best christmas gift

So, we'll see if my brother ever reads my blog. It may very well hint at part of his Christmas present. He recently wrote in his blog about "an ideal date" and let's just say it involved Bartles & James, popcorn and gravy, a warm house and "The Little Mermaid". I then decided as part of his Christmas present, I would try to make that happen. While at Dierberg's this evening, I purchased a nice 4 pack of "the original" Bartles & James. I will then add a bag of microwave popcorn complete with a gravy packet. If only I could locate a copy of The Little Mermaid on DVD in time........
Ok, I have to go now before my dogs go completely insane.....
Here they are last weekend in the big snowstorm. I guess Bosco wanted to be dinner, so he jumped in the fire pit.

MLB "witchhunt"

Can someone tell me what anyone hopes to accomplish by finger pointing toward baseball players who used "steroids"? When your career depends upon you performing at an absolute peak, you're probably going to do just about whatever it takes to help you attain this. Many of these substances were, at the time, legal and misunderstood. So now we're going to destroy the game that so many of us grew up loving because some people want to finger point? Apparently the world doesn't have bigger problems? I tire of this. What are we doing about the professional athletes who exhibit frivilous behavior and end up killing people, animals, etc. As far as I can tell, only one has even received close to what he deserves for his actions. In essence, people guilty of far worse things are getting off with a slap on the wrist and the others, who hurt no one but themselves, if even that, are being ostracized and taken to court? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Best Xmas movie ever

So, I'm watching "Love Actually" which is pretty much the best movie around Christmas time that ever was (except for the children's movies- this movie is for grown-ups). I love it, it is so funny and truthful and emotional. One of the funniest things about it is that Billy Bob Thorton plays the president of the US. He is a wonderful comedic representation of a Bill Clinton/ GW Bush combo. Then we have Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister, but that really isn't a surprising role for him.....
Anyway, today I had the turkey equivalent of "spam" I think. My work had a holiday lunch and the buffet line consisted of this "turkey", but it didn't have any bones at all and it was surprisingly easy to cut with a plastic butter knife. Kinda like a chicken mcnugget without the breading....frightening.....
Other than that, I'm just really tired of all this rain. Rain is no fun when it is cold. I want to lie in bed all day and I feel sleepy at work and can't get anything done.
Oh, one more thing about Love Actually. One of the characters decides that he wants to visit the states and he decides to go to Wisconsin. Now, I have nothing against Wisconsin, I actually really like it, but it is not the typical location that one would expect a foreigner to come to on their first visit. He ends up finding exactly what he is looking for....Shannon Elizabeth wearing a cowboy hat donning a southern accent, because we all know that is what a typical Wisconsonian is like. LOL
That's all folks.

My new friend

Today I met my new friend Zachary. He is about 1 day old at this moment in time. He is super cute, but his body temp was a little low, so he had to be wrapped up in blankets and a hat like a little bug. It was like holding a football with a head. I can't wait to see his eyes and hands and feet. Then I came home and we tried a recipe we found on yahoo for beef fried rice. Eugene loves beef fried rice. This recipe was pretty good I guess, but we used too much oil. Good to know for next time. And, honestly, by the time you buy all the ingredients, especially the steak, it is probably just cheaper to go get it at the Chinese place. Oh, well.

Was I cheated if I didn't know better?

So, at the coaxing of my flute instructor, Sunday I participated in a master class with a flautist from Spain named Eugenia Moliner. I was terrified, but Jenna convinced me that it would be fine and that it would be a good experience. I was still terrified, but she was right. Eugenia was very nice and she offered a lot of constructive advice and comments- much of which I've already heard from Jenna. So, I now know what I could have been really working on for years. I have played the flute for over 20 years and I am just now learning about what I should REALLY be doing to get better. It makes me wonder what could have been; what if I had had teachers that had invested more in me, worked me harder, challenged me more? I love playing more than almost anything, but I never put in the time I should have and no one pushed me to do it. For 8 years I took lessons from 3 teachers. I honestly think only one of them could have given me what I needed. Unfortunately, she was the first one and I think she moved away. The other two were very nice and great players, but they never lit a fire under me or showed me so many of the things that I have already learned from Jenna. Such small, simple techniques that have already improved my playing in the short time that I had studied again.
I guess you can't change the past and I can say now that I can give myself the tools to do what I want to do. Lesson learned.
In other news, there have been two babies born in the last 4 days. My friend, Jen, had her little girl Friday morning, albeit 6 weeks early. The earliness was expected and though I was excited for them, I was cautious to get too happy before I knew the status of the situation. But she is absolutely beautiful. She's small, but lungs seem to be developed and she isn't on a respirator.
Then, this morning, I get a text message from Tina saying that she is in labor. I talked to her around 8 a.m. and she had just gotten her epidural. She was pretty funny, feeling no pain. Finally her son was born this evening and he was 7 lbs. 12 ozs. I'm sure I will go see them tomorrow. I'm so excited for the both of them. This is now the 7th friend this year to have a baby. There are more to come next year though!
That's all for now. How about a picture of my cute puppies to look at!
Oh, and you can check out the newly painted guest bedroom as well and my plant that I haven't killed yet. Enjoy!

Only so much I can handle.....

So, I went to the 'n'th baby shower this year out of 'n'. I'm saying 'n' because there has been too many to keep track. Anyhow, I went to a suburb of Chicago and stayed with my pregnant friend on bedrest (it was her shower), another pregnant friend and another friend who has a 2 year old. I love them dearly and I think it is wonderful that they have/ are having children and feel the need to talk about pregnancy constantly, but I don't know how much more I can take. This is all I have heard about for the last year from SO many of my friends. Luckily, a few of my friends were also in town for unrelated reasons, so I was able to get away Saturday night. I had dinner at a former co-workers house. Getting together again with some folks I hadn't seen in a long time was fantastic! I had such a wonderful time talking about everything BUT pregnancy. It also made me again realize how much I want to move back to Chicago. This recurs every time I go back. I am always so happy when I am there. I know some great people and there are some great places to go, it is just such a different feeling for me. Sometimes I wish that I had never moved back home, but I know that I was supposed to, because I would never have met my husband otherwise. So, now I just drop hints about going back. He's such a good sport, too, and never tells me 'no'. I could pull it off if I keep working on him....

One of the funniest things we did at Rhonda's house on Saturday was watch the video from her daughter's wedding reception. I realize that this sounds completely horrible, but it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Her son-in-law is Dutch and apparently there must be some kind of custom that lays out that you have to sing a half hour long song to embarass the groom. His relatives had this song about all of his past girlfriends and the words were typed out and passed out to everyone at the reception. So, the guy videotaping zooms in on Rhonda's daughter as she reads the words to the song and perfectly captures the look on her face as she tries to figure out what it all means. You then see her new husband try to distract her from reading it and tries to get it away from her. Words cannot describe the hilarity of this unplanned scene from the evening. The videographer also zooms in on people as they have conversations. You can't hear anything, but it is still priceless.

All in all, good weekend. Now I am home again with my puppies and my hubby and tired and ready to go to bed!

The TV Writer Strike

Today I was informed of the television writer strike. At first, we were discussing NBC shows, so I was naturally upset because that is the network that has The Office, Scrubs and Heroes. This turned into utter shock and despair when my co-worker friends informed me that "no, it isn't just all the NBC writers, it is ALL writers! What don't you understand about all???"
"WHAT?????" is my response. What the heck am I going to do? My life almost revolves around the weekly storylines and drama that television can bring me. My own life is just not that interesting, so I need it to bring me into a more interesting life.
Maybe I could be a TV writer??? I like writing, I like stories, I like being funny, why not? It probably won't ever happen. Honestly, I just hope the writers don't stay on strike. Give them what they want, please!!!! My life can't go on without new plots!

All the babies

i am absolutely in awe these past few months. as a lot of people know, i have quite a few friends who are either pregnant or have recently had babies. they all came at once it seemed. it's all very exciting, especially for me, who gets to watch from an outside perspective and see how it all unfolds. (yes, it has caused a lot of comments about "us being next", but i'm not worried about that. all in due time....)
anyway, in the last week and a half, i have gotten to meet claire and allison. they are the daughters of three wonderful friends. i met both of them when they were just over a day old. i have to say that i can't even imagine how a mother must feel because i miss them both terribly and they are not even my children! both little girls are absolute angels! they are the babies you are so relieved your friends have because they are honest to god beautiful babies and you can say it and mean it! they were not at all like the weird looking babies that no one knows how quite to comment on because they seriously are not cute.
i used to be terribly afraid of very little babies. they are so fragile and 'soft'. i was always afraid i would do something unintentionally to hurt them. however, i have gotten over this and now i just marvel in the thought of holding these little ones and watching them sleep and make their little noises and make funny faces. it is absolutely amazing.
i am so proud of my friends. they have a lot of courage to bring another person into this world and take care of them and teach them about how to be a good person. believe me, these babies will be learning from very good sources.
my next anticipation is zachary. zachary should be coming to meet us in about a month and i am THRILLED. though i love all the little girls, i'm excited about another boy in my life. his mom asked me if i was going to come see them in the hospital and i responded, "i'm coming to see you the very second they allow me to come see you!" i've watched his mom her entire pregnancy and i just cannot wait for him to be here as i cannot wait to watch my friends' children grow up and become amazing humans. i'm just awestruck.

Blaming others.....

So, I just read an article about how the family of a Chicago runner is "blaming" a Chicago ambulance for 'getting lost' whilst having a patient in the ambulance. I also read that the ambulance is from Niles. Having lived in the area, I know that Niles is a suburb, the drivers are not quite as familiar with the Chicago downtown streets, and CERTAINLY they are not familiar while there are road closings due to a huge event, such as a marathon. I understand the grief that can overcome a family after losing someone, there are many people that can be blamed, but WHY would you blame an underequipped ambulance driver because they couldn't find a hospital during a time of pandemonium. How could they be easily expected to find a hospital during this. I am SO TIRED of people wanting a scapegoat for EVERY LITTLE THING that goes wrong?????

The last 24 hours.....

I feel like the possibilities in my life would be endless if I had an unlimited supply of money. Ever since I was at Theresa's parents' house on Saturday, I can't stop thinking about gaming systems and all the games I want to get. I haven't thought like this since I was about 11! Back then, all I could think about was being the first one at the bus stop to beat Super Mario II or the all-time question- did Jeff or I beat Castlevania II first? I was at home and he was at a friend's house when we both beat the game. We may never know the truth.....
So, after many months of curiosity, I finally played Guitar Hero. I quickly became addicted as it was pretty easy to play and had a whole bunch of songs I love. I also played bowling on the Wii. That was fun, too, like something you could just do while you were bored sitting around the house. I felt like a whole new world had opened.
So I came home raving about everything and I look online to see about getting a Guitar Hero game. Turns out the newest version comes out on Sunday AND it will be for the Playstation 3. Therefore, last night we went out and bought a Playstation 3 and I pre-ordered Guitar Hero 3. Oh, yes, you didn't read that incorrectly- I PREORDERED something. I've not pre-ordered anything in my life. That's what those random kids at CD Warehouse used to do when some lame new CD was coming out that they HAD to have at midnight. I don't care, I have owned up to my desperation. However, now I find it very unfair that Eugene already has a new game to play on the new system, but I have to wait 5 more days for the ONLY game that I want to play. I don't know what he's going to about watching football on Sunday...... I digress.

The other fun thing I did last night was download my new Radiohead album- the one where I decide what I pay. I then got into a discussion with Eugene because he said he was reading about how many people still illegally downloaded it. I just don't understand why you'd need to do that when you can actually get the album for free right from the band! Are they just embarrassed that the band will know that they wanted it for free? Honestly, though, I think those people gave it no thought at all and me trying to analyze it is just wasting my time.....

Oh, this is exciting, we got some free cans of Purina One canned dog food when we bought the dry stuff at Petsmart last night. So, tonight, just to make sure that they weren't spoiled just enough yet, I mixed the canned food with the dry. For two dogs who eat about a bite per hour normally and seem content with it, you would have thought that they hadn't eaten for weeks. They were so excited about it, and then they licked their bowls long after any resemblance of food had been left behind. Their life is so hard......

That's all I got. I will now go back to watching Eugene play whatever game it is he is playing. Go Rockies!