Mustard

So we got our puppy! (not the one I had originally shown) Her name is Caitlin, or Katie (which I don't understand...wouldn't the nickname start with the same letter--oh whatever, its not my dog)...she is 10 weeks old and as cute as a button!

But, despite the fact that I absolutely love dogs, I am sort of hating her. Which I feel really awful about! I'm not sure if I am purposefully detaching myself so that when I am done working and living here it will be easier, or maybe I really just don't like her. Ok, well I like her, but I feel stuck in my situation. When G & S were discussing getting a dog, they told me that I would not have to be responsible for it in any way shape or form. Well so far that is turning out to be a lie. Half the time she pees in the house is because I am off work, or in another room with little Dan, or out running errands, etc. Basically, if I am home, I am entertaining the littles and the dog, feeding the littles and the dog, and taking the littles and the dog to the bathroom and for diapers, and making sure that the littles and the dog have food (I do this for all of the household pets..they wouldn't eat without me).
Is it wrong of me to not want to deal with the responsibilities that go along with having a puppy? I just feel like we could have gotten a dog from the pound or a rescue organization, that was still young, but older; and already had some bladder control; and already knows not to bite the children; and is more calm; and that I could just be in charge of feeding, and playing with it if I wanted to, but wasn't the only one there to do so; and then they could walk it and do all that other stuff as a family.
I feel sort of selfish, but at the same time, this is not what I agreed to do, I feel like another baby has been thrown into my job, and now I have to care for it, which is fine, because like I said, I love dogs, but I feel like if they did have another baby (which they aren't...no worries) I would be getting paid more...but oh wow does that make me sound like a bitch!
Any thoughts on getting un-stuck from the training (or not wanting to train) the puppy situation?

But she is a cutie, and I will play with her either way!

Catch up again...

A few weeks ago, Gwen and Scott went to Jamaica for their anniversary...and I was stuck here playing mommy...yuck! So I had the kids starting on Wed. at 5am...until Friday 5:30pm (supposed to be at 4pm) when their Aunt Rebecca came to pick them up for the weekend, and then Gwen and Scott would be home on Sun. night. Well .. It was tiring, to say the least! And if I have kids, if, then I will be a working mom with either a husband that stays home, or enough money to afford some good child care!

On Friday (two Friday's ago) when I was done with the kids, I relaxed for about an hour before getting ready to head down to Philadelphia to visit a friend. I proceeded to sit in traffic for 6 hours!!!...it was only supposed to take 3 hours! (this is what 6 hours of traffic, and very little sleep will do to you!) So when I finally arrived, I picked up Rachel and we went back to her dorm and slept...well we talked for a few hours first, and then we slept.

The next day we explored Philly by phoot (haha).. we went to this really cool market, which was like pike place (for those of you who have lived in or visited Seattle), we had breakfast there, and then continued on to see the sights (within walking distance of Penn.)
Later we had dinner at this great restaurant called Tria (standing for 3: beer, wine, and cheese) We split a grilled panini, and then had some wine and cheese...it was delicious!! Then we went to a comedy show, put on by an all mens group at the college, it consisted of a bunch of little skits...most of which were funny, and then we followed that up with margarita's and a walk back to the dorms.

Sunday we slept through breakfast, and then had lunch at Rachel's work, before I set off home. It was really great to see her (it had been since New Years Eve!), we got a chance to catch up and we laughed way too much! It was a great visit!
On my drive home I was detoured around the Eagles stadium! Right at game time!! Which was neat! (Mr. Jay is a very big eagles fan, so this was exciting!) Unfortunately I had received a call from Gwen...their flight had been cancelled! So I had to be back to meed Aunt Rebecca and pick up the kids at 6...which then was pushed back to 7...Perfect, I got back just in time, however the kids were nowhere to be found...they eventually turned up at 8:15! How annoying!! I had to wait around for an hour and a half!!!!!! anyhow, so I had the kids for one more full day until G & S got home at 3am on Tues morn. What an exhausting week!

A gorgeous shot of the sun setting over the George Washington bridge on my drive to return to CT.

More to update tomorrow...and at some point we might be up to the present day... :()

Catch up #1

A long long time ago...Kelsey came to visit me! Okay so it was only a few weeks ago, but shame on me for not telling you all about it yet!

She got into NYC pretty late on thursday after some long delays due to weather. So while I was waiting I walked around the upper west side of manhattan for 2 and a half hours! I definately got in my excercise...and I was able to explore the area around our hotel so that it would be less confusing the next couple of days! Since she didn't arrive until 11:15, we only had time to grab a quick bite to eat before heading back to our hotel for bed! (we stayed at this really awesome hotel called the Marrakech Hotel...It was awesome, and had this really neat chair in the lobby!


Saturday we went to the Met(ropolitan Museum of Art). It was really cool...we were unable to go the when we were in NYC back in April. We visited all of the 3D exhibits, and none of the paintings, because there is just so much to see and we had already been there for more than half of the day! My favorite exhibits were the Roman sculptures, which are just so amazing with all for the details! And the African and Egyptian exhibits were awesome! I have a love for anchient Egypt, and all of that cool stuff!
Then Saturday night we went to this amazing Italian restaurant called Merridiana...and we had a romantic dinner for two! Fullly equipped with a bottle of wine, appetizers, our delicious main courses, and a dessert to share! It was excellent as always (we've been a few times)! After dinner we went to a bar that is apparantly owned by P-diddy...it was on the Upper East side and was a champagne bar called 'Flute'...as in the instrument that you drink champagne out of...not the instrument in which you play. We each only had 2 small samples of some wonderful chapagne that ended up being 'on the house' according to this handsome man across the room--who we didn't even talk to but gladly accepted his gesture to pay our bill :) ..!


On Saturday we returned to CT...and Kels was given the tour of my new casa (and she approves)...then we just sat around and relaxed until we had to get ready to head off to my friend Sami's house for dinner. Sami's great! She made us some much enjoyed pasta, and then we got advice from the gang on places where kels and I could go out dancing close to my house. We ended up going out to this bar called 'the field' where there was a live band playing classic rock, and an empty dance floor. Another bonus is that it is close to Fairfield U ( a local college)(with aparantly good looking attendees)(why was I previously un-aware of this?...hmmmm). So we danced to classic rock hits at 'the field'. (There was no alcohol included in this evenings agenda...the pic just displays how crazy we are together!)

Sunday, we had some sleep...maybe too much, but it was nice! Then we had a lite lunch and roamed around town, so she could see what this new place is that I live in. I drove her past the beach and showed her some of my favorite places...It really is a lovely town, although Kelsey says she could never live in a town this small...I don't know what she calls Edmonds (the aparently non small town she lives in at home)(j/k kels... (-: ) Then we went out to dinner with the whole lot of my friends...which was fun! (this is a photo of us playing the sugar game! So fun)

Monday Kelsey was supposed to go home but I convinced her to stay until Thursday...so she stayed and helped me out with the littles, and we got to spend a little more time together!

All in all it was a great trip! I am glad that all of my friends are coming to visit me and that they can all see my humble abode, and that I am doing well, I know that several of my friends and family were worried about how I would be doing across the country from everything I know and love...But I am learning all about this new area and I am loving everything about it!

Happy Birthday!

(October was a popular month for my grandparents!)

Happy birthday to Mr. Jay...the queen's hubby...and my step daddy!
He's really old! Like 49? (don't get offended by this I really don't think that he is that old, I just have to tease him!) He's a pretty awesome guy though..he is the opposite of hip (although I think that he just does this to embarrass me and my sister),
He fixes cars which is pretty neat...and now i miss that, bc my car started making this funny noise and so I'm going to have to take it in and since I'm a girl they are probably going to try to tell me that something is wrong that isn't...
He can fix up some of my favorite foods...including delicious lemon chicken, eggs benedict, and the world's best cheesecake!!!!
Occasionally he even walks the dogs with the queen!
He landscaped the most gorgeous yard ever, including 2 ponds with connecting waterfalls, beautiful flowers, and the works!

I love you Mr. Jay! Have a happy day!

Happy Birthday

To You!! They say its your birthday, da da da da da da....

It's the Queen's Birthday, so make sure to drop by with birthday wishes for her...she certainly wasn't looking forward to 'getting another year older' But I say she's still quite young. She is in her early forties ( I won't say the exact age or she'll have my head for posting it on the internet!), But by comparison, all of my friends my age have parents in their fifties, my mom is young and fun...
she goes to sporting events and shares beer with her daughter!...She is active in walking the dogs...She sews hip clothing...She looks a hell of a lot like me (or visa versa) and I sure as hell don't look 'old'...she is strong (mind and body)...she is smart...she'll keep you on your toes... Now I'm sure if you ask her about any of these things she will have an argument, but don't listen to her...she doesn't know what she's talking about...after all she's not 'old and wise'....
Anyhow I love ya mom! Have a good birthday!

Green & Gorgeous

I was watching the Today show this morning and was very impressed! They had a clothing segment on buying for a cause. The first cause (and one the most important to me) was the environment! I think that it is so great that more and more people are becoming aware of these things! Check out being green and gorgeous!

On another note...my weekend with kels was great! We didn't end up having a spa day, decided to save the $ and relax at home! But we went to NYC and visited the Met, and had delicious food and wandered about town! So far it has been a good trip..and she is going to stay until thursday! hooray!

Okay so as some of you may already know...we are getting a dog! An Austrailian shepherd named Keiffer. If you click on the link and then go to recent puppy photos on the right hand side of the page, you can see him. He's adorable!

Anyhow, I'm off to the grocery store! Happy tuesday!

Another Eventful Weekend!

Another one of my really good friends is coming to visit! Hooray!

Kelsey will arrive tonight around 5 or so, and then I will meet her in NYC...where we will be staying tonight and friday night! It is going to be a blast! We will head back up to Southport sometime on Saturday, and then just hang around my town...I can show her some of the beaches and the crazy mansions, and my favorite deli...then (and I think I am most excited about this part!) on Sunday we are going to go to the spa!! Just to get a massage, and mani's and pedi's! But I've never had a day of relaxation at the spa before!! I'm stoked!

Anyhow I hope everyone else has a great weekend! Mine is going to be awesome!

Ah, Tuesday!

I love tuesdays! They are my favorite day of the week!

Every Tuesday I get to take little dan out of the house and run errands and do whatever. Today we went to pay my cell phone bill, then to the grocery store, and then quickly to the library to drop off books. By the time that we return home little Dan is either already fast asleep or soon to be...so I unload everything and then get some free time! Woo-hoo!

Last week, I received the last box of my things from my sister. In it was my dvd collection...which she added too! So today I watched a movie while knitting away on my scarf (yes its still the same one! I'm slow) It was very nice! Now Little Ann is home from school and entertaining herself, as I update and get dinner ready (tonight we are having pizza bread...which is pizza just made on Ciabatta bread instead of dough).

It has been a very quick and very relaxing day! All I can say is...Ahh, Tuesday!

Pictures! Hooray!

I love looking at photos! And from the past 2 weekends of eventful fun I have taken something like 183 pics! So I am just selecting a sampling of them to post. The first set are of Laura and I on our road trip up to Boston, and then through RI!




The next set are from going up to NH with Jon, Leah, Dave, Amber, and Will. Amber and Will have a cabin up in Hill, NH (smallest town ever, good luck locating it on a map!). The weekend was a blast. We mostly hung out around the gigantic bonfire in the evenings. Saturday we went and bought fireworks and had quite the display that night! We also went to a hike to a beautiful waterfall!
Then we bathed in the ridiculously cold river!! Jon and I had fun doing sparklers!

We went off-roading...which was a blast! And the scenery was gorgeous! The leaves have started to change for autumn, (my favorite season!!) And so I couldn't resist a few photos of natures beauties!

All in all the first couple of weeks of October have been a blast! Good times shared with friends, and I am loving New England!

Oh...to catch up!

Things I have accomplished this week: I did laundry...I have successfully shown up to work everyday (aka..walked downstairs)..I have gone out with my friends toooooo much!!

Things I need to get done: I need to put away my laundry, pack for a weekend in New Hampshire (by 1:45 today!), I need to clean sheila's cage, I need to get back on track with my 'healthier way of life' (I refuse to be on a diet!), I would like to work on my scarf and get some card making done..maybe I'll bring my scarf this weekend and work on it in the car (not around the fire though it will permanently smell like smoke! And I know that there is more, but I can't think of it right now...oh I know...post some pictures for you all and send them to laura!

I think that this crazy need to always overload yourself runs in the family! Don't get me wrong, I am completely content having too much fun all of the time...but I just have this prick in the back of my brain saying...'don't eat that' 'you should be working on crafts right now' '...'

anyhow, I'm going to NH this weekend with some friends so I will try to update on monday with pictures of this past weekend, as well as pictures from NH. Have a good weekend!

498.3 Miles of Fun!!

Over the weekend one of my best friends came to visit!! Laura was only here for a few days but it was a blast!! On friday we went out with some of my friends from CT for Mexican food and Mexican Water...tequilla that is.

Saturday we drove to Boston! The city was great, all of the architecture was amazing, and the history was amazing. We walked around there all day. We did the freedom trail, saw the holocaust memorial (which was heart wrenching), went to boston common and walked around a bunch, had some food, did some shopping...basically the usual 'I haven't seen you in 2 months' stuff + some sight seeing.
Then we made our way to Rhode Island...We stayed in Middletown right near Newport, which was gorgeous! There was some really astonishing views of the ocean, and all of the cliffs. We didn't really do anything touristy there though. We were origianally planning on going to the Newport mansions on Sunday, but slept in and decided to go shopping on our way home. Saturday night however, we did experience Newport's 'great night-life'. We went out to a club called the Blue Rhino. It was really fun and we danced the night away!

Sunday we drove back to CT and stopped at several exits allong the way...we went to Mystic, and some other town that was supposed to have a starbucks, stopped at a mall...did some shopping, and the car talk was amazing! I swear if you want to know more about someone, drive with them for 500 miles! You will learn it all! (I love you still Laura!!)

But basically it was just a blast to see her and get to go out and dance, and shop with someone familliar! We used to see each other everyday, so a weekend wasn't enough, but it was a good fix! And there are pics to come!