Purdy

This morning, I awoke to a cacophony of drills, hammers and saws. It is a symphony of sounds I have grown used to but this morning I must have slept in a bit because it was those noises, not the delightful sounds of my children, that pulled me from my slumber. Ah, the party people (as I like to call them) are here and off and running. The kitchen is moving along very well and very fast. We are covered in dust. My hair is constantly dirty. I can't remember the last time I had clean sheets. The entirety of the house from the basement to the third floor is covered in a film of grime. I have eaten more hot dogs, quesadillas, pizza, and chinese food than I have ever cared to eat. I started off trying to cook regular meals using a crockpot and a griddler but doing dish duty in a bathtub just pushed me over the edge. The entire first floor is not usable because the kitchen remodel is stealing a bit of space from the living room and a fireplace is going in as well. The dining room is being used for cabinet and appliance storage so we are relegated to the second and third floors. We call it the apartment and I am not the only one tired of living in such tight quarters. I will take some more pictures today and post them so you can see where we are as we head into the new year. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel...literally. The pendant lamp pictured here just shipped yesterday after being out of stock for a month! I am very happy my pretty things are starting to arrive!

D Day

Our very long awaited renovation project has begun! Workmen arrived bright and early this morning to rip apart our kitchen. Here are some photos from day one!


Before Picture. The crazy layout is due to a chimney running through the kitchen. On Wednesday we have the pleasure of having said chimney removed. It runs through the CENTER of our home. For sure- this will be ugly.


Demo pic 1


Demo pic 2


Massive Trash 1


Massive Trash 2



My attempt at making Chicken Gumbo using only a Griddler and a slow cooker. It came out just fine actually. Couldn't get the sauce thick because I could not cook it down well enough but other than that it was great.

Obama is like a Coke Commercial from the 70's

Before you went to vote yesterday, did you think about how the world was going to react to our next President? I did. I was desperate for the world to see us make a smart choice. I had hoped that our election of Barack Obama would signal to the world that the people of the US are desperate for change. I was so happy to see that he won by a landslide last night because the message was not just that the majority of US citizens want change but that MOST of our population was fed up with politics as usual.

What I didn't realize was that people all over the world were as desperate as we were. Here are a handful of images of people reacting to the election results- all of whom were most likely not given a ballot. The US is failing in so many ways and I am happy to see that the glimmer of hope that is now in my eye, is in the eyes of so many people around the world.

DENMARK


JAKARTA


PARIS


JERUSALEM


DAKAR, SENEGAL


ATHENS



Lastly, here is a video from Le Monde taken in Kenya. It is wonderful.

MADONNA

Tuesday night SJ came home with the news that we needed a sitter for Wednesday night because he had a big surprise for me. Our two regulars were busy so I called a friend to see if she'd take the kids over night and thankfully she was fine with that. Around noon yesterday I was told to meet him in the North End for dinner which is our usual M.O. for concerts at the Garden. I knew something was up. I was told to dress like I was going dancing so I obliged. Getting ready myself and shuttling my kids to and fro with afternoon activities was a tricky feat. Managed to get me showered, kids packed, homework done, french and art class attended, pizza picked up and the kids transferred to my friend's house all by 5:15 pm. IMPRESSIVE work on my part. I bobbed and weaved through rush hour traffic into Boston grabbed SJ at his office and we tossed the car in a garage. When we got out of the car he handed me two tickets to the Madonna Concert!!! I have always, always wanted to see Madonna. She is like the holy grail of concerts. A Madonna concert to me was like getting to one of the 7 wonders of the world. Perhaps her shows are the 8th? She did not disappoint. It was a crazy production with amazing dancers, lights, props galore, and of course the requisite foul language and obscene gestures! It was fantastic! Do I have a great husband or what???

USCIS Heard us! THANK YOU!

A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO HELPED US BY SIGNING THE PETITION I LINKED TO AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER. We got great news today that the 15 thousand signatures got some attention at the USCIS. Here is the email I received today.....

Dear Families & Friends,
After advocating on behalf of adoptive families for the past 6 months, Joint Council is very pleased to confirm that USCIS has announced a very positive ruling concerning the I-600A process.

In summary, it is our understanding that, effective immediately, families who filed Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition, prior to April 1, 2008 and whose USCIS approval of that petition (aka the I-171H) has not expired, will be able to proceed with their adoption under the I-600A process if they take certain steps while their approval remain valid. This means that families with valid Form I-600A approvals will not be required to transition to The Hague process via Form I-800A. In order to maintain their status as ‘grandfathered’ cases, families with non-expired Form I-600A approvals must request a one-time free extension. Then, prior to the expiration of the one-time free extension, families must file a new Form I-600A and pay the appropriate fee.


IF YOU SIGNED THAT PETITION, KNOW THAT YOU REALLY HELPED OUT A LOT OF WAITING PARENTS!

Blogover myself....

Well after wanting to have a new look for my blog for the longest time, I finally just sat down and figured most of it out myself. There are still a few things I want to figure out how to do like get the text a little further from the left edge of the background, add embellishments to the sidebar, and a signature and embellishment between posts. If you know how to do any of those, please let me know. Also, be gentle with me, I a new photoshop user.

The main point of this post is really to ask you if what I have done keeps the blog readable. I certainly don't want to decorate it to the point that I am blinding you. Please send me your thoughts and opinions.

xo
S

Dear China, It's me S.....

Just a quick thank you note for getting referrals out before you close for the Holiday week. I am tickled that we got to have two sets of referrals in the month of September. I know we probably won't see October referrals but hey, a girl can dream. Keep 'em coming!

More thoughts on Palin...

If she can't hold her own with Katie Couric how can she hold her own in the event she is thrust into the role of President and is asked to have hard conversations with world leaders???


Matt Damon has some concerns too.


And to see a better visualization of Matt's fears....check this out.

PLEASE HELP!

Those of you who are tangled up in international adoption and specifically adoption from China are well aware of the implications of the Hague and our I-600a approvals. For those of you not involved, the I-600a is the the clearance you get from the US Government that allows you to return to this country with your new child. Without this approval, you can't get on your plane home with your baby. The US just became Hague compliant which means they now participate with many countries around the world to prevent child trafficking. Yes, good. Very good. However now the thousands of families like us who are in the MIDDLE of this adoption process are being asked to spend more money, more time, and perhaps delay their process by having to get re-approved by the US Government. Mind you that all of us spent close to $1000 to be I-600a approved at the onset of this process, then most of us have already had to spend money to get re-approved when the I-600a expired 18 months later, and now we may have to become I-800a approved which requires much more hoop jumping. We were initially told that people with a valid I-600a would be considered "transition" families and would be grandfathered in. Now it seems that may not be the case. There is a petition being signed to keep us "transition" families grandfathered in and I am asking ALL of you to click this link and sign it. You can also read more about this in greater detail on that blog. Whether you are in the process of an adoption or not, please help us by signing this petition.

Educating the whole being....

I know I bitch a lot here about the things I don't like. This morning I stumbled across something that really moves me so I thought I would post something I do like. I am bit of a nut when it comes to education and specifically the educating of my little people. I am forever analyzing whether they are in the right environment. I want them to get all the fundamentals but I also want them to have access to the other stuff should they find themselves interested in it. What is the other stuff? You know, the stuff most schools deem not all that important to education like the arts, foreign language, sports - you know the stuff they cut funding for. Well the stuff they cut funding for is really my kind of stuff and should it also be the stuff my kids are into, well then by golly they will have it. I want them to have access to whatever floats their boat b/c in reality what floats your boat is going to be what you are good at. If you focus on what you are good at you WILL succeed. That is what I want for my kids. So here is a great video from a guy named Sir Ken Robinson speaking at a TED conference. It is funny, informative, and moving. Grab a cup of coffee and take a peek. The bit about the ballet dancer gets me every time!

It won't embed so try this link!

ooohhh Big Day for Palin

She gets to meet her first Foreign Dignitary! Wonder if she'll bring her fresh and ill-used passport to show them she actually left the country once or maybe twice. Oh but don't forget she can see Russia from her house! Remember guys, if McCain kicks the bucket, she's our president. She's the one on Air Force One talking to leaders of all the OTHER countries in this big world. Will she need a foreign policy tutor to travel with her? I am sure she must have ordered world maps as part of her PTO experience so I am sure she'll be just fine. I am tired of hearing McCain's numbers are jumping because of MY demographic. GRRRRRR.

Female Issues

I am going to come right out and say it. I DON'T LIKE PALIN. There. I said it. I think she's all talk, not that she's the first politician to be all talk, but her talk bugs me. I don't mean to be catty but her accent drives me up a wall. Did you see her interview with Charlie Gibson? If not, sit down for 7 minutes and play the video above. I think she comes off as nervous, insubstantial, a good talker, & inexperienced. Don't get me wrong, I didn't know what the Bush Doctrine was either but I am not running for Vice President. In my mind anyone running for VP is also running for President - especially when you are running with someone like McCain.

For those of you who know me in real life, you know that I rarely speak of politics. I rarely entertain a conversation about politics. It is a very personal thing that I tend not to spout about. HOWEVER, I am so insulted by McCain's pick for VP that I feel the need to say something. I was a Hillary supporter. I am a woman under 50. I am part of the demographic they sought to win over with the republican VP pick of Palin. Instead I am insanely insulted that just because he picked someone with a vajayjay that I should be won over. If Palin was a man, McCain would be thought of as insane. He would not have been allowed to pick someone with so little political experience and so little life experience as his running mate. Just would not have happened. I was one of those people who wanted to see a woman in the White House but I wanted a capable, experienced, and confident woman. Not a hockey mom - I can get that at my local PTO. Oh, speaking of PTO, now that I am one of the VPs of our PTO do you think someday I could be a Presidental running mate?

Finally, here is what I am perhaps most irritated about. I will admit to this being an assumption and I could certainly be completely wrong. When a family chooses so strongly that abstinence is what should be taught and then a teenage member of their family become pregnant I get angry. This is the equivalent of saying "because I said so" which I will admit to having said from time to time but really don't agree with. I believe we need to teach our children why running with scissors is dangerous instead of just simply saying "because I said so." When it comes to something as dangerous as sex, because as wonderful as it is, it IS dangerous in the wrong hands, we need to teach our children what the implications are for having it. We need to tell them what can happen and how it can happen, instead of just saying "don't do it." I also believe that we cannot be so naive as to think that our bright, curious, and independent teenagers aren't going to try it. And if they do, don't they deserve to know how to protect themselves??? Don't they deserve to make the most educated decisions for themselves? Well in my mind they do! In my mind, there is a good chance Palin's daughter is pregnant as a result of not having the right information because she grew up in a house that said "just don't do it." I am sure she'll make it through just fine. She has a lot of family support, however, is this really the life she envisioned for herself? Did she dream about going to college one day and asking about daycare? Is that what you dream for your daughter? Not that arming them with all the information in the world will guarantee you a teenage-pregnancy free life but I think it helps your chances. Talk to your daughters. You brought them into this world and you owe it to them.

For more musings from women against Palin go here. You'll find more eloquent writing than you have found here from women all over this country. The blog was started by a few women on September 3rd and they have received over 100,000 letters from just women against Palin. Things that make you go HUM.

Finally a quiet moment today.

This was the first year I was unable to sit and watch the reading of the names. My kids and my PTO life are keeping me busy. I was running all day and Thursdays happen to be particularly busy for me. It is 6:00 pm and I just sat down for the first time and put on the news. On the one hand I felt some relief not have spent the day sobbing as I usually do but I also feel I have not given this day the kind of tender embrace I normally do. If they lined up all the families who lost someone that day I would gladly take the time to give each person a hug. I am lucky that I did not lose a loved one but didn't we all lose something that day? If you are reading this, I am sorry for your loss - whatever it may have been. I will never forget.


more random thoughts after dinner...
I was 7 months pregnant with my first baby. 5 days earlier a nurse slipped at my doctor's appointment and told me I was having a girl. I remember that day so vividly because I was so mad someone told me. Now I think back and realize that day was one of the last few days before the world changed. The morning of 9/11 I was awakened by my best friend calling to say a plane had hit one of the towers. I then saw the second one hit live. I clutched at my huge belly wondering what kind of world I was bringing my baby girl into. I marveled at how much evil could come out of such a beautiful sky. Today I looked up and saw that same sky. Many people commented on it. We all felt the irony in our guts. But today, 7 years later I have the most beautiful daughter. She has sprouted long legs, beautiful thick hair, round deep brown eyes, a sweet sweet smile and a genuine love for life. Just as I hugged my belly 7 years ago, today I am hugging my big baby girl and her younger brother. Rules are out the window tonight. Pizza picnic dinner on the living room floor and a later bed time so we can snuggle in bed reading stories. Keep the most important things in life close and just when you think they are close, scooch them in even closer. Unfortunately, daddy is on a plane tonight which makes me uneasy but we'll get through. Thank goodness for my children and the fact that they don't have the weight of this day on their shoulders.

Happy 11th

Yesterday we celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. I am happy to say we were so busy it left no time for blogging. We spent some time at the Peabody Essex Museum where we had our reception and then had a nice quiet dinner out close to home. Just as we were finishing up dinner 8 of our favorite people walked in to have dinner so we joined them for a cocktail before we headed home. It was a nice nice evening.

Comcast DSS

So if you have comcast and live in my small town you would no doubt not be surprised to wake up one morning with little or no internet service. It is not uncommon to hear someone say "oh my internet service is down again". Well that is just what happened to me on Thursday morning. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that I didn't realize it until after I had downloaded the entire school calendar, input my husband's work calendar, updated my PTO commitments, and entered a growing number of social engagements into my iCal and then sent each calendar item to both my husband's and my blackberries. I immediately got 50 pop-up messages from mac mail saying that it could not send the message because the server timed out. UGH. Well I waited a day thinking that it was just another one of Comcast's down days but by noon today I decided I needed to call Comcast.

The problem: I have several email accounts being used over 3 different computers and Comcast's system started to suspect I was up to no good. After hours and hours of time on the phone this afternoon with comcast we eventually had to get clearance with their "abuse" department to clear me to use their servers again. "Abuse" Department!?! Good gawd. I should just send them my CORI clearance from my adoption paperwork!

Dual for a Dual UPDATE!

I have so much to post about... our vacation in Maine....First day of School.... but before I get to all that, I must update you about my previous post on my seemingly never ending Dual with the UK passport office (which you can read about here) for SJ's British Passport.

Well today the UPS man arrived with an unexpected package. We got home from Maine on Saturday to find our front door littered with UPS post it notes saying they had attempted delivery of something needing a signature. SJ immediately turned to me and asked what kind of expensive thing had I ordered off the internet. I was as puzzled as he was (much to his relief). Well today while drinking my first Starbucks in a week and watching my favorite soap, the UPS man returned. I jokingly said, "gosh, we've been waiting with baited breath to see what kind of important package warrented all those sticky notes on our front door." He replied, "dunno, something from a passport office." Well I started leaping around on my front deck and ripped the envelope open to find a shiny new maroon passport in SJ's name. Under the nationalities header it says "British Citizen"!

Now I am going get to work to get L and B their UK passports. I'll be doing all the heavy lifting here and don't even get one of my own. Oh well! Can I come back in my next life as one of my children?

Why?

It is a question with which, I am so conflicted. I so love that my children are curious but really, really, does it have to be asked quite so often? After I just blurted out "because I said so" to my son, a phrase I swore in my pre-parenthood days I'd never say (like I said I was never getting a minivan), I had to remind myself that I am happy they feel so comfortable to ask "why?" so often. I am hoping I will feel better about them asking "why?" when they have used this tool to understand complex chemistry in about 10 years.

Red, White & Blue, The Union Jack, and the Crimson and Yellow Stars

Wow, we realized that our family has three home teams for the 2008 Olympics. Of course the USA but we can also add Great Britian for SJ and China for Cici! What fun! I hope all of you have been able to catch lots of the events this weekend. The opening ceremonies were emotional for me. This is Cici's homeland. This is where she is now. I am so proud of the Chinese for putting on such an amazing Olympics so far. Their facilities and architecture are crazy cool and I love getting to see so much of Cici's birthplace.

This and That

First off I want to applogize for the color change on the blog. I am fully aware that I went from a nice lavender background to white with all sorts of garish colors blinding what few readers I actually have. I want the color palate to match nicely with my website. Anyway, I just want you to all know that I am working on it!

Now for the real meat and potatoes for today. I am going to share a few summertime photos in a mish mosh of suff going on here at Casa Pickles.

Yesterday was a sad day here in our little enclave. We had to say goodbye to the beautiful Elli who was the Au Pair of a good friend of ours for the better part of a year. She spent a lot of time with L & B and we all got profoundly attached to her. She is one of the best people I've met. Not only is she great with kids but she is a fun, kind, and lovely person to be with. Her time was up and she is headed back to her home in Germany. She will start University this fall and concentrate in Early Childhood Education. I have no doubt she'll be a great success!




Goodbye Sweet E! We'll miss you!


Next up- my tomatoes.... here they come. I grow heirloom tomatoes every year. All my plants have fruit already. In years past I have not seen much fruit start before August 1st but this year I seem to have plants that fruit much earlier! I am very excited.



And last but not least....I have fulfilled my motherhood duty of trying paper mache in my own kitchen at least once. And that is the way it is going to remain...JUST ONCE! I am glad to say I've done it but I am never doing it again. Well I guess I'll do it once more with Cici but man, not fun dudes, not fun. Not only was it messy but the glue that came in the kit was CRAP and nothing stuck together. Oh well. The kids had fun though.




This is what the kitchen looked like when they finished. It may not look so bad now but you should know that my cleaners had come that morning so I basically took a pristine kitchen and turned it into this.

Dual for a Dual

Did you know that some countries recognize dual citizenship and others don't. Yes, I am quite sure you knew that. Well SJ was born in England to English parents and lived there until he was 16 at which time his father asked him if we wanted to move to the US. The ever adventurous soul that is he is, of course said yes! So that is how SJ came to be on this side of the pond and thus how he met the love of his life, ME.

Now that we have children it has come to our attention that once a British citizen always a British citizen unless you do something like denounce your country or threaten the Queen. AND to boot, your children regardless of where they are born are also British citizens by birth. AHHH... now we're getting somewhere. Are your synapses firing yet??? Yes, my children are entitled to British passports through their father's citizenship. Now if your synapses are indeed firing AND you have had your coffee this morning you will have already realized that not only will they be entitled to live and work in the UK with said passport but they will also have access to the entire EU. Lucky, Lucky Dogs!


All you have to do is fill out an application and include the passport number of their British parent. HUM. This is where things go a muck. About four years ago it went something like this:

SPY "Sweetie, where is your UK passport"
SJY "How the hell would I know?"
SPY "Well what did you do with it when you got your US citizenship?"
SJY "Not sure, lets call my mother."
Phone call to mum who says she gave it to him when he moved out to go to college. Which pretty much means it is G.O.N.E.

So four years ago I started working on getting his birth certificate from England, filled out a lost passport claim, got identity witnesses to sign photos and forms, and filled out and paid for a new passport application. At the end of the 8 month ordeal of papers being mailed back and forth between here and England we got a letter stating they wanted further evidence of his US citizenship and identity. Photocopies of drivers license and passport along with more letters from people stating that you are who you say you are were now required. This is when the slow moving train went completely off track with 7 simple words from SJ, "Honey, I can handle it from here." About a month later I got a large manila envelope from the British Passport office in Washington, DC. I ripped it open thinking his brand spanking new UK passport was inside but alas it was all of our forms being returned with a letter stating that due to the fact that we had not followed up on their last request they now consider our file ABANDONED and have returned not only our paperwork but refunded our fees.

I was so angry I had to put the whole thing down for a few years. Then this spring I thought to myself, I have filled out paperwork up the wazoo for the adoption and jumped through so many government hoops that redoing the paperwork for his UK passport will be easy. Plus, I have most of those crazy British documents already on file for the adoption so why not take another stab. So in June I started the paperwork again, got all my witnesses testifying that SJ is who he says he is, and today I am mailing everything off. Will let you know when the hoop jumping starts again!

Encore!

AHHH I am a happy woman. Sj just booked flights so we can go visit my brother and SIL in their new digs. We will also get to see another John Mayer show with them. For the past who knows how many years the four of us have been going to JM concerts together each summer. As I mentioned in a prior post, we saw JM here on July 12th.(pics here) It was bittersweet. I loved the concert but got very sad that we were not with J & C. Luckily, J & C's seats are MUCH better than our seats were up here on the 12th. Like 5th row center good. Don't you worry, I'll be screaming like a 15 year old!

A Fresh New Look

Our website More Pickles just got a makeover! Finally I have a mac that has iWeb and was able to not only give the website a new style but also include tons more pictures. I've got a bunch of recent albums up now and will be adding a new one every day for a while. Visit us over there and keep checking back.

John

Everyone in our household is a huge fan of John Mayer. Even L as a baby at 18 months would say "more john" after one of his songs played in the car. He is affectionately just called John here. We go to this concert every summer and are part of the fan club. This year we are excited that 6 other couples are coming with us. I can't wait. I am even more pleased now that I have heard directly from John about what to expect!

Summertime strides!

We are very pleased to be a bubble-free household! B decided to kick it up a notch in the pool today and went from barely holding his head above water doing the doggie-paddle to a full on, horizontal, kicking with a splash, face in the water crawl. He is so funny that way. He literally in one moment will decide to do something and does it. He did it with skiing this winter too. I am so proud of him and unfortunately did not have my camera with me. Oh well.

Two Years!

Twenty four months. One hundred and four weeks. Seven hundred and thirty days.

No matter how you cut it is has been a VERY long wait and we only look to be at the half way point. That is a long time to be answering the question "Where is my sister?".

"Wise Mother"

Feeling a bit smug so I figured I should post about it. It is that time of year when all hell breaks loose and you can barely figure out which way is up. Yes, I am referring to the "end of school" insanity season. Being a new kindergarten mom, I was unaware things could get more out of control than the Christmas season but in fact they have. I have loved every minute of celebrating the end of the year but boy I feel totally spun around. Tomorrow is the official last day of school here and I for one am very much looking forward to the lazy days of summer. So what may you ask am I feeling so smug about. Well, I'll tell you, it's the teacher presents I got for L's teachers. I managed to find a really good deal on great white bathrobes a while back around the same time I got a new sewing machine that embroiders large enough to MONOGRAM! Well I have been largely afraid of said machine until realizing on Monday that I needed to figure the damn thing out. Well after destroying several wash cloths and countless choice words, I got the hang of the settings and was able to create this...

How psyched would you be to get this as a random gift?? Added to that I found these inexpensive bags at my local favorite paper store to use as the gift wrap. Tell me, are these not great looking gifts???








So added to all that gift glory, I also learned on the back of my milk bottle this morning that I am a "Wise Mother". Gosh that was reassuring. I recently headed over to this dairy to try out the milk that so many people seem to be using and boy oh boy was it tasty! It of course has no added hormones and comes in glass bottles. (I have become very wary of plastic these days) And to boot they deliver. So here we go with weekly and probably expensive milk delivery! Can't wait.

Birthday Amazing Race

This is a tribute to some of the people I love the most in the world. My husband, family and dearest friends all LOVE the show THE AMAZING RACE. Stephie down in T&T - this ones for you baby! Someday we'll do our own AR!

SJ turned the big 4 0 on March 31st and we have had a whirlwind of celebrations. Today is one of parties I have planned for my hubbie. This one is a private party that starts with an Amazing Race designed just for the birthday boy. Here is how I have planned it...

He got a clue on his birthday that stated he would be receiving his second clue on April 29th at Noon. I then coordinated with someone in his office to hand him this clue today at Noon. He has instructions to leave the office at 3 pm and travel by taxi to the Prudential Mall where he will find his next clue at the registers of Sephora.He will be receiving $20 for that leg of the race. I am going to go in a buy him some new cologne and leave the bag with the third clue at the registers for him to pick up. From there he has been told to travel by foot to the Copley Place Mall and go to the Gap for his next clue. Again, I will purchase something and leave it with the clue at the registers. From there he has been told to go to the Copley Marriott and find his next clue at the registration desk. In this clue bag he will get a room key and a Travelocity Roaming Gnome!!! On the underside of the Gnome will be the room # and hopefully he will know to go up to the room. Once in the room he will be faced with a Road Block which will instruct him to find several things in the room including a Beer I have placed in the fridge with the tell-tale amazing race colors taped to it. Part of the Road Block will be to shower and get dressed in certain clothes I have left in the closet. His next clue will tell him to head to Troquet (a wine & food pairing restaurant) and to arrive at 6:00 pm sharp. I will be waiting there at our table with his final clue envelope. Inside the final envelope will be a pair of tickets to Eddie Izzard live in Boston. Eddie Izzard is SJ's FAVORITE FAVORITE comedian. He quotes him all the time. I hope he doesn't already know EI is coming to town or he'll know that is what we are up to. I know he is going to LOVE this present. I just hope he gets through the race!!! Here are some photos of the materials I have made up for this little event...







*******NOTES******
I could not get this up yesterday b/c I had to leave the house around Noon and SJ was starting the race around 3pm and I was afraid he'd get a sneak peek at his private party!

Everything went really really well. I hid the clues and everyone was really eager to help with the race. Well, the people at the Gap had zero personality but they got him the clue and his gift bag. The people at the Marriott were so sweet to me and gave me a corner room with an amazing view over the Charles river. That is the Longfellow bridge you see in the distance- we like to call it the Salt & Pepper bridge. Across the river for all you non-Bostonians out there is Cambridge.



At dinner I gave him his last yellow clue envelope which had the tickets to the Eddie Izzard show and you should have seen his face when he opened it. He could not believe EI was in town and he didn't know and he was so psyched to be going. Finally, I have actually pulled off a surprise!! The show was great. Eddie was totally hilarious and for all you EI fans out there, I got a black T-shirt with a cupcake on the front and below it are the words "Cake or death". Ha! love it. For those of you who don't know EI- you will not get that joke and you NEED TO RIGHT NOW GO TO BLOCKBUSTER AND RENT THE "DRESSED TO KILL" VIDEO!!!!

Are you having a super Tuesday?

If so, don't forget to hit the polls and vote!

Ooohhhh bad times round here...

nuf said.

Superbowl XLII

In preparation for the big game the lovely L made this kind of signage for the house!






Gotta love 6 year old spelling! Can you guess which team we're rooting for????

Random things...

I was tagged by my friend Charity who is also waiting for her daughter from China and incidentally, she has chosen the MOST beautiful name for her girly girl. Not that I am biased or anything.

~The rules are to link the person who sent this to you and leave a comment on their blog so their readers can visit yours.
~Post the rules on your blog
~Share 7 strange/weird facts about yourself
~Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, linking their blog (I am only going to do one though)
~Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

7 Random Things About Myself....

7. I have small feet for my height. I am 5'7" and wear a size 6.5. In college people poked fun asking if I had trouble balancing on my feet.

6. I have been accused of making funny faces a lot. Of course I can't exactly verify this as I don't have mirrors everywhere.

5. I have a stutter in my sneeze. Meaning, when I sneeze, I "achoo, choo, choo choo". It never ceases to amuse my husband.

4. I have a purse that I named. I have always been a handbag whore until I found Priscilla. She is a Michael Kors bag that I fell in love with last winter and have found myself to now be a monogamous handbag owner.

3. When my husband and I first moved in together we lived across the street from the USS Constitution. It resides in the Charlestown Navy Yard and there are a few apartment building there too. It was fun to drive home every day and see those tall masts.

2. I did three terms abroad in college. Sophomore year I went to Florence, Italy to study art history. Junior year I went to DC (okay so it wasn't abroad but it was a term away) to work at the National Endowment for the Arts in a division of the NEA that no longer exists. It was the same division that funded Robert Mapplethorpe so being amongst the controversy was fun. Then Senior year I went to Rennes, France to study french.

1. At the age of 9 I started going to French Camp. It is actually part of a group of summer camps for kids run by Concordia College in Minnesota. They are now called the Internationahttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifl Language Villages and have something like 11 international village summer camps. You do all the regular camp stuff like archery and canoing but you do it in a foreign language. You get new name and you eat food from the country you are supposed to be in. For instance, my names at French camp over the 5 years I went included, Paulette Chateaubriand & Angelique Belgique. Now of course those sound like stripper names to me. You could always tell when it was close to meal time b/c the whole camp smelled like freshly baked baguette. Yeah, not bad for summer camp. Two summers I did additional sessions at Chinese camp and German Camp. The best things about those camps were a) learning how to use chop sticks like a pro and b) eating damn good gummy bears every day. Now these camps offer family weeks where you can go with your kids to introduce them to another culture. I have often considered going back with my kids. Here is a link if you are curious....

I will tag...
Chatty Cricket

Snow Day

Well we got blitzed here in the NE with snow today. It is a wet and heavy snow that sucks to dig up off the drive way but looks heavenly on the trees. It is very pretty around our cute little town today but I am sure in 36 short hours it will be a brown disgusting mess.

Miss L is outside playing and I don't think I could get her in even if I plied her with hot cocoa and cookies. Mr. B who recently discovered his Y chromosome is cooling his heals in his room for some unbecoming behavior. Said behavior has left a nasty mark on his sister's face- got to get some vitamin E for her so there is no scar.

I am thrilled to say that I have spent time on the internet catching up with friends in bloggityville and even ordered everything I need for Valentines Day! Yes, I am feeling smug in my preparedness.

I am not thrilled to say that the day also included a fight with the receptionist at my GYN as she tried for the 5th time to cancel my appointment for tomorrow, and that I drove L to a Derm appointment which I was told upon arriving had been canceled due to the snow. I was then told that they had been desperately trying to reach me on my home and cell phone and left several messages. BS my friends, BS. I sat on my ass for hours with both phones next to me as I surfed the you know what and neither phone made a noise. Oh well. Life goes on.

Raspberries, Blueberries and Blackberries are still $.99 at the local produce place for all my local readers. I am on my second round of buying a dozen boxes and eating them by the handful!

I think I will go prepare the Cheese Fondue - the perfect thing to have when hubbie can't get into the office and we're all stuck at home on a cold day!