The Party!

" Why is my husband standing next to a picture of a mascara model?," you ask. Well, that explanation will come.

We made it to New York City on Friday and then on to the engagement party of Matt and Tati. Matt is a friend of my husband's from their high school days. The party was on a yacht with dinner, toasts and dancing! It started out with hors d'ourves and moved to a sit-down dinner on the main level and then we had toasts for the bride and groom. Pete did an excellent job on his toast talking about climbing mountains with Matt in Africa many years ago, etc. But during the first part of the night, a man pointed out an older gentleman in the crowd. I couldn't believe it when he said it was Yogi Berra. So, after dinner, I was lucky enough to meet him and get my picture with him. He is a neighbor of the groom's mother. Pictured with Yogi and me is Ahn. She is married to another friend of Pete's from high school.
But, the best part for my dear, sweet hubby came when he and Chris (old buddy from high school) asked a Victoria Secrets' supermodel if Pete could get his picture taken with her. Now, do you see why I took the picture of my husband standing by the Maybelline add? The next day after the party we were in Bed, Bath and Beyond and, for some reason, my husband spotted the add. Things that make you go hmmmm? Ha.
Doesn't he look like the 'cat that got the canary' here? Her name is Adriana Lima and she is from Brazil. The bride is from Brazil so there were a few tall, beautiful Brazilian women there.

After the party, we tried to get into a club in the Meat Packing District. Evidently, you need to be surrounded by tall, beautiful women to get in if you are a guy. Matt got in when the Brazilians showed up, but my husband nor Chris could get through the door. Ahn and I got in (for free), but they wouldn't let our men in. So, we decided to go home! The club was the Pink Elephant. Oh to be young, rich and hip! He he.

You can go to the My photos link on the left to see some pics from the party! I'll add some more later.

I'm still in New York City this weekend, but we had a BLAST last night at the engagement party for Tatiana and Matt. I wore the dress that my husband liked. I will have to wait until we get home tomorrow to load photos but you will see some funny photos. My husband got his picture with a Brazilian supermodel and today we saw her face on a Maybelline mascara add in a store. So, of course, my husband posed by that and I got another photo with her in it. Ha ha. And I had my picture taken with Yogi Berra. Yep, that's right. Can you believe it? He was a very good sport about it. Turns out that Matt lived in the same neighborhood as Yogi when Matt was a kid.

So, the evening was magical, the skyline of Manhattan took our breath away and the party was a lot of fun. My husband gave a great toast to Matt and Tati and we later got to dance on a yacht! I'm just too tired right now to recount the whole evening, but I promise to fill in the gaps when I get home.

I can't wait until tomorrow night! Yeah! The Office will have it's season premier. I got this coffee mug at Target for $1.oo. Does it get any better than that?

I found the dress! (sort of)

I had a quick trip to DC on Sunday coming back on Monday. I got lost on the way to the hotel where Franci was going to stay, but eventually, got her there and found my way out to my friend's house.

We went to Tyson's Corner where they have everything. So, check out what I bought and give me your opinion. I bought 3 dresses and I plan on returning two of them (although my husband thought I should keep two and return one).

The first dress is plain black but the picture here is black and white. So imagine a solid black dress with rhinestone earrings and necklace. I plan on wearing black, strappy fabric shoes. The next dress is also from White House Black Market. It definitely is a little more cocktail-ish. Click here to see it. It comes just to my knees on me because I am only 5'2". My husband likes this one. The next one is from Ann Taylor and is very classic and timeless. Click here to see it. I would not wear black tights but only black high-heeled sandals and no tights.

So, which one should I wear?

Weekend

I worked yesterday, and, by golly, I'm tired. The kids got up before 7:30 (of course), but luckily they went downstairs and hung out with their dad. I fell back to sleep and woke up at 8:30. We headed downtown to the Centre County Day for Kids (something like that) and had a blast. The weather could not have been better.

Here I am holding a young python. My husband said I couldn't get it. But they live for 15 years! What a bargain. My kids now know for sure that their mom is crazy.
Clayton was all smiles watching the magician. The guy was really funny and could make the kids laugh.

Here are the kids enjoying the big slide. All in all, we had a great time.

Tomorrow I am off to DC just for 24 hours (I'll be back Monday evening). I am driving Pete's Post doctoral student to the Brazilian Embassy to pick up some paperwork. The best part is that I get to see my old high school friend and go shopping for that cocktail dress that I need for the engagement party at the end of the week! Yeah! And the kids are staying with their daddy! Life is good.

What was I thinking?

That is what I was thinking this morning when my alarm went off at 5 am. I had to work today and my scheduled time to be at work was 6:30 am! Ouch. I had gone to bed at a decent hour so I did feel fine. And it is really pretty driving in at that time of day. Work wasn't too bad, either and I really enjoy working at the hospital, probably because I don't do it everyday. Anywho, I have to work two more days this week. What was I thinking?

The other thing that I agreed to that has made me ask that question is teaching 5th grade Sunday School. I'm not the head teacher--silly people--I am just one of the team (thank Goodness) and only will have to teach once in a while. But, we had a dinner party last Saturday night and I was so wishing I could have slept in on Sunday and just not gone to church. Bad, I know. Well, I guess it's official. I am a grown up and I have responsibilities now. And I need to set a good example for the munchkins.

Tomorrow, the husband will send Kendall off on the bus and drop Clayton off at preschool. He hates school. I'm worried about it and don't know if I should send him somewhere else. He says things like, "I want to go to a new school with happy teachers." Or, "I want to stay with mommy and watch TV." Oops. I assure him that if he stays with me he won't be watching TV. OK, a little white lie, but I'm hoping he will see that preschool is so much more fun than hanging out with me. So, tomorrow since I am working, the little guy has to stay all day at preschool. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Well, I have got to go and see what junk is on TV. I can't wait until September 27! I miss The Office!!!!!

We took this photo last Wednesday. It looks like Abbey is smiling here. I did add some photos of Abbey's last day on the flickr site. You can see them here.

Things are getting back to normal around the house. The husband is still sad sometimes. I still think about that little girl that died the same day Abbey did.

The weather has been so beautiful the last few days--just like I always remember September to be. It may be corny, but one of my old favorite songs is "September Morn" by Neil Diamond.

The potty training is hit or miss lately. I am sick of changing pull ups and I just wish Clayton was sick of peeing on himself. :) He had an accident on his car seat today. But, it's OK because he is alive and I am able to kiss and hug him today. He did make it until the afternoon before he had an accident. I was almost knocked over when I hopped in the back seat to remove the car seat. Whew, that urine really burns the nose hairs! C'est la vie. I know one of these days he will be out of pull ups!

Tonight is back to school night for Kendall's kindergarten. I'm so excited and I can't wait to see what all she has done is her almost two weeks of elementary school. Ha ha.

Keeping things in perspective

Abbey is gone now. She was a beautiful, smart dog. She will be missed greatly and we are still red-eyed and puffy-faced from 24 hours of crying off and on. But what we are going through today is nothing compared to a family from Kendall's school.

This morning, I received a phone call from the school counselor of Kendall's elementary school. She assured me nothing was wrong with Kendall (whew!), but that she was calling to inform me that a girl from Kendall's class was hit by a motorcycle last night. The little girl was life-flighted to a big medical center but did not make it. I could not contain myself on the phone. It hit me like a ton of bricks and all I could do was cry. Oh, the pain that the parents of Adria must be feeling right now.

This reminds me of how fragile we are and how, in a moment, our lives change. Pete and I lost a dog and we had 24 hours to say goodbye. Adria's parents lost a 5 year old girl and didn't have that chance. I am praying for the parents that they will find strength through this difficult time.

Poor Abbey

Well, I am writing with a heavy heart today. This morning our 13 year old lab, Abbey, couldn't use her hind legs. We took her to the vet and he gave her a shot of cortisone in her back, but it hasn't done the trick. There is nothing else we can do, so tomorrow we will most likely have to put her down. My husband is not taking it well. They go back a long way and she is/was the best hunting dog! He was hoping she would make the big trip this October, but it isn't looking good.

It all started about a month ago when we noticed that she just wasn't herself. But the last few days it has been really worse. She has been panting and wanting to be left alone. The main thing is that we don't want her to suffer.

This is a picture of Abbey on one of her good days.

So, here's to you, Abbey. Please forgive me for griping about you and your barking at 'nothing'. Who will stalk Clayton now when he is eating?

In need of advice

If my husband RSVPs 'YES", then we are going to an engagement party the end of September. But, It is not your ordinary engagement party---
It is on a yacht
that is docked in Manhattan
departing at 8:00 pm
with dinner, drinks, and toasts
disembarking at midnight.
You see, not your ordinary engagement party.

What should I wear?

I oh so hope that we can go. It is an old friend of Pete's from high school. (and besides, it would be a nice, grown-up evening out.)

Hey, Sports Fans!

I had a Joe Paterno sighting yesterday. I was meeting some friends at the park that is right next to his house. I turned down the street and I was behind a BMW sedan. I wondered if it was his, and sure enough, the car continued down the street and turned into the Paterno's driveway. I also recognized his hair from the back. It took all I had not to stop in the middle of the road and watch him get out of his car!!! Ha ha.

Yeah!!! It's Friday!!!

Well, it's Friday and Kendall still enjoys riding the bus and going to school. Clayton goes along with preschool but I think he prefers to stay right by mommy.

I was going to run on the treadmill but I didn't want to rush around this morning. I'll try later on when the man gets home from work.

So yesterday I walked to the bus stop and on my way, I noticed that the parents of a first grader in our neighborhood weren't home. I assumed they would be at the bus stop waiting, but when I got there, they were no where to be found. The bus came, the kids hopped off and I decided I needed to stay with him until his mom or dad or both showed up. We went to his house (how would they know where he is if he was at my house?) and the kids played in their yard. This is the same 6 year old boy that exposed himself to my little darling girl earlier this year so I am not keen on being around him much. And I will never leave her at that house under the supervision of his parents (because there is no supervision). Anyway, the mom shows up and said that they arrived at the stop one minute late and assumed they beat the bus. I informed her that the bus arrived 5 minutes early (shouldn't they know that from last year?) and that it was fine. OK, a little white lie. I was annoyed with their irresponsibility but not surprised. I just hope they don't take advantage of the situation. Their excuse was that they had lunch and two pitchers of beer! Arrrggghhhh! They both are artists and teach at PSU and went out to lunch after their meetings. Fair enough. Am I wrong for being annoyed? C'est la vie, I suppose.

OK, I better go and make an eye appointment. The last check up I had for my eyes was 11 years ago. Now, that I have some time, I plan on taking care of some things. (Besides, I've noticed it is harder to see at night while I am driving.)

First Day of School...

Today was Kendall's first day of kindergarten and Clayton's first day of preschool. Kendall woke up early and was very excited. She rode the bus with some neighbor boys and looked really small getting onto the bus. I think she had a great day. She talked about it a little bit...played outside, went to the gym, ate lunch, etc. You get the idea.


Clayton was a little less excited about the day but once we got there, he was ready. On the way in to town, he told me he wanted to go to mommy's house. I explained to him that it was a school day and he was going to school.

Here is the 'big girl' getting on the bus

She looks so small in the bus. Seeing the bus drive away was like, "Is that it?" She's gone!
And here is Clayton (aka Stinker):
And here is Kendall at the end of the day:

So, what did I do for 2.5 hours this morning? I went to Walmart by myself and then made it home in time to run on the treadmill for 20 min! Yeah! It felt great! Now, I hope I keep up the exercise. I do hope to clean out some closets (much overdue) and catch up on my reading.

Dim Sum and then some

We went to New York City this Labor Day Weekend to see Pete's parents off for their sabbatical. They had flown down from Boston to stay with Pete's sister for a couple of days. We had a great time. We arrived early Saturday afternoon and sat around a visited. Then for dinner we went to Johns for pizza. This pizza place is on the upper East side and is down-home. It was a nice relaxing meal. Afterwards, we stopped at a park so the kids could play. After everyone went to bed, Pete and I went out for a drink. After walking around what seemed like forever, we found the St. Regis Hotel. It is very swank. We stopped in the bar and it was packed. It was very nice and there wasn't loud music blaring. All you heard were glasses clinking and the hum of voices. Nice. We had 3 drinks between the two of us and the bill came to --yikes---$60! Yeah, it's New York. Oh well. We were lucky this weekend and found parking on the street so what we saved in parking we spent on drinks. We caught a taxi back to Anne's.

Sunday was a great day, too. We headed downtown to Chinatown for dim sum. Dim sum is a brunch that is composed of little dishes and hot tea. This place was traditional with the waiters coming around with carts of food. It's great. You point at what you want and they stamp your card. The total bill for the 8 of us (4 adults, 4 kids) came to $70! One of the best deals in town. The place was packed and we had to wait about 30 min just to get in. After lunch, we walked around Chinatown for a while. We happened upon a park where some old men were playing music. Something tells me they do this every Sunday in the summer. The kids then played on the playground while we hovered around them. After a while we decided it was time to find the subway and head home.

Here are the cousins sitting down together to have a snack.
Here is one of the carts with the little dishes. It was really yummy.