Married with Peeps

Blog Migration

2011-02-18T10:48:00.000-08:00

This is a public service announcement for anyone out there reading Married with Peeps' Blogspot blog:

I am currently blogging elsewhere, namely on tumblr. Here is the address: marriedwithpeeps.tumblr.com.

Why the move? Quite simply, I've been testing the new service via iPhone and it just plain works for me. So there you have it. Meanwhile, this site will stay live (albeit collecting dust) until future notice. Thank you and have a nice day.

Chadeliers at Risk

2011-01-11T19:28:00.001-08:00

The Peeps and I have been locked up (sort of, we went to the grocery store) for way too long after a couple of snow days were imposed upon us by the local school district, thus the lack of content here in bloggerville. But wait! There's a light at the end of the tunnel with kids going back to school tomorrow and mom (Me) being all free from endless meal-cookings, dish-washings, clothes-launderings, snow-mess-cleaning-upings, etc. etc. etc.

You get the drift.

So I'm back tomorrow with a belated Monday Me Day turned Wednesday Free From Peep Sloths Day. What in the world will I do with myself? Oh yeah wait... put together a birthday party. Yay! My vote? TABLE DANCING!!!

She's lost it. Completely.

Last Sunday of Holiday Break

2011-01-02T12:34:00.000-08:00

So what's a family to do on the last Sunday of Holiday Break? Let's see what's happening as I post:

Hubs: Examining our leaky dishwasher in an attempt to save us from spending hundreds of dollars toward the replacement of that 10+ year old overworked piece of machinery.
Kid Peeps: Capturing video of their own homemade version of American Idol, appropriately called Werdian Idol. (Huh? No idea.)
Me: Taking care of miscellaneous bill-paying activities (such as funding Go Phones) between checking on Hubs who is getting increasingly frustrated with the state of our stupid leaky dishwasher.
The Cat: Napping amongst a cluster of Webkinz on the comfiest fuzzy blanket in the entire house, oblivious to all of the wild craziness taking place in the lower level.

mrow.

Holiday Down Time at the Homestead

2010-12-28T14:19:00.000-08:00

Time flies when you're having fun, right? Well, that's exactly what we're hoping to avoid as we enjoy some much needed time off from all of the hustle and bustle of busy family life. With several days home from school and work, we're all just playing around with our electronics & board games, constructing Lego sets, eating goodies out of our stockings, catching up on reading... the list goes on and on and on.

Meanwhile, here's a video capturing yet another fun family moment:

Recipe for a Happy Marriage

2010-12-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

This has been sitting on my desk ever since Hubs and I received it in the mail last month. We've already surpassed 17 years of wedded blissfulness, but adding another prayer to the mix couldn't possibly hurt - especially if it's a Tried-and-True one. 49 years? Really?? Amazing.

What Did I Do?

2010-11-15T19:21:00.001-08:00

God apparently sent me a message today in the form of a Cloud Face, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. What... is this face the result of my blogging lapse? Or maybe it's His complete disgust with humanity, thus the whole 2012 end-of-the-world apocalyptic premonition? I really shouldn't have watched that documentary on the History Channel.

Getting Goulish

2010-11-02T06:39:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a low-key one for us this year with classroom parties a thing of the past - the downside to leaving elementary school behind. Although personally, I stopped liking those classroom celebrations after the kids were in @2nd or 3rd grade... it just plain started getting old. Anyway, trick-or-treating was still a go and it was all good, thanks to hubs who bravely weathered the cool outdoor temps and took the Peeps around the neighborhood:

Ninja, Witch, Luigi

Candy for the Soul

2010-10-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

My soul is feeling all light and joyful after witnessing Peep Daughter's youth orchestra concert last night, especially since I was finally able to sport my latest OPI acquisition called Lincoln Park After Dark. Even though photo/videotaping was banned from the concert, at least I could admire my sweet manicure whilst jamming the night away.

Bravo to an amazing concert!

Far right - OPI 'Lincoln Park After Dark'

Last Full Day in New Mexico

2010-10-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

Our last full day visiting family in New Mexico landed on Friday, October 15th, 2010 - and we made it an adventurous day to say the least. Starting off on a casual note, I woke up @7:00 a.m. and cleaned up for the day, then popped into the Peeps room to find them both being all leisurely, complete with Nintendo DS gaming, reading and writing "stories" on the laptop computer. Then to get Peep Son and Peep Daughter powered up, I fed each of them a MONGO SIZED banana muffins & juice while I swigged a double shot of espresso. Heavenly!

And we were off and running:

Drove through Jemez Mountains, entered Pueblo and savored some delectable fry bread from local vendor's home beside the highway. The Peeps and I made a few off-handed remarks about how Jillian Michaels threw away this particular food item on a Losing it with Jillian TV episode. Good thing we only ate ONE piece of bread and divided it up between all 5 of us - that stuff is a big 'no no', apparently.
Toured Jemez State Monument where we walked through the trail and photographed ruins. Granny and I took it slow while Grandpa and the Peeps climbed all over the place.

Peeps & Grandpa Explore Jemez State Monument
Drove to Soda Dam where we found more walking trails and took even more pics. A guy and his son were fishing down by the water oblivious to the Peeps as they climbed all over the place once again, a theme they had going on throughout our adventures.

Peeps & Grandpa climbing around Soda Dam
Took off toward Los Alamos where we gratefully found a Subway to satisfy our appetites for lunch before our next trek through the nearby museum.
Toured Bradbury Science Museum where we learned more about the history of nuclear weapons, a seemingly favorite topic amongst the Peeps.

Hands-on Activities at Bradbury Museum
Shopped at the bookstore and found some interesting nuclear-related souvenirs to take home. I bought hubs a shot glass baring the picture of a big mushroom cloud on its side and a t-shirt for Peep Daughter that said "Get a Half Life" with a chart of a radioactive particle's half life. Convenient, I know.
Drove to Santa Fe and shopped our hearts out at the Fashion Outlets, or at least it was the best we could do in the span of 30 minutes since everyone was ready to head back home for the afternoon. And wouldn't you know I found a Nike outlet store? Yep, and bought a few t-shirts and a pair of workout pants. Go me!
Headed back to my folks house where we started packing up our stuff for the early flight home in the morning, then heated up our Olive Garden leftovers for dinner. (It was amazing, even the second time around.) Grandpa started up a movie for the kids while I resumed washing clothes and packing, the perfect way to round off our day.

Family Movie Time
Finally it was grand finale time where we roasted marshmallows over the backyard fire pit and made s'mores while Hubs joined us virtually by way of Google video chat, which was AWESOME by the way. How great to have all of us together even though it was with the help of a webcam.

Roasting Marshmallows over Fire Pit

Packing... packing... packing... zzzzzz...

Day #2 Visit to NM

2010-10-14T21:36:00.000-07:00

Today we were on a mission to find some activities everyone would enjoy, especially the Peep Son who really didn't care for site-seeing and shopping the day before. And guess what? We achieved like nobody's business! So here's what happened:

Awakened before the grandparents and ate big huge banana muffins with juice.
Broke in the new Wii game controllers by playing several rounds of Wii video games.
Ate lunch consisting of favorite kid foods such as EZ mac, ramen, raspberries and Nestle chocolates.
Headed out to gemstone store for jewelry paraphernalia (Grandma making custom gemstone goodies for secret anniversary stuff) while PS & Grandpa snuck out back to Burger King for refreshments.
Went to National Museum of Nuclear Science & History for a few hours of education and insight on nuclear history.
Drove over to Sonic for a lil snack of slushies, pop, tater tots & chicken nuggets before making our way to Sandia Mountain tram.
Toured Sandia Mountain peak on a tram with the help of a National Park guide, taking video & photos throughout the trip.
Enjoyed dinner at Olive Garden, one of Mom & Granny's personal favorite Italian restaurants of all time.
Found our way back to the homestead to play Wii games, family-style while Mom worked off a few calories on the treadmill.
Homemade apple pie & frozen yogurt dessert, reading, bedtime.

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Tomorrow: More tourist-style (educational) FUN.

Family Visit in New Mexico: Day #1

2010-10-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the Peep Kids & I arrived in New Mexico to visit my folks, Granny & Grandpa. Our flights were mostly uneventful, that is if you don't count the @45 minute delay with our connecting flight in Denver, Colorado. Otherwise, all went as planned: awakened at 4:00 a.m., cleaned up & dressed, finished packing, downed 2 shots of expresso with a few Cheerios and headed to the airport to catch our 6:45 a.m. flight to Albuquerque, New Mexico. No complaints whatsoever, just excitement to fly the friendly skies and see family. Cool beans.

So we arrived feeling all excited and here's a log of events as they happened soon after our plane landed:

Shopped for t-shirts in airport gift shop, originally planned to buy heavily discounted Balloon Fiesta shirts, but they only had kid sizes in stock so we bought a couple other lightly discounted ones instead.
Picked up luggage in baggage claim & drove to local lunch spot in ABQ 'The Sandwich Shop' - I had Albuquerque Turkey 1/2 swch w/pickle spear & chips, Peep Daughter ham/egg/cheese croissant sandwich & potatoes (hash browns), Peep Son french toast & sausage
Drove route toward Santa Fe, stopped in Madrid to see movie set diner for "Wild Hogs" (now a store) & miscellaneous shops
PS bored so headed back toward homestead in Rio Rancho, photos in backyard, dinner (Lean Cuisine, Ramen for kids, snacks & drinks)
Grandpa, PD, PS & I went to Albertson's to buy a few food items, also to give Valentine (their newest dog) some breathing room (feeling skittish about having guests in the house, shaking & barking)
Kids enjoyed @20 minutes in the hot tub, getting late and cold so we ditched the idea of having s'mores outside by the firepit.
Showers, snacks, reading, computer time and we crashed for the night.
Slept well, but only AFTER the grandfather clock stopped chiming every half hour, probably @11:00 p.m.

"Maggie's Diner" in Madrid, New Mexico

Next up: Finding some excitement for everyone.

November 15th, 2003: Homeward Bound

2010-10-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

Here goes the final journal entry from my European visit. (Comments from today italicized below original journal text.)

Sat 11/15:

Woke 5:30 a.m., drive to Milan airport
Sat at small "restaurante" (?) and had "Cafe Americano" - Mom had blueberry muffin, Allen (3 Euro!) fresh squeezed orange juice
Went through metal detector, visa check, customs
Flight from Milan - GREAT to hear "Good Morning" from pilot after so long!
Like music to my ears.
Sat next to girl who seemed Italian on way to Tennessee (quiet due to headache) - good - no loud person sitting all that distance :)
Arrived in Atlanta airport @3:20 p.m. Eastern time (seemed like 9:20 p.m. Italy time)
Major line in customs & security @1 hr 45 min wait
Ugh.
Called home
Flight layover 5 hrs - bought 'Chicken Soup' book & ate Burger King for the first time in sooo long.
Watched football & learned that K-State beat NU - Oh No! I was happy to see football again??

And there you have it. I have no follow up journal entries from when I arrived home, but I do have a list of observations from my European visit:

Italians - No lids! (Some in Venice)
Germans - Doutchland - they seem to have it right - lids! (But no wash clothes)
Flusher on WALL.
These are my bathroom observations, of course.
Rome train station - beggar throwing & yelling at passengers
Scary experience.
"Tourist trap" - pay @.60 Euro to use bathroom in tourist attractions
Hold it for the train, if at all possible.
Italian kids/teenagers riding Metro/train to school, no parents along
Can't even imagine doing that in the USA.
Dinner starts @7:30 p.m., restaurants open at @7 p.m. -> midnight
Eating is a major event for Italians.
Skinny cows - not allowed out of barn in farms (Mom to start Cow Rights organization)
Good reason NOT to order steak while in Italy.
Germans speak more English to tourists than Italians ("Healthier" because they eat more? better?)
Poor country - employment poor, living
In Rome - motor scooters everywhere like bees buzzing around, men/women both riding them

Roman Coliseum

So good to be home again.

November 14th, 2003: Final Stop in Italy

2010-10-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

So now I'm back to the Italian homestead where I need to prepare for my trip back to the USA. We still manage to squeeze in more sightseeing, this time closer to where my folks were living. Great seeing their 'digs' and more. Again, original journal is in regular text, my current comments in italics:
(click photos to view)

Woke @11 am!
Finally slept in and wow did I ever need it.
ATM - gave Mom 200 Euro for train & hotel/Co-Co pick-up
Base (Ghedi)
My folks needed to stop by their office, so I took time to pose for a pic while there.

Ghedi Air Base, Italy
BX (chocolate - Toberlone)
More souvenir shopping for friends/family.
Padenghe Village (photo of castle/town) - Lake Garda sits beside village

Comune di Padenghe sul Garda

Lake Garda
Desanzano - shopping in "tourist attraction" shops (chocolate - Italian & china shop)
And even more souvenir shopping.
"Auchan" store like SuperTarget, shopped for chocolate stix, hair ornaments (Village Mazzano)
At at the "Linus" pizza altagio gastronoma in "Lonoto" village (capitol town of region)
Italian pizza is unlike anything I'd ever tasted back in the USA. Tasty!
Home - called hubs
Packed - sleep @1:00 am

At this point, I'm beyond ready to see family back home. But the entire trip was meraviglioso!

November 13th, 2003: Last Day in Rome

2010-10-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

So this is it, our last day in Rome and we haven't even come close to covering everything yet. Trust me, we do give it a good try. Again, original journal is in regular text. My comments from today are italicized beneath it:
(click photos to view)

Woke early to catch taxi to Vatican Museum
Breakfast at hotel & checked out
USO dropped off luggage, walked to Vatican Museum

Line to Vatican Museum

MVSEI VATICANI ->

Vatican Museum
Spent morning at Vatican City/Museum

View of Vatican grounds
from inside museum

Pointing to where parents live in Italy
Purchased souvenirs while viewing museum & Sistine Chapel
Also mailed postcards to hubs/kids/family in USA

Random sign in museum
Back to USO & dropped off souvenirs
Met Italian Argentiera ("Silver Smith") at USO to receive hub's anniversary gift
Walked to lunch near Piazza Del Risorgimento (roasted chicken & bread)
Carabinieri in Piazza w/media after suicide bomber in Iraq (Italian Defense department - Base for Federal Italian forces in Iraq - South)

Carabinieri in Piazza

Official-looking Italians
Walked across street to Piazza Venezia through Piazza Del Campidolglio (Temple of Athena)

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Piazza Venezia, aka "Wedding Cake"

Piazza Del Campidolglio (photogenic NOT)

Posing by statue in Piazza
Walked thru Forum Romano (Forum)

Roman Forum

Ruins in Forum

View from below in Ruins

More Ruins
Back to USO -> Eurostar - Mannet (?)
Allen made new friend from Spain - exchanged email address/card
At Padora, ticket was good for arriving 2 hrs. after our Eurostar arrival (Polizia)
Took "Express" home - Polizia in cafe "bar" while waiting (lots of people loitering - Yikes!)
At train station - car wasn't towed like Allen thought it might be
Home @1:30 - left message on voice mail but had trouble calling back

Tomorrow: Back Home in Italy

November 12th, 2003: Vatican & Rome

2010-09-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

As it turned out, this journal entry was written on the day of our 10th wedding anniversary. So there I was in Rome wishing my handsome groom were there with me so that we could celebrate our special day. On the other hand, what better place to find the perfect anniversary gift than Rome? Read on:

Wednesday - 11/12/03

Woke up early to get ready for "Papal visit"
Breakfast at Hotel Domus Mariae. No "Cafe Americana" only STRONG Italian coffee.
Gorgeous... no wait, "exquisite" hotel!
Taxi to USO for escort to St. Peter's Square. Took photos & waited for Pope John Paul II to arrive
The USO gave us tickets for the Papal Visit, the experience of a lifetime.

Traffic in Rome, Italy

Waiting for Pope in St. Peter's Square
"Papal Car" arrived & toured around audience before driving Pope to stage

There goes the Pope Mobile

Cruising up to stage
Reading after Pope's welcome in which he read from script in Latin. Translations were then read by Cardinals who interpreted in French, English, Spanish & Italian.

Pope giving welcome address
Each Cardinal presented list of groups who attended to greet the Pope.

Pope & Cardinals
Pope gave special blessings to those who attended and requested to receive it.
Shopping in St. Peter's Square (Pope items)
Lunch at restaurant in Rome (Mom had fruit salad, me soup/bread - BLAND!, Allen steak & egg meal)
St. Peter's Basilica - toured & took photos (obelisk & St. Peter's Basilica)

TEMPLVM VATICANVM
(on wall inside basilica)

Pietà by Michelangelo in St. Peter's

Tombs beneath St. Peter's Basilica
Back to USO to pick up items
Left our shopping finds there instead of schlepping them all over Rome.
Shopped at gift shop (gifts for family/friends - rosaries for Jeanne, etc.)
Trevi Fountain - threw coins & took photos

Throwing coins over shoulders

Fontana di Trevi - beautiful fountain!
Byzantine Tower Obelisk - "Column of Marcus Auraleus" - St. Paul on the top

Column of Marcus Aurelius
Walked by Parliament - lots of media & security outside. Later learned a suicide bomber blew up the Italian security (?) office in Iraq!
Saw Pantheon & Mom sat at small restaurant (outside) & waited at table while Allen & I toured & took pictures inside the Pantheon.

Pantheon

Tomb in Pantheon

Madonna & Child
Discovered the jewelry shop down street where purchased anniversary gift (needed brand new battery for final delivery, merchant went out to get one - store closed so he agreed to deliver 11/13 with reduced price.)
The merchant, Bertini & De Matteis, was actually called an "Orafi e Argentieri". His son did all of the legwork in finding a watch battery by running all over Rome. This kind of customer service was shocking to me - they treated my purchase like it was the most important sale of the week!
Walked by the Piazza de Venezia ("Wedding Cake" - white) where we saw the guards outside the "tomb of the unknown soldier"
Took Metro to McDonald's (dinner)
Back to hotel - shower/sleep

Tomorrow: Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel

November 11th, 2003: Rome

2010-09-29T11:04:00.001-07:00

And now my world gets even bigger as we head to none other than ROME, ITALY. Still pinching myself! As before, original journal in text with comments italicized below:
(click photos to view)

Tues, 11/11/03

Metro train to Verona
Eurostar to Rome

Ready to board Eurostar
In Rome, took wrong turn getting off underground metro (like subway)
Allen (Dad) called USO & we found our way after meandering thru city
The USO was such an incredible resource for us during our visit. Those people are saints.
Mom & I were annoyed and felt ridiculous but no one noticed (too many tourists)
We were clueless but grateful not to be the only ones. You can't look "lost" in a sea of tourists.
At hotel - unloaded (I grabbed swch & snacks)

Standing on hotel steps - swanky!
Walked back to main plaza, people watched & window shopped
Bus to Piazza Venecia
Next bus - Colosseum & Forum
Dinner at "Al Gladiatore" in front of Colosseum (Rocco entertained us!)

Italian wine at Al Gladiatore

Rocco, my new Italian host friend

Posing w/Italian waitress
Walked around side of Colosseum & by Forum

Colosseum in darkness
Metro back to main plaza
Returned to hotel & called hubs before crashing for the night

Coming up: Pope John Paul II and St. Peter's Basilica - a definite doozy.

November 10th, 2003: Venice

2010-09-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

As before, original journal is in regular text, my comments (from today) italicized beneath:
(click photos to view)

Metro to Venice - VERY crowded train (something wrong w/previous train causing overload)
This is when I learned my lesson about "personal space" in Italy. Rule of thumb: there is no such thing. We were all crammed right up against one another. You just deal.

Peace out, yo.
African HOSTILE couple - girl punched Mom & pushed me
Apparently this was just an ordinary lover's spat.
Italian Arline flight attendant talked to us about her experience
Train station in Venice - sat for a few minutes on front steps w/Mom

View from train station steps
Met Allen after he purchased water, bus tickets
Wrong water bus taken on opposite route (wanted Grand Canal but had a new "adventure")

Me & my lovely mother

View from water bus - Venice, Italy
Walked to San Marco Square "The Pigeon Place"

San Marco Square - in front of Basilica
Ate in San Marco Square - small restaurant (had veggie/multi-colored pasta - peas!!! yum)

Campanile, San Marco

Piazza San Marco

Piazzetta San Marco
Shopping/saw gondola drivers & dock

Actors in Piazetta San Marco

Where's my gondolier?

There he goes...
Returned on water bus -> metro
Called hubs late after sandwich snack

Next stop: Rome

November 9th, 2003: Castles

2010-09-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

So far, my first few journal entries are short and sweet, mostly because we're driving through THE ALPS. (Yeah, try writing in a journal while being tossed around the backseat of a VW bug in the mountains - I dare you!) Anyway, I'm including some links to tourist spots for reference and to make up for my lack of wordiness:
(click images to view)

Shopped in street market in Garmish

Photo taken on our hotel patio

Front of Clausing Post Hotel

Street market in Garmisch
Lunch in Ober Anmergua at restaurant w/"Magician"

This guy was too fun! (Read:
Embarrassed the crap out of me!)
Traveled to Linderhof castles
Tour of 1st castle
Others closed but toured town & took photos (Neuschwanstein & Hohenstein)

Standing in front of castle
Returned home through Austria

Under Austria Sign
(too dark, sorry)
Ate at ski resort resaurant (ate "Chef Boyardee" penne?!!)
The German cook poked fun of my mother and me, aka the "Turtleneck Twins", or so it seemed since we aren't fluent in German. And the joke was really on us when we sat down to eat our nice German dinner that tasted exactly like a can of Chef Boyardee.
Home
Back to Italy for repacking.

Next up: Venice!

November 8th, 2003: Italy!

2010-09-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

This is the first official journal entry of my very first trip visiting my folks in Italy. As before, I'm posting the original journal text below with italicized comments (from today) beneath it. I actually found original photos that correspond to my journal entry - woohoo!

Arrived in Milan airport
Mom/Allen/I returned to their house
ATM/McDonald's - met Allen's colleague

Photo of Italian McDonald's, definitely
unlike any other seen in the USA.
Home/pack for Germany
Returned to McDonald's on the way out to find my waist pack (It was still intact!)
Yes, my entire lifeline - PASSPORT, MONEY & ALL - found completely untouched when we returned to find it in McDonald's.
Left for Austria/Germany

Winding roads through rain, vine-
yards and mountainous terrain.
Garmisch, Germany stop where we settled into hotel

Taken from backseat of my folk's
VW bug.
Ate dinner in hotel restaurant (Clausing Post Hotel)
Called Hubs & called it a night

Just wait until morning - this view
is actually amazing in the daylight!

Tomorrow: We get all GERMAN.

First Trip to Europe 2003

2010-09-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

First I'll start with the itinerary my folks and I agreed upon for the time in which I would be visiting Europe starting on Saturday, November 8th to Saturday November 15th, 2003. As before, journal text below is unaltered, my personal comments are italicized below.

Sat - arrive, go to Germany
Sun - Germany & Austria (castles)
Monday - mng train to Venice 10 am
Tues - Rome (Eurostar), Hotel (2 nights)
(call hubs at @7 pm)
Wednes - Rome, Vatican & Papal Visit
Thur - Vatican & Rome Tour (Sistine Chapel)
return from Rome (4 pm)
Friday - Base/Lake Garda
"The Last Supper" in Milan was crossed out for Friday.
Saturday - Flight Home early

Return of Yet Another JOURNAL!

2010-09-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

That's right, yet another travel journal made an appearance today, this one being my FIRST trip to Italy/Germany/etc. in 2003. I know! What is happening here with all of the reappearing journals, right? Well I, for one, am not going to complain but rather will waste no more time and get started posting it all right here in Peep Bloggerville.

And so now I end this post with a couple little tidbits to launch Travel Blog Round II appropriately:

Vatican Museum Ticket

Pope John Paul, II
Personal Viewing Ticket

Another Surprise

2010-09-19T18:11:00.001-07:00

After posting the photos of Son Peep's double-decker bus, this little miniature RYANAIR plane found its way out of a certain toy airplane stash:

RYANAIR Toy Airplane

And the good news? It still works - blinking ride lights, take-off sounds and all! Crazy fun times at the Peepstead, I know.

December 10th, 2004: Italy back to USA

2010-09-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

European adventure almost complete as I head back to the States from my folks house in Italy. (Original journal in regular text, comments italicized below.)

ITALY -> USA
Fri - 12/10/04

5:15 am woke up early & left for Milan Malpensa Airport @6:45 am
major stop & go traffic in Milan (almost had a couple heart attacks!)
People drive way too close/fast for my blood in Europe. My life flashed before me more times than I could count.
@20 Euro left to spend in airport (need to buy souvenirs for friends back home)
finally reached Milan Malpensa w/some time to spare
bought Italian candy for D & L
nothing like some good European candy to share w/friends after returning home.
said goodbye to my folks w/hugs
our visit went so fast... I didn't want to say goodbye, but wanted to see family back home BADLY.
flight out of Milan a few minutes late, but arrived to Atlanta later on time
good flight/chicken lunch & Army GI neighbor
My seat neighbor worked in Army Communications and gave me his brigade emblem to give to Peep Son. So proud of our troops.

"Airborne" Army Emblem
arrived in Atlanta on time, but needed to circle airport a few times - bad east coast weather
timing couldn't be worse for the weather to go rotten. Seriously? On the way home? Ugh.
got ham swch dinner @5 pm (after turning back clock - seemed like 11 pm!)
called home, getting ready for dinner
hubs trying to find a sitter
no sitter tonight - instead hubs dressed the kids in pajamas and picked me up from the airport with PJ wearing Peeps in tow.
flight departure delayed (1 hr?)

And this is where my journal ends. Yes, I made it home safely, albeit LATE into the night. The kids didn't get to see all of my photos & souvenirs until the next morning, but it was well worth getting up early to show them everything. (Good thing it was Saturday.) My internal clock was a complete mess as it was anyway. Surreal feelings set in soon after. What a life-changing experience, one that I would do all over again in a heartbeat.

Surprise!

2010-09-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight while hanging up clothes in Son Peep's closet, this jumped right out and hit me in the face:

Miniature Double-Decker Bus from Adventures in London

... and I thought How appropriate! because yes, this is the actual bus I bought for Son Peep while visiting Europe - the same trip that I've been blogging about over the last several days.

Memories.

December 9th, 2004: London back to Italy

2010-09-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

Now for our return to my folks home in Italy with more adventures in store. No photos this time around. (Original journal in regular text, comments italicized below.)

LONDON -> ITALY
Thurs - 12/9/04

woke @3:45 a.m. & went back to sleep until 4:15 a.m. Cleaned up & got ready to catch shuttle to airport for Italy. Hope there will be breakfast after missing dinner yesterday... my growling stomach woke me up while sleeping. (But it was the best night of sleep yet!)
we went outside & caught the shuttle at 5:30 am sharp, then drove straight to airport
at airport, we checked in & I went to the store to buy the London double-decker bus for kids.
Oh yes, that's right. I didn't actually purchase it the first time I saw it in the store. Got it this time around instead - less to carry in luggage while touring London/Paris.
went through security, then walked quickly to our terminal where they began boarding
"first-come, first-serve" seats, but we got a row of 3 open seats.
Never had that experience before - no assigned seats on an airplane? How bizarre.
Mom & I were REALLY hungry, so Mom broke out her chocolate bar that we shared pieces of together
after take-off, the attendants sold food & I used my last 5£ from London ATM to buy a blueberry muffin & coffee
mid-flight I purchased a Ryanair airplane set for son
... and later he thought I just bought him a toy plane with a boy's name on it. No, that's an actual airline, bud!
we landed with a "bump"... Mom didn't enjoy that!
She hates to fly, and the bumpy landing didn't make her experience any better.
on way out of airport in Italy, we met Ginger (our ride - a friend of Air Force friends)
Air Force peeps are always around to help, rain or shine.
Mom & I hit the "toilette" and were surprised to find SEATS!
Italian bathrooms are not known for being all modern like that.
went back to my folks house
took a 20 min nap, ate quick sandwich lunch & began re-packing
@1:30 we went to the local mall to "re-charge" phone cards
Dad charged the phone cards while Mom & I did some window/browsing
I found the Hello Kitty equivalent in an Italian store - since they wouldn't take credit card, M bought a few of the "Mitty" items for daughter's xmas present from her
With all of the toy planes & trains I bought for the youngest, it was nice to find something for his sister.
stopped by another no-seat, no-toilet paper (in just one stall) and no-soap bathroom. (YUCK.)
Why? Is it that hard to upgrade Italian bathrooms from middle ages to 21st century?
Dad returned and we were able to call back to the States from mall - it was great to finally reach them even though they were leaving for school (not much time) It's been SO LONG!
we left mall and went out to Padengni Castle near their house
Not sure if link is to the right castle, but it looks very close.
returned to the house so Mom could change shoes (cobble stones)
back out to Sirmione for shopping (stationery)
I could've spent days in Sirmione - so nice and resort-like by Lake Garda.
restaurants not open til 6:30 pm :(
What is up with these late-eating Italians?
at 5:45 pm we drove toward their house again to find an open restaurant, then decided to cook pasta at home
Nothing like home cooking in Italy when restaurants open too late for us Americans.
Mom & I cooked Italian penne w/meat sauce & it was awesome! :)
shower/hair/pack more - bedtime! (get up at 5:15 am tomorrow)

Next: Returning home from Italy.

December 8th, 2004: Paris to London

2010-09-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

Time to say goodbye to Paris and head back to London where an extremely welcome surprise awaited. (Original journal in regular text, comments italicized below.)

PARIS -> LONDON

Wednes - 12/8/04

Woke @7:30 a.m.
Bfst - (me & Allen) downstairs hotel, croissant/bread/coffee
Left suitcases at hotel until metro to train
No hauling luggage around Paris for us.
WOW! Metro to Musee d'Orsay - Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Manet - Impressionists (favorite)
I've always been a big fan of the Impressionist art movement, so this museum tour was a treat.

Standing in front of Musee entry

The central aisle

Pierre August Renoir
Portrait de femme, dit de
Mme Georges Hartmann
Viewed artwork & shopped (books, notepads)
When I asked museum clerk if she spoke English, I'll never forget that arrogant reply, "A leetle beet." Note to self: when in France, be ready to speak French.

In front of Thomas Couture,
Romans of the Decadence

School kids on field trip

Artist duplicating Renoir's
Dancing at the Moulin de la Galette
Ate at bistro (ham/cheese/Coke Light), @1:45 - late
"Avec fromage" - yes, I actually asked for cheese on my baguette in French! Go me.
Briskly walked to Metro station & took metro to hotel where we picked up our bags.
Read "speed walked to station".
Walked thru Paris to Gare Du Nord to catch Eurostar
With headache setting in (dehydration & lack of caffeine/food too late for lunch), bought an espresso at the coffee shoppe and drank it at shoppe while watching people catching trains
Shopped at station -> water/newspaper & Godiva chocolates
The box of chocolates was for hub's office - box lid had a nice picture of the Eiffel Tower.
Hopped on Eurostar & read the "International Herald Tribune" newspaper while Mom & Allen slept.
No dinner... went thru metro & took bus thru London after arriving
Tried to dispose of my water bottle, but there were no garbage cans to be found due to security restrictions. Asked a station employee to throw it away for me.
Took Victoria line to Stansted Express, then Express to Stansted Airport
Bushel & Sack shuttle picked us up - Mom & Allen went back w/driver to main office/restaurant for dinner @8:45 (really 9:45 before resetting clocks at London station!)
I stayed back at the room for a shower, light snack and IBUPROFEN for headache
The late/missed meals and lack of H2O had finally taken toll on me.
When we had arrived at hotel, I couldn't believe it - my own room!!!
And the hotel people actually left packets of "digestives" (e.g. "graham crackers") that I scarfed down nicely. Alleluia to my own room w/crackers!
Mom & Allen had a double bedroom, and a shared bathroom connected them w/my 2 twin bedroom. It was a good time to shower up and get ready for waking up early again to catch flight to Italy on Ryanair (4:00 am to be exact.) So, off to sleep at 9:30 pm, hoping M&A don't wake me up when they return from dinner.
Heard them arrive @10:00+ pm, and my headache had not gone away... not as bad as I started falling asleep
No period at the end of that sentence, almost as if I fell asleep while writing. So tired.

What a whirlwind. Next up: Italy awaits.

December 7th, 2004: Last Full Day in Paris

2010-09-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

That's right, it's our last full day in Paris and holy cow does the adventure get better. (Original journal in regular text, comments italicized below.)

PARIS

Tues - 12/7/04

Woke @7:30 a.m. - got ready & then saw fire engines (3) outside w/police - looked like call was made but didn't see fire

Firetrucks in street
(pink "cloud" is camera light
reflecting off window)
Had Coke Light for bfst - mom sleeping & snoring as I write @8:45, so may miss bfst dwnstrs
Apparently we're a snoring bunch.
Wish M/M/R could be here, miss them very much
Time away from Peeps is catching up with me.
Bfst w/M & A (she woke up & joined us!) - croissant & coffee
ATM (€100)
Walked through Paris to bus stop (nice little shops)
Open bus tour - more view of Paris
B & M Notre Dame (inside & saw mass)/shopping - Allen w/Italian friend for lunch

Standing in front of Notre
Dame Cathedral

Saint Jeanne D'Arc

Stained glass window
B & M at at cafe - corner by ND (baguette & cafe/pop)
Mom and I had a nice lunch together beside the Cathedral.

Gals in front of Notre Dame
Shopped by ND - souvenirs
Bought Paris hoodies & hats for kids.
Open bus to Eiffel Tower, waited in line 60 min
Went to top! took photos <- WOW!!

On Eiffel Tower observation deck

Top of Eiffel Tower from
observation deck

Sienne River from Eiffel Tower

Paris from top of Eiffel Tower
Shopped at shoppes for souvenirs
Open bus to metro -> walked to Hard Rock Cafe, video of "Time Warp", guitar of Joe Satriani, shopping at store, souvenirs

Doin' the Time Warp in HRC

Joe Satriani guitar (photo for hubs)
Margarita & nachos (8 pm! yikes)

c'est delicieux!
Metro to hotel
Shower, repacked for last night in Paris

Over and out for the night, but tomorrow we head back to London for more exciting adventures.

December 6th, 2004: Paris

2010-09-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

First full day in Paris, and wow - crazy breathtaking!

(original journal in regular text, personal comments italicized below)

PARIS

Mon - 12/6/04

Woke @8:30 a.m. - got ready for hotel continental bfast
Bfst w/Allen downstairs - Mom not ready (ok), croissant & cafe/bread w jelly
Dear mom is just not a morning person and would rather stay back and get all glammed up for our big day in Paris. Can't say that I blame her - but adrenaline was in high gear for me.
took metro to stop for tour (open bus)
rode @3+ hours touring Eiffel tower, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées, etc.

Academie Nationale de Musique

Arc du Triomphe du Caroussel

Louvre

Arc de Triomphe
Lunch by Louvre, "Le nemours" restoirante (Ham swch & double espresso)
Louvre - saw Mona Lisa, Venus di Milo, etc.

Mona Lisa

Standing in front of Venus de Milo

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Touring the Louvre
drink in Louvre (Coke Light)
French equivalent of "Diet Coke" only way more expensive.
Shopped at gift shop - gifts Vickie/kids/books
Took tour bus back through route & saw lights - Tower & Arc, etc.

Notre Dame de Paris

Champs-Élysées at night

la Ville Lumière ("City of Lights")

Eiffel Tower
Supposed to meet A's friend, instead stopped & took bus to cafe near hotel
ate in Turkish Donner kabob (veggie) cafe, got Coke to take home ("cheeboogie Coke guys")
Felt just like SNL episode when ordering our meal. The Turkish cafe guys were an absolute hoot.
Stopped at nearby shoppe for dessert (baclava & others)
Owner from Muldova, Tunisia, & Algeria
Allen called friend & canceled
I was completely spent and not willing to take another metro ride downtown. Exhaustion set in... time for a rest back at the hotel.
Washed hair & watched CNN
One less thing to worry about in the morning - saved at least 1/2 hr.
heard that US Consulate in Saudi bombed
Very odd listening to news spoken in French. Talk about culture shock.

Tomorrow: Last full day in Paris and a monumental surprise.

December 5th, 2004: From London to Paris

2010-09-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

(info is unaltered from my long lost journal with italicized comments below original text)

LONDON --> PARIS
Sun - 12/5/04

Internet from hotel (checked email)
Computer room had only a couple desktop PC's, both completely spyware-ridden and with pop-ups galore, but they did the job for checking email. No complaints.
Shopped for souvenirs at Victoria Station
Bought miniature double-decker bus for son; turned down leather/fur jacket purchase for myself.
bfst at Victoria's Station - Garfunkel's, same waitress, not happy w/us (seated ourselves, order wrong)
Lordy.
Waterloo Station - Ivana Trump sighting
Talk about a luggage brigade. Never had I seen so many oversize designer suitcases roll behind a single passenger in my life.

Sign above ticketing area
Starbucks in Waterloo - we searched & finally found it! They had to have one - there are Starbucks everywhere - at least we saw them on every corner in London. Hazelnut Latte Grande.

Perfect way to start the day!
Bought hat in station
Eurostar boarded at 1:30 - we had a carload of kids on a field trip. (they all spoke French, so we assumed they were returning home to France.)

Wearing new black hat
Lunch from food car - ham & cheese & "flapjack" bar w/pecans & raisins
Kids got off after 1st stop - quieter :)
Thank goodness for that.
Set off alarm in bathroom accidentally
Oops. User error.
Fog in Paris on arrival
Went through Paris to Hotel Altona
I remember walking along the streets feeling very afraid for my life, complete darkness with vagrants sitting on sidewalks along street. At least we found our hotel so we could drop off our luggage. Lugging it all over Paris wasn't all that fun.
Took metro to Eiffel Tower, photos

Eiffel Tower

'Paris 2012' Olympics
(possible future location)

Standing under tower
Dinner at pub - Quiche Lorraine/Cabernet (wht) - Smokers!! :P
We experienced the true dining experience with diners "lighting up" and smoking up the pub after their final meal course. Mom & I put on a good coughing production - hard to breathe!
Took metro back to room
Saw glittery Eiffel tower

Eiffel tower lights
tried to call home
Called from hotel desk - clerk spoke little English - talked w/people around
At this point, I actually tested my high school French on the hotel clerk but didn't get much further than 'Bon soir' and 'Merci beaucoup'. Finally connected back home but had to talk at front desk without much privacy.
Bad time :( SNORING & loud neighbors
Where were those earplugs when I needed them most?
@3 a.m. finally slept
... even after so much excitement. Such an amazing night in Paris!

Tomorrow - even better.

Beleaguered Labor Day

2010-09-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

Usually holidays are meant to be enjoyable, fun, relaxing, etc. Well, Labor Day 2010 was almost all of the above, except for the stuffy head/nasal passages ordeal that tormented me throughout the weekend. But anyway, we managed to kick back a little at the homestead between running a few errands, spraying nasal decongestant up my nose every few hours (but only as directed so as not to become addicted to nasal spray, as warned by my ever-loving sister via Facebook), and listening to our fabulous Cellist Peep play during Mass at church.

Good times.

So back to working on that whole Long Lost Journal of My Trip to Europe blog entry, where my journal now has me headed to Paris from London. Wowee, people! You don't want to miss this one, let me tell you. Anyway, the text is ready to post, but not without actual photos of the events. digging... digging... oh yes! Found them. This is going to be amazing - stay tuned.

December 4th, 2004: Hangin' Out in London

2010-09-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday - 2nd full day in London, England:
*Personal comments to the journal are italicized below original text.

Got up early (1:40 am/then 8:00 am) - TOAST for bfst (we didn't know)
What "we didn't know" was the hotel did NOT offer continental breakfast as we expected, not a very cool thing for 3 starving Americans.
Went through Victoria station - ATM £100, some souvenirs & all day bus ticket

On the bus still waking up

My folks make such a sweet couple
Westminster Abbey Cathedral (inside) souvenirs & shopped at store

Westminster Abbey

Standing in front of Westminster Cathedral
Shopped at Westminster Abbey bookstore (souvenirs)
Line too long at Wm Abbey (photos)

Line Outside Cathedral (no thanks)
Bus to Victoria Station - another bus to Old Bailey Road
Lunch at Bailey's Cafe (Italian) - bought for all @£20 (xmas gift)
Focaccia bread sandwich w/turkey

Lunching at Bailey's Cafe Deli
St. Paul's Cathedral - went into entrance (£7/no way), was able to see enough
Walked around backside of courtyard - statue of John Wesley, brown pigeon, etc.)
Walked down Oxford ("SOHO") - very crowded, lots of young people college types
Saw Jesus preacher
Almost hit by bus

"Kentish Town" - possible family ties?
Called & left message on voicemail at Picadilly Circus
Finally found Buckingham Palace after 2 buses/walking

Buckingham Palace
Shopped at tea shoppe & bought gifts (chocolate, coffee)

Taking a Diet Coke rest
Phone call home (finally connected)
Shin splints kicked in (me)
Over bridge by Big Ben watched Eye of London (aka Ferris Wheel)

The London Eye
Allen took photos of Parliament at St. Thomas' Hospital

Big Ben & Parliament from hospital parking lot
Back on bus toward Victoria
Stopped for dinner @8 pm at Shakespeare's Pub
Caesar salad w/chicken & Pinot (yum!)
Back to room
Allen emailed hubs from hotel
SLEEP (loud neighbors "square dancing above us")
Never travel without earplugs.

Next up: off to PARIS!

Chugging Along

2010-09-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm in the process of putting together a post on 'Day 2: London' but wanted to let bloggerville know that I still have a pulse in the meantime. Yep, STILL HERE. All kinds of events are keeping me from polishing up the London post, such as teaching Religious Education at the parish, running our cellist back & forth between music lessons and rehearsals, and just plain keeping up with the daily routine of cooking/cleaning/shopping/working out/homework/etc. - but not necessarily in that order.

And it's all good.

Still Here

2010-08-15T19:28:00.001-07:00

... and working on my London blog post. This one is taking me longer than usual, mostly with life getting in the way as I pull together photos and footage of our first night in the UK. Tomorrow I will post - it's a promise!
Note: I just posted it today 8/18/2010. Since I started it on 8/13/2010, see below this entry for post.

To London!

2010-08-13T06:25:00.000-07:00

Here I sit, kids in school and not having me run around like a headless chicken trying to get supplies together, cat stretched out on the floor in my home office doorway leaving me with an entire day to take care of business and whatnot. (Always wanted to use that word in a sentence - "whatnot".) Alrighty then! Back to that long lost journal where I'm about to take off from Italy to London and beyond:

Friday, December 3rd, 2004

Fog delayed London flight
Meaning: we reached the airport but the fog was so heavy we didn't leave until well after midnight. Uggh, as if I wasn't jet-lagged enough.
Took bus to Bergamo, Italy
Flew to Sanstedt, London
Picture the three of us walking the empty early morning streets trying to get directions to our hotel from ANYONE, including cabbies who (one) was nice enough to stop and give us some sort of clue as to where we needed to go. Fortunately, we were able to navigate via the map system posted throughout London.
Bus to Victoria Station, London
That was interesting - you would not believe the people we ran into along the underground bus system. Peddlers, mostly.
Walk from station to hotel (not Hanover 1st night)
Sleep at 4:30 a.m. (very tired)
"Very tired" being the understatement of the century after the all-nighter and a half.
Woke up early - 8:40 a.m.
Tour Bus (open top)

Mom kicks back in upper level of tour bus.

Trafalgar Square stopped (photos)

Mom and Allen pose in front of fountain, Trafalgar Square

Sherlock Holmes Pub (fish and chips)

Me in front of Sherlock Holmes pub - best fish & chips
ever tasted!

Photos at Lord Nelson Monument

Mom and Me

Whitehall, horses, Scotland Yard, Downing Street, Cabinet Buildings, Parliament, Big Ben

The infamous Big Ben

WOW!

Bus to London Bridge/Starbucks
Walked across London Bridge

Warming up w/Starbucks latte on bridge

Walked to London Dungeon
Girls w/halos
No idea what this was all about... 'halos'?
Bus over London Bridge

Random passengers atop bus over London Bridge

Dropped off at London Tower
Shopping at gift shoppe
WOW! Boat ride down Thames

Me, Mom, Allen on boat in Thames River

photos

London Tower view from Thames River

City of London view from Thames River

View of London Eye from boat in Thames (dark!)

Off at embankment, on the bus
Bus to Victoria Station
Walked .5 mile to Hard Rock (50 min wait for table, skipped dinner & shopped at store)
At this point, I started experiencing painful shin splints possibly due to dehydration. Ugh. But the walk was worth buying Hubs a Hard Rock Cafe - London t-shirt!
Walked back to Victoria
Ate dinner at Garfunkel's in mall (spent 15 pd/40 M&A, stiffed waitress - no split ticket)
That's right, we actually stiffed the waitress for not splitting our bill. Such rude Americans? Yikes. Well, at least I was able to get a taste of my English heritage with a meal topped off with peas, a favorite.
Shopped for pop.
Walked to Hanover Hotel.
Called home - tried from 9:40-10:40 - couldn't get out!! :(
For an entire hour straight, we tried and tried to get a phone connection back to the States to no avail. Finally, sleep took over.

Big Huge Drum Roll Here

2010-08-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

As we barrel into Back-to-School week, I'm feeling like that DRUM ROLL is following me around as we check off everything on our 'To Do' list in preparation for it all. I know, I know. Where's that Italy journal? It's on the way - no worries. In fact, here's Day #2, Thursday December 2nd, 2004. Not too detail oriented, but keep in mind that I'm headed toward my next destination where it gets all wild & crazy:

Went to Desanzano (Mom & Dad's place)
Left at night for Ryanair to London

As you can see, not much time for journaling but I do remember weighing those repacked bags on Mom & Dad's scale to make sure we didn't exceed weight limitations. Then we were off and running - London, England here we come!

My mom proudly displaying the luggage
tags made by her fabulous grandchildren.

December 1st, 2004: Off to Milan, Italy

2010-07-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, December 1st, 2004:

"Left for Milan, Italy."

This was all that I entered in my journal for the day and appears to have been added after later journal entries were already entered. Pretty sure I entered it as a reference point. Obviously, I had very little time to journal on the actual day of leaving for Italy! But on a side note, I do remember repacking luggage w/Mom & Dad when I arrived to take off for London & Paris. (see below)

OMG - Lost Journal Reappears!

2010-07-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

Today while cleaning her room, Teen Peep found a little spiral blue notebook that shockingly holds journal entries written by Yours Truly during visits to Italy, London and Paris in December 2004.

Holy Lost Journal!!!

Yes, I'm more than a little excited about this discovery, so much that I'm willing to post my entries here on the Married with Peeps blog, photos and ALL.

Stay tuned... this promises to be one of my best travel blogs yet. :)

Well, geez.

2010-07-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

I had an amazing video from our Great Wolf Lodge experience that Blogger failed to load, and so now my blog is horribly out of date! So here are a few photos to help correct that li'l issue:

AMAZING!

Aftermath of the Fourth

2010-07-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

Man oh man did we have the best Fourth of July EVER this year. And reflecting back over the past 10 years of living in our current neighborhood, I now realize how celebrating Independence Day in previous years pretty much stunk rotten eggs compared to this year. Why? Hmmmm... let me see, it could've been due to stupid teen antics that involved shooting bottle rockets off at neighborhood homes, or maybe it was because said teens parked 52 cars curbside making it extremely difficult to light fireworks in front of our own home, or possibly it was due to those underage drinking parties they had where they left empty beer cans and cigarette butts on our property, or maybe it was just a big combination of ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Anyway, the Peeps and I enjoyed a quaint Fourth of July celebration at home this year, and for good reason, we're feeling all blessed about it. Sometimes you have to put up with a few crappy Independence Day celebrations to really appreciate the alternative. With that, here's a fun firework video appropriately called "Goldfish Fail":

Red Hot Mama

2010-07-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been journaling in an actual BOOK with PAPER and PEN, thus neglecting this online blog. *audible gasp* I know! Crazy to even think such a thing! But really, it's been kind of nice knowing that I can jot down thoughts any time, any place without worrying about grammar, spelling, and whether or not some random lurker is sneaking a peek at my thoughts... other than a couple Peeps of mine who might try to look over my shoulder while I'm writing.

Yet I'll never give up blogging completely - Not. A. Chance.

So here's a snapshot of my favorite birthday present of all time just received last night from the Peep Hubster - a late gift, but we're talking total forgiveness based on the fact that the present is RED and an IPOD NANO with PERSONALIZED ENGRAVING and well deserving of ALL CAPS:

ANIMOTO of Vacation

2010-06-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

Just trying out another funky new tool for sharing video. Humor me:

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

We Went to South Dakota

2010-06-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

... and returned with a gazillion photos, movies, souvenirs and most of all MEMORIES. So as I sift through the numerous media sticks loaded with all of the aforementioned, enjoy a glimpse of what we experienced in the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota, USA:

Overlooking the Badlands

Badlands Splendor from Overlook

Crazy Horse Memorial

Mount Rushmore

On a Health Note

2010-05-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

I sat down to post a blog about the happenings in our world since those previous spectacular concert posts and immediately thought HOLY APPOINTMENTS. So, what exactly am I talking about? Check out the list of what we've been up to over the past couple of weeks:

Eye Exams: Slight change in Girlie's nearsightedness, but not enough to require a new pair of glasses. No change in my vision; however, I did find a funky new pair of glasses as backup to contacts. (Photo soon.) One thing we did find disconcerting was Girlie's glaucoma test results, as her eye pressure seems to be slightly on the high end - something to “keep an eye on” according to the eye doctor... and something for Mom to add the Worry List.

Dental Checkups: Bad news on the tooth front, unfortunately. Peep Son has a cavity in a baby tooth that will be falling out soon, so Doc C decided to leave it alone. For me, however, Doc C ordered the replacement of 2 ancient fillings that are deteriorating at lightning speed. I debated over tooth-colored vs. metal fillings, and guess what? After chatting with my online peeps and doing a little research of my own, looks like I'll have some new durable metal fillings in a few weeks, along with a completely numb face.

Annual Physical: Here's where I get kudos after having my first MAMMOGRAM. Every year for the past 10+ years, Doc M has advised me to get a yearly mammogram after the age of 40. While my 40^th birthday is still a few weeks away, I held good to that recommendation and had it done today. Was I scared? You better believe it. But for no reason! That scan was a piece. of. cake. Then on with the physical exam where I weighed in at 2 lbs less than last year and with blood pressure 110/70. While mammo/blood test results are still pending, Doc M described my health status as 'still perfect'. <--!!!

Now to schedule school physicals for the Peeps, then we'll be all set for another year. In the meantime, what in the world is that smell? Could it be chlorine? Methinks.

Grand Finale of Concerts

2010-05-14T07:44:00.000-07:00

Here's yet another video of Peep Girlie's final band performance of the year (yes, she's also a clarinet player) taken with our new Sony Camcorder, also known as my Mother's Day gift extraordinaire:

*sniff* Where's my hankie?

Go Big Red!

2010-05-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

Now with a video of the youngest Peep as he plays his heart out to the tune of Hail Varsity with the elementary band:

Thanks for making us proud, Dude!

10 Seconds of Fame

2010-05-05T04:59:00.000-07:00

This gives a parent warm fuzzies. *sniff*

Monkey Business

2010-05-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

Today the Peepsters and I found ourselves at the zoo on a gorgeous Spring morning where we were greeted by a couple of vocal baboon friends. I don't know about you, but it sounded to me like they were expressing their concerns over our recent car woes:

The Shakedown

2010-04-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Back with a synopsis of our car crisis that encompassed the last 17 days of our lives. With all the events and emotions involved, it actually has taken that long for the dust to settle. So as mentioned in a previous blog post, the family was in the process of returning from new bicycle shopping when our 2003 Saturn VUE started bucking and choking unexpectedly, forcing me to pull over into the Post Office parking lot. A few hours later, VUE found itself towed to the only available Saturn dealer (50+ miles away) because GM recently closed our nearest local Saturn dealership. Then what? Well, there VUE sat for several days while we attempted to carry on with life as usual. Luckily Hubs was called out of town on business 2 days later, freeing up the old minivan for me to shuttle Peeps around in all week. Otherwise, I would've been begging Saturn for a loaner car or even renting a vehicle from a car rental agency. Timing was everything.

After feeling drained with worry and dread about how long we would have to endure the waiting game before hearing back from Saturn's service department, I finally received The Call. Mechanic Dude informed me the news wasn't good: the transmission needed an expensive overhaul. Fortunately, GM offered a credit to qualified customers who experienced this well-known issue, meaning we needed to fulfill all of the requirements in order to receive the deal. Mechanic Dude then suggested that we look into applying the credit toward the only new Saturn available at the dealership, and entire state for that matter. But what if we didn't like the car? If that were the case then we could venture out to another GM dealer and attempt to find another suitable replacement. Oh joy - let the car shopping fun begin!

Plain and simple, Hubs does NOT care for the whole wheeling and dealing of purchasing a new vehicle, hence the reason for sticking with Saturn where salespeople lay it on the line in black and white. Me? I don't mind the dealing quite so much. So Peep Girlie and I zipped on out to the Saturn dealership to check out that last standing new car on the lot. But wait… why wasn't it on the lot? Oh right. It was on the showroom floor. My heart skipped a beat as the salesman gave us a demo on all of its features. Wow… no way could this dazzling piece of machinery become our next family vehicle. Then after the guys drove the car off the floor and I hit the road with it, my heart jumped right into the deal and stuck. I know this is exactly what NOT to do when purchasing a car, so I held back my emotions and drove strictly business-like with the salesman in the passenger seat and Peep Girlie in the back. Channeling level-headedness… *ohm*

Back to reality, Peep Girlie strongly advised that we at least test drive a few other cars before making any moves on the new Saturn. That girl has a great head on her shoulders, I know! Good thing we just happened to be located on Dealership Row where MANY other car dealers surrounded us, making it easy to test out a few vehicles. But when our test driving fun ended, we were drawn back to the Saturn dealer where I called Hubs from my cell in the parking lot to discuss the situation like level-headed, intelligent adults. Then I signed off on the offer, putting us one step closer to replacing our long lost VUE.

Driving back home in the old van was surreal to say the least.

The next day involved scanning and emailing of formal documents to Saturn's Service Manager who then contacted GM about applying for credit toward the new car. Again, more waiting. Another day later with me sensing another long drawn out period of silence, I unexpectedly received The Call. Twice. Both on the land line and on my cell, with Finance Dude offering us The Deal. I couldn't believe my ears. Were we actually bringing home that magnificent set of wheels? Is it April 1st? Surely someone is pulling a fast one on us after all of that trauma we experienced over past several days. But no, and after all was said and done, someone upstairs showed mercy on our souls with this:

And yes, the trunk holds a cello and baritone quite nicely.

Back in Business

2010-04-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

Finally, I will sit down and post a blog about how the vehicle situation went down... tomorrow. A nasty midwestern thunderstorm is keeping me from doing so this evening, which happens to be the time when I planned on posting an update. So for now I logout leaving the blogosphere with this little hint of what took place:

Yeah, baby.

Ridiculous

2010-04-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

Day #10 and still waiting for a Saturn mechanic to LOOK at our vehicle. That's right, the poor VUE found itself abandoned in the Saturn service department parking lot after being towed from the post office where it breathed its last breath. And now we sit in wait for some mechanic, ANY mechanic, to pop his head under the hood and make a diagnosis of the damage. Although, judging by this letter, I think we already know the answer:

Wait... just got the phone call. Something's up - stay tuned.

Feeling the Saturn Vue Blues

2010-04-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

From the day I was born breech with the worst Apgar score ever recorded, life clearly was not meant to be easy for me. And this week was a big reminder of that fact, particularly when the Mom Mobile tanked on the way home from purchasing Peep Girlie a fancy new bicycle from our favorite bike shop, guaranteeing the Peep family 5 more years of car payments once again.

I'll miss you, Vue-y.

Giving Ourselves a Break

2010-04-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

The Peeps and I celebrated Easter 2010 with our usual family Easterly-type activities such as egg coloring, Easter egg hunting, attending mass and eating a home-cooked ham dinner with all of the fixings; that is, minus the green bean casserole Hubs and I forgot to make even though we purchased all of the ingredients the previous week. Like it was missed after all of the calories we consumed Easter Sunday, right? Exactly. In fact, we were having so much fun hanging out at the homestead enjoying a little bit of free time that green beans were never even mentioned once, a sure sign of a good time had by all.

So then what? Well, Peep Girlie made good on her promise to attend the weekly private cello lesson, during which time I caught up on some much needed reading of my favorite Chick Lit. Then it was time for SPRING BREAK to officially begin; and being all over the idea of sleeping in past 5:45 a.m. every morning for a week, I was almost first to begin the celebration by waking up promptly at 8:00 a.m. Monday morning. Now, if only the cat would've been clued in on my plan by not scratching LOUDLY at my bedroom door at 6:00 a.m. and again at 7:00 a.m., I would've found day 1 of Spring Break enjoyable. But no deal. So let me just say I was not amused with Smokie's antics and seriously considered a new plan called:

Sequestering the Cat Overnight Every Night for the Rest of Spring Break.

Still thinking on that one. Meanwhile, enjoy this fine photo of our Easter morning Krispy Kreme breakfast:

That Tuesday Blog

2010-03-30T17:43:00.001-07:00

Hey, what do you know? Another Tuesday blog post! So now to wrap my head around what happened in the Peepstead over the past week since I can't seem to make time for incremental updates. And with 'The Biggest Loser' on television in the family room and Peeps gathered around to see who will be the eliminated contestant (a favorite family-time event for us), blogging here will be a little tricky. But here goes:

First things first, we now have a teenage Peep Girlie in the house and couldn't be more thrilled about it. Why? Because having a teenage girl around is actually better than we ever imagined it to be. I could drone on and on about how she has been such a blessing to our family, but really, it just goes without saying. So with that, we celebrated exactly the way she wanted with a quiet party at home involving pizza, friends, family, video gaming, trampoline jumping and last but not least: TCBY frozen yogurt cake. How. sweet. it. is.

The rest of our week was jam packed with client projects, instrument rehearsals, a field trip to the Strategic Air & Space museum, shopping at the bookstore, attending mass and teaching the usual CCD class. Did we really fit all of that into 7 days? Along with a couple of sick days and a doctor visit for Peep Girlie? Oh, and don't forget those workouts squeezed in between. Good Lord, how are we keeping our sanity these days? All I can say is no wonder summer vacation is looking so enticing to me right now.

On that note, here's a favorite photo worthy of blog space:

Holding hand painted cat birthday gift.

Yo Yo Ma Casualty

2010-03-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

Strange, but it's like déjà vu all over again as I blog on a Tuesday with a feverish child in the family room staying home from school, this time the oldest Peep. Here's what I think happened: Too much Yo Yo Ma. That's right. Last week, Girlie and I spent 2 evenings at the concert hall experiencing world famous cellist, Yo Yo Ma, first as he taught a Master Class then as he performed on stage with pianist, Kathryn Stott. All that mind-blowing music was too much for a middle schooler to handle, hence the feverish down-time.

So in honor of Peep Girlie's recovery time, here's a little blog quiz from Blogthings.com called 'The Scribble Circle Test'. My result (and yes, it mostly fits):

You Are Trustworthy

Of all the types, you are the most responsible and loyal. You take your duties seriously.

You thrive when you are able to do something practical and productive. You hate to waste your time.

Some people say that you are a bit neurotic or cautious, but you believe it's better to be safe than sorry.

You do your best to live a engaging and important life. You want what you do to matter.

In the Swing of Things

2010-03-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

Now that our weekly rehearsal time with the orchestra is on hiatus, I need to find a new time devoted to this here blog. Sunday afternoon was perfect for that while practice was going on, but that particular window is now filled with private cello lessons and miscellaneous non-conducive-to-blogging type activities. So here I am on a Tuesday. *waves* This might actually work.

Meanwhile get comfortable, here's what's happening in Peepville:

Back on the orchestra topic, for next season our sweet Cellist Girlie has her sights set way up high and is looking to audition for the Grand Poobah of youth orchestras called the Philharmonic. And if that doesn't pan out, she's more than happy to return to the same group she's been with over the past year, Youth Conservatory. Total win-win situation either way. As long as she's happy and I get my Orchestra Mom chair back while Hubs and Younger Brother hang out at the homestead watching whatever sport happens to be in season, it's all good for everyone involved.

CCD class. Can you believe we are left with only 6 actual days of class and 1 final prayer service? I sure can't. While at times I did feel like the weeks were crawling along at a snail-like pace, reminiscent of slow running/Spyware laden computers I recall cleaning up back at the Mercy Sisters Assisted Living Center, the final days are zipping along all speedy on me. 7th grade has not been an easy one for any of us, but having a fierce co-catechist as a side-kick to keep the chatty types in line has been a serious blessing in disguise. In fact, we worked so well together that we're teaching yet another class next year, only next time 8th grade instead of 7th. Confirmation here we come!

So what else is new? Here's what: Yo Yo Ma. With the oldest turning another year older in a few days, what better way to celebrate than by taking her to see the Cello Master in real life. That's right, Girlie and I will be witnessing Yo Yo Ma as he teaches a Master Class at the music hall (not open to the general public) and then listen as he plays in concert the very next evening. Two days in a row of mind-blowing Yo Yo Ma - I know! Anyway, we'll also have a cake/presents celebration at home, because concerts are great and all but a birthday wouldn't be right without some sort of party involving frosting and wrapping paper.

Hold up... this means we're about to have a TEENAGER in the house.
Holy *expletive here*.

On that note, this one's for you Teenage-Girlie-To-Be:
Yo Yo Ma; Diana Krall, "You Couldn't be Cuter"

Music at its Ultimate Finest

2010-03-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

That big Spring Orchestral Event came and went with a BANG, and so now I'm left to post video instead of the usual blog that would've been generated while in my Orchestra Mom Chair, which has mostly been retired to the school cafeteria day crowd. But don't worry. I'll be back to reclaim one of those spiffy lil' green/orange/plastic chairs soon enough. Meanwhile, enjoy this with me until next time:

*spine-tingle*

Bring on the Clowns, People

2010-02-28T16:28:00.000-08:00

Here I sit in my lovely *cough* olive green Orchestra Mom Chair again, on a bittersweet day that is the final Youth Conservatory practice before the official concert, the one for which these fabulous musicians have been practicing since November 2009. The best part? Today is also Bring a Friend to Rehearsal Day/Final Celebration, so we're seeing all kinds of new faces in the group making it even more special. And being the mom who happens to care about the blessed youngsters' nutrition, I left a bag of cheddar Sun Chips on the food table. Chowing down to take place at half-time - let the excitement begin!

Now for the biggest unexpected news item of the week called Son Home from School Sick with Strep Throat. Poor guy made it through the school day on Monday, but then came home all feverish with a temperature of 102+ degrees. We monitored his temp, rotated Tylenol and Motrin every few hours, kept him home Tuesday, then took him to see the doctor on Wednesday where we found out he officially had a case of strep throat, surprising the doctor and me as we really just didn't think he had more than a flu-like virus. Then after unsuccessfully attempting to administer liquid antibiotics, son bravely opted for a penicillin shot nipping that illness in the bud at lightning speed. Hindsight is everything? Absolutely.

Hey, remember that circus field trip mentioned in my previous blog post? Well, yeah. Son just so happened to miss attending the Shrine Circus with fellow classmates, so I made good on my promise to take him on my own by heading out to the Civic Auditorium on Saturday. This plan worked out perfectly for all of us; because Hubs, who wasn't all that interested in going to the circus anyway, had to go out of town on business that day and Older Sis chose to hang out at home to exercise her newfound freedom to be without adult supervision. Meanwhile, Son and I had a blast bonding together. Heck, I even made a new buddy, Grandma/Retired Nurse, who sat beside me with her grandson critiquing the circus junk food and aerialist who, for safety purposes, should NOT have been hanging by her foot from a rope upside down like that.

You go, Grandma.

She's Lost It Completely

2010-02-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

Hey cool! Got me a burnt-orange colored Orchestra Mom chair this week during rehearsal time as I blog, a vast improvement over last week's olive green-ness. Totally random, I know. So what happened this week? Hold on tight, because the stuff that happened upon us makes last week look like hopscotch, if that's even possible. Really it does, and what better time to get started than right now. Grab a cuppa something and get comfortable, this ramble could take awhile.

Presidents Day 2010 involved a major milestone for us called Leaving Kids Home Alone for the First Time. It had to happen eventually, so hubs and I loosened the parental reigns, juiced up the peeps' cell phones, then headed off for a sweet lil' lunch escape at our First Date Restaurant, aka Panda House. The weirdest part of our date was that even though we had "broken bread" (or rather fortune cookie) at this romantic spot for the first time over 18 years ago, nothing about the place has changed in all of those years. Not a thing, right on down to the pink and gray décor! There we ate our usual lunch entrees of sweet & sour chicken, almond chicken, steamed rice, crab rangoon and hot & spicy soup. Then soon after, because we couldn't think of anything else exciting to do other than shop at the book store or Lowe's, we returned home to find both peeps feeling a little more grown-up and ready for mom & dad to go on more dates. Alrighty then, it's a deal.

Ash Wednesday came and went with the family getting big fat ashy forehead smudges during mass, then eating at the parish Soup Supper afterward where the oldest peepster banked a few service hours by helping out at the supper with one of her CCD friends. The bad part of dinner? Our soup bowls were microscopic, almost the size of the palm of my HAND, which would've been acceptible if we'd known about the unlimited refill situation. (Who knew? At least post a sign for us clueless parishioners, people. *geez*) Practically starving by bedtime, we ditched the whole fasting idea and had ourselves a meatless snack of cheese Bagel Bites, Poppers and Chex Mix just to make it through the night. A Catholic has to do what a Catholic has to do - God is understanding that way.

Now on with the biggest surprise of the week and primary reason for me taking on a major housecleaning project Tuesday & Wednesday: Family in town for college swim meet. While we were unable to witness all of the swim events, we did manage to sneak in a few rounds on Friday night and Saturday morning and it was total chlorinated excitation, let me tell you. The peeps had never before seen their cousins swim competitively, let alone attend a swim meet, so watching was a pretty huge deal for both of them. Big into swimming themselves, who knows, maybe they will think about swim team in the future? We shall see. At any rate, we were just thrilled to see family and hope they'll consider visiting us in our hometown more often, possibly outside of swim events. I mean, it's not like we have cooties or anything. And hey, next time lunch at Spaghetti Works in the Old Market will be our treat.

Video of cousin (lane 3) taken by Girlie Peep

So what else? Oh yes, the usual cello lesson with our favorite professional cellist, another meeting with my newest client, and the weekly consulting work for the Sisters of Mercy. Next week: Volunteer time at Children's Respite Care Center, Shrine Circus field trip, and the possibility of that long lost thing called Me Day. Can't wait, especially for that last one... the anticipation is driving me bonkers.

The Madness Never Stops

2010-02-14T18:31:00.000-08:00

Whoa – my Orchestra Mom Chair awaits in all of its olive green plastic-ness, ready for the weekly blog to take shape. *wave* The only difference today is that sectionals are taking place in various rooms adjacent to the one in which I'm sitting, with teachers leading musicians grouped by instrument. Usually I'd camp out in the cello room and be fly-on-the-wall like, but today I'd rather blog in peace and then listen to the entire group rehearse in another hour. No worries here.

So what happened in our little corner of the universe over the week? LOTS. But to avoid putting the blogosphere into a deep coma like slumber, I'll be as brief as possible without leaving readers thinking What is the world is she babbling on about this time? Here goes:

Wouldn't you know, the week started off with a bang as we met with the Peeps' teachers for conferences. As usual, both students are kicking booty with organization skills being the only issue for a certain peep who shall remain nameless, as we already know about this particular problem because it has been ongoing throughout this person's life. But since said person has grown by LEAPS and BOUNDS in this arena, hubs and I glanced at one another when the teacher mentioned organization as being an issue and were all like, YA THINK? Dude, you have not seen A-NY-THING. Overall, we're extremely proud of the Peepsters and hope they continue on this positive track for the rest of their learning careers.

And here's something that bears mentioning: this week involved the last elementary school Valentine's party of all time. Ok well, that is unless we have grandchildren one day and are invited to classroom parties again, but I'm talking the last party for our own youngsters. Unfortunately when kids reach middle school age, teachers/administrators assume school parties are a thing of the past. Dances and home parties take over. Not sure why that is, but it seems so odd that kids celebrate every year up until 5^th grade and then it's completely over for them. Sad, but true. And we wonder why they grow up so fast, right? Um, yeah.

On the appointment front, Hubs and oldest Peep had teeth cleanings and a visit with the orthodontist who informed us that braces are still on hold until 6 more teeth make an exit. Apparently, Peep Girlie's teeth are like that of an 11 year old as opposed to an almost 13 year old, hence the waiting process. Now if she can only stand the repeated Are you ever going to get braces? question from her classmates, we'll continue to wait patiently. Middle school kids can be so cruel especially when it comes to appearance, with teeth getting the worst rap of all. Thank goodness for her confidence and inner strength – so admirable.

Also on the appointment topic, youngest got a haircut but clearly wasn't amused when Diva Stylist Woman described his look as a 'girlie style'. Dude shot lightening bolts right through her when he heard that comment. Daggers, even! Surely, she meant that he had a longer look going on as opposed to the buzz cut style. Anyway, we managed to make it through the appointment with Son Peep sporting a shorter version of his longer 'do. Nobody was hurt, or so we thought anyway.

And now here's an unexpected item worth blogging about, an event that took me by complete surprise Friday evening: Family friends/former neighbors arrived from out of town (husband attending conference) wanting to meet up and visit. Hold. The. Phone. In total shock since the last time we'd connected was @3 years ago while they were living in Washington DC, I couldn't believe my ears! So meet up we did at the hotel in which they were staying, and I was thrilled as ever to see how the kids had grown in so much time. Not only that, but they had a blast playing with electronics while trying to remember one another again. Crazy how kids can forget people they once knew... like they never even knew them at all. How exactly does that happen?

Bowl Bloggin'

2010-02-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

This week's blog is not being generated by me while sitting in the usual Orchestra Mom Chair during rehearsal, but rather by me standing in front of the kitchen television at home as Peeps and I cheer on Colts playing against Saints in Superbowl XLIV. Why? No rehearsal this week due to a performance conflict, so musicians and parents get a break from the action on a day that just so happens to coincide with Superbowl Sunday. WOOHOO!!! Oops, sorry for that excessive celebration there. But how sweet is this as we get to watch an amazing football game along with all of those funky commercials in between? Very, I say.

Favorite commercials: KIA's Sock Monkey, McDonald's Nuthin' but Net, Google, Taco Bell with Charles Barkley.

So my personal biggest scoop(s) of the week: 2 new clients accepted my bid/estimate for web projects. I won't expand too much on these new developments until the actual projects roll out, but I will say that I'm thrilled as all get out to add both to my portfolio. Lots of happy dancing here.

As for the CCD'ers, we made good on our promise to celebrate Christmas belatedly with a fantabulous party during our usual class time, complete with pizza - thanks for delivering to us personally, Hubs; treats - thanks for remembering to bring these, students; and games - thanks for sharing the tennis ball for 'Mummy Ball' playing, CCD'er friend. We all had a well deserved, faith-filled celebration together. Yay, us.

On that note, here's something that deserves a serious shout out: Co-catechist and I proudly joined up with 2 CCD students to deliver parish donations to the local homeless shelter. We gathered up clothing, board games, blankets, sleeping bags, etc., and loaded it all into a vehicle, then headed over to the Open Door Mission where volunteers couldn't have been more gracious - they even gave us cookbooks containing favorite shelter recipes. We all left that little white building praying our gifts made a difference in someone's life in some way.

Last but nowhere near least, Girlie Peep wins Overachiever of the Week with all these activities completed over the course of a mere 7 days:

Field Trip/Seminar: Strategic Air & Space Museum trip with classmates and gifted seminar on Flash Animation (a favorite web tool of mine - great choice!)

Instruments: Clarinet and cello daily practice, weekly lesson with private instructor

ACT: Completed her very first standardized college entrance exam several years early by way of Duke's TIP program. *Fingers crossed for massive scholarships*

Next week: Parent/Teacher conferences, dentist appointments, and a much needed haircut for a certain Boy Peep.

Ritzy Groove

2010-02-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

Every morning this week, I've been seeing a certain commercial that sends me back to the 80's when Earth, Wind & Fire rocked the soul music world and saved me from my teen self. (Not exactly an easy feat!) And since I love Ritz crackers and find Tiki Barber to be the smoothest football-player-turned-MSNBC-correspondent on the planet, this video has earned blogworthiness:

Who Put Mustard on My Chair?

2010-01-31T17:09:00.000-08:00

Back at Orchestra rehearsal in my favorite mustardy-colored plastic cafeteria chair all ready to blog about the week in review. So let's start with Monday, the day hubs took off on a business trip to Denver while the peeps and I carried on with life as usual. Well, life wasn't exactly usual if you consider the fact that our cello playing peep was scheduled to perform in a BIG HUGE orchestra festival that evening, the same night that involved monstrously powerful freezing winds that I had to fight while commuting to and from the performance site. And what exactly made the festival so BIG and HUGE? Basically, orchestras from all of the school district's high schools and middle schools combined themselves to perform several pieces together, and they were nothing less than STUPENDOUS. In fact, they were so amazing that I'm posting a favorite video at the bottom of this blog. (A-MA-ZING, no?)

On with regular IT consulting work and school activities then to teaching religious education where the CCD'ers talked me into rescheduling our previously canceled Christmas party to next week, because they were completely gypped of partying when blizzards forced everyone to stay home after schools shut down. Those poor kids, I know! So my co-catechist got right on it and called all of the parents, bless her heart, and now we're back in the business of having the most exciting belated Christmas party ever experienced in the land of religious education. Hopefully, that is. *fingers crossed*

Finally we reached the end of the week, Salon Day Friday, where I parked myself in the salon chair while Diva Stylist Woman worked her magic on me. But wait! Not only did she clean me up, but together the two of us made a plan for transitioning toward a new longer length 'do, because while I'm totally in love with this new shorter look she has going on for me, I'm so not in love with burning myself while attempting to flat-iron those crazy hard-to-reach short sections located directly at the nape of my neck. I mean, I'm talking actual scars on my hands from this torturous process! Anyway, being the professional that she is, Diva Stylist Woman knows exactly what to do and has me on the fast track to Longer Hair by Summer. Love that woman.

So then along came Saturday, when Cellist Peep and I found ourselves at the funkiest orchestra retreat ever experienced, complete with a highly decorated guest conductor, loads of snacks, and free wi fi for parents to waste a little bit of time on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Can you say spoiled rotten with food, fun and free internet? All this as the guys hung out at home watching basketball on ESPN while shooting a few rounds of their own (Nerf Hoop-style), a total win-win afternoon for everyone involved.

What's next? Here's what I'm seeing on the calendar, not that events listed on the calendar always take place according to plan, but let's give it a whirl: Haircut for the youngest peep, a couple of middle school field trips, and someone taking the ACT 4 years early. *channeling scholarships here*

Gimping Along

2010-01-24T16:31:00.000-08:00

Back to my famous Orchestra Mom Chair where I can finally wrap my head around last week's events by posting a blog about it all. So where to start? How about Monday... oh yes, Martin Luther King Day when the kids enjoyed a day off from school and spent the entire day lounging in their pajamas while getting reacquainted with the video games they received over Christmas break. The holiday was like Déjà vu all over again, MLK-style. Meanwhile, I spent a good chunk of time cleaning up the aftermath of that big birthday party we threw the previous weekend, cleaning that is still in progress. Can you say maid service needed?

And now for the biggest news of the week: Face-to-face meeting with a potential new client who discovered my business by way of Better Business Bureau - a HUGE deal for me as a fairly new BBB accredited business member. So guess what? I left the meeting with the impression that we hit it off fabulously, and I even submitted a bid for one of their web projects the very same day. Needless to say, I'm feeling hopeful about adding them as a new client soon - knock on wood. Speaking of which, I also reconnected with another new client, a cancer patient, who has regained enough strength to move forward with his web plans. More on that within the next few weeks. *insert happy dance here*

On the Religious Education front, in addition to our regular class time I had the honor of taking part in a 7^th grade Confirmation retreat with my lovely CCD students. Let me tell you, the retreat was nothing less than magical with @100 kids and catechists participating in prayer-related activities. We read scripture, meditated, discussed the many forms of prayer, hammered nails into crosses, casted stones, created collages, etc. Who would've thought 7^th graders could encounter Jesus alongside friends as their cell phones were being held hostage outside the retreat center? Not me, as I imagined myself at that age grudgingly attending because I had to and rolling my eyes all the while. But not those kids. The maturity factor was surprisingly ginormous, and I'm still left in awe of what I witnessed that night. BRAV-O.

Last but certainly not least on my Must Blog About list is that dreaded muscle strain report. If you've been bravely following my Facebook &/or Twitter status posts then you know how on January 3^rd, I crazily submitted myself to an overly strenuous Wii EA Active and elliptical workout that resulted in a painful hip flexor injury that I've been nursing ever since. Holy smokes did that episode ever put a damper on my everyday getting around, not to mention those interrupted nights of sleep! So I've been resting as much as possible (not very in my case) and am finally able to get around a little more quickly. As I mentioned to a Facebook friend, ibuprofen is my new BFF and has been my saving grace during this way-too-long healing process. And now I'm happy to report that I was able to get back into my workout routine (light!) yesterday. Alleluia.

So what's happening next? In a nutshell, another week of complete madness with an orchestra festival and retreat on the agenda. Only here's the good part in two little words:

SALON VISIT
*repeat of happy dance here*

Who Hid Mom's Chocolate?

2010-01-17T16:43:00.000-08:00

No escape from the Heartland of America this week, but that's not to say I'm no longer considering a permanent visit to San Diego, Portland and/or Cocoa Beach. Instead, celebrating our youngest peep's birthday ensued, complete with eating out at Famous Dave's (saucey amazingness!) and partying it up at home with friends (pizza, cake, ice cream, Wii games, Nerf darts & tackle football). Even I must admit that this year's birthday was most definitely a birthday to remember, at least until we outdo ourselves next year. Or try, anyway. Let's be optimistic here.

Behind the scenes of all this celebration madness, our oldest peep, the cellist, found herself in search of a full size cello to replace the ¾ cello she has outgrown, something that seems so odd when I can vividly remember when the ½ size one was taller than HER. Anyway, to do this, she recruited Mom (yes, me) to make a litany of phone calls in search of said replacement and to schedule actual cello viewings with her private cello teacher at local music stores. Who would've thought we'd be running all over tarnation in search of a simple cello replacement? Yeah well, unfortunately our search came up short, so that particular item remains on the 'To Do' list for yet another week, month, *insert random time frame here*.

Calendar check time - hey, cool! Another school day off for the peeps so that they might take some quality time to properly celebrate Martin Luther King Day by playing video games in their pajamas and building snow creatures outside for me to photograph from the window, mostly because I don't own long underwear or snow pants and would much rather stay inside where it's not FREEZING COLD. Makes total sense to me, but there I go digressing again.

Uh oh... wait, here's the not-so-cool thing on our calendar for the week: CCD Retreats. Will be getting back to you on that one. Lordy.

And now here's a birthday blooper just for fun:

Escape from Snow Mountain

2010-01-10T17:28:00.000-08:00

So it's 2010 and we're just now returning back to life as we knew it before the Snowstorm of the Century smacked us into the new year. And yet lo and behold, several snow days and a holiday break later, here I sit back in my Orchestra Mom Chair on Principle Stand Audition Day. So what does that mean exactly? It means parents get reacquainted with one another and our electronics while string players interested in having a “star by their names on the program” try out for that TOP CHAIR in performances, also known as the famous Seat Closest to the Conductor. (As I send a thumbs up sign to cellist peep as she heads off to her audition – Break a leg, girlie!)

The week ahead... wow, flashback to 11 years ago when I was 41 weeks pregnant with our youngest who had absolutely NO intention of arriving on time. But then Dr. M induced labor on January 11^th and our feisty-spark-plug-of-a-son blessed us with his presence the very next day. That son of ours hit the ground running from the get-go and hasn't stopped since. So what to do? Throw a smashingly ginormous birthday party to celebrate the occasion, complete with Wii games, Nerf darts, air hockey, snow football, pizza, cake, ice cream, presents – all shared with a few of his favorite dude friends.

The party is so ON.
(more on that during my next blog installment)

In the meantime on a personal note (as if this blog isn't all about personal notes, right?), I am now accepting nominations for relocation ideas. After all of this cold/snow/BLIZZARD activity that we've been experiencing over the past couple of months, I've completely had it with this weather that is so not for me. It stifles my creativity and ices me over like some sort of human skating rink. I crawl into bed and never want to get out. It sucks the spunk right out of me, morphing me into this zombie-like creature that I don't even recognize. For these reasons, I need a new place to hang. If anything, a spot for daydreaming purposes to yank me out of this cold weather funk.

Although some potential winners already come to mind, I'd seriously consider any others in addition to these:

Portland, Oregon
Southern California - SAN DIEGO
New Bern, North Carolina
Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Cocoa Beach, Florida
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Rome, Italy
Venice, Italy
French Riviera
Hawaii
Atlantis
... your nomination here.

2 Days Left

2010-01-04T07:27:00.000-08:00

With only 2 days left of peeps home for Christmas break, yes, I'm getting antsy. Or how about anxious-to-reclaim-what-was-once-organized-chaos? Now that's more like it! So what's a mom to do while waiting for that blessed day of sending peeps back to school? Here's what - get an online signature:

or this:

or maybe:

Decisions, decisions... I'm going with the last one.

UPDATE - We have a winner, as voted by the Peepstead:

From Our Family to Yours

2010-01-01T07:33:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!

Happy Blizzard-y Holidays

2009-12-24T12:16:00.000-08:00

Today is the day of Christmas Eve, and it feels just eerie with a nasty blizzard creeping its way toward our lovely town as we sit in wait, watching all kinds of cancellations pop up on the 'Closings, Cancellations and Delays' newscast. Work-wise, I've already updated a client's website to reflect service cancellations, and yet our own parish hasn't budged - nor do I expect they will, as we're Catholic and belong to the largest parish in the state of Nebraska and canceling any service would result in complete turmoil for everyone involved.

So in the meantime, the peeps are just hanging out at the homestead, watching/listening to the snowy wind blowing around outside, playing video games, reading books, snacking on Hickory Farms cheese & sausage on crackers, and keeping an eye on this scary image as we pray for Santa's safe visit later this evening:

Have a safe & Happy Christmas Eve!

Gift Swap Bounty

2009-12-20T09:45:00.000-08:00

Like last year, I tossed my name into the ring for Becca's Spectacular Christmas Gift Swap, and WOW did I ever strike gold with the goodies received from Angie this time around. So with a big THANKS for organizing this fun activity, Becca! here are a couple pictures of the sweet treasures I received:

Just out-of-the-box...

Unwrapped!

Texas scarf & ornament, violin in chair & photo ornament, cooler mug, 6 journal books, 6 hot cocoa mixes and an LED duckie on a keychain. How fun is that? Thanks Angie for taking time to send all of these goodies to me.

Happy Holidays!

Cabin Feverish

2009-12-13T16:11:00.000-08:00

Hey Blog,

Yep, me again. Strangely, one little word pops into my mind in thinking back over the week: SNOW. Weird, but true. In fact, this week's white stuff will go down in history as one of the worst snowstorms I can remember. And you know what? Certain peeps will have a hard time forgetting those 3 EXTRA SNOW DAYS off from school, during which time they stayed home and played video games until their thumbs were numb. I am so not kidding: Numb. Thumbs. And, of course, I'll reflect back with happy thoughts of sleeping in past 6 a.m. each day. Can you say heaven? HEAVEN.

So then Friday we were back in the business of shuttling here, there and everywhere as school activities resumed which, I must add, was made possible by a strategically planned visit to Sears where I, yes I actually did this, bought brand spanking new tires for the Mom Mobile. And now I can attest to the fact that there's absolutely nothing like zipping around on snow-packed streets with wheels that have actual tread and are guaranteed to keep me shuttling for another 80,000 miles. Breakfast in bed doesn't even hold a candle to the feeling. Not even a good foot massage. Ok, maybe that's going a little too far - but I still call it: Warm Tire Fuzzies.

Finally, going back to Crazy Secret Santa work, don't tell anyone but... job almost complete! Just a few more items to cross off the list such as gift cards for the cello teacher/catechist/aunts/uncles/cousins and, possibly, a new acoustic guitar for that Special Man in my life. But being musically impaired, I'm relying heavily on Special Man's input, which might be more of an issue than the 5 foot tall Santa paper wrapped gift currently sitting under the tree. Fingers crossed there.

Feeling less overwhelmed & with not-so-heavy eyelids,
Chief Peep from Orchestra Mom Chair

P.S. Sorry about the nonexistent photo updates. Priorities. You understand. Wait, here's a snow pic for good measure:

Christmas Ho

2009-12-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

Well hello again Married with Peeps Blog,

I know I mentioned previously that “We need to stop meeting like this” and yet here we are again, meeting like this. So what's been happening with the Peep Family? Turkey Day for one. Over the holiday we stayed home and took advantage of our warm cozy digs and played Wii games while consuming leftovers until we couldn't stand to even look at that stuff anymore. I mean seriously. If a green bean/stuffing/mashed potato/turkey so much as sneaks an appearance onto my plate within the next several months, you'd better believe it's going directly out the window after I stomp all over it. But I digress. The main thing is that we had an amazingly-comfort-filled-Thanksgiving-style time and were grateful as all get out for our blessings while doing so. Who could ask for a better Thanksgiving? Not us, that's for sure.

So what now? This: Crazy Secret Santa work, and I've unofficially been appointed to carry out the duties of the position. This Crazy Secret Santa job basically involves shopping shamelessly for bargains and, subsequently, being all sneaky with the boxes Mr. UPS Man leaves on the Peep Porch. Not only that, but the Crazy Secret Santa job requires Total Poker Face, because when big huge presents start finding themselves beneath the tree, CRAZY SECRET SANTA KNOWS NOTHING. Nope, no idea how that 5 foot tall present wrapped in Santa Claus gift wrap made its way into the house and under the tree. Nothing.

And guess what? Crazy Secret Santa's job only gets more difficult each year, because Peeps attend school and are getting smarter in the process. Those people are not idiots. I try to remember that little fact when questions start flying like “Mom, did those big boxes left on our porch yesterday have anything to do with the presents under the tree?” Because the answer, “No, those were just a few things for Dad – shhh! Do NOT say a word or you'll be jinxed and Santa won't bring you anything!” don't seem to cut it. But that's Crazy Secret Santa's story for now and I'm sticking with it, at least until something better comes along.

Meanwhile, this week's weather forecast presents a bad omen called Snow Day. Crazy Secret Santa's job is about to take a turn for the worst.

Dreadfully,
Chief Peep from Orchestra Mom Chair

P.S. You need some updated photos here on this blog. How about if I send you a few? No more cat pics, just fresh content. Must work on that during my Crazy Secret Santa down time... wait. Never mind.

Thankfulness Abounds

2009-11-27T17:05:00.000-08:00

Finally I sit down to post a blog about the splendiferously magical Thanksgiving the family and I enjoyed together, all to the sounds of the oldest playing her heart out on the cello next to the Family Christmas Tree. And what comes to mind most as I reflect back over our holiday is the I'm most thankful for prayers we shared, and it just makes me smile all over again at how hubs and I are raising such well-grounded, gracious people.

Not an easy feat, that's for sure.

As icing on the cake, Cello Playing Peep presented us with a letter that would make even the grizzliest Scrooge of all time shed an actual tear. She even allowed me to post an excerpt on this blog for all the blogosphere to see, even though she's the humble type and would never have the audacity to brag so openly like her shameless mother:

Dear Mom and Dad,
I am thankful for all you do... Mostly, I am thankful that you decided to give birth to me in the first place... I am thankful that you bought me instruments... and that you always take very good care of us, that you buy us food and cook for us, that you clean the house... have jobs to make money for our family and pay the bills. I am mostly thankful that I am here on this earth and that it is all your doing.
Thank you,
Thank you,
Thank YOU!!!
P.S. I didn't even mention all the things you do for us. :)

Feel the love. *sniff* (New piece is still a tad rusty, but I thought the giggles were cute.)

Personal Letter to MWP Blog

2009-11-22T16:05:00.000-08:00

Dear Married with Peeps Blog,

We need to stop meeting like this. You've taken a backseat to my other online haunts, namely Facebook & Twitter, but to no fault of your own. The reason, I think, is the sheer fact that by the time I post something on you, it's already old news. That's right – been there, done that. The world has already moved right on past that information and is yawning about the outdated material! Such is the difference between instant Twitter/FB updates vs blogging, I'm afraid. You understand.

Not to imply that I'm ditching you. Oh no – so not happening.

Instead, you should be happy to know that I'll continue posting here indefinitely because, if anything, blogging really does help me keep my head in the game of what is also known as LIFE. And being married with peeps requires a person to clearly focus on the bigger picture and, hopefully, find meaning in all of the running that goes on every. single. day. Plus, having a log to refer back to is pretty darn handy when trying to remember what we did and when we did it. Twitter and Facebook are not helpful in that way, unless you get a kick out of sifting through streams of mini-140 character sentences.

No thanks.

So how to close out this letter? Ok yes, let's continue meeting up here; I'll send you my updates, a visitor or two might stop in and comment, I'll have my log of events for future reference, everyone leaves a happy camper. Sound good? I knew you'd agree. Such a nice blog, you are. ((hug))

All Best,
Chief Peep from Orchestra Mom Chair

P.S. We're celebrating Thanksgiving at home this week! Isn't that great? Seems like we haven't done that in at least 3 years, so I'll be sure to send you more details about what happens. Be excited about this news. :)

i is in teh pile being ur branches.

The State of Peepdom

2009-11-15T17:08:00.000-08:00

Just when I thought last week couldn't possibly get any more overloaded and jam-packed with events, it actually did just that. From the youngest's band concert and the oldest's strings performance with the schlepping of huge instruments to/from events and lessons in between, to communal reconciliation service with the 7th grade CCD'ers and Big Hot Date with Hubs in celebration of our blessed 16th wedding anniversary. *Whew!* Can all that actually happen in one week with life puttering along as usual? Apparently yes, and it was amazing as ever.

Side note: Big Hot Date involved attending school band concert (free!), eating lunch at Chilis, and topping the date off with sky diving (Wii Sports Resort-style). We old timers really do know how to party it up good. *cough*

But the crazed madness is not quite over yet. Geez, I had to go and say that, now didn't I?

So as I sit here in my famous Orchestra Rehearsal Mom Chair blogging on my cute lil Dell mini, I bravely decided to pull out my planner to sneak a peek at the upcoming weekly schedule. What's this? 2 more concerts, client web work, and a visit to the salon - an appointment originally scheduled for last week but changed when my lovely stylist contracted H1N1. Speaking of, I'm thinking a few more lighter face-framing highlights would do this person good, maybe brighten up the Fall dreariness. But there I go digressing again.

Pampering makes the world go round.

Cardinal Rule

2009-11-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

No matter the year, all mornings of wedding anniversaries should start with The Card Swap. And as you can see, we did just that which tells you there will be no Dog House Time this year for either of us:

Hollow WHAT?

2009-11-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

Seems like November jumped right out from behind the sofa screaming SURPRISE! at us, which basically means hubs and I need to get moving if we're planning to celebrate that wondrous time in our lives known as the 16th Wedding Anniversary. But hold on just a minute. According to my trusted online sources, traditionally, only 5 year increments are gift-worthy after that 15 year mark. In other words, starting this year we're supposed to hold off from giving those special kind of gifts on years 16, 17, 18, etc. and save it for the all important 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, etc.

Four words: Homey don't play that.

Needing backup support, I dug further and found this site with modern day wedding anniversary gift ideas for those 'in between' years. So now guess what? Year 16 puts us with holloware, and I'm all What the heck is holloware? More research, and now I've got the perfect gift idea for the hubster: a $900 silver BOWL.

Wait... let's see, braces for child's teeth vs. big shiny bowl that might get used once a year.

Homey's rethinking the situation.

Peeping Tom

2009-11-06T15:35:00.000-08:00

Or rather Peeping Cat captured here in digital form peering at the oldest child who is finishing her math homework. And look out - she actually looks a little miffed after being interrupted from her Neighborhood Watch Operation:

Now Ann Takes a Turn

2009-11-05T17:10:00.000-08:00

My peepsters are just loving the latest Today Show series called Today Gets a Laugh, and being a parent who strongly supports fun, cool, make-you-laugh-out-loud kind of stuff, I couldn't resist posting yet another video from the series, this time with Ann Curry:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Fast Food Funny

2009-11-02T07:22:00.001-08:00

What better way to start a Monday-after-Halloween-weekend than with a video of Today Show's Meredith working the McDonald's drive thru. Hilarious!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Jokes is Jokes

2009-10-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hubs forwarded this one to me from the office and it screams to be posted here. Go ahead and laugh, I won't tell!
___________________________________________________

The Halloween Kiss

*A cabbie picks up a Nun. She gets into the cab, and notices that the VERY handsome cab driver won't stop staring at her. She asks him why he is staring.

He replies: "I have a question to ask, but I don't want to offend you."

She answers, "My son, you cannot offend me. When you're as old as I am and have been a nun as long as I have, you get a chance to see and hear just about everything. I'm sure that there's nothing you could say or ask that I would find offensive."

"Well, I've always had a fantasy to have a nun kiss me."

She responds, "Well, let's see what we can do about that -
1) you have to be single and
2) you must be Catholic."

The cab driver is very excited and says, "Yes, I'm single and Catholic!"

"OK" the nun says. "Pull into the next alley."

The nun fulfills his fantasy with a kiss that would make a hooker blush.

But when they get back on the road, the cab driver starts crying.

"My dear child," said the nun, why are you crying?"

"Forgive me, but I've sinned. I lied and I must confess, I'm married and I'm Jewish."

The nun says, "That's OK. My name is Kevin and I'm going to a Halloween party!" *

For Grins: Halloween Blog Quiz

2009-10-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

Your Monster Name is Behemoth Fiend

You Feast On: Fingernails

You Lurk Around In: Wal-mart

You Especially Like to Torment: Hipsters

What's Your Monster Name?

Blogthings: Learn Something Surprising About Yourself

Competition

2009-10-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Funny Faced Peeps

2009-10-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

And now for something even more crazy/happy with a couple photos from our family trip to LEGOLAND California, because one can't get enough of seeing people make funny faces while riding roller coasters:

Time to Get a Grip

2009-10-18T16:06:00.000-07:00

Here we are in the aftermath of my grandmother's passing, and life's still a little foggy. To be expected - we trudge on. And now I'm finding all kinds of goodies in our mailbox thanks to relatives sending things Grandma wanted us to have; family photos, letters handwritten to her by the kids and me, dinosaur pictures our son drew while in preschool, rosary/beaded necklaces, etc. Interesting what Grandma treasured while she was alive, and now those treasures belong to us. Simple things can carry such golden memories - I get that now more than ever.

On with parent/teacher conferences and Fall Break over the previous week. Meetings with the kids' teachers involved rave reviews and big high-fives to both hard-working “conscientious” students. So as reward, we allowed extra screen time and kicked in a Wii Sports Resort game with more family togetherness included. There's absolutely nothing like an afternoon of Wii skydiving and water-skiing to celebrate a decent report card, let me tell you. Unfortunately the long weekend ended on a sour note with Hubs falling victim to the latest flu bug circulating the area, which basically goes to show you just can't win 'em all. We're still giving it our best shot anyway.

Now for something uplifting from memory lane:

Sister (left), Me (middle), Santa (right)

In Memory

2009-10-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

This week will go down in history as one that carried major milestones for me and the family with the biggest being my Grandmother's passing on Hubs' birthday. The unfortunate part of it all was the fact that Hubs' work sent him out of town, impacting plans for attending Grandma's funeral. But I didn't put funeral attendance out of my mind completely, especially with my parent's willingness to do whatever they could to make sure I made it there in one piece. Mostly, the issue I faced was the sheer lack of last-minute backup support for transporting the kids to/from school, etc. Ugh.

So I missed it. There. But guess what? My folk's Blackberry turned out to be the saving-est grace of all time, as they sent actual PHOTOS of Grandma to me in real-time as the viewing took place, then more images of her estate as family sorted through items that had no designated home. Not only that, but they also sent pictures of distant relatives whom I hadn't laid eyes on in years, making me feel like the fly-on-the-wall that I wanted to be. Technology saves the day, once again.

Yes, I'm forever disheartened about not attending Grandma's funeral. However, despite the physical distance between us over the years, I will always be proud to have actually been present for Grandma while she was alive by remembering her all year long with cards, family photos, clothing, holiday/birthday checks to help supplement her income, etc. The peeps and I visited, not as much as she would've liked, but we made the trip to her apartment in Bradford, Pennsylvania, and spent real-life time with her. So in a basic sense, we'll always be glad for keeping her in our thoughts & prayers, taking the time to remember her properly, making the extra effort before she was called to new life.

Grandma left behind a legacy; and when I focus on describing her as a person and the life she lived, a few words spring into my mind: faith-filled, dignified, gracious, lived a simple life and loved her family. Grandma is in Heaven now, reflecting on memories with Grandpa, enjoying time with Pudgie, the pet dog they owned many years ago, watching the fuss centered around her possessions, smiling and shaking her head at it all and patiently awaiting the day she reunites with the rest of us again.

I will miss Mary Patricia Green, my grandmother.

Grandma, Me, Mom (@1989 in Bradford, PA)

Pieces 'n Parts

2009-09-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

Deja vu. That's what I'm feeling right now while sitting in my Parent Orchestra Chair listening to the group rehearse. Ok, and I just had an epiphany... wouldn't it be cool if I had a name tag here at my 'lil place? I mean, the kids all have name tags on their music stands, so why not? We parents have names, too! Anyway. In the meantime, I'll just keep quiet and do my blog thing, nameless.

So what's been up over the past week? On with List Time:

School – two words: FUNDRAISERS OVER. And let me tell you, I couldn't be more relieved about those two words. Why? Because we have absolutely NO family members living nearby to hit on for support in this arena, which basically means we have to open up our wallets and hand over as much as we can part with so the kids get some sort of prize for participating. No, we don't have to do this, but schools push sales and we're just big fat suckers when it comes to these things. Erg.
CCD – this past week the class enjoyed Outside Time after completing the lesson at lightning speed. Amazing what can be accomplished when rewards are to be had. Really, who would've thought GOING OUTSIDE would be so motivating? I guess being couped up inside a middle school building all day does that to a 7^th grader. We grown-ups forget about little things like that.
Music – remember that additional orchestra I mentioned last week? The new one the oldest applied for recently? Well, it's now in full swing and eating up our Saturday mornings, but in a good way. This particular orchestra group is GINORMOUS with what appears to be @100 musicians. I know! And before knowing this, I actually volunteered to help on the first rehearsal day and ended up directing @100 families to the rehearsal hall. “Up the stairs, straight ahead down the hall, and in the cafeteria on the right.” I felt like Vanna White sans the evening gown and turnable letters. Great, now I'm all famous and important. Cool beans.
Consulting – guess what? Client who requested that website makeover held a meeting over the week and decided they actually LOVE the redesign prototype I created for them. Yay! This means more serious crazy busy-ness to come in the near future as we re-launch the site with the new look & feel. (I'm trying very hard to contain my excitement on this topic, as you can tell with all of the exclamation marks, right?! Yay, again!)
Miscellaneous - reading is going on like gangbusters at our house, with me finishing 2 more novels and with the youngest and I halfway through our newest series. Speaking of which, another cool thing in progress involves eBay and several online auctions with children's books and toys taking up way too much space in the Peepstead. Sadly, Fisher Price toys and board/picture books really don't have a place in our home these days, hence the auctions.

Leaves falling, tans fading, temps dipping... October just about here? Seems like time is screaming past us at the speed of light. Or maybe it's just the espresso talking? Probably not.

Duly Noted Stuff

2009-09-25T11:31:00.001-07:00

Friday here at the Peep Homestead, and guess what? I'm finally sitting down with 30 minutes of FREE TIME to myself before the afternoon Kid Shuttle. So what to do... I know! After uploading random photos/video from the family camera, here are a couple blog-worthy bytes to keep this here website fresh:

Yes, this is a view of that lovely, make that blinding, sunrise we've been experiencing each morning during our morning commute:

And to close this blog post right, snicker along with me at this video of Hubs' exciting discovery while mowing the lawn earlier this week:

Ahhh Fall Fridays.

Creatures from the Deep

2009-09-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

Oh man, yesterday. I've got too many words to describe it, let alone wrap my mind around the entire list of events, thus Oh man, yesterday. But I'm giving it a shot quickie-blog-style, so here we go:

First, the family and I had our annual photos taken in the local park by a good friend/photographer. Next, the Peeps played around at the school end-of-fundraiser bash while I stayed home and finished up some client web work. And finally, the nation and I witnessed a much hyped-up football game between our NU Cornhuskers and Virginia Tech, which basically left us with our heads completely deflated after experiencing the devastation of losing in a very ~~bad~~ wicked way.

So here's a bright spot to lift Husker fans from that dreary black hole of defeat:

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' - Keep Those Doggies Rollin'

2009-09-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

Back at orchestra rehearsal and with fellow parents sitting a chair away from me on either side. Must be careful not to blog about them – I'm nice that way. Anyway, so what's up with the clan these days? Let's see... oh yes, that handy bulleted list helps like nobody's business:

School – besides Pre-algebra kicking the oldest in the pants, she's musical and literary and wants nothing to do with something so trivial/abstract as math even though it's in her blood to be amazing at everything she does, both kids are doing so well in school they're bored silly. Yes, the gifted programs challenge them to some extent, but still. Why so much reteaching every August? That's what they want to know. Unfortunately, that No Child Left Behind plan forgot the gifted peeps, so we deal with system as best we can.
CCD – still loving this whole 7^th grade CCD teaching experience, and with students actually showing an interest in scripture. How odd is that? But it's true. My people are finding their way around the bible without breaking down and asking for specific page numbers (gospel, book, chapter, verse!) plus they're actually getting what it's all about. In fact, I'm so proud of those folks that Oreos will be making a special appearance at the end of class this week.
Music – is keeping us so busy it's just crazy. The youngest is reaping the benefits of having private baritone lessons all summer by leaving fellow bandies in the dust, and the oldest has applied to participate in yet another orchestra, as if she doesn't have enough to do already, right? Crazy. Busy.
Business Clients – involves more crazy busy-ness, but technology is near and dear to my heart, so I'm perfectly cool with it. In fact, I'm in the process of overhauling a client's website and feel like a kid in a candy store, or maybe IT person in Best Buy is a better comparison. The web redesign experience is like hosting a “What Not to Wear” episode, only web-style. It's like I'm Clinton & Stacey pulling outdated clothes out of the closet and dumping them into the trash, replacing them with spiffy-new-modern digs. Ooo-aahhh.
Stylin' - amidst all these fun and exciting activities, I broke down and had a good hair chopping which basically gave me a refreshing new look & feel, probably due to the fact that my head is 10 lbs lighter, or something like that. A girl's gotta do what a girl's got to do.

Did I mention our Huskers are back in the game?

Life. Is. Good.

Free To Be

2009-09-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

We're finally settled into a routine after all that back-to-school ruckus, so now what? Here's what - Me Time is back! Only now I just need to figure out exactly what that involves, because Me Time disappeared at about the same time summer break started, which basically feels like a century ago. So I'm kicking it off with this fun 'lil beach video:

That SMELL is in the Air

2009-09-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

Ah, the crispy coolness of the air always brings back that long-loved feeling that is FOOTBALL SEASON! I clearly remember those fall high school pep rallies and Friday night football games... lining up on the field in full cheerleading uniform while the team came bursting onto the grass as the band blasted our school song to the tune of "Anchors Away":

The purple and the white, stands for blah-blah-bleeeee...
colors of our school and emblem, of our faith in you
GO Blah Blah!

But come on now, isn't it a little early to go tearing down goal posts? I'm just sayin'.

Getting a Grip

2009-08-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

With August 2009 ending tomorrow, here I sit at orchestra rehearsal thinking back over the month while attempting to wrap my head around all of the goings-on, hence this blog. The biggest happenings popping into my head involve school, CCD, music, and business clients – but not necessarily in that order. So now a blurb or two about each just to show the extent of the whole head-wrapping process:

School – both Peeps have us going all crazy as we run between 2 different schools all week, yet everyone's adjusting way better than expected. The youngest is especially content with having the oldest's former teacher, one whose teaching style we appreciated repeatedly in the past. Basically, that guy absolutely rocks the Elementary School Teacher Department, and we thank our lucky stars the principal welcomes student placement requests from parents. Hubs and I were all over that.

CCD – I'm teaching one CCD class this time around, and coincidentally, the oldest child is in it. (Actually that's a giant perk in volunteering to teach, along with not having to pay tuition.) The biggest difference in the classroom this year? A co-catechist signed up to be my side-kick, helping with whatever the class and I need. So I've appointed her as Disciplinarian Co-Catechist, aka that SCARY-person-whom-CCD'ers-must-visit upon ~~acting up~~ making my teaching life difficult in class. And let me tell you, Scary Disciplinarian Co-Catechist has stricken complete fear in the eyes of at least 5 boys, the same guys who've enjoyed testing me over the last 2 years. Ha! The joke's on YOU now, dudes. :)

Music – this year we have only one stringed instrument player in the family with our youngest dropping viola and taking up baritone and with the oldest continuing on with cello. The bad news? Now we've got not one but TWO big huge instruments to lug about town. Actually, that's really not such bad news if you consider the strength-building opportunities involved and, of course, free concerts throughout the year. Total win-win situation for everyone.

Business Clients – keeping me busy outside all of these wonderfully fun family activities is business work with existing clients and also... a new one! This client is a former colleague with a business startup but without an online presence – fancy words for SHE NEEDS A WEBSITE. Not only that, but another new client is in the works. More later, don't want to jinx it.

So much for head-wrapping. Why does it suddenly feel like I'm wearing a turban?

Freakish Bouncer

2009-08-28T18:20:00.000-07:00

Words cannot describe the kind of feelings this video evokes in a mom's heart... or can they? Nope. Speechless Mom here.

Triple Stuff

2009-08-25T17:28:00.000-07:00

You just never know what kind sugary snack you'll find in the Peep Household, and this one in particular doesn't disappoint. Nope, not in the least:

Cats... Bags... Huh?

2009-08-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

After that last post, I don't feel like I can do this blog justice with just any old post. However, catching a shot of the Peep Cat sitting on what she has commandeered as 'hers' begs for attention:

Getting to Know

2009-08-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

Last week, the oldest child's Language Arts teacher sent home a request for parent input, specifically asking us to write a note describing what makes our child special. Since my response will likely not see the light of day after the teacher reads it, I thought, Hey! Why not post it here in bloggerville?
So here goes!
(Name replaced with "PG" for "Peep Girlie".)

PG is fascinating, as you will come to know. From the time she taught herself to read while still in diapers to when she first picked up the cello that she plays so brilliantly today, PG continues to amaze one and all. So when asked to describe her, my first thought was to share a poem written in her own words but with personal comments included in hopes of capturing that “voice” she expresses so well:

I Am…
By PG
With comments by PG’s Mom in blue italics

I am musical and lighthearted
The love of listening to/playing music is a driving force behind PG’s easygoing nature.

I wonder if hypnosis is real
Always the curious one. Such a deep thinker.

I hear my cat’s voice in her meows
… and she understands what the cat is saying in those meows, too.

I see my stories come to life inside my head
… as if they are in vibrant high definition.

I want to be an author
Being an author is PG’s lifelong dream, one we can see becoming a reality. She has a unique talent for writing and is consumed with generating masterpieces – destiny!

I am musical and lighthearted
Did you know PG plays two instruments? It’s true - cello and clarinet.

I pretend to be imaginary characters
… which oftentimes requires props, hence the need to raid my shoe collection.

I feel the music coming out of my cello
PG’s talent for playing earned her a spot in the area Youth Orchestra 3 years in a row: Elementary, Chamber & Conservatory Strings. She’s quite skilled and proud of her abilities, yet down-to-earth at the same time.

I touch the notes and make them come alive
Her notes touch others… as witnessed in my tears of joy while listening to her play on stage. Yes, mom completely lost it with ‘Canon in D’.

I worry about tornadoes
PG jumps right into action whenever severe weather hits, taking all of her prized possessions to the basement with her while seeking shelter.

I cry when people yell at me
With a younger brother around (aka ‘partner in crime’), sometimes Mom & Dad need to step in – mostly when it comes to enforcing bedtime. Otherwise PG is so well behaved, who needs to yell?

I am musical and lighthearted
Each year, PG performs cello concerts during our family Thanksgiving celebration in Minnesota. What a special treat to hear her play holiday tunes.

I understand every feeling inside my story characters
PG gets into the heads of the characters she creates, bringing her stories to life.

I say that cats are cute
PG loves cats, especially our family cat. She will let you know.

I dream of composing my own music
… and actually composed a piece last year in 6th grade music class. Such a great original piece of work!

I try to go higher than the sky
PG has high expectations for herself in all that she does.

I hope global warming will end
… with big dreams of making the world a better place for everyone.

I am musical and lighthearted
The universe needs more PGs in it.

Fiddles on Fire Once Again

2009-08-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

Today was all suck-it-up-and-forget-about-the-stinkin'-illness because YOUTH ORCHESTRA TIME IS HERE! That's right. Remember the area-wide strings orchestra Girlie Peep performed in last year? Well, she auditioned for another more advanced group last spring and was selected, sending us off and running to more rehearsals again this year.

Total ear candy all over again - gotta love that!

Ok, so giddiness took over just then. *cough* That's what happens to a person blessed with musicians in the family - you just go completely silly about it. Or maybe the nasal spray is just messing with my head? Nah. This is serious talent, nasal spray or otherwise.

Stay tuned for more music posts!

Wacky for School

2009-08-12T18:56:00.001-07:00

Yes, so today my sweet Peepsters were raring to go for their first day of school, as witnessed here in this photo taken on the front porch just before taking off in the Mom Mobile:

Faces only a mom could love, don't you think? ;) What a perfect way to start a new school year!

Feeling Bullseye-ish

2009-07-24T19:24:00.000-07:00

The Peeps and I absolutely LOVE shopping at Target, which is a good thing because we're there so often that we might just as well move into that place. However, this morning as we made our usual trek to that favorite store of ours we were greeted by an extremely odd scene: parking lot barricaded off with red & khaki clad Target employees, police officers and fire fighters standing around, a sight that would cause most people to turn around and head back home. But not us. We're steadfast Target shoppers, so we turned the other cheek and made our way into the store to do our shopping. *pfft*

So we're shopping like it's just a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, but then as we found our way into the snack aisle there was this loud-choppy-thumping noise, and I'm all, "Dude. A helicopter is landing on the roof." Eyes rolled. Mom so exaggerates, right? But then who's rolling eyes after finding this in the parking lot:

I'm just asking the question, Peeps.
(No worries - it's Target's kick-off for National Night Out.)

Bunch of Croc

2009-07-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

Every summer, well actually all-year-long, my peeps and I choose a day to see just a few things at the zoo, because that place is so incredibly huge that you'd have to be crazy to attempt everything in one visit. Zoo passes are nice that way - we can come back as often as we want throughout the year without having to pull a big Marathon Zoo Day!

So what did we choose today? Kingdoms of the Night and the Budgie exhibit, drippy wet rain and all. The best part? By far, those Caiman crocodiles looking all sneaky with their heads peeking out just above the water and bodies hanging all loose below the surface. Total coolness.