Thankful Thursday

Today, I'm thankful to/for/about:

• Thankful Thursday posts - they at least keep me in the habit of posting on a semi-regular basis
• Reid - is a reason even necessary? Isn't he enough? (he told me to say this!)
• Olympics on the TV - in high-definition! Summer TV for the most part sucks the monkey - sports helps. Elizabeth has been taking in the games, too! On Tuesday evening when we were hanging out in the back "yard", she walked along the wooden 4x4's (ironically the proper width), she jumped down for her dismount, threw her arms up in the air, and then turned to me and said, "Clap, Mommy! Clap!" I gave her a 10 for the execution. (Not sure what the start-value was on the difficulty...)
• That my darling & handy husband has figured out the leak in the bathtub...and that this will now mean that Papa will call to see what the heck is wrong...(he told me to say this, too!)
• Joe & Jamie Trotta for getting married last Friday! Congratulations to the Trottas! And for them over-doing the cake situation - with one of these big boys on each table (in addition to their 3-tier cake, which was cake, not fluff, and take-home cake in boxes.) We were certainly benefactors to this, though, as I wasn't going home without some cake. So I walked out the door with an entire cake. Then on Saturday morning, Elizabeth pronounced, "Look, I brought you special cake!"
• The good folks at daycare - as Elizabeth has had a great week. Drop off has not been an issue as it was a few weeks ago. This week she's been all smiles at drop off. She waves goodbye (no tears) and says, "Bye bye, Jennie." Much easier for me to leave her there to "play with the kids" without all of the drama & tears!
• Anne & Sean (& Alex) for their thoughtfulness & generosity in bringing the yummy goodness that was the lobster & clam (& mussels & shrimp & crab) bake as part of our housewarming gift (which was ideal for Reid.) And to Mom & Daddy for bringing the garden-fresh corn for us to enjoy as well. (Sean made sure that the lobsters were brought from NYC live because he wanted to see what his "scaredy-cat niece" would do...which was absolutely, positively not touch them!)

  

• Anne for spying the ideal housewarming gift for me -
• And I must give another shout out to my Weezie - for being so darn funny! Saturday night during the lobster and clam bake, she was cuddling up on her Uncle Sean's lap. Every question he asked her, the answer was "Yessss" for about five questions running... Then it went like this: SEAN: Does my breath stink? ELIZABETH: Yessss. SEAN: Am I the most handsome man you have ever seen? ELIZABETH: Nooooo.

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday, I'm thankful to/for/about:

• Neil Diamond for excellent timing for his concert in DC...
• Rikki & Doug for their hospitality! What a great home they have!!! Elizabeth is especially thankful for Doug sharing his "cereal crunch" (Cinnamon Toast Crunch)
• The good ol' US of A - for having such a great national institution - the Smithsonian Institution - with its National Zoo! We had a great day at the National Zoo with Elizabeth! The weather was great, most of the animals cooperated - she is still talking about what she saw at the zoo!
• Facebook - for putting me back in contact with some long lost friends...
• Papa - for taking such good care of my Sweet Baby Girl, Kennedy, while we were away...she didn't take too many beatings...
• Elizabeth - for "show you my moves" on the elliptical machine at Rikki & Doug's - worth a good laugh...she tickles me so!
• The Container Store - for having some of the stuff that I need to organize my scrapbook space
• My Sweetness - for getting me stuff to cure what ails me...including ice cream
  

E's Trip to the National Zoo

Elizabeth, Reid, Nana, Rikki, and I went to the National Zoo yesterday. Elizabeth (well, and the rest of us) had a great time. At first we were concerned that it was going to be a bit of a bust as several exhibits were temporarily closed...and even Elizabeth was satisfied with watching the Giant Pandas sleep. She said they were soft. The Gorillas were fun, as were the Lions. We were there for just under three hours, perfect amount of time for a two-year-old. Here are a few of my favorite pics from our big day:

Thankful Thursday correction

Despite checking on ESPN's website 30 minutes after the trade deadline on Manny's status, there was nothing posted...then low and behold an hour or so after my post, I read that Manny was out and Jason Bay was in. Manny produced for the Sox over the years, but Manny was "being Manny" and was acting a bit of a spoiled brat of late. I was saddened with his departure. Probably not as much as Anne as I had gotten her a Manny shirt for Christmas, as he wears her number.

However, Bay will be a great fit in the Sox line-up (despite the depression of my in-laws in losing the best player on their Pirates). Here is a great story from the Vancouver Sun:

Bay plays hero at Fenway
Great debut for Trail slugger who grew up idolizing Rice, Yastrzemski
Gary Kingston, Vancouver SunPublished: Saturday, August 02, 2008

Jason Bay was too young to truly appreciate the Boston Red Sox onesie he wore as an infant or the Red Sox legends whose posters adorned the basement wall of the family home in Trail.

But now that he's about to patrol the most famous left field in baseball, the one in front of Fenway Park's Green Monster, his father's obsession with the Sox has brought a nice symmetry to his career.

David Bay kept that onesie, a bodysuit designed to go over an infant's diaper, even after Jason outgrew it.

"It has Red Sox on the front and Bay 1 1/2 on the back," David said from Trail on Friday. "When he had his daughter [Addison in 2006], I gave it to him."

"Still have it," Bay told reporters in Boston before scoring the winning run in Friday's 2-1 win over Oakland. "And I grew up my entire life with two big posters, one of Jim Rice and one of Carl Yastrzemski with the 'New England, I love you' saying underneath it.

"So I do understand a little bit [Boston's legacy of great left-fielders] just because my dad was a diehard Red Sox fan."

The right-handed hitting Bay, the 2004 NL rookie of the year with the Pittsburgh Pirates and a two-time all-star, was traded to Boston on Thursday in a three-team deal that saw future Hall of Famer Manny Ramirez shipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"It's kind of surreal," said David Bay. "I left work early, but don't even remember walking home."

He said the Rice and Yastrzemski posters are still prominently displayed in his basement alongside a Jason Bay Pirates' poster.

"Now I'm going to have to superimpose a Red Sox uni on him. It's too bad Pittsburgh didn't work out. He really liked it there, but ultimately for an athlete, it comes down to winning."

Said Jason: "If I was a free agent, I couldn't have picked a better place to go to. The atmosphere, obviously the winning. That's something I'm really looking forward to."

He made sure the atmosphere was great Friday, tripling with two out in the bottom of the 12th and scoring on an infield single by Jed Lowrie.

Bay, wearing No. 44, received a standing ovation when he came up the first time in the second inning. He walked and later scored on a sacrifice fly.

He also made an inning-ending sliding catch on a sinking fly ball in the fifth and a fine backhanded grab on a soft liner down the line in the ninth.

Bay, an original draft pick of the Montreal Expos and a San Diego Padre briefly before being traded to the Pirates in 2003, moves from a team that never finished above .500 in his time in Pittsburgh to a defending World Series champion in the middle of another pennant race.

"It's tough to be removed from what I've known for the last four or five years, pack a bag, get on a flight, get here . . and go out there and play a game and all of a sudden have it click that you're submersed in the middle of a pennant race and have a chance to win a ring," said Bay.

"I don't think it's going to resonate that quick. I might need a day or two to let it sink in."

Bay, who turns 30 on Sept. 20, was hitting .282 with 22 home runs, 64 RBIs and a .519 slugging percentage before Friday, similar numbers to those of the petulant Ramirez (.299, 20, 68, .529). But he understands that he doesn't scare other teams the way ManRam does.

"I'm not going to be Manny Ramirez. I know that. I'm going to try to do what I can. Going through what I've gone through, I'm equipped to handle that. Understand that stuff's out there, but it's beyond my control.

"Where I'm coming from we had some guys who could swing the bats, but I think everyone would agree that there's probably a little more thump in this lineup. And who wouldn't want to be a part of that?"

Bay said he's looking forward to playing in front of the Green Monster, noting it should involve less running than he had to do at Pittsburgh's PNC Park where it's 411 feet in the left-centre gap and 383 feet to straight away left.

Bay was traded just days after his best friend on the Pirates, outfielder Xavier Nady, was dealt to the New York Yankees, Boston's bitter AL East rival.

"I talked to him last night, a little banter back and forth. Whether we like it or not, we're going to hate each other for a weekend or two."

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for/to/about:

• That Elizabeth at least gets "something" from me. I may regret this one later, though. Here's how I know my kid is related to me (because she sure does look an awful lot like her Daddy!): Yesterday morning while she was eating her breakfast, she smacked both of her hands to her head and said, "What - the - hell?" To which I said, "Elizabeth, you can't say that." In all seriousness, she looked at me and replied, "I just did." I guess this means when I relinquish my title, she will be known as The Mouth of the South!
• That I'm taking a few days off next week - tired of work at the moment...we're going to DC to stay with Rikki & Doug in their new house...and taking Elizabeth (and Nana) to the National Zoo - woo hoo!
• That I'm done, at least for the moment, with my expense report from the Annual Meeting - one trip ~ 7 days + 2 currencies (yes, 2 types of math) = not a good time.
• That Erin came to Wheeling for a visit and got to see our house...I'm still so in love with it! (Check back after I begin dealing with the hideous wall paper situation...)
• Mad Men - just a well-written show on TV...helps me get through until Grey's is back on in the fall...
• XM radio in my car...which means Air America Radio all the time (that Elizabeth isn't in the back seat saying, " I want 'Ginia, Mommy!")...and Air America Radio putting The Young Turks back on for my morning drive.
• My folks & Reid's folks for their generous gifts for our anniversary...got our patio furniture with the cash...and we're loving being outside to eat in the evenings!
• The MLB trade deadline is over...and that Manny is staying put...now if only he will kiss & make up - GOOOOO SOX!!!!

What the F*#K????

Seriously, what the F??? Who in the F writes on the front of MY house in BALL POINT PEN??? Are you F-ing kidding me???

Are the "good folks" at the USPS that over worked that they have to mark up my house in ball point F-ing pen on my F-ing house in order to remember that we are the only F-ing people to live here???

I'll post happier thoughts when I've cooled off a bit... GRRRR!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for/to/about:

• Cards that make me giggle - like our Anniversary card from Anne, Sean, & Alex. Touché!
• My scrapbook space - it is shaping up, but I haven't yet gotten it to the point where I'm able to scrapbook...soon, I hope!
• Erin letting me crash at her place on Tuesday evening...and the yummy Thai noodles lettuce wraps! I am so about stealing that recipe!!!
• Catching up on missed TV shows on http://www.surfthechannel.com/ (thanks, EJ (assist from JP) for the hook-up!!!)
• The best hugs from Elizabeth when we picked her up from daycare today! "Mommy & Daddy you came and picked me up!"
• TV in my kitchen...
• In-laws that come to visit - and fix things!
• Clothes chute that help me stay on top of the laundry (who would have ever guessed that one?)
• EBay finds - I just got confirmation that my newest cookbook has been shipped - Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Cookbook (illustrations by Andy Warhol) - oooh...ahhhh....

Happy Anniversary

Today Reid & I celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. It was a rather difficult one. Not because of our relationship with each other - that is great (unless there is something you need to tell me, Sweetness...) But, today was Elizabeth's first day in Day Care. Like we were told, it would be harder on us than it would be on her.

Elizabeth faired well. She passed on the beef-a-roni for lunch - and who in their right mind could blame her? But she did eat all of her green beans and peaches. She also ate all of her snack which was animal crackers and yogurt. She only took a 30 minute nap - not a shock to us, but I believe the other 2-year-olds take 2+ hours in a nap. She "played with the kids" and "played on the playground." She cried a whole big bunch when we came to pick her up. She wanted to stay and play. For dinner, she is insisting on sitting at the "big table" and to drink from a regular cup - not a sippy cup. She is inhaling her food right now as I type. She is still a little excited from her big day. When she took too big of a bite of rice than could fit in her mouth, she spilled more than she shoveled in. Then she said, quietly I might add, "Kennedy, come here. I need your help." Then she proceeded to feed her the rice she dropped in her lap. I was too busy trying not to laugh to play Amy Vanderbilt and correct the poor table etiquette.

Nana & Papa were her this weekend and helped out a TON around the house. Rick and Reid fixed the gate. Carol, Elizabeth, and I weeded in the back "yard." They got us a lot of gardening tools (Reid & I skipped out on the horticulture class - if there ever was such a thing) and attempted a crash course at what are weeds and what needs trimmed/watered/nurtured. I thought Mother Nature was doing a fine job...and to prove me right, it rained a bit yesterday afternoon and cooled things off.

Thank goodness for the rain as we had a power outage for 4+ hours last evening. We uncovered candles...and Reid's headband flashlight (saucy!)...and played a wee bit of Trivial Pursuit. I think the score was tied when the power came back on. Circulating air never felt so good - and we called it quits with the game to just enjoy AC and the ceiling fans.

Here are a few pics from the weekend that I was going to post yesterday, but lost the post in the power outage and the computer losing battery power...

E playing with her new sprinkler...Diego got lonely as E was perplexed with his spinning action...Nana, what's on your shirt? Water perhaps?..."Slick" Rick earning his nickname & Reid at work...Can it get any better than silky 'jamas & a popsicle? Elizabeth doesn't think so!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for/to/that:

• be working from my beautiful new home in Wheeling (come and visit us, please!)
• Elizabeth has excellent manners - and often says "Ganks, Mommy/Daddy/Grandma/Papi/Nana/Papa..."
• Comcast finally came to our beautiful new home in Wheeling (come and visit us, please!) and installed our Internet and cable so that Reid didn't have to break his foot off in somebody's [bleep] - or that his "less rational wife" didn't have to deal with the not-so-good-folks at Comcast
• despite me literally kicking my "Sweet Baby Girl" Kennedy out of the bed during our last night at Coleman Avenue, she still loves me dearly and wants to be right next to me all of the time - which she currently is! (Explanation of the literal kicking out of the bed - I was, for starters, exhausted - see my previous post referencing the meeting from Hell - and note this was the night that I came home. Then, you may need to note that Reid was sleeping in the middle of our bed, serious bed-hog Elizabeth (who was happy to see me after my being in Toronto for a week) was in between Reid and me...I was on a sliver of the bed, nearly falling off the edge. I went to move, and figured that Kennedy would be on the wide open space of the other 1/2 of the king size bed - on the other side of Reid. Naturally, she was not. She, too, had missed me after I had been in Toronto for a week. She was at my feet. I went to move. I kicked Kennedy. All I could see were her sweet little paws and this very puzzled look on her face as she slid off the bottom of our very high onto the hard wood floor. She landed on her right hip. She's been limping a bit since. Poor Sweet Baby Girl!)
• the best family ever! My folks kept Elizabeth this week, until we came back to Wheeling - including driving her back up to Fairmont so I didn't have to go all of the way to Sutton to get her. Anne, Sean, & Alex served as high entertainment and play friends as well. (Exception would be when Sean tried to get Elizabeth to feed one of Charlie's horses - she still says, "No I not feed the horses!" She does, at least, recall feeding the chickens fondly, "They ate all the corn!" And I have a sneaking suspicion that Aunt Anne had her hands in the painting of her fingernails - a much bolder color than anything I have ever seen on Grandma!) My awesome in-laws - not only provided me a comfy place to sleep, but yummy food - and good entertainment of the Home Run Derby & All Star Game (neither of which Reid had!) Talking with Jake as he walked through the house yesterday giving me his impressions and opinions on what we should do in each room - and then I got a little giggle to myself as I heard him say "Oooh. Nutty Bars."
• Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy on Sponge Bob for entertaining E at the moment...
• Sporty Baby Golf DVD - because, trust me when I say this - her swing looks unbelievable sweet for her 2-1/2 years of age...great turn, keeping her eye on the ball, makes good contact with the ball. Reid can see a college scholarship in her future. (I did have to hold him back last night, literally, from giving her tips - perhaps a wee bit premature on that!)
• batteries in the most annoying of toys don't last forever ;-)
• Snapfish - so I can share pictures and receive pictures from friends and family - totally loving Aunt Cathy's album from today!
• PhotoShop as I can do this (still a work in progress so that the lighting on Kennedy doesn't look like she was sitting in the living room and not with the three of us...which, of course, she was!):
• My DH & DD:

Gone, But Not Forgotten

I say: Hello. My name is Jennie. It has been nearly two months since my last post.

You say: Hello, Jennie.

Well, I've done it. I've pulled a Reid - in not posting to my Blog in what seems like forever. Let's just suffice it to say that I have been a little preoccupied.

Since my last entry:

• We celebrated Father's Day...
• Aunt Anne celebrated a birthday...Elizabeth sang
• Reid celebrated a birthday...Elizabeth sang "Happy Birthday" a lot - except for when there was a birthday candle. Then she obsessed "Blow it out. Daddy burn his finger" while remembering that Alex had burnt his finger with his 1st birthday candle.
• Mom/Grandma had a birthday...Elizabeth sang some more... (I'm still behind in my shopping, if you can believe that!)
• I've survived the Annual Meeting from Hell - the attendees all thought it went swimmingly well, which is all good, but here's the brief low down on why the 2008 Annual Meeting will go down in infamy: 1.) a flood in the back of our registration counter, 2.) Christian got sick - really sick and had to spend 2.5 days holed up in his room, 3.) a fire in the same room where the flood had been, 4.) Marvin passed out at the bottom of an escalator and folks watched him ride it up to the next level...he was taken to the emergency room where he was treated for a virus and dehydration, 5.) Megan went out of commission - sick, shaking, unable to sleep...need I go on??? Some pretty funny stories, actually, and fortunately everyone managed to survive...
• The day (yes, that's right sports fans - the day) after my return from Toronto, the moving truck arrived...and we packed it up on Friday & Saturday AM...and it pulled out for a MOVE to Wheeling...
• We (and by "we" I mean we had a lot of help - from Nana & Papa watching Elizabeth...and giving Reid, E, me, and my folks a place to sleep, my folks, Anne, Jeff Creamer & his buddy that I met for the first time, Herb Minch, Mike Wehler (another lovely 'gent I met for the first time), Scott Cook (ditto), and Dave Flatley (and ditto), Dan Hopkins (ditto again), and two of West Lib's football players, whose names I didn't catch, but I will most definitely be cheering for this fall (like I wasn't going to anyway...even when they play my Bobcats!) - I certainly hope I haven't forgotten anyone as we were so very fortunate to have all of their help!!!) WE moved an entire truck load of stuff from Fairmont to Wheeling...then
  Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, Mom, Reid, Elizabeth, and I unpacked...Jeff helped Reid move more stuff around - or out...
• On Wednesday I drove (95 miles from driveway to door) to Morgantown for work...I worked the remainder of the week...went to Mom & Daddy's for the weekend (after giving the new yet eerily old Gabes in Clarksburg a little lovin')...then have been back in the office this week...will finally get back to Wheeling on Wednesday night.
• Reid is going to "go Jennie crazy" on the not-so-good folks at Comcast if we don't have our cable and Internet installed today. I'm not kidding. Today on the phone with the not-so-good folks at Comcast he told them if the situation wasn't rectified by the close of business today that they would have to (and I quote) "deal with my wife, who is much less rational in situations like this than I am." I may be setting up a Pay Pal account to help with the funds to bail him out. I cannot understand why on earth it is so darned difficult to get someone to show up at your house when you have an appointment scheduled to hook up a little cable for Internet and cable. How on earth are people supposed to survive without TV? Or the freakin' Internet? (Fortunately for us, there is someone in the neighborhood that has an unsecured network - crazy, I know, but it has been slow but helpful!)

And to conclude this most random of posts, a few pictures of Elizabeth & Alex that make me giggle!

E riding "Big Pink" at the Belmont Stakes

E obsessing over her Daddy's birthday candle and refusing to sing "Happy Birthday" for the first time in days

E (2.5 years) & Alex (13 mo.) playing at Grandma & Papi's this past weekend

my svelte nephew