Where has the time gone?

I find myself thinking a lot lately. Even more than usual, and I can't seem to stop, and honestly I'm not so sure that I want to. It's making me appreciate things so much more. Maybe it's the fact that my daughter is almost two years old (TWO?!?!), or that in 3 days, I will have known my husband for exactly 11 years. (I know, it's crazy.) Whatever the reason, I feel so thankful for what I have. (Even if sometimes it doesn't seem like it.) Any yes, I feel old.

Yesterday Brian and I took the side rail off of Danica's crib. I was so excited, but so sad that she is actually in her 'big-girl bed' now. She slept there for her nap and all night last night. Both times when she woke up, she didn't even get out, she just called to us until I came in and told her she could get out. (But when she's playing she climbs in and out of it all the time.) I am waiting for the night she she starts wandering the house on her own, and now that she can finally reach the door handles, she will go where ever she pleases. I don't know what were we thinking. Maybe I should put the rail back up tonight afterall...

(1/23/09 in her crib with that cheesey grin)

(1/25/09 in her big-girl bed...)

On January 29th, 1998, I met Brian at the movie theatre in Liberty. (fka The 'Berty 8, now the 'Berty 12) He was there on a blind date with my best friend (set up by her sister and his stepbrother), and I was dating someone else at the time. I was 14 and he was 16. We hardly even spoke that night, I was hyper, giddy, and (probably) pretty obnoxious. He was shy and quiet. I am pretty sure the movie was 'Good Will Hunting'. And look where we are now. I feel so lucky that I love my husband, and that we keep growing together. :)

I think that part of what makes me feel so old is that all our younger siblings are grown now, and they are starting their own lives. My mind can hardly wrap around that concept, I still see them as cute, awkward kids. (I can only imagine how our parents feel now. Can I say Oy?) And I say 'our' siblings, because to us, Brian's are mine, and mine are his. We have known each other since they were in elementary school, and they seem to have stuck that way, permenantly imprinted in my mind as an 11 year old. Now Christina's daughter is turning a year old, Chandra just got married and had her son, Gary has three little girls now, and Clayton, Darren and Laura are all in serious relationships themselves, and Laura is now talking about marriage. I want to cry! I'm realistically only 25, and as long as the Fates allow I have a long time left ahead of me. But I can't stop thinking I'm a quarter-century old, a grown up, a real grown up who is married, a grown up who has a child, a grown up with a grown up job. What the heck happened???

I know... I'm rambling again... *sigh*

I guess I should do it too.

I have seen this list on about 6 other people's blogs, as well as seen it in a couple more forwarded emails. I thought that might mean that it's time to fill it out myself. Peer preasure I guess. Here goes...

(The bolded items are things that I have done, the italicized items are things that I want to do, and the normal font are things that I could live without doing.)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (Well, an orchestra. It's about the same, right?)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (I'm not opposed to it at all; but not at this moment.)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (Why on earth would I want to walk it??? That's why there are elevators!)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (Well, some of them. I am really a mutt.)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (In school, with the help of teachers, but I'm guessing that doesn't count...)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (Many times, and if you happened to hear it, I appoligize.)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight (I will this summer!)
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (Again... this summer!)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (for 9 years)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (only my toe though.)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury (I was in the box and got interviewed, but I didn't get chosen.)
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

And hey, I guess that is me in a nutshell. I just realized how dumb that seems when you consider that I don't like nuts very much at all. Hmmm.

Another to-do list...

I can be a bit obsessive when I get something in my head. Now depending on what it is and the timing, this can either be a good thing or a not-so-good thing. Reading has always been a huge obsession with me. Once I start reading a book, I physically cannot put it down. It is like a horrible addiction to me. Even if it's a bad story, it doesn't matter. It disrupts my entire normal life until the story is over. (This got me into quite a bit of trouble in school actually, b/c I'd be reading all the time during class, in the halls, etc.) I always try to start a book when I know I don't have anything else that needs to be finished anytime soon, or when I'm completely alone so I'm not rude to anyone else.

Case in point... I had sooo many people telling me I should read the Twilight series. I put it off for months b/c I did not want to get into another 'project' if you will. Well, Monday I broke down and got the first book. (I already had the 2nd one thanks to a Christmas gift debacle.) I started reading the first one after dinner on Monday night, and by 11:30 am on Wednesday I was finished with book #2. I read in bed late at night, I read while I was on the bus into work, I read on my lunch breaks, I read every spare second I could get. Now I'm freaking out because I have to go to the library on my lunch break and see about the next 2 books. *sigh*

Now that I've fallen off the non-reading wagon, I'm in deap for a while. Here's my current and ever-changing list of things I'd like to read... (and of course I'm always open to more suggestions...)

- Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
- Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer
- the Sookie Stackhouse series, Charlaine Harris
- The Stalking Horse, Miriam Grace Manfredo (I know she has others that are good too...)
- The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (I need to re-read before the movie comes out this summer)
- The Host, Stephenie Meyer

It seems I have a theme to the books that are catching my attention lately.

It's been an emotional last couple of days...

Monday was great. Brian and I had a day off together thanks to the MLK holiday, so we made the entire day into a date. Brian dropped Danica off at daycare at normal time, and we went to Starbucks for a liquid breakfast. We drove downtown and went to Crown Center, where neither of us had been since we were dating over 10 years ago. We walked around, did a tiny bit of shopping and walked around for a while, and then we went ice skating. :) I was so excited, I hadn't gone since I was a very little kid, and Brian had never been in his life. It was so exhilirating, I forgot how much fun it is! And I must add that I was very proud of Brian, he didn't fall down once, and even tried skating backwards with me. (Although sadly yes, I fell down once right as we were leaving.) After we decided we had had enough of the cold for a while, we drove down to the Plaza and had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. (Yum!) We talked and planned, and everything was so nice. (The only thing that could've made our date day any better was if it had been dark so we could've seen all the lights on the Plaza.) ;)



After lunch we went to the hospital to visit with Brian's step-sister Chandra, her hubby Nate, and their new baby. Westley Victor Kettlewell was born Monday morning while we were shopping, and he is so precious! Mom, Dad, and Westley are all doing as well as possible, except that they are all exhausted of course. He is so tiny... and holding him, that new, that tiny, smelling that good, wearing that little hospital hat... it was almost enough to make me want to have another baby right now. Almost, but not quite. :) (Let's wait until after our summer vacation and then we'll see what happens... )



The entire day played almost like a movie in my mind. It was just so nice to have a kind-of break from reality and to just be together. I feel so lucky to be so in love with my husband, and to know he loves me too. (Ok, cue the cheesey music now... )



And then yesterday was Inauguration Day. Wow. No matter what your political affiliation, I don't see how anyone could not be moved by the enormity of everything. Almost everyone in my office was peeking at a t.v. all day, and we all watched together for about an hour while the actual oaths were being taken and the speeches were made. I was literally in awe to see that many people, together for the same cause, supporting the same ideas, people from every background, all over the globe, it was truly amazing. Many times I had to hold back tears. Not even because of the new President necessarily, but because I felt like I was living in history. It's so hard to describe, but I couldn't help but think over and over again how I was witnessing probably the biggest world event in my lifetime as of yet. And of course I had set my DVR, and watched it again after Danica went to bed last night. I will probably watch it again tonight as well....




I guess my emotions just never get a break, do they? I swear I must drive those who know me crazy... up and down, up and down, it's crazy. But I guess that's what happens in life; everything is constantly changing, and sometimes it feels like it's all I can do to hang on for the ride.

A Slightly Drunken Saturday Night...

Well, it's now after 1:00 in the morning, and Brian and I have been up drinking with our friend James. I've had some wine, they've had some beers, and we have all been reminicsing. We've gotten to that all important point where the discussion becomes serious. So what do I do? I break out the camera. (Brian and I will have our own discussion later.) :) (Oh, and to anyone who may ask about the swords... yes, Brian is a huge LOTR nut. But I love him anyway.)

Please Mom, can I have a snow day?

This morning it snowed. When I got up, it was a whopping 5 degrees above zero. (Better than yesterday, when it was 3 below.) The snow fell pretty hard for a while, and blew all over the place, but we only ended up with a couple inches of accumulation. Of course, that didn't stop people from driving like idiots who cannot find their gas pedal. I mean, I understand the need to slow down a bit, watch out on bridges and curves, things like that. But people here are scared to death to drive in any kind of weather! Maybe it's from living in Colorado and dealing with 2-3 foot snowfalls a couple times a year and driving like it was no big deal. But I grew up here, I learned to drive here, and I don't ever remember driving 35 miles an hour on the freeway when there are the lightest of flakes falling. (No exaggeration here.)

Anywho... since the snow stopped, it's gotten very sunny out and it looks so inviting, despit the fact that it's so cold out. Unfortunately from my cubicle (yes, I work in a cubicle) I cannot see out the windows.

There is however, a conference room across the hall from my cube-sweet-cube, from which I normally get a nice view of some downtown rooftops.

Today though, I have a strange yearning to do down there and turn doughnuts in the fresh snow on that rooftop parking lot. Anyone want to join me???

Okay, I pulled a Natali.

As soon as I saw this sign, I thought of my friend Natali. No, not because of the sign itself, but because she is always posting blogs of random, strange, or just plain funny things she sees along her wanderings. I actually thought of this post in particular.

I found this sign hanging in the bathroom of the office building next door to mine yesterday. (Our buildings are connected by a catwalk, so I'm over there quite a bit.) Sadly, I did not cary my phone with me at the time, so I actually returned to that bathroom today just to get this picture.
(Please forgive the blurriness; I still have not mastered the camera on my phone, and it was typed in very strange old-school-robot-like font anyway.)

It reads... "Do not dipose of sanitary napkins, towels, pantyhose, etc. in toilet stools."

Now to me this means either one of two things...
1) that someone is seriously confused on exactly what pantyhose are used for, or
2) that someone at one time has actually tried to flush pantyhose down the toilet

Unfortunately scenario number 2 seems more likely to me...

Dear blogging world... please go easy on me!

I suppose that since I spend a good deal of time each day going from one friend's blog to another, and from each of them to another few blogs, and so on, that it was probably well past time for me to make my own blog and have a place to keep up with all the others that I visit.

I did try a blog once before. A few years ago. I feel horrible, but I honestly don't even remember the name I made up. (Obviously I didn't put too much time or effort into it!) I promise this time will be better. :)

I guess this is all I've got for today.