Saturday, November 3, 2012

Halloween 2012

Wrong date.  Current activities.
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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Elliot

And in case you are wondering what Elliot is up to these days (Tamarra, this means you), here you go:

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Our current goal in soccer is to not run off the field crying every time the other team scores a goal.  It is hard to lose when you are five!

Harper Kate Turns 2

This little lady recently turned two. The day began with Minnie Mouse pancakes. DSC_7545copy_zpsa880ca75 Which was followed by present opening and Elliot's first soccer game. Harper insisted on wearing her tutu (from Grandma) and leaving the "Minnie bow" on her new scooter. She was quite the site scooting around the field. Photobucket Then we finished up with a party with my Grandparents, Aunt Brenda, and Uncle Keith. We were so glad to have family to celebrate with! DSC_7649copy_zps3985fca3 A few words about Harper: Harper is about the cutest, most obnoxious kid around. She is very demanding and has found yelling to be quite to her liking. She loves to sleep (and often asks to go down for a nap) and hates to eat. She has a great sense of humor and is often joking and being silly with us. She loves stuffed animals and soft things so much that Chris is often worried that she is going to suffocate herself with the pile of them she has in her crib. She thinks it is downright unfair that Elliot gets to go to school and she doesn't, so we have instituted "Girl Time." Basically that means that when Elliot leaves in the morning, I look at Harper and say, "Girl time!" and she smiles and says, "no Elliot! No Daddy!" And, generally, we enjoy our girl time.

 Harper is strong-willed, sweet, funny, and feisty -- and I am glad she is part of our family! Photobucket

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Our House

For my mom, who hasn't seen pictures yet.

Living Room:
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Living Room/Entry:
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View from the front door:
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My painted thrift store buffet:
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Kitchen/Empty Family Room:
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Elliot's Not-So-Secret TV post-bedtime watching spot:
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A Quick Weekend Away

Since Tamarra claimed today that "she was forgetting what my children look like," I thought it might be time to do a quick update on the blog.

First things first: we moved to Texas. So far, we like it. It is surprisingly more cosmopolitan than we expected and we haven't said "ya'll" once yet! Of course, we miss NY (especially the people!) like crazy. But it is safe to say, Elliot has gone native.

We also realized recently that, hey, we have a car now. We can go places! So this weekend we took a quick trip up to San Antonio. Here is how it played out.

Bonding in the hotel room over the iPad. Nothing brings siblings together faster than Apple products. DSC_7450copy Feeding the dolphins at Sea World. It is safe to say this is one of the coolest things I've ever done. I was way, WAY more excited about it than the kids. DSC_7479copy DSC_7467copy Waiting in 99 degree heat for the seal and otter show. Totally worth it! DSC_7508copy The Alamo DSC_7512 Testing to see if cacti are, in fact, prickly. (They are.) DSC_7523copy

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Another Item for my List

6.  I will not miss the terrible customer service that pervades the city.  Today I was in the McDonald's on 71st and Broadway.  After waiting in the line for ten minutes with two crabby kids, desperate for happy meals, I got to the front of the line only to be told that they were out of ketchup.  McDonalds was out of ketchup.  McDonalds!  I looked at the check-out woman and said, "you have got to be kidding me."  At which point the woman looked at me, told me to quit whining and walked away.  And didn't come back!  She just left me standing there, until five minutes later, I decided she wasn't coming back and left.

(We ended up going to Patsy's instead.  I will miss Patsy's.)

Note to the employees of McDonald's, Fairway, Macy's, Duane Reade Pharmacy (especially you, 69th St. store), and countless other establishments: stop act like I am putting you out by bringing you my business.  I am trying to give you money.  And no, I should not have to bow and grovel before you deign to take it.



Thursday, May 17, 2012

The Bad Things about New York

Someone recently told me that when you move away from the city, all you can remember are the good things about living here. Since I love NY, I am sure I will be guilty of this. So this list is for those days when I'm missing the city like crazy and can't remember why we ever left it.

1. Paying over $4k in rent. For a large one-bedroom apartment. Oh and that rent? Our management said it would have likely gone up 10% at the end of our lease in October due to the city's soaring rental market. (Funny -- I don't mind living in a large one-bedroom apartment. I just mind paying that much for it.)

2. Running down the street pushing a stroller and screaming "stop at the corner!" at the top of my lungs. 

3. Elliot sleeping in a closet. Yes, it's true.

4. One bathroom. There are few things less pleasant than being in the middle of something only to have Elliot knock on the door screaming, "I have to go PEE!"

 5. January and February.

 And that's all I can think of! Help me, people!

***Late Night Addition***

My friend, Christie, responded to my cry for help with this little gem: 8.4 Million New Yorkers Suddenly Realize.  Be warned -- the language in it is truly terrible.  That said, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.  My favorite part is about the slow walkers.  I have so been there.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Miss Harper

Harper looks like this a lot these days. Good thing she was a perfect baby. There's still some good-will left in her account from those 6 hours stretches of sleep she started at four weeks. Untitled

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

A Very Un-Boring Birthday to Chris

Chris is 32 today. As he pointed out this morning, this is a very boring age to turn. So I thought I’d make it a little less boring by telling you all a few un-boring things about Chris. Normally, I wouldn’t do this. Chris is not the public tribute sort of guy. But, since hardly anyone reads this anyway, we’ll consider this only semi-public.

1. Chris “doesn’t like people.” If you know Chris well at all, you’ve probably heard him say this about himself. He hates chit-chat. If you sit next to him on a plane, he won’t talk to you. He often pretends that he doesn’t see Elliot’s friend and her mom across the street as they walk to school so he won’t have to cross over and talk to her. The funny thing about this, however, is that he secretly loves people. He has more friends than I do. He calls and keeps in touch with them on a regular basis. He constantly worries about hurting people’s feelings. He is about the most charming and loyal friend you could have.
2. Lots of things make Chris “uncomfortable.” This is a favorite word of Chris’s. A few things that make Chris uncomfortable are: having his feet under the covers at night, wearing pants that “touch his thighs”, Harper’s hair in her eyes, the wrong amount of lighting when watching TV, virtual clutter, crunch in his food, and when I watch TV in my jeans instead of pajamas,
3. Chris has about a billion interests. This is one of my favorite things about him. You name a subject and he probably knows a little about it and is interested in it. He likes zoos, wildlife, wildlife shows, TV in general, music (he can play the piano, guitar, bass, drums, and clarinet – with varying degrees of proficiency), philosophy, politics, super heroes, sports, Star Wars, and literature, to name a few. This makes him a very un-boring person to be married to.
4. Chris loves TV. The man literally gets giddy when he hears the Amazing Race theme song. The day Community was shelved was one of the darkest days he’s had in a while.
5. Along the same line, Chris is a Tivo Jedi. He times his fast-forwarding (even on the fastest setting) perfectly. This is a talent he is quite proud of, and is therefore extremely annoyed when a commercial “fakes him out” by employing someone from the show we are watching. In fact, I’d say it makes him “uncomfortable.”

I could go on and on about what a great dad he is (he’ll play batman or Thomas for hours!), what a great husband he is (he wakes up with the kids at night!), and how much I love him, but that would be boring.

So instead, I’ll just wish him a very un-boring 32nd birthday. I love you, babe.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Thoughts on the Big Move

My friend Natalie shared this link with me, and I thought I'd post it here since it sums up exactly how I feel about leaving New York.

http://www.hitherandthither.net/2012/03/break-ups-are-hard.html

Here's to a long-term relationship and only occasional crying when listening to Empire State of Mind.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Texas Forever

Chris just accepted a job in Dallas. We are moving to Texas!

This is bittersweet, of course. While we are very excited about the job and the new adventure, we are super bummed to be leaving NYC. We've spent seven of the ten years we've been married here and it truly feels like home.

But, as Tim Riggins would say, "Texas forever!"

(If you have not watched Friday Night Lights, get on that immediately.)

Monday, February 20, 2012

Week in the Life - Tuesday

Two things:

1. Sorry for the editing. I'm protecting the innocent (and Chris's dignity. He runs shirtless.)
2. Sorry this is 10 billion pages. I know my life is not that interesting. For some reason, I got a little picture happy this day.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentines Day

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Elliot added to the charm of this card we made for Chris by drawing a picture of (and I quote) "a guy tooting on another guy's head."

Happy Valentines Day.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Lately

Harper's favorite things to say are "what's that?" and "ouieee!"

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Week in the Life - Saturday

Done! Week in the Life - Winter 2012 coming soon. (I am crazy, I know.)

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Week in the Life - Friday

One more day to go!

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Week in the Life - Thursday

I am finally finishing this! Next time around, I am taking no longer than a month to put it together. You forget too much stuff if you don't get it down quickly (I took notes while I was doing it -- but some things, like the ridiculous names of all of Elliot's butterflies weren't in there.)

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