What's On Our Minds

My Birthday

Well, today is my birthday.. Woo Hoo! Cough! Cough!

Did I mention that I feel sick as a dog? Oh well... All is not lost.. Robyn and I already celeberated my birthday in grand fashion. We went jetsetting (actually, we took the train) to New York this past weekend.

There we visited Madame Tussad's wax museum. Wow! Those things are creepy real looking. And we saw a show: "Movin' Out' which is based on the music of Billy Joel.

Thank you, Honey, for the wonderful surprise.

His Name is Prince

And he is funky!

The Prince Concert Thursday night was fabulous. This man really knows how to put on a show and he doesn't disappoint the fans.

Clearly, he put on this show to please his fans because he did all his greatest hits. He started the show big with Musicology, When Doves Cry and Let's Go Crazy.

He was set up in a round so the view was great. We had good seats on the side near the front. The show was very interactive and he really showed new sides of his personality singing a very funny song about getting in trouble for telling his lady "If you want to talk, do it during the commercials" and "if you have a headache for 17 months go see a doctor, something's wrong".

He danced like a maniac and truly looks like he hasn't aged a day. His never fails to give constant props to his band. And they were brilliant. The lighting and staging were gorgeous and the music sounded supreme. The audience sang along and everyone was having a great time.

I'll never miss a show when Prince comes to town from now on. He gives your money's worth and then some.

By the way, how lame am I for promptly losing my free CD ten seconds inside the MCI Center!

iPod

Yay, I just bought an iPod.

To tell you the truth, I'd paid no attention to the iPod craze until last week. It was an impulse that I knew I had to indulge. I wanted to start running but I was tired of burning my CDs to cassettes so I could hear my workout mix. The iPod is the answer to all my music dreams. Not only can I carry around my entire CD collection in one compact little device, but I can also carry around the millions of MP3s John and I have collected. It also makes the walk to work more pleasant.

Even though I'm still figuring out how to use it, I'd say it was a smart investment. I've been jogging twice already this week, so it's more than serving it's intended purpose. iPod = losing weight.

Sharon's Baby Shower

Theme: Yellow

Guest Name Tags: Baby Name Origins & Meanings

Decorations: Yellow & white streamers and balloons. Yellow plates, cups and napkins.

Menu:
Lemonade Punch, Ginger Ale, Mountain Dew, Sprite, Plus Diet Versions
Finger-sandwiches: Chicken-salad, turkey & roast beef
Potato Chips
Potato Salad
Ambrosia (fruit salad)
Lemon Cookies
Yellow Jelly Beans & Yellow Skittles
Cake & Ice Cream

Games:

Baby's First Portrait
Each guest receives a paper plate and a crayon. Placing the plate atop their heads, each guest must draw a "baby". When all guests are done, vote for the best picture.

Celebrity Babies
Each guest is given a list of celebrity moms on the left, and a list of names on the right. Match the celebrity mom to the name of her baby/child. Ex: Madonna would by matched to Lourdes, using only the first or first and middle names, etc. Whomever matches the most correctly wins. Names of celebrity's children may be found online via different articles on many websites.

Clay Babies
You will need about one can of dough for every two people. pass out the dough and have the players make little babies. the mother-to-be then judges and the winner gets a prize.

Here's the shower invitation I made:

The Party:

Mom-to-Be

Making Clay Babies Luckily you can't see my black eye in this pic.

Painting the Kitchen

Over the 4th of July Weekend, John and I painted our kitchen!

Before:

After:

Bathroom Project

This weekend John and I painted our master bathroom. We didn't take before pictures (which is just as well because it was a mess), but here are the after pictures.

We used a pale shade of grayish/green from Glidden paints, called Quiet Waterfall.

Then we set out the items that we received from our wedding registry: Green and purple towels, 4 rugs, 2 dark purple and 2 dark green, and a waste basket, toothbrush holder, tissue box, tumbler and toilet brush holder all in the Quarry design.

Then we went out and bought candles, new faucets and the picture that's above the toilet.

Everything else was in the bathroom before on white walls and possibly in a different position.

Valentine's Day!

John and I had a wonderful Valentine's day together. John had to go to work early Saturday morning, so I got up while he was gone and started making breakfast. He called on his way home, so I was able to have it just about ready when he got back.

I made scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon and heart-shaped toast. We promised each other not to spend a lot of money since we're saving for the wedding, but he brought me a couple of roses anyway.

Breakfast

After breakfast we watched some television together and then we both took a long nap. Around 4 PM, I started cooking. 4 hours later, we ate dinner. Garlic bread with Chicken & Spinach Alfredo lasagna and a salad with Raspberry Vinagrette dressing. For dessert we had a heart-shaped brownie with chocolate syrup and homeade raspberry coulis and ice cream. I also made a raspberry chambord champagne cocktail to go with it. We ate so much that night we were still full the next day.

Dinner

We also exchanged gifts. John got me a tiny puppy stuffed animal because I'd had a dream about a puppy that was two inches high that I'd named "puppy-wuppy" in my dream-state. He also got my the Halmark Blushing Bears... because I told him I wanted them. I got him a little white arangatan that says I LOVE YOU and whistles.

They're Having A Baby!

Last weekend we found out that our dear friends Sharon & Bill McNett are having a baby! Woo-hoo! Sharon is the Matron of Honor in our wedding and Bill will be a groomsmen. We're so happy and excited for them. The baby will be here in August. I can't wait.

Merry Christmas

Our holiday celebrations were great. I had to take Christmas Eve off because Tuesday night, I realized all that needed to be done before my family arrived Wednesday evening... and I freaked out.

So I stayed up until 2 AM Tuesday night wrapping Christmas presents. Wednesday, I got up and finished doing laundry and cleaning up the house. Then I relaxed while John went grocery shopping. He cooked while I made the family collage frame we were giving to his brother for Christmas. Then we watched a Christmas show and went driving around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights. Some people really go all out. Makes me feel bad that all we had was a little wreath.

As soon as we got back, my mom and brother showed up. My sister canceled, saying she'd come early the next morning. We had dinner and started opening gifts. (We usually wait until midnight on Christmas Eve, but John was impatient)

I got John a new atomic solar watch, the new Steven King Book he wanted, a Christmas CD, Rueben Studdard's CD, and some other little stocking stuffers.

John gave me a ton of stuff (because he didn't know what to get me.) He bought games for my PDA, earmuffs, new slippers, a straightening comb (I'd been looking for one, but I only mentioned it once), my favorite chocolate truffles and a cable hookup for my laptop (I can see what big geeks we are by describing the things we get excited over.)

Christmas morning my sister came and we all opened gifts with her. Then my mom, brother and sister left and John and I went to his father's house for Christmas... more food and more gifts.

Friday we went to see the final Lord of the Rings Movie, which we loved. Then we hung out and played Christmas Trivial Pursuit (another of my gifts) with his sister.

Saturday I wore pajamas all day and relaxed doing nothing. Sunday we slept in and then cleaned up the house a little.

Swim Class

We got our grades from swimming class. It was supposed to end this month, but John and I stopped going at the end of November.

Even though the teacher threatened to lower our letter grades for each missed class (we missed 3), we both still got Bs. Now can we swim is the question. So-so is the answer. Oh well. We're better than we started out.

Christmas Party

Last night we had a spontaneous party with a few friends. We conned them into decorating our naked tree. It was a lot of fun. After decorating the tree, we had dinner and then sang Christmas songs on karaoke. Then we played Christmas Charades (an early present from John) had some cake and then we opened gifts.

May 2004 Release

I got my new book covers today. They'll be hitting the stands a few days after the wedding.

Yard Sale

Today we had a table at the community yard sale. We did pretty well, considering we only stayed out there for an hour and a half. It was supposed to last from 8 - 12 but it started pouring down rain around 9 AM.

We tried to stick it out as long as possible but all of our stuff was getting soaked. All in all we sold $62 worth of stuff. Subtract the $15 we spent renting the table and we come down to $46. Not bad for 90 minutes of work.

We sold 2 DVDs, a few books, a scrabble board, some CDs, my old playstation one with some games and a few framed prints.

Now what are we going to do with the leftover junk?

Robyn's Book

Yay! Robyn sent in her revised manuscript to her editor today. So now it should go into production, which I think is cause for much celebration. It's been a long time coming with this book, I'm so happy that she finally completed it. I'm so proud too.

Swimming Lessons

I floated! Can you believe it? After 31 years, I can float on the water. Admittedly not very well, but it's a start.

Robyn and I had our first class of SWIM 1 at the community college today. I have to admit that I'm a little peeved that EVERYONE in that class has some basic swimming skill and just want to become better swimmers. I would have been a little more comfortable if their were a few more start-from-scratch swimmers like myself. Oh well! I plan to be the best swimmer by the end of that class. :-)

Redskins win Season Opener 16-13

Yea! Finally, the NFL season is here... And we won our first game, 16-13 against the Jets at home.

There's nothing like watching football. It's always an event.

Yet I was a little worried about this first game. After all the hype on the MALL (The NFL Kickoff Live w/Britney Spears, Aerosmith, etc.) and waiting all day for the 9 pm start time, I felt set-up for a letdown. And knowing that I'd have to wait a whole 9 days, instead of the usual 7, it would have doubly sucked to lose this one.

Happy Birthday Robyn!

Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday, dear Robyn!
Happy Birthday to You!
... and many more

It's My Birthday

Yay, today is my birthday. I'm 32. I love birthdays so much that I don't even mind being old.

It's Friday.. X2.. Yay!

Well.. the day I've been waiting for has finally come. It's Friday, May 2. X-men 2 opens today. Hopefully, Robyn and I will be able to see it today. If not, we will see it VERY soon.

Also.. my major efforts on the proposal at work are due today.. and my level of needed support should decrease from now on. So there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel.