" questions when you really just want to watch the game. Thank you for making even trips to the grocery store entertaining. Thank you for killing the really big spiders and disposing of dead mice and scaring away the monsters in my dreams. Thank you for understanding that flowers for no reason at all are the best kind. Thank you for not laughing (out loud) when I cry over something stupid, like an episode of ER. Thank you for thinking that my friends' boyfriends aren't good enough for them. Thank you for ignoring me when I'm in a bad mood & trying to start a fight. Thank you for realizing how much I miss Art. Thank you for knowing my family is warped and crazy and liking us anyway. Thank you for sharing your warped and crazy family with me. Thank you for being there for and with me during the best and worst times of the past three years. Thank you for showing me what it is like to be completely, ridiculously, overwhelmingly in love.

Thank you for finding me, marrying me & being the best part of my day, every day.

Happy 1st Anniversary!

Only 361 Days Until the Next One!

I whole-heartedly recommend the Birthday Week. Over the course of the week, I drank mimosas, had a party thrown for me, was taken to lunch twice, had dinner made for me & ate various forms of birthday dessert including ice cream, apple pie, fried dough, strawberries & cream cake, Death By Chocolate cake & chocolate peanut butter cake. Much, much eating. Plus I received jewelry, perfume, lotions, flowers, deliciously decadent chocolate, handmade drawings from my nieces & a rice / vegetable steamer. (Hopefully the last will counteract the effects of my Birthday Week consumption.) I even received a gift from my boss. AND I didn't have to clean the kitty litter. Love the Birthday Week!

Happy Birthday to Me

My husband knows two Very Important things about birthdays.

1. They should be celebrated for a week, not a day.
2. Nothing says "happy birthday" quite like Tiffany.

Yes, I know. I have the Best Husband in the World.

#32

"I'm at an age when my back goes out more than I do."
- Phyllis Diller

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Happy Birth Day!

Welcome to the world, Caleb James!

7.13.2006
7 lbs. 8 oz.

Congratulations, Kim & Jet,
Ashley, Jimmy, Danni & Grace!