Two Years.

It's been two years and a few days since I started this blog. I started on the inspiration of my friend who had a blog to keep in touch with her family in Florida and I thought it would be great for me to do the same. At the time we had just "set up" our living room and got a new rug (love Target!) and I really wanted to show Cody's parents the pictures so I created a blog so the whole family could see what we were up to without the unsolicited and unnecessary emailing of random living room pictures to all our family. And so it goes from there.

Since then the two years were some of fastest to pass at times and slowest to pass at others. A few months after the inception of the blog, Cody and I were (finally) engaged. I can still remember almost every second of that day - it was one of the best ever - I'd probably rank it above the wedding - though the wedding was the day we "actually" committed, the engagement was the start of all that. After that was the whirlwind of wedding planning (fondly referred to as "Hell Year"). Luckily there was a great break in the madness/wedding planning and we got to go to Germany for the World Cup for a few weeks. It was fantastic to really get to travel with Cody (somewhere besides Panama City Beach) and see his extended family - they were, of course, awesome. Upon our return, it was back to wedding planning and then finally that was all over in the blink of an eye. Just a blink for all that time and stress. Since it's been life as usual - busy but fun. Cody's now back in school, working hard on his studies but enjoying it at least. We've been trying to enjoy more of what St. Louis has to offer so we've been hanging out at the State Parks, historical sites, museums, etc. - saw a lot of things we wouldn't have otherwise. So, just like that two years has come and gone.

Tim Tebow

Quick post. Lots going on but it will have to wait since I am BEAT from the weekend in Memphis. We went down to Memphis on Friday, partied on Beale, then to the Gator game in Oxford, Mississippi against Ole Miss (we try to see one Gator game a year and this one was close), almost cried when we almost lost, back to Beale on Saturday night, toured Memphis today and back to St. Louis. The moral of the weekend: Tim Tebow is God - or at least his 2nd child. I found these funny Tebow sayings online and I thought I would share:

Life doesn't give Tim Tebow lemons. Life asks him which fruit he wants.

Tim Tebow doesn't bowl strikes, he just knocks down one pin and the other nine faint.

Tim Tebow can eat just one Lay's Potato Chip. Don't tell Tim what he can't do.

Some people wear Superman pajamas. Superman wears Tim Tebow pajamas.

There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Tim Tebow lives in Florida.

God wanted to create the world in 10 days, Tim Tebow gave him 6.

What color is Tim Tebow's blood? Trick question. Tim Tebow does not bleed.

It takes Tim Tebow 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.

Bo knows football. Bo knows baseball. Bo does not know Tim Tebow.

Tim Tebow's tears can cure cancer ... but he's never cried. Ever.

Tim Tebow is so fast, he can run around the Earth and stiff-arm himself in the back.

The primary ingredient in Red Bull is Tim Tebow's sweat.

'Icy-Hot' is too weak for Tim Tebow. After a game, Tim Tebow rubs his muscles down with liquid-hot magma.

On a hot day, you can find Tim Tebow swimming in Lake Alice and biting the alligators.

When Tim Tebow does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down.

If at first you don't succeed, you're not Tim Tebow.

Superman's weakness is Kryptonite. Tim Tebow laughs at Superman for having a weakness.

As for us, the quote of the trip was driving from Memphis to Oxford on Saturday morning: Cody says "This place is a Crap Hole, everyone has a broken down old pick-up in their front yard. Oh, wait, that one has a broken down bus."

Fun trip - more on it later. :)

Why I Hate/Love Our Old House

We live in an old house -very old. Like older then Cody's 98 year old Great-Grandma (that still amazes me every time I think about it). For those not from STL a quick lesson: St. Louis City is not part of The County (it's not part of any county), it's called an "Independent City" - then there is St. Louis County made up of a zillion little municipalities - "The County" is where urban sprawl hell happened - these people have larger yards, larger (and cheaper) homes, better schools and an hour drive to work. When we went to buy a house we thought about buying a "new" or "newer" house in "The County" - we looked at a lot - they were nice - in nice, safe neighborhoods - with nice, safe schools - and generally nice, new or newer stuff. Then we looked at the city. It's gritty (about to be named - again - one of the top 5 most dangerous cities in the country - I can't believe I'm not dead yet!), it's a mess at times, the schools suck (good thing we don't have kids and won't any time soon with Cody in school now), and the houses are old. Very old - like ours. But we loved it. My drive to work is about five minutes. Our house has all these cool old quirks that you can't get with a new house.
First, we swear there are dead bodies buried in our backyard since we hit stuff when we dig and we are close to "The Hill" where all the Italians live - and we assume if you're Italian, you're in the mob and if you're in the mob you kill people and need places to bury them - hense my backyard (don't mean to offend all my Italian readers - hell, everyone thinks I'm German now and asks me how much I drink). Then there is the statute of Mary that is seriously cemented in the ground at least two feet. Someone, likely 100 years ago thought they would go to Hell if their statute of Mary fell over in a tornado so they put at least three bases of concrete to hold her in at least two feet underground - add that to the rebar that runs through her- she's never moving.
So there are things I love and things I hate about our old house:
1. I hate that our walls all took two coats of paint when we painted them. But I love that they are different then new house walls.
2. I hate that our wood floors look like they're 100 years old. But I love that they're 100 years old.
3. I hate the heavy pocket door between the living room and hall way. But I love the pocket door.
4. I hate that when Cody runs on the treadmill upstairs it shakes the chandelier in the dining room below. But I love that our dining room has the really old ceilings they had before electricitiy and they hung lamps.
5. I hate the way you can hear the water running in the entire house if there is anywhere there is water running. But I love that they even figured out how to get running water in this old of a house.
6. I hate that the upstairs is always hotter then downstairs and the insulation sucks. But I love that we have central heat and air.
7. I hate that the porch is taking two coats of paint to repaint (trying to finish at least one of my 30 projects before Cody's parents visit so they don't totally think all I do is start and never finish projects). But I love that the wood that is drinking my paint is a zillion years old.
8. I hate the way our house looks like a barn (it's barn shaped). But I love the way they don't even make houses this shape anymore.
9. I hate the way the circuit blows if you try to run the microwave, refrigerator and toaster on the same circuit at the same time. But I love laughing at those "quirks."
10. I hate the floors that squeak (our kids will NEVER be able to sneak out undetected). But I love that the house is held up by wood and brick older then anyone I know.

Basically for everything I complain about this old house, I love something else about it even more. One day I'm sure we'll have kids in live in suburbia (or maybe not), but for now we're really digging our funky old house in the city. It's got character - and spunk. And while at some point there may have been others just like it - with the same floor plan and stuff - at this point they've all be rehabbed so many times that I doubt there's even one left with our exact floorplan - so it's unique too. :)

....plus it's actually made with real brick so in the event of tornado hopefully we'll still be standing - or at least hiding in our creapy basement (yeah, since the house is old, we have a basement, but it can't be finished - limestone walls and 6 foot ceilings - so it's creapy - but still cool for someone from Florida not used to basements)

Day Three

I've made it a whole three days (almost - officially Day Three ends when I go to sleep)! I'm an addict - nothing easy to kick like crack (just a joke - I don't personally know about how hard it is to kick crack) - sugar. I have seriously had sugar every day since the wedding. And that's not unusual. Not a boat load daily - but something. I usually like a little chocolate after lunch so I keep Dove dark chocolate squares in a co-worker's office (I can't keep them in my office or the whole bag would be gone by noon) and I like to eat one (or two or three) after lunch - around 2pm I get the craving. Or sometimes I just like something sweet at home - Gummy Snacks (100% of your daily Vitamin C requirements!), Skinny Cow ice cream bars (probably not real sugar in these but it tastes like it), or something of the sort - I've given up huge ice cream sundaes, or even ice cream in general (I do get an occassional Ted Drewes custard - mini size - when we're that way) and I try to stay on the healthier (aka less calorie) side of sugar but I still can't make it a day without it. Years ago I could eat all the sugar I wanted and nothing happened - not these days - gotta watch that whole calories in v. calories out - a sick part of life but necessary so I can live to be 98 (like Cody's Great-Grandma who turned 98 last weekend - what a woman!!!).
So I realized that I really need to at least make a feable attempt to kick this habit or at least get it in check. So on Tuesday I decided no sugar. I made it - as long as you don't count the sugar in wine since I had a glass of wine to get me through my "withdrawal." Wednesday I made it - without the wine - though I did eat a yogurt (natural sugar) and grapes (more natural sugar) to kill the craving. Today I'm back to wine. So I guess I'm really just giving up "added" sugar or "refined" sugar - at least making an attempt to cut back on the damn stuff - can't avoid all the natural sugars.
Anyway, that's a lot of babble to say I'm working to cut back on my sugar consumption - that should tell you how big this is for me. I seriously love sugar. I gave up fried food years ago, I can avoid salty stuff (chips and stuff), but that sugar gets me every day. So it's been a hard fought few days but hopefully it will get easier. :)

Sunday - aka Fun with Photos

These are in reverse chronological order because I'm a moron an can't figure out how to move then around once they are already in the blog editor thing. Oh well. :)
This picture makes me want to have kids. She had such a wonderful time just staring at the monkey/ape/gorilla/orangutan - it was adorable. I really hope our future children have this much curiousity and awe for new things.
This one was called "Facination with Penguins." She loved those penguins (and elephants and mongooses (which she just called "gooses" and which we could not figure out if they were properly termed "mongeese" or "mongooses" - turns out the latter is correct) and bears and ants and rocks and leaves and water and just about everything). It was really really cool to see.

Yes, I am still obsessed with the baby elephants. You can see she is getting bigger now! One of them actually went swimming - the first time I saw an elephant swim (and it was chilly out). Anyway, can't say enough about baby elephants.

This was a smily face built in concrete in the ground at the Sculpture Park. Each facial orafice was a bench too so you could sit in it (see Cody sitting in the mouth). Very cool.

Here is Cody climbing on "Lawsuit Waiting to Happen." Apparently it's made out of discarded oil drums or something - pretty cool.

We named this one "Lawsuit Waiting to Happen." Then Cody had to, of course, go climb on it. Go figure. Pretty cool though - reminded us sort of the "French Fries" in G'ville (those from UF will get this). :)

Weekend Fun.

Last week was long. Very long. But, alas, Friday finally came as it always seems to do - fancy that. So we decided that since Cody was (almost) caught up on school work we were going to enjoy the weekend the best we could.

Friday we walked over to Balloon Glow - for those not in STL, every year there is a massive hot air balloon race where all these balloons "chase" the Energizer Bunny balloon on Saturday. Well, the Friday before they set up all the balloons, along with all sorts of fair type events in Forest Park and let you wander around and check out the balloons - since it's at night they call it "Balloon Glow" since the balloons glow when they turn on the flame stuff to make them big. Anyway, we walked over there (because we rock and can walk to Forest Park) and had a good time checking out the balloons.

Saturday was the first big Gator game. Since we all miss G'ville (or at least Florida, since face it, after you hit 22, you're "old" in G'ville), the Gator Club (of which Cody is VP and I have somehow become Treasurer - and I don't even balance my own bank account) does a tailgate before the Tennessee game each year - food and beers and friends and fun. It was a little chilly this year (I've used the heater in my car four times already in the last week) but still fun. The game was supposed to be a good one - a hard fought win - not so much. We kicked some Volunteer butt. Not too much of a game but fun to hang out with the Gator crowd. We even have two new, appointed members of the Gator Club - Steve and Melanie - they're our recruits and they rock as Gators even though they've never been to G'ville!

Sunday was Fun Outside. We started at Laumeier Sculpture Park - very cool place to wander, explore and hang out. We had a great time hiking around the fields and the woods checking out the art stuff - much cooler then I thought it would be. Then we went to the Zoo (one of my favorite places in STL) with our friends Meghan and Danny and their adorable almost-two year-old! She was so damn cute at the zoo - she would wave at the animals and then put her hands on the glass and stare at them - there are some great pictures (see next blog). We had a fabulous time hanging out with them. Then Sunday evening I made dinner - a small modern miracle. I've actually been trying to cook more lately since Cody is in school and I was spending over $45 a week on buying lunch so I'm trying to make dinners that we can just the left-overs for lunch. Last week I made Cajun Corn Chowder which wasn't bad and then Garlic Shrimp Pasta that surprisingly Cody liked okay but I thought it was crap. Then Sunday I made Lasagna Roll-Ups - it's a healthier and easier version of lasagna and it actually turned out pretty good. My pizza and mac and cheese boy has actually turned into quite the health food conisour which makes my life a whole lot easier. So I'm trying to learn to cook - but it's a slow process. :)

Today after work we went to the Cardinals game - had a great time though when we left they were losing pretty bad. Not that we particularly cared - we drank beer, ate pretzels and talked the whole time.

So life is supremely good right now.

Why I Practice Law

Almost every day I wake up, typically "too early" for my liking. And every day I get ready for work and while driving to work I wonder why in the world I practice law. Every day I wonder if this is what I should be doing. After reading this, the answer is yes. The day I cease finding this funny, I will cease my practice of law. Here's the link, but in case you don't feel like clicking on it, I've copied the good parts. If you're a lawyer and don't laugh at this, maybe it's time to get out. :)

Chambers says senators periodically have offered bills prohibiting the filing of certain types of suits. He says his main objection is the constitution requires that the doors to the courthouse be open to all. Chambers said, "Thus anybody can file a lawsuit against anybody - even God."

Chambers said he decided to file this lawsuit after a suit was filed in early September in federal court against Lancaster County Judge Jeffre Cheuvront. He's the judge who was hearing a sexual assault case, where the woman wants to use the words "rape and victim" during her testimony.

Chambers lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in Douglas County Court, seeks a permanent injunction ordering God to cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats.
The lawsuit admits God goes by all sorts of alias, names, titles and designations and it also recognizes the fact that the defendant is “Omnipresent”.

In the lawsuit Chambers says he’s tried to contact God numerous times, “Plaintiff, despite reasonable efforts to effectuate personal service upon Defendant (“Come out, come out, wherever you are”) has been unable to do so.”

The suit also requests that the court given the “peculiar circumstances” of this case waive personal service. It says being Omniscient, the plaintiff assumes God will have actual knowledge of the action.

The lawsuit accuses God “of making and continuing to make terroristic threats of grave harm to innumerable persons, including constituents of Plaintiff who Plaintiff has the duty to represent.”
It says God has caused, “fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects, and the like.”

The suit also says God has caused, “calamitous catastrophes resulting in the wide-spread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth’s inhabitants including innocent babes, infants, children, the aged and infirm without mercy or distinction.”
Chambers also says God “has manifested neither compassion nor remorse, proclaiming that Defendant “will laugh” when calamity comes.

Chambers asks for the court to grant him a summary judgment. He says as an alternative, he wants the judge to set a date for a hearing as “expeditiously” as possible and enter a permanent injunction enjoining God from engaging in the types of deleterious actions and the making of terroristic threats described in the lawsuit.

Now that we can sue God, I'd like to also sue my cat, Mr. Pickles.

Photo Blog

Last weekend, again because we wanted to walk and get outside, we went to Castlewood State Park. They have a great trail/hike up to the top of this cool bluff that overlooks the Meramec River (the brown watery thing in the picture). The river was really muddy because of all the rain recently but it was still a great hike and a lot of fun. Always good to get outside and breathe- especially when the fall is breathing down your neck (today's high was less then 70 degrees - brrrr).

Since Labor Day weekend is the official end of everything cool here (opps, I mean summer) that means that The Zoo starts closing at 5pm again instead of 7pm. So we took our last opportunity to go to Zoo Nights and check out the animals after work. Of course, Cody loves the goats. Apparently The Zoo goats aren't as great as the Grant's Farm goats though. We got to watch the hippos swim around, pet the goats, see the baby cheetas (which aren't so babyish anymore) and catch all the normal faves.

A few weekends ago we wanted to get outside for a nice walk (we're into walking now since I can run) so we drove out to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. Apparently this is pretty historic and stuff and was part of the old Route 66 back in the day. The bridge no longer carries traffic and has been turned into a historic site/park where you can bike/ride over it and check out the Mississipppi - great scenery if you have the time.

Knee Update.

Yes, I still hate my knee and am anxiously awaiting the WebMD article about the newest and bestest Bionic Knees that last forever and that are better then normal knees. But until then:
I had the MRI on Thursday - no torn meniscus but the IT band and a thing called the Poplilus (sp?) tendon have "bright spots." I suppose that's doctor speak for inflammation. So back to Square One (anyone old enough to remember that show - only if you were told PBS was the only station we got (which was almost true) by your parents and therefor actually watched PBS). I started seeing the chiropractor yesterday (contrary to Cody's insistence they do more then crack bones) - he "released" the tendons so damn hard (deep tissue massage I think he called it) that I have a bruise bigger then my hand on the side of my leg/knee. But allegedly it should break up the scar tissue that's tightening/injuring/hurting my tendons. Today I started back to physical therapy - more butt/leg strengthening. You'd think with a butt as big as mine (I look nothing like my mom's side of the family - except that I have the "Booth Butt" as they call it (the family name is "Booth") - thanks guys for the extra large butt - I couldn't get the green eyes or something cool - but the large butt!) that it would have to be pretty strong- wrong assumption. Apparently a weak butt leads to weak hips which while you may have the strongest quads known to women, leads to legs/knees that turn inward, thus putting strain on said knees and tendons. Too complicated - just fix my damn knee already! Anyway, back to physical therapy some more to see if we can get this thing working like normal. I swear this is really wearing on me - it's so frustrating to love to do something and not be able to do it.

Five months.

So I've been married five whole months now (and 4 days)! That makes me 1/5 a bigger expert on marriage then I was last month. :) A few notes/things I've learned about our married lives:

1. There are some tough decisions in life where there are no right or wrong answers. Actually there are decisions where there are no answers at all and you still have to figure out what to do. Being married makes these decisions easier - or if nothing else, at least when you make the wrong one you always have someone to blame.

2. Boys, especially boy engineers, are different. For instance, what do you call the things that stay in each person's car that you snap a baby's car seat into? I swear to you that 99 out of 100 people would say "base." Because it's the base for the car seat. Not an engineer - it's a "docking station." For some reason I think that is fan-didly-tastic hilarious.

3. There will never be enough time in the world to spend with the people you love. Cody and I could live to be 400 and it still wouldn't be enough time. My greatest fear in life is the day he dies (morbid, yes, but chances are, barring any disaster, he, as a male and tall, will die before me) and I have to go at it alone.

4. Our kids will most definitely: a) Go to UF (or Ivy League), b) love and/or be good at math, c) have thick, brown, curly hair, d) have enough energy to fill an ocean (we both move non-stop - case in point: Cody, while talking to his parents Sunday night, proceeded to stir (non-stop) my soup that instructed me to "stir ocassionally" - that was one mixed up soup), e) probably love their beer a bit too much, f) like sports/moving around/sweating/athletics, g) hate TV (or at least not love it since they will have very limited access to it, given our now one television), h) be eons behind technology (we have ancient cell phones, a PlayStation One, and a 25 inch TV), i) love their health food - either that or they won't eat :) . I'm sure there's more but I can't think of them now.

5. Cody's thing he's learned since getting married: That officially getting married changed nothing. It was the committement we made before getting married that was important. The decision to spend the rest of our lives together was much more important then the wedding and/or marriage, except that it made insurance and taxes easier. The big deicsion/change for him was proposing and making that leap. The actually marriage wasn't that big.

6. That you just have to work things out. Whether it be money or school or work or chores or friends or the cats, you just have to work it out - and nicely - because you'll presumably be together forever and there are no do-overs and things you say can have life-long impacts, so choose those words very carefully and if you aren't in a position to chose words carefully then just walk away.

7. That still, after five months, it's so much easier (and more fun and relaxing) then I ever thought possible.

Happy Five Months - and counting!

Dilly Beans.

One day we're going to be farmers. Farmers with a lot of school debt and too many college degrees.
First we got the garden. It's a tiny little garden but really wonderful. We truly enjoy our little plot of earth. It takes a good bit of work at times and almost daily walk-throughs to make sure everything is okay, to pick the ripe stuff, pick of anything bad, check water levels, and inspect for bugs, but it's all worth it because when we pick something particually cool looking we look at each other and say "We made this!"
Then we started in on the salsa. We love making this salsa that we sort of created. We try to grow as many of the ingredients as possible but still have to buy the black beans and corn (contrary to popular belief, just because we live in Missouri, we do not have corn nor cows). It's another labor of love. We sit around and chop for what seems like hours and then dig in. We tweek it each time to see what we like and what we don't.
So we'd decided when we get old and retire we're going to be that couple at the Farmer's Market that sells peppers (all sorts - we're great at growing peppers - if you like Banana Peppers, we have dozens- we'll bring you some), other veggies we grow and salsa.
Well, now we have another ware to peddle. Dilly Beans. I had never heard of these things in my life (and I grew up in the SOUTH!) until we went to Wisconsin and visited Uncle Bob (the same Uncle Bob that is trying to convince me to let Cody get a giant pig shaped grill/roasting thing - it shoots the steam out of its pig nose). Uncle Bob had made these pickled green beans with some sort of crazy hot pepper (Cody is obsessed with the hottest peppers he can find) and Cody was in love. So last month we tried our first batch. I can't personally attest to their quality as a) I'm not big on pickled things (except Mr. Pickles, of course) and b) I hate hot stuff about as much as Cody loves it, but Cody was impressed enough to do 8 more jars. So we went to the grocery store, basically bought them out of green beans (sorry if you tried to go to the Hampton Schnucks and buy green beans - we have them all) - over 7 pounds of beans - and came home and set up a big pickleing assembly line. We made 8 large mason jars full and tested them today to make sure they were properly sealed (I've had to teach Cody all about sealing/freezing/canning foods) and sure enough we were 8 for 8 - they all sealed perfectly! So now they are hiding in the basement to do whatever chemical stuff goes on. Added to the 2 jars we did before that gives Cody a jar a month until green beans come back in season.
Oh, yes, we do plan to plant as many green beans as our yard will fit next year. We're going to have the biggest City garden ever (our lot isn't measured in acres or fractions thereof - too small - I think our yard dementions are actually expressed in feet)!!!!

My Family

Wow this sure is a loaded topic. :) My family has changed and grown a lot over the past year. First, Cody and I were (finally) married. My family effectively doubled, though since I already have divorced parents, I already had 3 families (mom, dad, step-mom families) and Cody only had two, so I guess my family only grew by 2/3, instead of a whole 100%. Anyway, I couldn't be happier with my in-laws. There is serioulsy not one of them I don't like - they are fabulous! They treat me just like I have always been family and are just fabulous. Our family continues to grow on his side - Cody's cousin just had twins and two more cousins are due with babies in the next few months!
In May the family grew again. David and Kim had another baby girl! They are two of the greatest parents I've ever seen. The now have three gorgeous girls (and I'm not just biased because they're my nieces - they are seriously gorgeous - super model gorgeous) and they love them more then you can imagine. Their patience is mind-boggling.
Then sometime in either June or July my mom got married. I'm not sure of the exact date because a) I wasn't told of the event until some time later, b) I wasn't invited and c) I haven't bothered to ask because I suppose if I'm not invited to a wedding I don't have to send a gift or anniversary card. To be fair, they didn't tell any of the family - not just me. I doubt I'll ever understand that but then again, it's not mine to understand. That was their choice and I've just got to deal. Anyway, I now have another step-family. I can't really comment on them because I haven't met them. I know I have two step-sisters but I don't really know much about them. I have met my step-father twice, but that's it there. So I guess my family grew again!
But then this weekend we had even more excitement! Our family grew again - but no babies or marriages. We actually found out we had another member we just didn't know about. You see, my grandma's sister, had a kid when she was younger (and unmarried). These days that's really no big deal at all. I bet we can all name at least five people who have gotten pregnant/had babies without being married or even keeping in touch the guy, but not back then. Back then it was not really heard of. Apparently the guy was in the military and as my grandma put it, when a guy got a girl "in trouble" (her words) his choices were to marry her or be transferred out of that base. Guess this dude didn't want either so he hurried up and married his long-term fiancee (real cool fella, huh?) and she gave the baby up - and then returned home as if nothing had happened. Again, these days that is pretty unheard of but back then it was just the way they did things - heck, they didn't even have internet! :) Anyway, no one in my family knew (except my great-grandma) and life went on. Well, at some point my grandma figured it out but never told anyone. Until this weekend.
On Saturday a lady and her friend showed up on my grandma's doorstep wanting to "investigate geneoglogy." Sucks for those two because my mom and grandma are geneology nuts - seriously. So they talked these ladies heads off about geneology when it finally came up that . . . (drum roll please) . . . the lady was my grandma's niece!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!! So they all yelled "Oh my God!" a lot and hugged and I'm sure some crying went on. Then they called my grandma's other niece (my "aunt" - in the south everyone older then you in an "aunt" or "uncle" and everyone your age is a "cousin" - so even though she's technically some kid of cousin, she's still my "aunt"), who found out she had a new half-sister that she never knew about - so of course she drove over and more hugging ensued. They then called my aunt's two brothers and let them on the "oh, by the way, I'm talking to your sister - nope, not that one - the one you never knew about - OH MY GOD! AHHH!" Then of course the entire family was called in turn and we all yelled "Ahhh.... OH my GOD!!" and thought how cool it is.
So, yup I have even more family then I ever knew!! How fun!!! The only sad thing is that she lives near Tampa (about four hours away) so they can't all hang out more and get to know each other. I think we might try to do a big family Thanksgiving so we can all hang out and meet our newest additions! Anyway, I think this is totally cool and find it so neat to find family we have never met! WELCOME NEW AUNT RITA!!!

Catch Up (not Ketchup).

First, I swear I was something like 25 before I learned the proper spelling of "ketchup" - it's actually a pretty tough one. Now "convenience" - that is one that I still cannot spell without spell check - and even then it still takes me 5 minutes just to get close enough for spell check to figure out what I'm talking about. One day when we have kids, bless their little brains because they will be the worst spellers ever - between Cody and I we can barely spell our names most days. :) But damn will they ROCK at math!

In other, no as random news, here's our life lately. Friday I had a orthopedic appointment for my knee - still hurts - now he's confused as to what is wrong so I have an MRI scheduled for tomorrow (of course the week of waiting was torture) to see if we can figure it out and fix it once and for all. I keep telling him I just want some kind of new age Bionic Knee replacement but no such luck because it doesn't exist yet. :(
So after getting into work late (since we only have one car, Cody came to my appointment and then I took him to work) we left early (what a great Friday) and went to The Zoo! As most of you know, I LOVE the Zoo! In the summer (in the north that is strictly defined as Memorial Day to Labor Day no matter what the astronomers/weather people say about Solstices and Equinoxes) the zoo is open until 7pm instead of 5pm, which is wonderful because then I can ride my bike or run (back when I could run) up there whenever I want and watch/stalk the baby elephants (by far my favorite right now). So Cody gave in and we went to the Zoo - it was actually pretty fun and we got to see the last Friday Night Concert Series at the Zoo so that was cool. The animals were all very cool as usual. Then we went out to eat (a rare treat lately) at a cheap/wonderful Greek place to relax. Then we sat up most of the night (until well past midnight) working on my Illinois Bar Application - what a jammin' fun time that was.

Saturday we woke up too darn early to get my Application notarized and get it mailed off in time. Then we just barely made kickoff for the Florida game at Ozzie's (we watch the game at Ozzie's because 1) we dont' have cable, 2) these early games are only on satelite, and 3) we get to hang out with our rockin' Gator friends). The game was great and we had a good time. Plus Notre Dame lost and Michigan lost to freakin' Appalacian State (they are a IIA team)! So a fun first week of football. The rest of Saturday we slept -no kidding - we slept a good 8 hours when we got home, woke up and ate and then slept some more.

Sunday Cody met with his school group to write a paper, I babysat for a friend's almost-two-year-old (adorable and TONS of fun!!) and we went to a friend's party - good times.

Monday was more group work for Cody for school and I went into work. So much for Labor Day and a three day weekend, huh? But I got a lot done on my brief, which I finally finished last night. Usually briefs aren't that big of a deal - they take a long time to write but they're fairly straightforward. This one needed to be 25 pages and mine was 36 so the hardest part was just getting it down. Finally managed to do that last night.

Well, Cody needs the computer so he can do more school work so that's it for today.

p.s. David - thanks for the google links (docs and calendar) - they are AWESOME!!!

Forget it.

I have a list of posts here to write. But seeing that I just got done with work (finally finished my brief!!) and it took me over 30 minutes to get on internet and pull up this page, I'm done for the night. Maybe tomorrow I'll have better luck.