Sarah and Michael's new little boy, Payton Ray, joined us on November 15th.
and
Roger and Nadine's new little girl, Lainey, joined us on November 28th.
Oh the exciting world of new babies to enjoy!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
More babies!
I also am thrilled to report I have two new babies in my world.
Sarah and Michael's new little boy, Payton Ray, joined us on November 15th.
and
Roger and Nadine's new little girl, Lainey, joined us on November 28th.
Oh the exciting world of new babies to enjoy!
Sarah and Michael's new little boy, Payton Ray, joined us on November 15th.
and
Roger and Nadine's new little girl, Lainey, joined us on November 28th.
Oh the exciting world of new babies to enjoy!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
VACATION
I know, long time no post, but I have a good excuse this time - I've been on vacation!!! I needed the break from work.
Highlights
Baltimore was filled with birthday celebrations, dogs playing, fighting and play-fighting, movies and fun.
Monday morning, Irie and I started the drive back to Chicago with the hope of being back in town by 7:30pm for Irie's obedience class. By about 11am that morning I was starting to feel a little sick to my stomach, but pushed on through. By 3pm I knew I really wasn't doing good and suddenly threw up all over the inside of my car. Nice. I was about 1/2 hour from Grandma and Grandpa Deetz's at that point, so I made the decision to not head back into the city and go there instead. Good thing I did. I spent the next 12 hours attached to the bathroom. It was GREAT!
Thankfully I have an awesome friend who was able to step in and re-fill Maverick's feeder and water bowl since I wouldn't be able to make it home.
I spent the rest of the week with all the family that was there for the holidays baking, bowling, and catching up. Good times were had by all. And Irie absolutely loved all the space to run around and play in. She slept really well every night we were there, which is a bit unusual for her. I just can't seem to tire her out at home.
Then on Saturday, we headed down to Grandma Murphy's for an evening of chicken and noodles (YUM!) and dominoes.
By the time we got home Sunday I was exhausted, but very happy I had the chance to see so much of my family and get some time off.
Highlights
- I got to spend a few days out in Baltimore with my favorite niece who just turned one!
- Irie and Terra met and actually got along pretty well.
- Lily taught me how to sign "more", "dog" and "finished."
- I got to make chocolate mousse with Grandma Deetz.
- I learned how disgusting it is to clean up three-day old puke in your car.
- Irie found a new favorite game of going up to the top of the stairs at Grandma and Grandpa Deetz's and rolling her ball down them so she could chase it.
- Dominoes with Mom and Grandma Murphy.
- Irie loves french fries. Especially when they come flying off the dashboard and land all over her. Jackpot!
- Bowling with the fam.
- Audio books.
- Target shooting with my gun-crazed cousin.
So, to elaborate on some of the highlights....
Irie did VERY well on our long car trips. She basically just curled up and slept the whole way. She did get a bit antsy now and then which ended up resulting in a few chew marks on the emergency break, but otherwise no real damage was done. We started off the trip with the french fry fiasco and she spent the next five days making sure she had found every last one of those fries. (A word to the wise - don't put your fast food bag on the dashboard and then make a sharp turn.)
We got off to a bit of a late start our first leg of the trip, so we cut it a little short and spent the first night at Grandma and Grandpa Deetz's. Then we continued on the Baltimore the next day, making it in to town just in time for dinner and presents for the big 0-1 birthday celebration.Baltimore was filled with birthday celebrations, dogs playing, fighting and play-fighting, movies and fun.
Monday morning, Irie and I started the drive back to Chicago with the hope of being back in town by 7:30pm for Irie's obedience class. By about 11am that morning I was starting to feel a little sick to my stomach, but pushed on through. By 3pm I knew I really wasn't doing good and suddenly threw up all over the inside of my car. Nice. I was about 1/2 hour from Grandma and Grandpa Deetz's at that point, so I made the decision to not head back into the city and go there instead. Good thing I did. I spent the next 12 hours attached to the bathroom. It was GREAT!
Thankfully I have an awesome friend who was able to step in and re-fill Maverick's feeder and water bowl since I wouldn't be able to make it home.
I spent the rest of the week with all the family that was there for the holidays baking, bowling, and catching up. Good times were had by all. And Irie absolutely loved all the space to run around and play in. She slept really well every night we were there, which is a bit unusual for her. I just can't seem to tire her out at home.
Then on Saturday, we headed down to Grandma Murphy's for an evening of chicken and noodles (YUM!) and dominoes.
By the time we got home Sunday I was exhausted, but very happy I had the chance to see so much of my family and get some time off.
Can't wait for Christmas!!!
Pics to follow!
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Ingrid and the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day
It’s only 9:30 in the morning and my day’s already off to a rocky start. It started by waking up earlier than I normally do so that I could take Irie to boarding and then head out to the airport to catch my flight to Orlando.
Dropping Irie off is never fun – especially when they go to take her back to her kennel and she lays down so they have to pull her and looks at me with those big eyes. I know she’ll be fine and have fun in doggy day camp, but it still stings a little.
Then I sat in Chicago rush-hour traffic for an hour and a half. I finally got to the airport and went to go park in economy parking and the lots were full! It’s not like it’s thanksgiving week or something. Crazy. So I ended up driving around and around until I finally decided it wasn’t worth parking half-way back to the city just to avoid the parking fees, so I went to park in daily parking. Works picking up the tab anyway…. However, the first daily lots were also full, so I had to make a couple more quick maneuvers to get into the "outside daily parking" lots.
Once in the airport, I discovered there are A LOT of people traveling. After some serious waiting in line (and the annoyance of there only being middle seats available), I finally got my bag checked in and then I got to go stand in the security line. The security line rarely bothers me. Guess I’m just used to it. But this one took a particularly long time. And, my backpack got pulled for an additional security check which resulted in a 15 minute lecture from TSA regarding the importance of carrying a quart-size clear ziploc plastic baggie with you. In my defense, I flew a few weeks ago with several small bottles of shampoo, conditioner etc which were not contained in a plastic ziploc baggie and no one said a word. Today I just had a small bottle of lotion and a tube of lipstick and you’d think I was smuggling in drugs or something. To make matters even more fun, the TSA worker had just taken an extra plastic baggie from another passenger, so I asked if I could have that put my two liquid items in. Then I got a nice lecture about how I have to bring my OWN ziploc baggie. After a few more minutes of this argument, I finally got out of security.
THEN, I went to McDonalds to grab something for breakfast. There were two 40+ year-old men standing behind me in line having a crazy conversation that consisted of statements like:
"Man, that’s awesome. You’re totally gonna get the penthouse!"
"Check it! Check it!" yelled emphatically. I’m not sure what "check it" meant, but apparently it was some catch phrase of theirs.
Relieved to finally get away from their conversation that was making me increasingly uncomfortable, I headed to my gate. Once there I discovered that McDonalds gave me the wrong order! So I was forced to eat sausage which I’m really not a fan of. Poor me.
Thankfully, now I’m safely at my gate and things are looking up. I’m surrounded by families with young kids who are totally psyched to be going to Disney World. I’m actually not being sarcastic about that. There’s something therapeutic about their excitement.
So now I’m off to Orlando for my last work trip of the year (thank goodness!) With any luck I’ll get to see some family and friends while I’m down there – which should be fun. And then, a week from today I leave for Baltimore for a much-needed vacation! I’m really excited about the road trip too. I think I’m ready to be on the road with time to just think. I may not be as excited about this 4 hours in with Irie by my side, but for now, I’m excited!
Dropping Irie off is never fun – especially when they go to take her back to her kennel and she lays down so they have to pull her and looks at me with those big eyes. I know she’ll be fine and have fun in doggy day camp, but it still stings a little.
Then I sat in Chicago rush-hour traffic for an hour and a half. I finally got to the airport and went to go park in economy parking and the lots were full! It’s not like it’s thanksgiving week or something. Crazy. So I ended up driving around and around until I finally decided it wasn’t worth parking half-way back to the city just to avoid the parking fees, so I went to park in daily parking. Works picking up the tab anyway…. However, the first daily lots were also full, so I had to make a couple more quick maneuvers to get into the "outside daily parking" lots.
Once in the airport, I discovered there are A LOT of people traveling. After some serious waiting in line (and the annoyance of there only being middle seats available), I finally got my bag checked in and then I got to go stand in the security line. The security line rarely bothers me. Guess I’m just used to it. But this one took a particularly long time. And, my backpack got pulled for an additional security check which resulted in a 15 minute lecture from TSA regarding the importance of carrying a quart-size clear ziploc plastic baggie with you. In my defense, I flew a few weeks ago with several small bottles of shampoo, conditioner etc which were not contained in a plastic ziploc baggie and no one said a word. Today I just had a small bottle of lotion and a tube of lipstick and you’d think I was smuggling in drugs or something. To make matters even more fun, the TSA worker had just taken an extra plastic baggie from another passenger, so I asked if I could have that put my two liquid items in. Then I got a nice lecture about how I have to bring my OWN ziploc baggie. After a few more minutes of this argument, I finally got out of security.
THEN, I went to McDonalds to grab something for breakfast. There were two 40+ year-old men standing behind me in line having a crazy conversation that consisted of statements like:
"Man, that’s awesome. You’re totally gonna get the penthouse!"
"Check it! Check it!" yelled emphatically. I’m not sure what "check it" meant, but apparently it was some catch phrase of theirs.
Relieved to finally get away from their conversation that was making me increasingly uncomfortable, I headed to my gate. Once there I discovered that McDonalds gave me the wrong order! So I was forced to eat sausage which I’m really not a fan of. Poor me.
Thankfully, now I’m safely at my gate and things are looking up. I’m surrounded by families with young kids who are totally psyched to be going to Disney World. I’m actually not being sarcastic about that. There’s something therapeutic about their excitement.
So now I’m off to Orlando for my last work trip of the year (thank goodness!) With any luck I’ll get to see some family and friends while I’m down there – which should be fun. And then, a week from today I leave for Baltimore for a much-needed vacation! I’m really excited about the road trip too. I think I’m ready to be on the road with time to just think. I may not be as excited about this 4 hours in with Irie by my side, but for now, I’m excited!
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Pictures from Darla's wedding
Nicole and Jason, staging a picture that's a little different than their normal poses.
This is my friend Darek's son, Andrew, with his mom. What a cutie!
Darla and Sarah doing a little Electric Slide.
The UIC gang: Sarah, Matt, Darla, Darek, me and Nicole
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