Float Trip!

In reverse chronological order, on to Saturday's events (those I suppose on the blog this will read in chronological order).
Saturday we went float tripping. Or on a float trip as most people say - I love the phrase "float tripping" though. Anyway, for those not from Missouri, let me explain. Down in southern-ish MO, there are a bunch of "rivers." These are not like the Florida rivers I'm used to like the Suwanne, St. Johns, Appalacicola, etc. They are more like glorified streams, just deep enough in most places for a canoe to travel. You really can't boat on these "rivers" because they're just too shallow. Anyway, people here like to get a bunch of beer, Jell-O shots, booze, whatever will possibly get them the drunkest the quickest (lest I remind you I live in the state that is the nation's leader in meth so these locals like their substances), rent canoes/kayaks/rafts and float down these "rivers" - they call it going on a "float trip."
Anyway, it's actually quite a fun time once you get over the drunk/obnoxious locals. The rivers are really pretty and it's nice and relaxing to get outside and get some sun (something I sorely miss living in Missouri). I typically like to go "float tripping" on Sunday's to minimize the locals disturbance, but since soccer has been every Sunday it just hasn't worked out. So we got together with Dude and went canoe and kayaking yesterday on the Big Piney river. It was a great time. Everyone got a good bit of sun and Cody and Dude got a good bit of drinking in (I was the driver for those two fools - lucky me). We managed to gather quite a few rocks for the turtle tank as well as about 8 minnows for the tank. They will end up eating some of them (which is fine since we forget to feed them all the time), but some will live happily with the turtles.
We did have a good bit of shallow parts/mild rapids due to the draught we have going on and we even managed to tip the canoe over, cooler and possessions included, once. We were going through a particularly swift part, hit a branch, the canoe and everything in it tipped over. We all got dragged along the rocks since the water was only about a foot and a half deep and lost everything down the river. Cody grabbed the canoe, got it on shore. I chased the cooler, kept it closed and got it on shore farther down and Dude got the kayak and collected all our floating belongings. So far all we've realized we're missing is one of my shoes. Not a huge loss - I have dozens of flip-flops. :) So, we're all a bit scraped, bruised and cut up today but it was all in good fun. :) It's a good story to tell at least.

Cardinal Sin

Since I've been told my blogs are too long, I'm going to break this one into several installments. The first is our adventure in Wal-Mart today.
First one of my biggest pet peaves, when it comes to myself, is making the same mistake twice, or three times or even more. I have no idea why I tend to do something stupid and then months later think it's a great idea and won't be stupid this time. Yeah right. Anyway, case in point - going to Wal-Mart on a Sunday evening.
I would love to get all my errands done on the weekdays. Every week I say I am going to save the fun stuff for the weekend and do all the tedious errands during the week. But sure enough, every week we end up at Wal-Mart Sunday afternoon, after Cody's soccer game. The Wal-Mart we got to is horrible on Sundays. It's packed, they're totally out of everything I ever need and it's just a stupid madhouse. But once, a while ago, we didn't make it there until the evening, not the afternoon as usual - it was 10 times worse. Absolutely horrible and I vowed never to do it again. I also vowed last year never to shop at Wal-Mart in late August/early September because of the insane "back to school" shoppers. I hate back to school shoppers.
Anyway, today Cody's team played their second playoff game, won, and then had to play in the Championship Game. Good news is they won the Championship for the first time, bad news was that put us leaving soccer later and thus getting to Wal-Mart around 7 or 7:30. It was miserable. The play was a wreck. They were out of most of the items on my list (yes, I'm a dork and go to the grocery store and Wal-Mart with a list), including fish filters, cat litter, toilet paper (the brand I like at least), the soap I like, etc. So, I committed my Cardinal Sin of making the same mistake twice (or more) - I should have known better then to go to Wal-Mart Sunday evening. Never again. And if I have to then I'm going to the one in Kirkwood and not in Brentwood (for all you STL people you'll get why).
On a less frustrating note, we went to Target afterwards and it was an amazingly peaceful experience. Plus they have this super cute gray pinstriped suit for $70. Unfortunately I left my giftcards at home and will have to go back - hopefully when Mommy visits this week - and try it on.
Congrats to Cody's soccer team, Tap This, for being the Champions in the Budsports Co-Ed Soccer League! Great job!

Back to School.

So, I'm debating going back to school - again. I'm not sure exactly why (maybe I should figure that out before paying even more money for a useless education), but I want to get as much education as I may need before I get too old to go back or have kids and not have enough time/money, etc. And I figure I may not always want to do law so I'm considering things that might expand my career possibilities. I think every time I get far enough out from being in school I miss it and want to go back, hence the law degree (and the inability to spell - is it "hense" or "hence"???). :)
For instance, I can get a Masters in Math, then I could teach math (in college, not K-12) or stay in law. I could go for a few more classes and get a Bachelor's in Engineering, then I could do engineering stuff if I ever so desire, or I could sit for the Patent Bar. I could go for a Masters in Computer Science (provided my minor in CS will get me into a program without too many prereqs), then I could teach math or computers, or sit for the Patent Bar. I could get an MBA, then I could do law or do law type business things. So many options. And such expensive options. I was looking at UF's online MBA program and knowing how affordable undergrad was I figured it would be as well. Nope. $39000 for the two year, online MBA program. Not what I call cheap. If I do go back to school, I would not be leaving work. I would want to do an evening/weekend/online program. It would be neat if Cody and I could do a program together and we could both get a degree, help each other out and have Boeing pay for his! Of course we'd still have to pay for mine since, aside from a great office with a view of Busch Stadium (and my rockin' secretary who can spell better then anyone you've ever met), I really get no perks at my job. None. Not even free internet time. But that's another story for another time. Anyway, that's my current debate.
Oh, today's "zone" was supposed to be both bathrooms, but I only finished the upstairs one. I figured we could not touch it until my mom gets here and only use the downstairs one and then I can just clean the bathroom downstairs right before she gets here. :) I did get both fish tanks in the living room clean though. So now we have all clean fish tanks - not counting the turtle tank though. :)

Is it murder if you kill a rock?

Tonight's "zone" was our bedroom. We picked that since, after the living room, it's pretty much the easiest room in the house to clean. Since it's crazy hot upstairs in the summer, to save on electricity, we sleep downstairs on the futon in the Boy Room - plus Cody swears the futon is better for his back. So the bedroom is pretty much just a big closet all summer. Anyway, we wanted an easy room tonight because (1) we're generally lazy if allowed to be, and (2) tonight was Party in the Park and we figured we'd better go, lest they cancel it again.
A quick Party in the Park lesson - for those of you not from STL, people go crazy here in the summer - the winter sucks so bad they try to fit in everything cool and fun into the few short summer months. One of those fun things is Party in the Park - it's just what it sounds like - in Shaw Park in Clayton (a really nice part of St. Louis) they set up a band, some food and beverage (read: beer, wine and booze) vendors and throw a party from 5 pm until 8pm - it's a sort of after work, extended outdoor happy hour. Anyway, it's the second Wednesday of each month and this summer it seems it always storms on the second Wednesday of the month so they cancel it and move it back to the next Wednesday. Unfortunately in July, the third Wednesday was an amazing heat advisory so they cancelled it all together for July. So we figured we better get one in before they're over or they cancel another one. So after work we headed up there and met up with friends - as usual a good time was had by all - especially since it was amazingly nice outside tonight!
Okay, back to cleaning. So tonight was our bedroom, which consisted mostly of putting away the multiple baskets of clean clothes and gathering the baskets of dirty ones. Then we put up my "pet net" a net type contraption that hangs from the ceiling/wall to put stuffed animals - yes, I still have a ton of stuffed animals and just not enough room to store them so the "pet net" works great - I get to keep my keepsakes and they're out the way, but not just sitting in bags in the basement.
Finally we had to deal with the salt water tank. Up until January (yes, JANUARY, 8 months ago), we had a salt water fish in the tank, Bubbles, who lived with just herself and her live rocks. You see, in salt water tanks, you put rocks that are alive - they actually are members of the salt water community and contribute to the tank environment. Well, in January Bubbles died - she was a few years old so she lived a good fish life - but instead of getting around to getting another fish we just left the rocks in the tank to live by themselves. Of course, in the past 8 months I haven't done much to keep that tank up to par, so it's sort of fallen in disrepair, if you will - until today while on my cleaning binge I decided we needed to do something with the tank. We had a few choices: (1) clean the tank (a big pain), change the water (an even bigger pain because now that I live in the Midwest I have to MAKE saltwater), and get a new fish (which then I would have to feed) or (2) be happy with the three tanks we already have, clean the tank and put it in the basement. The problem with (2) is what to do with the rocks. I would pretty much have to "kill" them. To "kill" rocks you either put them in bleach or put them in the sun outside a few days and that pretty much kills off anything living on them. For whatever stupid reason I just hated the thought of "killing" my rocks.
First, as an old anti-war friend described me during our war discussions, I'm pretty much a pacifist and hate killing - including rocks (thanks Adam if you ever read this!). I guess I could have donated them to a pet store to live in their tanks of for them to resell, but then it's like taking your cat or dog to the pound because you didn't think hard enough about the responsiblities of pet ownership when you got him/her and are now too lazy to take care of it. I didn't want to be THAT person. Second, live rocks are expensive and I just knew if I killed mine then I would decide in two weeks that I wanted to reset up the salt water tank and I would want to buy new rocks.
So, what did we do? We spent the better part of a few hours, draining the water, cleaning the tank, making new salt water and setting up the tank all nice and clean again, all so I wouldn't have to "kill" my rocks. Now my rocks are happily living in clean water, with a clean filter and light system. Yippe skippy rocks. So hopefully this week I'll find myself a salt water fish store in St. Louis (someone in the Midwest has to have salt water tanks, right?) and buy a new fish. On a less pain in the butt note, salt water fish are crazy beautiful and I look forward to picking out a very pretty one. :) Maybe I'll name him Bubbles 2 or Nemo. I LOVE Nemo!
Now, remind me who ever said rocks can't be pets??

Missy's House Cleaning/Prepare For Guests Strategy

My mom is coming to visit next week, actually in exactly 10 days, to hang out and help with the wedding. Mostly, I need her help finding a wedding dress, so I called whining and begged her to come help. Our objective? Hit as many bridal boutiques as necessary to find "the one" or at least "the good enough one because we're tired of looking at dresses." Anyway, whenever a family member comes to visit I get very excited. We don't get to see our family often and they get to see our humble home even less often, so I get excited that they're coming to see us in our house and our city. And I want everything to look as nice as humanly possible for their visit. You see, they get to see our siblings houses all the time but ours only once in a blue moon, so I want to make a good impression and at least trick them into thinking we keep our house this nice all the time. So I have a plan when family is visiting.
I divide the house/property into rooms, or "zones," if you will. And there are 10 "zones" - Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Boy Room, Bedroom, Spare Room, Bathrooms, Hallways and Stairs, Basement, and Yard (front and back) and Porch. So each day I have a list of things I want to do in the "zone" I have assigned to that day. For instance, today's "zone" was the Living Room. So I came home from work, painted the trim around the window (the rest of the room was painted last June but for some reason I hadn't finished the trim yet), got started on the trim around the doorway (actually Cody did this part), washed the couch covers (in a feble attempt to remove the cat hair), vacuumed the rug, cleaned/dusted the coffee table, book cases and fish tank stands, reorganized the bookcases totally (we have an enourmous amount of books filling bookcases in ever corner of this room), swept and washed the wood floors, cleaned the blinds on the front windown, and then just general straigtening. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to put the second coat on the doorway trim or clean the two fishtanks, so that will have to eat into another "zones" time later in the week. I can't wait until I have all these little chores done and the house looks super nice.
We also found out that Cody's parents are coming to visit next month! I'm super excited because they came up with us last July when we moved my U-Haul of stuff into the house and did a great job helping us paint, but they haven't seen the house since so they've missed the house looking like an actual lived in house! I can't wait to show them all we've done and they can see how we've organized everything. I think they'll really like what we've done with the place - especially since the last time they were here there were boxes in every room and we were still sleeping on the floor. :)
Well, off to shower after a totally grueling 45 mintues on the eliptical today. I don't know how 45 minutes on that damn thing can seem harder then running 7 miles. Go figure.
p.s. Wow I love the new computer - the monitor is ginormous!

Palpable Happiness

Wow - I get a new computer and I go blog crazy. One more for good measure - a quick update. This past week was crazy busy, as they usually go for us. I worked my butt off redoing our dining room and Cody had to work a lot of extra time at work. I got the entire chair rail up, nailed in, caulked and painted all by myself. All I really have left to do in the dining room is paint one section of the chair rail and one coat of paint on the doorway leading to the living room. Yippe! Another project almost done!!
Saturday we had the SEC Softball Tournament with the Gator Club. Cody played on the team, after not playing softball/baseball for about 10 years. He was actually quite good - being a natural athlete and all. After the tourney (which the Gators won I might add), we headed to Greg's pool party. More fun in the sun! Saturday night we headed downtown for the LIVE concert at Live on the Levee. Yes, we've seen them in concert quite a few times before, but as usual, it was a great show. There's just soemthing about seeing that band in concert that is just really amazing and moving. They do a really great show and it really gets the crowd moving. After the show we watched the always wonderful firework showcase. Sometimes happiness is practically palpable.
Sunday Cody's soccer team had the first game of their playoffs. It was a hard fought victory, but a victory nonetheless. Great job guys! Now they play next week for the Bud Sports championship! The rest of the day we ran errands, did chores, etc.
Today I went wedding dress shopping . . . . again. Still no luck. I think I'm destined never to find "the one" and just have to settle on something that looks decent. We'll have to see once my mom comes up. After dress shopping, Marissa and I ran 7 miles in preparation for the half marathon next month. Getting closer . . .

Happy 10 Years!

10 years. Wow - that's a long damn time. As a matter of fact, that's how long Cody and I have known each other this second time around. Second time around? You see, we first met on the Deerlake Middle School 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. He and his friends were on the same bus as my friends (hey there Meghan, Christine and Rachel!!!) and I on the trip up to D.C. Anyway, I had a HUGE crush on him so we sort of middle school flirted a bit here and there on the trip. Actually my friends and I pretty much stalked him and his friends because some of my friends also had crushes on some of his. I have about a zillion pictures of his butt from the trip because we were always following him and his friends around taking their pictures. Okay, we were lame. :) I do have one really great picture of him on the bus with his huge glasses. As soon as I figure out if my scanner still works, I'll scan it onto the website. :) Anyway, we even had a bet on the way back to Tally as to who can stay awake the longest and wrote notes the whole way back - I think I even have some of the notes. Anyway, upon returning to middle school, he went back to his friends, I back to mine and we really never talked again.
So that leads us to the second time around. 10 years ago this week, I got a job working at the grocery store where he worked. I had already worked for the store (Bruno's for those curious) at another location so got hired at his location working with him in Customer Service - where you buy lottery tickets and make returns. Anyway, I hated him because he didn't remember me. I refused to talk to him or really even be nice to him. I was really mad/hurt that he didn't even remember me when I had such a huge crush on him back in the day - come to learn later that it wasn't personal, it's just Cody and his faulty memory. :) So, when I first started working there not only did I hate him for not remembering me but I was dating someone else. When that relationship sort of fell apart, I noticed that Cody wasn't such a bad person after all. He trained me one Friday night on the office closing procedures (I was "promoted" from Customer Service to Office) and was really quite a funny guy. Anyway, jump forward a bit and he came into the store one evening while I was filling in as cashier and said he had to see the movie "Romeo and Juliet" for extra credit for English and wanted to know if I wanted to go. Obviously I said yes. To be continued . . . .

New Computer!

After months and months and months of pleading my case, I finally talked Cody into letting me get a new laptop! Actually, I just saved and saved my mileage checks until he couldn't argue with me anymore about the necessity of a laptop. You see, I get paid mileage for every out of town docket I go to so in the past I usually put half in savings for us and the other half I spent on whatever I wanted - clothes, etc. But since the old laptop finally broke, I've been saving my mileage checks for a new laptop. Well the time finally came and Cody went and got it this morning. You see, Cody is a desktop guy. I'm a laptop girl. Though he probably uses my laptop about 90% more then he does his desktop, he sees a desktop as a necessity and a laptop as a toy. I'm the opposite. I don't see why anyone in the world would want a dumb desktop - they're practically useless (especially ours since it's upstairs where it's currently too hot to even hang out and plan on the computer) and totally immobile. Laptops just rock. They're mobile, I can take it around the house whereever I need it. They're just cute too. :) In any event, I got a new laptop and am thrilled. . . though Cody's being insane about making sure we're careful with the hinges (I have a thing with hinges - they always break around me - cell phones and laptops being the big ones). :)

More Paper Towel Wisdom

A while ago I posted about my cheap-brand paper towels (Sparkle, for those interested) and the wisdom they have recently attemted to pass on to their users. Well, I bought some more paper towels and low and behold they have more wisdom to empart. Here goes:

"If you love life, life will love you back."
- Arthur Rubinstein

"The greatest happiness in the world is to make others happy."
- Luther Burbank

"With every rising of the sun, think of your life as just begun."
- Anon

Thanks, cheap Sparkle towels.

I'm a home improvement godess!

It really hit me right before we left for Germany that we'd lived in our house for a year now and still haven't finished painting or unpacking and really hadn't gotten a start on all the projects I had such high hopes of accomplishing the first few months in the house. Life just got busy and there was always something else to do . . . . until this last weekend. Friday night I decided that come hell or high water, I was determined to get something done on the house. So we went out Friday night and started working bright and early Saturday morning on the dining room. Since we bought the house I knew I wanted to do something different with the dining room, but didn't really solidify any ideas for a while. Cody was actually the one who thought of the idea for the dining room paint decor and we actually bought the paint, I think, last Labor Day, and until now just hadn't gotten around to it. Anyway, Saturday we primed and painted the dining room. Add in Sunday in there and we primed the whole room, painted the top part a tanish colour and put three coats of burgundy/red on the bottom. There will be a white chair rail where the colours meet. Oh, and yes, I said THREE coats of red. The first coat was just awful and the second made the room look very Aztec or something - like a Mexican restraunt - but the third coat made a nice deep shade of burgundy which really adds a richness to the tan and white in the rest of the room. So after working so much on that project I was obsessed. After work I came home and painted all the baseboards and trim around the doorways white to match the chair rail (which we picked out but haven't purchased yet). The house is a zillion years old so not only does it have a ton of trim, but it's very thick trim. I'll have to post a before and after picture when I get the chair rail up. Anyway, in line with my general dorkiness, that has been what I've been up to - redoing our dining room so it looksl ike grown-ups live here instead of a bunch of lazy college kids (no offense to my college friends). Next up is to paint the entry way/hall way, then tile the back splash in the kitchen, redo the carpet/hardwoods, and then redo the downstairs bathroom. :) Sounds fun, huh? Oh, the joys of homeownership.

On another note, I was all excited this weekend because it was tax free weekend in MO (on "school" items), so I was going to go ahead and get a new laptop while there was no tax (for you Florida people, our tax here is over 8%). So we searched the ads to find one I liked, that was cheap enough but still nice enough. We knew we wanted at least 1024 MB of memory, a fast processor and as much hard drive space as I could get (with all my pictures and music). We finally found one we liked at Circuit City on sale, but before running out to buy it we decided to check online at Dell first. Turns out with Cody's Dell discount (another Boeing bonus), it would actually be cheaper for us (including shipping and tax) to buy one on Dell. So it looks like we're going to finally get me a new laptop, just have to pick it out and order it now! :) Yipee! No more ghetto broken hinge!!!

Website Update

The website, www.cody-missy.com is now officially updated with new decor, minus the wedding section which my brother is working on. Also available are recent pictures for July and August, including last night's soiree at Double D's. Enjoy!

Flash.

If you wonder why my house is a mess and I never get anything done, today is a prime example. Today's schedule: Wake at 7 am. Leave for work at 7.30 am (Yes, my goal is to wake up, get dressed and ready to go and out the door in less then 30 minutes - I pride myself on my low-maintenance mornings). Work all day. 5:30 leave work. 5:50 arrive home, change into work-out clothes. 6:00 leave for gym. 6:10-7:10 Cardio Kickboxing class. 7:30 arrive home, call Cody back from the three "missed calls," find out everyone is going to Shafly Brewery (a local St. Louis brewery - awesome Hefeweizen) to watch "Flash Gordon," find out movie starts at 8pm. 7:30-7:45 eat quick dinner (frozen salmon cooked in microwave), take shower because I was stinky, and get in car. 8:00 arrive at Shafly, watch "Flash," laugh uncontrollably. 10:30 pm arrive home, having not done laundry, dishes, vauccuming, sweeping, yard work, or any other possible task I had on the never ending "to do" list. You know though, damn life is good and I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Peace.

I'm writing earlier then normal tonight because Cody is coming home soon and we're going to watch a movie (a rarity in our house as we never ever have time for such things) and hang out (another rarity lately with his work and social schedule and my always seemingly conflicting social schedule). But as I was about to take a shower, snacking on graham crackers and Neutella (thanks again Germans for the Neutella - wonderfully delicious!), I realized that amid all this craziness in our lives - work, the house, working out, friends - there really are moments of peace sometimes. They often don't last long (the cat jumped on the counter trying to eat my Neutella, ruining my peaceful moment) as we move to another task or event, but it's nice to know they're out there when you need them.
In other events, it's the kitties birthday's today. They were all born right around four years ago. I got them four or five weeks later, when they were just little bitty things. I told everyone at work today they were all related and no one belived me (Bumpis, the fat one, looks nothing like Wiggles, the skinny co-dependent kitty, or Mr. Pickles for that matter), until I explained that the vet told me that one cat can have a litter of kittens with different dads. I guess the kitties mommy was a little hussy. And Tubby's (aka Bumpis) dad must have been really fat and fluffy. Thinking they are four years old makes me think of four years ago. I had just come back from a whirlwind summer in Europe. Amazing trip - did a lot of thinking and growing up. I also decided to swear off boys forever. I was single and planned to stay that way forever (sort of like saying "I'm never going to drink again" after a long night out with Jose Quervo). So I decided I might want a cat. That thought of possibly getting one cat (to which I am deathly allergic) one day in the future ended up being three kittens. Yeah, I'm a sucker for "They were abandoned. If no one adopts them then they will be put to sleep. One cat will need a playmate while you're in school/work all day. But you wouldn't want to break up a set of three sisters would you? They should stay together." Alas, three cats and four years later I sit here writing about their birthday. So, happy birthday furballs! May you live many more years tormenting Cody (he *swears* he hates the cats - but loves them more then he'll ever admit - proof? See "Mr. Pickles Page" on the website) and making my eyes itch!

I'm officially obsessed.

No, not with the website this time, though I have worked a bit more today on getting the glitches fixed and the pages running right again. Nope, this time I'm officially obsessed with this wedding. I swore up and down I would not become obsessed with this wedding. I wasn't going to be like that. I just didn't care about details. All I wanted was family, friends and an open bar. I guess I lied. I'm obsessed!
Favors. Guest List. Attendants. Flowers. Photographers. DJs. Wedding band/music. Catering. Colours. And don't even get me started on DRESSES! It's insane. I don't know how people ever make it through long engagements! I can't decide what clothes to wear to work today or what to eat for lunch, much less what I will eat on my ONE wedding day. Or what music will play on my ONE wedding day. Or what flowers. Or anything else. Decisions, decisions, decisions. But at least I'm getting into it now. I sort of had the "whatever" attidude for a while, but now that I've been killing myself with dress shopping, I'm sort of getting into it. Speaking of dresses, thanks for everyone who has provided opinions and thoughts! Especially my mommy who sat on the internet for hours with me pouring over picture after picture of gowns online. The one thing I do regret about this wedding is not being able to share it more personally with our families in Florida - there's just so much you can do over the phone, fax and email. But they are all wonderful nonetheless.
Anyway, one thing wedding planning has done for me is provide me an opportunity to be introspective on where I've been, where I'm at now and where I'm heading. I'm glad we've got a semi-long engagement, because it's really given me a chance to take stock of everything and really "prepare" to move onto the next step of my life. I never though marriage would affect me so profoundly, as I've never been that kind of person. But I've really had an opportunity to figure out more of who I am and what I want to be. I try not to think of marriage as losing anything, most importantly yourself, but in a way you do move on and put a lot of your past behind you. I guess for girls it can be even more profound because we give up our names (huge, unfair presumption here, but since I plan to, I'm speaking from my thoughts), something that really is a core of who we are. My entire life I've been "Melissa Flynn." My license says it. My degrees say it. My buisness cards, email and name plates all say it. But on April 8th I'll be Melissa Raffensperger. First, it won't even fit on half of those above mentioned items. Second, I'm not used to the way it sounds. I'm not sure how long it will take for me to respond to it. When I have kids they won't ever know I had a totally different name before I married their dad. They won't know a thing about who I was before I was their mom. I wonder if old friends will still be able to find me and track me down. Will my current friends even take the time to learn how to spell it? Will my family, for that matter? :)
Okay, enough of that. I feel my thoughts are going more random then any particular direction and when they do that I need to regroup and get things together in my head before I ramble myself to death.
Thanks mommy for your help. One of these days we'll find the right dress - now go ask your boss for time off work to visit The Lou!

I'm still a dork.

So, I have this list of about a zillion "to do" things. Everything from paint the dining room, to put my registration sticker on my car, to plan this darn wedding. One of those things is to do a wedding website and make our normal website look better. Well, I put Bo in charge of the wedding website and I've been working on revamping the regular site. It's not all done yet, but check it out and see all the new changes: www.cody-missy.com. I think I'm happier with the changes, but after working on it for so long, I can't decide if I still like the layout or not. Oh, by the way, if anyone knows how to make links not have that annoying underline in HTML, without making them into pictures, please let me know.
As for other news, another busy weekend as usual - pretty much nothing marked off the good ole' "to do" list. Friday, Cody played golf and I went shopping/eating in the Loop with Marissa. Then we all met up and headed out to West County for Mason's going-away gathering. A good time but stayed out too late for having to wake up early Saturday for another day of wedding dress shopping. Cashel came with Marissa and I this time for added perspective and advise. They were super wonderful and so patient with me with this whole affair. It's really getting on my nerves that I can't find a dress I like. I can't decide if I'm being overly picky or if they really don't have any dresses that I think are perfect. I have an idea in my head of what I want but can't seem to find it in a store. I guess I'll just keep on looking. Saturday, while I tortured my friends with dress shopping, Cody played in a golf tournament (which I keep calling a golf festival for some reason) that got rained out by more St. Louis storms. He went to some party afterwards, I went running instead. (BTW, I'm adding a "running" section on the website to keep up with my marathon training - maybe it will make me stick with it - I can at least chart my progress.) Today we all went out to West County for Cody and Marissa's soccer game. I ran while they played. It was the worst run ever - it was over 100 degrees and I really thought I might pass out. I seriously think I still don't feel right. Oh well. Then it was errands and cleaning hte house for the rest of the evening. We were going to watch a movie but we're both so exhausted we would never make it through. So, a few more chores and off to bed.

I'm such a dork.

I'm trying to lay out a wedding website I like. What do you think of this one?
http://codyandmissy.weddingwindow.com/index.cfm?fa=welcome

We're back. . .

Well, we made it back from Tallahassee safe and sound. We had a great time with everyone, though, as always, we regret not having more time, or "enough" time - though I don't know how much time it would take to be "enough" because whatever we have is never enough. Saturday, I got to hang out with my mom, run some errands, do mommy-daughter stuff, and work on the wedding planning. Not so much the planning per se, but the organization of my piles of crap and a discussion and brainstorming session. Saturday evening we hung out with Cody's family to celebrate his sister's 30th birthday. It really seems like just yesterday I remember celebrating her 21st birthday with his family. Boy does time fly. Anyway, we had a great time hang out, catching up, playing with the kids, discussing the wedding and watching old family videos. It was errie how Baylee is so much like Sara was in the videos. I can only hope and pray my kids won't be like me - I was a terror - or so I've been told numerous times. :) Anyway, Sunday we saw both families again, packed up the kitties in the kitty carrier (actually we borrowed a friend's doggie carrier), and stopped by to see some more family. We got to see Dianne (my stepmom), my step-grandparents (who are just like any real set of grandparents to me - there is absolutely nothing "step" about them - they are truly truly wonderful people - I really couldn't ask for anything more from a step-family then I already have), David and Kim, and Athena and Aurora. I know I'm probably prejudice but those girls really are gorgeous - I keep telling David he's going to have to beat the boys with sticks to keep them away. :) It was great to see them, even if for such a short time. Then it was off for another 13 hour drive home - but we made it.

As for wedding news, we sort of got the weekend of events roughly planned out. I'm going to try to post a ton more on the website coming soon, but tonight I'm just too tired. :) Thanks the to absolute genius of Cody's mom (who is the GREATEST wedding planner ever - whether she wants to or not, she's sort of been nominated - she's been AMAZING), we figured out our rehersal dinner deliema. We're doing the rehersal at the gardens but then for the dinner, since we wanted to invite all of the out-of-town guests (and in-town since we never see anyone), we're going to have a pool party at the hotel! We're getting my favorite restraunt (Sonny's) to cater it - should be a total blast! I love it - totally low-key and very "us"! We also finished asking all the bridesmaids this weekend but Cody's still working on his groomsmen. We also asked our three amazing nieces to be flower girls, David to play a song on guitar and Kim to read a passage at the wedding (actually I meant to ask her but haven't yet - plan to email her tonight - so I hope she doesn't read this before I ask her). :) I'm really getting excited!! Now I just have to find a dress and photographer ASAP! Well, no sleep last night so off to bed early tonight. . ..

I type about as much as I talk.

I just realized I type obnoxiously long blogs. People who know me know how much I talk. Now I think I type as much as I talk - but not as fast (though I'm still a pretty fast typer - I talk crazy fast). Anyone who made it through that last one deserves a cookie - and probably needs a beer by the time they're done. :)

What a whirlwind week!

What a crazy week. Monday and Tuesday weren't too bad - normal stuff - work, come home and go work out, clean the house. Cody's been working late lately because they're trying to finish up a big project so nothing too exciting those days. Wednesday everything was blown around, quite literaly.

First, I had an appointment with the otologist my ENT (ear, nose and throat) refered me to in an attempt to fix my ears. They did an audio test thing and my right ear was pretty good but my left ear has lost quite a bit of hearing since this bird flu thing. I basically can't hear much of anything of out it - the doctor described it as "substantial hearing loss." So he poked around in my ear, did some more tests and suggested one, possibly two surgeries. SURGERIES!?!? I just wanted some stupid eardrops to make it all better. I certainly didn't sign up for surgery, much less the possibility of two! Anyway, he wants to do the first one as soon as possible - it will basically fix the large hole in my eardrum (which while it has been there for at least 10 years, got much larger as a result of said bird flu and is causing said hearing loss - at least presumably) and then do another mastoidectomy (I had this surgery already when I was 9 years old). Then, assuming some of the loss is also due to otosclerosis (every female on my mother's side of the family has had it going back at least to my great-grandma), he wants to do a stapendectomy second (they can't do it at the same time because there can't be a hole in your eardrum when they do the second one). Fun fun. I'm not a huge fan of doctors to begin with, much less when they want to cut my head open. So, needless to say, this pretty much freaked me out Wednesday. In addition to the whole cutting at my head thing, these things are not cheap. I have health insurance, it's just not great (only covers 80% after my deductible), while Cody has rock star insurance. So now the deliema - wait until the wedding so I can get on his insurance (and live without hearing in one ear until and through the wedding), pay for the 20% (can't imagine that will be cheap), or go to the courthouse, get married and still have the reception next year. Too much to think about. . .

So, in the midst of all that stress, Marissa was nice enough to take me out wedding dress shopping Wednesday. The first shop (in a mirror of Saturday's excursion) was total crap and didn't have anything remotely wonderful. Most looked like nightgowns. Then we found another shop so I could try on two of the dresses I liked from Saturday. Well, I knocked out on of the gowns from Saturday but found two more. First, I love Watters gowns (www.watters.com). I'm not a big name brand person or anything, but seriously, every dress I tried of theirs was gorgeous. I'll put up pictures later with links to the website (I'm assuming Cody won't look because he's more supersticious then I am and it's unlikely he even made it this far in the blog). :) So on our way back into town from the burbs it started storming. Not just a summer shower, but I seriously felt like we were in a hurricane. To cut to the chase, this was the storm that's been all over the news. By the time I got home, we'd lost power. We still do not have power. It's been over two days now and they don't have an estimate as to when it will be back on - hopefully by Monday.

So, we arrive home to find no electricity on the hotest day of the year thus far (turns out Thursday would be an even hotter day). Cody and I hang out in the house, all windows open and candles burning and try everything we can think of to get the house cooler. It was no use. We finally managed to sleep a little Wednesday night in the heat, but we knew that wouldn't last. Since we were already planning a trip to Tally (still needed to pick up the fur balls), we just moved it up a bit. We went to work Thursday, came home, packed and got on the road. It wasn't even worth trying to take a nap in the house before we left - it was a sauna. We emptied the fridge and took anything still good in the fridge and freezer to a friend's house for storage and drove through the night.

So we made it to Tally today and have been checking the electric company website to see if our power is back on yet or if they at least have an estimate - no luck yet. I feel really bad for the fish because they're probably boiling by now, but hopefully they'll all make it since they're tropical fish. While it's great to be in Tally and not have to worry about the heat and no power, I hate to leave the house in such a state. Plus there was another storm today and we haven't had anyone drive by yet to make sure my car is okay and there is no damage to the house. I guess this is what we get for living in the midwest. Hopefully all will be fine by Sunday when we get home.

In other news, while in Tally today, I finally renewed my car registration (it was due in March). Yes I still register my car in Florida - so I don't have to pay the yearly personal property tax in Missouri on my car. Then I got a new cell phone because I pretty much destroyed mine - the hinge broke on this phone for the second time - I'm just not lucky with cell phones (I'm also not the gentlest with them either). It was also my mom's birthday today so we had a nice little party at my aunt's house - a good ole' seafood fest with crab claws and shrimp - oh, and of course cake. :) I think this is the first time I've been in Tally for my mom's birthday since I was probably 17 years old - I always ended up being out of town. Not this year.

Well, I'm beat from the 13 hour drive - time to sleep. Hope everyone in St. Louis is okay and is getting power back!!

Glitch fixed.

Just in case you all were wondering, the pictures that weren't working on the Germany pictures page of the website are now working again. Stupid FTP program.

Quick Update

Wow, it's been a while since I posted last. Usually that means either nothing has been going on or so much has been going on that I haven't had time to post. This time I guess I have no real excuse as I've been somewhere in the middle.
Last week was moderately uneventful. I went to an amazing ear specialist on Monday who actually had a clue what was going on with my ears. He gave me some meds for the acute problem (gross drainage stuff) and refered me to a specialist for the ongoing problems (large hole in eardrum for quite some time and hearing losS). So that was quite successful after several horrible experiences with my primary doctor who didn't even see the damn hole in my ear.
Wednesday we had a Partners v. Associates softball game at work. It all started because the associates have a softball team but haven't ever won a legit game (they have two wins via forfeits because the other team did not have enough players) so the partners "challenged" them. Turns out that was a bad idea since the associates won 19-7. At least they finally won a game. I was the creative coordinator for the game and came with signs reading "Partners put the SLOW in slowpitch" and "We'll show you who's boss."
Thursday I got my hair cut much shorter then it's been in a while. I was not kind to my hair while in Germany and it needed a cut anyway.
Friday we went to "Live on the Levee" at the Arch and saw Better then Ezra and Sister Hazel. The latter was pretty good, the former was an arogant Screach-looking fellow who's best songs were covers. The fireworks were amazing. I think everyone who is ever stress, depressed or otherwise unhappy, should be forced to watch fireworks as therapy, as they are incredibly soothing and make you really realize how small we all are.
Saturday, Marissa and I went wedding dress shopping. She was such a trooper and SO patient with my indecisive self. She was amazing at conveying to the sales people what I liked and didn't much better then I could. I think we found two possiblities. I'll put links for them up tomorrow. They wouldn't let us take pictures (thought the gowns are online) so I've got to go back on a non-busy day this week to take pictures and get everyone's opinion (not Cody's though). Saturday evening we went to Sabrina's husband's 30th birthday party. I think between Cody and our work friends they floated the keg by 10pm. :) A good time was had by all.
Today Cody had soccer, but it was so damn hot I didn't even bother to run. I was feeling very hot and lazy. :) We ran errands, did a super cleaning of the turtle tank and then hung around the house.
Now off to bed. . .

More Germany Updates

Okay, two weeks after we got back from our trip, all the pictures are finally posted. I finished narrating the trip as well as posting all the pictures Dude took. His camera has a crazy good zoom so he has some great pictures of the games and other stuff where I couldn't take pictures (inside the Louvre, etc.). If you are just insanely bored or have an amazing amount of time on your hands, check them out. :)
As for other news, I'm still sick, though have resorted to being sick of being sick so I'm at least back to running a little bit. I'm debating whether I have enough time to train for the Chicago marathon after 6 weeks of no running while recovering from stress fractures in my shins and then two weeks of no running because I was sick. I ran two miles on Friday and felt okay, but was just exhausted later. Today while Cody was playing soccer I ran a while, but still didn't feel great afterwards. Hopefully by the end of the week I can make a decision.

Tired of being sick!!! Oh, and I hate my car.

Okay, this is getting really really old. I am so sick of being sick! My ear is still in crazy pain and my head just will not get uncongested! I finally went to the doctor and was told, gasp, that I have a hole in my eardrum. Thanks genius! I already knew that- goes to figure why there is stuff ozzing out of it! Enough gross sick stuff. On to other news. . .
So, for the second time since returning from Germany, I had to travel for work. Not to complain because I really enjoy my travel time - I love mileage checks and it's nice to get out of the office for a day. But for the second time since returning to Germany, my car gave out on my trip. Last week it was my car battery simply dying when I went to turn on the car. Today, I was on my way to Columbia, crossed the bridge over the Missouri River, and my right front tire blew out! At that point, I thought I must have done something pretty bad in a past life to deserve this karma. Anyway, I changed the tire, Cody game and met me, and we switched out cars so I could take his to Columbia. He, being the great guy he is, took my car to the store and got a new tire put on.
So, as I close out day 658 of my illness, all is still good in the world, as at least tomorrow is Friday. :)

Happy 4th of July . . . . hope you don't have bird flu

I hope everyone had a fun and enjoyable 4th of July. Typically this is one of my favorite holidays, not because I'm overly patriotic (with today's government, quite the opposite), but because it's about the pure joy of family, friends and fun. There is really no stress involved (New Year's is another fave but it's in the winter, which I hate, so that bumps it down on the list), just barbeque, beer, fireworks and good fun. Until this year. Until bird flu (again, I really do not have bird flu, but it certainly feels like it). I haven't written in a few days, basically because they've been the worst few days in recent memory and I've done nothing worth writing about. And I mean nothing. I was so excited for the weekend to get some things done and hang out with Cody, until I came home from work Friday feeling like a truck hit me. But while him and Dude played hours of drunk chess, I gathered my energy and worked on painting the dining room ceiling. I was doing okay for a while until I really started to fade fast. So I slept. Saturday I was awful. Awful. Awful. I woke Cody up, we went to Wal-Mart, stocked up on tissues, juice and cold medicine and I stayed in bed ALL DAY. Sunday was no better. I just sat in bed and worked on my scrapbooks (in the good news category, I at least got some work done on the ole' scrapbooks). Monday I went to work, felt absolutley horrible, so for the first time since starting this job 1.5 years ago, I left work early because I was sick. I came home and crashed. Last night when Cody called (he was working late) I was almost in tears with the pain and pressure in my head and ear. He came home, did everything he could to help, but sure enough I was awakened at 4am with my ear draining nasty stuff. My worst pain fear had arrived - my stupid ear gave out on me and the pressure ruptured my eardrum and was draining fluid out of my ear. Gross. Super gross and super pain. So I waited until 8 am to call the on-call doctor, only to have her call me in an antibiotic. Oh well.
Okay, enough about being sick. Bird flu sucks and I am the biggest baby when I get really sick. I am pretty good with normal colds and flus and I'm usually pretty tough, but once I cross a certain treshold I just melt and become 4 years old again. Anyway, with other news, Germany lost to Italy today. A tragic defeat. 119 minutes of scoreless soccer. Only one minute to go until the game is decided in penalty kicks. And Italy scores. And then with less then one minute to go, they score again. Heartbreaking. I can't even imagine that country tonight. Absolute sorrow.
Went and saw the fireworks tonight downtown. It was sort of raining/sprinkling so we watched them from our parking garage - too bad there was another building right in the way. Still got to see a good bit of them so it was still cool. No BBQ and beer though - doesn't go too well with bird flu.
I really really really hope this thing is over soon.

Germany pictures are up. . . at least some.

All of the pictures I took in Germany are now on the webpage - www.cody-missy.com. I haven't finished the commentaries yet (it's late and I've got the bird flu and need my sleep), but plan to do so tomorrow. Dude also took a ton of pictures, which as soon as I track him down and torture him, I will put them up as well. Enjoy.

Make sure to watch Germany beat up on Argentina tomorrow - 10 am central time, ESPN!

Papertowel Inspiration

I buy cheap papertowels. Sparkle brand I think. I buy them because in every 12 pack there is at least 3 rolls with frogs on them and I like frogs. The other designs are okay too - some strawberries, maybe some flowers or seashells. So my frogs ran out, I went to the basement, got a new roll and realized my cheap papertowels are now inspirational. On each sheet: "I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." Okay, so I found that odd that my papertowels are now coming with inspirations. Maybe I've just had too much wine tonight. I should probably stop blogging now.

Why I love my husband-to-be . . .

There are about a zillion reasons, everything from the way he is so patient with my insane moods, my crazy way of doing things/going through life and my general nuttiness, to the way he puts the cap back on the toothpaste because he knows I like it that way. But on our trip one thing he said really stood out from the array of other things he does. It was warm out one day, but not particularly hot. A temperature that I would usually be quite comfortable with, but one that most people might comment on. Anyway, he said to me, quite nonchalantly, "Are you hot?" and I said something to the effect of, "Yeah, normally I love this temperature but for some reason I'm really warm." Feeling like that was a sort of odd question, I inquired, "Why do you ask?" He responded back, just as it were any old comment, "Because the hair on the back of your neck is curling and it usually does that when you get hot." For whatever reason, that really struck me. How in the hell does he notice me enough to know that the hair on the back of my neck curls when I'm hot!??! I don't even know that! You know that someone must really care about you to notice those little everyday things that no one else would ever take the time to learn or notice.

This trip also gave me a lot of time to think and really regroup - not only on Cody and our relationship (which I realized was even more special then I ever realized) but on live in general. Even with as hectic as things were and how much we were running around, being away from the US and the day to day grind really gave me a time to reflect. But since we're on the boy subject, I'll just note a quick thing on this topic and comment on the others as they strike me.

It's no secret that I'm not getting married at 21, or even 25 for that matter. Cody's not the first guy I ever dated. We've both lived lives, sometimes together and others separate, and had an opportunity to really see the world, sort to speak, in terms of what's out there in relationships. While on one hand, it would have been a great story to tell had we stayed together after high school and then college and then gotten married and had 3 kids by now, that's not what life had in store for us. On the other hand, we both got to really grow up and figure out who we really were as people individually and what we wanted from a relationship. This time around we really understood what it takes to make these things work, what works and what doesn't and most important, what we want and need to be happy in a relationship.

For me, that was not so easy to figure out. I had the sort of stupid Jerry McGuire attitude of wanting to find someone to "complete me." But in order for someone else to complete you, you have to be incomplete yourself. Only after being alone, being in good and bad relationships, did I realize that you have to be complete before you add another person. You can't (or at least I can't) need someone else to make you whole. And on that note, that's why I love Cody. He doesn't so much "complete me" as he does "complement me." He really lets me be me. And that's not an easy task. He doesn't expect to change me or want me to be someone else. The first time we dated I tried really hard to be what I thought he wanted and that just didn't work (obviously). This time around I'm me and it works for us. He lets me watch stupid cartoon movies (even if he hates them and thinks they're retarded, he accepts that's me). He understands when I get cranky and yell that it's not him but usually something else that's bothering me. He lets me dress like a stupid hippy and braid my hair into 156 braids and just understands that's me. He understands that sometimes I want him to come to Wal-Mart with me, not because I need help shopping or can't do it myself, but because I just want to spend time with him. I could go on and on and on here for pages and bore the death out of anyone who's even made it this far. But in the end, what I found (at least for me) is one of the most important things is finding someone who lets me be me, good and bad and the ugly. Thanks Cody for complimenting me.

We're back . . . now I have Bird Flu

Wow - what a trip. And what a few days back. Makes me really wish I were back in Germany. So we get back on Sunday, Glenn picked us up and brought us home and Cody proceeded to bed. I stayed up in an effort to try to get back on US time as soon as possible. So even though I was dead tired, I stayed up and cleaned a bit and did some laundry. Then I went to bed. Then I woke up at 5am (noon Germany time) and just couldn't get back to sleep. So I went to work. I checked my calendar and found I needed to be in Jefferson City for a mediation at 2pm. So I left work around noon and headed out. I stopped by the house to get a bottle of water, but then when I got back in the car it was dead. Totally dead. So I called the other attorney frantic, only to find out the mediation wa Tuesday! AGGG!! Now I had left work early to go to a mediation that didn't exist and my car was dead! So I waited until Cody got home and we went to Wal-Mart for a new battery - and four hours later we were still there. The good news we at least got some more cold medicine and Cody got a new watch (his old one broke somewhere in Switzerland). So we get home, both feeling like crap - I'm convinced we have the Bird Flu (for anyone who doesn't know my sense of humor, I'll go ahead and insert a disclaimer - WE DO NOT REALLY HAVE BIRD FLU - IT'S A JOKE!).
So yesterday I ended up at the mediation in Jefferson City and Cody worked late. I busted my butt when I got home trying to get the trip pictures downloaded but had hard drive space issues. I went through deleting everything I could think off which turned out to include my website creater, Frontpage. So when we finally got all the pictures downloaded I couldn't put them on the webpage. AGGGG!! Then Cody got home, fixed the disk space problem in about 2 minutes and I was an idiot for deleting everything. Now I can't reinstall Frontpage because I have a pirated copy and can't find my pirated key code!
So we get to bed after me wanting to throw the computer against the wall, only for me to wake up at 2am with the worst sore throat ever. So I take some medicine, get back to bed, only to wake up again at 6am when the medicine wore off and can't get back to sleep. So I go to work. I try to convince everyone I have bird flu but they don't buy it - though they did say if I infected them, they at least wanted a fun quarantine.
Now we're trying to figure out how to get the picture online while we eat our first tomato from our garden. At least there's a bright side. No sleep in Germany is way better then no sleep in St. Louis.

To the Germans . . .

My last post before we leave Germany is for Cody's German relatives (hopefully they'll read it).
. . .

Thank you all for EVERYTHING!! You have been so wonderful to us! We are so thankful to have such wonderful family in Germany and can not wait to come back to see you again! Thank you so much for taking us to the train station, picking us up at the train station, for all the food and beer, for all the wonderful gifts, and more then anything for all your time! You are all so wonderful and we had such a wonderful time in Germany with you! I am so lucky to marry into such a great family! We hope to see you at the wedding and on our next trip to Germany!! Thank so so much for everything! Viele Dank!

Back to Cody's family . . . back to internet

Wow -so many stories to tell! As much as I love to travel, I really can't wait to download all my pictures at home and have a chance to write up all the stories to go with each crazy adventure. :) Well, we're almost done. Almost back to our own beds and our own food (I hate schnitzel and if I ever see another Döner kabob it will be too soon) and our own pace, but at the same time I absolutely hate to say good-bye to Germany (and vacation). We're back at Cody's family now after spending a great few days in München and Berlin. We saw the fairytale castle that Disney modeled Cinderella's after, Neuswantein (that is most definitely spelled wrong), and the concentration camp, Daucau. After seeing Daucau (near Munich) we saw the Checkpoint Charlie museum of the Wall and a Jewish memorial in Berlin - talk about three depressing, yet very moving experiences. Now we're here, plan to watch the Germany game tomorrow (in case you are stuck in a hole or just hate sports, Germany made it to the second round with three wins and the US did not with 2 losses and one tie (which was given to them by an Italian own goal)), and catch our plane in Brussels on Sunday. Then expect in the near future a fantastic (as least I'll find it interesting) recount of the trip on the website. :)
So much to write about as there has been so much to think about and so much time to just let your mind wander rather then think about the laundry, the dishes, the bills, work, cleaning the house, working in the yard, working out, etc. Good times.
Hope all is good!

Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Lichetenstein . . . ROCK

Quick update. After leaving Cody's folks place we headed to the Rhine River valley where we spent two days going up and down the river on a boat and climbing mountains to see cool castles - quite cool. Then we took a train down to Switzerland, went to Basel, Interlachen, and some other city I can't remember. Then took a sight-seeing train through Lichtenstein and then stayed in Innsbrook (Austria) overnight. Today we arrived in Munich (yes, again - it rocks that much) where we spent the day mostly watching the World Cup games and touring the various beer gardens. Fun fun fun! I'm dreading going back to work on Monday already . . . .though I am looking forward to the wicked scrapbook I can make out of this trip!

Environmental Policies

One more thing - their environmental policies are awesome here! I'm sure I will write much much more about it when I get back, but just wanted to let anyone who was wondering know that!

German relatives ROCK!

Well, it's about 1 am here in Deutschland and we had a great day hanging out with Cody's awesome German relatives! We first went to Norbert's (not sure that's spelled right, but he's also known as "Mr. Blister" for the time he came to the US when Cody was a kid and got terribly burnt at Panama City beach) house and hung out with him and his wife and kid (cute four year old) for a while. Then we headed to Klause's house and had a fun family BBQ (in German style we had brats and pork chops (I think that's what it was)). Great time was had by all! I absolutely love his German relatives!! They are so wonderful and even though I speak very little and very bad German, they are so patient with me and really try to understand me and try to speak English with me as much as they can (their English is way better then my German!). Tomorrow morning we are off to the Rhine River to see some of the old castles down there and to take a boat on the river for a while. I do insist on finding a place to watch the USA v. Italy game tomorrow though - don't miss it!!! I believe it's at 9 pm here so that would be about 3 pm in Tally and 2pm in STL. Also, if anyone happened to tape any of the games we saw (mentioned in previous post), especially the USA v. Czech game, please let me know because we had great seats and during the USA the Czech guy who scored ran right in front of us (we had first row tickets to the right of the goal) so I'm thinking we might have been on TV. :) Now that we'll be leaving his relatives, I'm not sure if I'll be able to find internet again soon, but I'll try. Take care!

Deutchland ist sehr gut!

Greeting from Germany! I have finally found internet at the same time that blogger is working - no small miracle I tell you! Anyway, we have had so many crazy adventures so far - too many to possibly post right now, but all is good. As some of you may know, American Airlines totally screwed up our flight out of St. Louis so we didn't actually arrive in Paris until the day after we were supposed to - that left us with about two days to do all of Paris - not a possible feat - thanks to crappy American Airlines (who by the way did nothing at all to compensate us for losing an entire day of our trip). Upon arriving in Paris it took us almost 2 hours to get out of the airport because none of us speek ANY French and we couldn't figure out these stupid machines or then how to get change (we got Euros but needed coins instead of bills for the machines). Anyway, we got out of the airport, onto the train to Paris, got a hotel and saw as many of the sights we could in two days - The Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph, Sacre Coure, St. Sulpice (yes, Jason and I both recently read The Da Vinci Code), etc. Then we were off to Köln (Cologne for American's) where Cody's uncle (actually just an older cousin, but an uncle of sorts) picked us up and took us to his home in Marl. We hung out with his family that night and had quite a little party.
The next day the madness really began! We woke up (after sleeping a ton since we got no sleep on our crappy airplane ride and were still behing), went to The World Cup Fan Fest in Gelsinkirchen (not spelled right), and then we were off to our first World Cup game - US v. Czech Republic. In case you've been stuck in a box for a week, we got killed 3-0, but the experience was AMAZING! Most games we follow in America, the teams play for their city - in the World Cup they are playing for their entire country - and while in America we might not find that too intriguing (not great soccer fans), in the rest of the world that is HUGE! Great game nonetheless. That night we were on a train to Berlin for our next game - long messed up train story goes here but not enough time to write it all out. We finally arrived in Berlin the next morning, met up with Cody's family who had driven there (because his cousin Patrick was going to the game with us in Berlin) and were off to see the sights of Berlin. Great time, but everyone's feet were hurting like crazy by the end of the day. Seeing the Berlin Wall in person was quite an experience - as was Brandenburg Tor (that's the Brandenburg Gate). The game that night was Brazil (reigning World Cup winners for those that don't follow such things) v. Croatia (not a great team but their fans were amazing). The energy in that game was palpable (especically compared to the relatively lame and subdued US fans). Brazil, of course, won. Then we were on our second night train in a row to Munich. At least this one was over four hours so we got a few hours of sleep. Munich was a much different city, but still very neat. They are VERY into their beer gardens. :) The game that night was Tunisa v. Saudi Arabia. Another great set of fans who were really into the game and loved their country's team. After this game, we hung out at a beer garden watching Germany win their second World Cup match in the last minute. The entire country shuts down when their team plays - quite an amazing thing to see. Then we were on yet ANOTHER night train - this time to Hamburg. The train was booked solid so Jason and I actually slept on the floor under the luggage racks (we have great pictures of this). While that may sound pretty crappy, I must admit is was more comfortable then sleeping in the train seats (even though we have a first class train pass - not by choice though since we're now all too old to get the second class passes - good thing though since second class has been booked on every train we've been on and first has been relatively easy to get seats). Our last game was Costa Rica v. Equador in Hamburg. Another great stadium, more great teams and spirit, but by this time we were all dead tired - we were just simply beat after having slept so little on the trains. Off we were after the game for one more train ride - this time to Essen where Cody's cousin/uncle picked us up and brought us back to his family's home in Marl. We ate and then passed out, not waking up until 14 hours later, more because we were hungry then over our tiredness. :) So that's where we are now, hanging out with his family, trying to figure out where our adventures take us next. So many more adventures to tell of, but they'll have to wait until I'm back on an American keyboard and have more time.
Hope all is well back in the states!
Oh - one more thing - I'm actually learning a bit of German -this from a person who took YEARS of Latin and learned nothing and who lived in France for two months and learned no French! I'll impress everyone when I return with "Das is gut" and such! Take care!

Officially Gone.

We're heading out. Have fun out there while we're gone. I hope to post blog updates while we're gone but we'll have to see how that works out for me. :) Take care - many stories (and random pictures) to come. . . . . Don't hold your breath.

Website Update

FYI - New pictures are now up on the website (the last update B.G - Before Germany) - some of my backyard project, my birthday weekend and other random stuff. Enjoy. About 24 hours left until we take off and we have about 48 hours worth of stuff to do - though we do have the preliminary packing done. :)

100th POST!

Why the insane number of posts tonight? Well, when I logged on to blog, intending to write a quick Germany blog, I realized I was at 96 posts. So I posted away until I hit 100! Yippee! I have written a hundred entries, posted into cyberspace, about not-a-hell-of-a-lot. Anyway, I'm going to try to stay updated as much as I can while overseas but it's all going to depend on the availablility of internet cafes, my willingness to take time out to use them, and my general disposition of the day. :)

Germany here we come!

Well, about 38 hours until we hop on the plane for our World Cup adventure! I just realized that I've yet to post our tentative itinerary here so here goes: Thursday: leave STL, fly through Chicago to Paris. Friday, Saturday and Sunday: Paris. Sunday: train to Essen to see Cody's relatives. Monday: drive to Gelsenchirken with Cody's cousin (Patrick) to see USA v. Czech Republic that night, then drive to Berlin. Tuesday: Berlin - watch Brazil v. Crotia - train to Munich. Wednesday: Munich - watch Tunisa v. Saudi Arabia - train to Hamburg. Thursday: Hamburg - watch Costa Rico - train back to Berlin. Here's where it gets more speculative. The rest of the trip we're going to try to hit Berlin (again, because one day just isn't enough to see Berlin), then Krakow (Poland for those asleep during geography class) and Auschwitz, possible Prague and Vienna, then back to Munich (again, can't see this one in the one day we'll be there for the game) and Neuschwanstein (the castle Cinderella's castle at Disney was modeled after), then up the Rhine River to see the castles and wineries, only to arrive at Brussels to eat some chocolate and waffles and fly out. This WAS our plan until we realized that of the 18 countries on our Eurorail pass, Poland is not one of them. So it's stupid for us to pay to go there when there are 18 other countries we can travel by train to for FREE (well, not free but we already paid for them). So now we're back to square one - where to go in the eastern portion of Europe that will take our passes and still be cool? Humm.... Things to ponder on the plane ride over. Good thing no one we're going with is really up on the planning thing . . . .

Myspace

So there's this thing called Myspace apparently. According to 60 minutes it leads to kids to be abducted, raped and killed. Deserted allies? No longer an issue. Myspace is the new deserted ally- or so says 60 minutes - and it will ruin your kids. Good thing I'm not a kid. :) Anyway, point being, I signed up a while ago but never bothered to check it. So, my brother David (formerly known as Jack and even more formerly, known as David), sent an email the other day and in his signature block was his Myspace account. So I checked it out, added him as a friend and now I'm up to FIVE friends! I have FIVE friends! And they're all people I know - not just the guy named Tom that everyone automatically gets as a friend! Anyway, I think it's going to be pretty cool. It has a blog feature but since I have this blog I'm just going to find a way to feed it into the myspace blog - easier said then done. Anyway, if any of my five friends are reading this - welcome to my blog!

Birthday Weekend

Wow - been a while since I blogged last (yes, I suppose "blogged" can be a verb, as I realized "Wikipedia" can also be a verb today - as in "I don't buy that crap, let's Wikipedia it.")! Since last Wednesday, I had my very own "birthday weekend" - I figured since it seems all of our STL friends celebrate their birthday's for obnoxious amounts of time (the best was Jeffy's "birthday month" - NO FAIR) I could too. Anyway, two of the things I love the most I hardly ever get here and that's the sun and water - so we went to Greg's pool and hung out. Cody, of course, neglected the sunscreen and got burned, I sported the baby oil and got just a darker shade of my new midwest pale (in Florida I always enjoyed my skin - here it's an odd shade of yellow - midwest pale, I call it). Fun in the sun is always good. Then we went out.
On Sunday, Meghan, Danny and the baby came over and we went to the Botanical Gardens (one mof my top three STL places, along with The Zoo and City Museum) so I could check out the Chihuly (glass sculptor dude) art stuff around the garden. Quite cool (I'll post pictures on the website later). Elizabeth actually seemed to be enjoying the gardens until the end and then she got tired and just did nost want to be there anymore. So we left, had a yummy veggie lasagna and cheese cake (courtesy of the Meghan kitchen), and hung out.
Yesterday, on the actual b-day we hung out, went to The Shafly Brewery with Marissa and Cassidy and hung out at home working on getting together for Germany!
Thanks to all who sent their birthday wishes and made it special - much appreciated!

Corn Country

As most of you know, I fondly refer to my current residence as Corn Country. In the winter, it's Cold Corn Country. Yes, I live in a state where one of the biggest income producers is corn. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Anyway, I've been working in my yard a lot lately (instead of running) trying to finish this raised bed I'm building and planting a bunch of stuff - today while I was planting some bulbs, banana trees and elephant ears I was frustrated by the utter hardness and dryness of the ground. It was like rock -the ground was impossibly hard to dig in. Now, you figure a state that bases so much of its income on crops would have good ground. Nope. I don't know how anything can grow here. So that means a lot of mulch and purchased top soil.
On another, much sadder (I know, it's hard to imagine anything sadder then my crappy dirt) note, Andrew Thompson died this weekend in Tally Town. He is my neice's dad and a family friend. He was only a few weeks away from turning 26, so that just adds even more tragedy to the pain. I can't even imagine what his family is going through and can only wish them my deepest condolences. I am so thankful that I have happy and healthy family and friends.
To end on a happier note, Cody and I made some more awesome salsa tonight and I bought a new hose. :) I wish everyone the safest and happiest of days. Take care of yourself!

Crazy Weekend

I didn't even realize this picture was on my camera until I downloaded the pictures tonight, but I realized it tells the story of the entire weekend.

As most know, we went to Tally this weekend to take the cats to my moms so she can watch them while we're in Germany (we decided that 18 days was just too long to leave them by themselves) and to finalize some wedding details. Needless to say, it was quick and busy. We intended to leave as early as possible on Friday, but of course we ended up heading out much later then anticipated. After arriving in Florida Saturday morning we did some sleeping, checked out our wedding reception site, the wedding ceremony site, did dinner with my mom's family on Saturday, Cody's family on Sunday, and then drove back today. This picture was taken Sunday night at Cody's sister's house. She gave me a bunch of bachelorette stuff for my birthday so I was wearing the veil and just crashed (I was beat - after the 13 hour drive and then not getting enough sleep). The cutest part of the picutre is that Baylee (our ADORABLE three year old niece) brought her blanket over and covered me up. How cute. Lots of news from the weekend - will write more on it tomorrow.

Accomplishment!

Here's a picture of my newest project - a raised bed in the backyard! I've been bummed about not running this week so I've sunk myself into finishing this project. And it's almost done - at least the frame for the bed is built - now I just have to dig up some more dirt in the high part of the yard to transfer to the bed and then buy some good dirt from the store for the top. Yipee! See, the yard is a crazy slope so I flatted out the top of the yard for the veggie garden and took the dirt and moved it to the bottom of the yard to fill in the deep part of the raised bed. Then I took a ton of landscaping ties and built them level so the bed is level and stacked them to compensate for the slopped yard - that's why one side is crazy high and the other is level with the ground. Anyway, now I just have to get the dirt set up and I can plant it all up. My goal is to get it done before we go to Germany so when we get back I'll have all sorts of pretty plants instead of a dirt pile. :)

FYI

Lots of new pictures on the website. There's (1) International Gator Day where our UF Alumni Club volunteered at the St. Louis Area Food Bank, (2) Maifest in Herman - a whole blog in itself - tons of random pictures because I got bored and just took random pictures of everything, and (3) The Many Faces of Dude - a collection of pictures of Dude (pretty self-explanatory).
Enjoy. I'll have to tell the whole Maifest story later - including the part where I got pulled over as the designated driver without a Missouri license (I refuse to give up my FL one) and had to convince the cops I wasn't drunk -I guess I just give off the vibe of being intoxicated.

New Shoes

I finally got new running shoes (actually this weekend)! I've been wanting new shoes for quite some time but nice running shoes aren't cheap. I justify the expense by not spending hardly anything on shoes otherwise. Plus I think it's important to have good running shoes when you run a lot to prevent injuries and such (I swear my shoes are the reason my knees got better last year). Anyway, when we travel for work we're reimbursed for mileage and in the beginning of May I went to Columbia, Jefferson City and Rolla which gave me a huge mileage check. Cody and I have worked out a deal with my mileage checks that I get to keep half of it to "blow" on whatever I want (not that I ever really blow money - Cody and I are both rather frugal most of the time) and the other half goes to savings. So this check I got my new shoes. Sweet! They're Saucony's - which before I started running I had never heard of but now I'm in love with - they're light and quite cushy. I'm excited about the shoes - too bad I can't run right now (I can barely walk without crazy shin pain - I see another orthopedist tomorrow morning 8 a.m.). But I was missing running so I thought I would write about my new shoes . . . in case anyone cared. :) Hopefully I'll have happier news after my appointment tomorrow.

She hits. . . . she scores!

Well, not really. . . . again. I guess I'm in the new sports mood lately because tonight I played my first game of softball. Let me preface this with some understanding of St. Louis and softball. This town loves softball. Not really sure why. My guess is it's a rather unathletic game and you drink a lot of beer. Nonetheless, for whatever reason, this town loves the game. I've never played because it just wasn't a big thing in Florida (I've never really known anyone who's ever played, much less for a "league") and I'm not really a team sport person. So I decided to give it a try at the insistent pressuring of our GM. Let's just say softball didn't go as well as soccer and soccer didn't go very well. Sorry to say this for anyone with a love for the game, but softball is not my thing. I'd come right out and say it just sucks but I might get my car bashed in tomorrow, so I'll leave it with it's just not my thing. Another girl didn't want to play either (we both got roped in by the persistent and guilt-tripping GM) so we alternated positions and she batted and I played on the field (right field - which Cody informs me is where they put people who suck - like me). For one my shins hurt like hell so it was crazy painful to even walk out on the outfield and two, there just isn't much to the game. To win you need to pitch, hit and catch. I'll end my tirade now by just saying this is not my game. I will come watch to drink beer though. :)

More Pictures

Here's a picture of some roses I picked from our rose bush in the back yard. I thought I killed the bush in the winter when I cut it all the way to the ground, but I guess it lived since it's now full of red roses!







Here's a picture of an iris in our front yard. Since I don't know too terribly much about flowers, I looked it up online and it's actually named a "Mother Earth Iris." Kinda cool.

A hard pill to swallow

I like to run. I really like to run. I listen to music and clear my head. I get to spend some time chatting and bouncing stuff off Marissa - kinda like my own little therapy. Problem with running is that is sometimes hurts to run.

Last year it was my knees - some kind of patellafemoral syndrome crap. Basically my knees don't come forward right over my toes like their supposed too, but instead come inward. I got some great physical therapy and some new shoes to fix the problem (overpronation it's called) and now my knees are great.

Now it's my shins. But it's not as easy as some new shoes and some physical therapy. I actually have stress fractures (tiny fractures of the bone) in my shins. Quite painful and not an easy thing to fix. Basically the fix is to ice them and STAY OFF THEM. Anyone who knows me knows how damn hard it is for me to sit for any extended period of time. So basically I've been running on them for a few months now thinking they might go away - until last week I ran and they hurt so bad I thought I was going to cry (just ask Marissa). So today I talked to my doctor and the general consensus is - STOP RUNNING! Not forever - but he recommends 6-8 weeks. Well that's just not going to happen (since I really want to run the marathon in October), but I have decided that I'm going to stop running and start back up when we get back from Germany. So I agreed to give it basically five weeks. So now I'm faced with five weeks of no running. While this may sound strange, it's actually quite a depressing thought. I really like my running. Now I'm stuck with becoming totally deconditioned and only able to bike, swim and possibly the elliptical machine (which I like but am only allowed to do if pain free). It's a hard pill to swallow, but hopefully it will be worthwhile and I'll be all better soon.

Kitties on the Pickle Post

Kitties just love it when the window is open and they can perch on the oversized window sill (otherwise known as the "Pickle Post"). They all cram on the sill and watch the world go by outside. How cute.

Random Object Seen in the Alley

You might be asking yourself what in the world is this thing? Good question. We have no clue. Cody passed it every day in the alley after exiting the garage (I don't drive in the alley since I park on the street) and this weekend I was with him when we passed it so I just had to take a picture. Turns out it was gone this morning. One mans trash must be another man's treasure. Too bad we have no clue what that treasure actually is.

A New Look . . .

(1) The Blog. Yeah, there's a new look. Not really on purpose, but sort of stumbled upon it. I was trying to mess around with the Java script on my template (with my basic (read: non-existent) knowledge of computer programming) for the old one and somehow messed up the side bar thing so it didn't line up right. Well, since I had no idea how to fix it I just kept changing the template until one finally worked the way it should. I'll give it a while, see if it grows on me and if not, change back to the old dark one.

(2) The Cardinal's Stadium. A new look here as well. The new stadium actually opened with all its newness back in April but all games are sold out so I hadn't gotten to go to a game yet (Cody actually went to his first game at the stadium last night) - until today. My boss has season tickets and wasn't able to go to the game so he gave us four tickets to the Cardinals v. Mets tonight. It was pretty cool - and pretty good seats (behind home plate on the third level). The stadium is really nifty - very new. I wanted to take pictures of all its newness but left my camera at home. :( I still felt hesitant walking around the place after watching the crews build it so quickly (I can see the stadium from my office) - I didn't quite trust anything that can be built that quickly - I just know they had to have cut corners here and there and since the city wanted that stadium so bad (and for it to open on time) I'm sure any "inspector" would pass just about anything.

That's it for new looks. As for other news, Cody and I talked to his sister tonight and got some information on an officiant to marry us. Larry was great enough to call the guy who married the two of them and he said he would be available to marry us as well. First, it would be cool to be married by the same guy as his sister and Larry (sort of a good luck thing since they're such a good couple). Second, that takes any pressure off us to find someone, because yet again, we just don't care that much about who it is as long as it's legal and they're not a total moron. :) Third, we would have no clue how to even go about finding an officiant, much less one in Tallahassee. And finally, the guy is nondenominational so he will let us keep as much religion in or out of the ceremony as we want and let us pretty much make our own ceremony - definitely good for us.

That's all the news for today. Thanks Sara and Larry - you guys ROCK!

She shoots . . . . she scores!

Well, not really. But I did shoot. Well, almost at least. To get to the point - I played both my first and second games of soccer this weekend!
Cody has been playing soccer since he was a little kid. He was on the State Championship team in highschool. Since moving to St. Louis he has played both indoor and outdoor. Cody knows soccer and he's good at it. I don't even know the rules of soccer (though I do plan to learn them before going to Germany to watch The World Cup - I thought it would be useful)! Well this winter/spring he was in charge of setting up the indoor team in Brentwood. Part of this includes having enough people at each game and since they play co-ed, he needs at least three guys and three girls at each game (more is ideal so they at least have a few subs). Well, this past Sunday was their play-off game and they were a girl short, so rather then either forfeit or play with only 5 players the entire game, I filled in. It was awesome fun and I certainly have a newfound respect for soccer (even if I did totally suck at it). I always figured it wasn't that hard because when I run, I run for about an hour or hour and a half and when Cody plays soccer usually they have subs so he hardly ever runs for over 10 minutes at a time. Boy was I wrong! Soccer is hard! And that doesn't even count the kicking the ball part!! The running is so much! You sprint up the field to be an extra man on offense (not that I was any use on offense since I seriously have no idea how to kick the ball) and then the ball gets turned over to the other team and all of a sudden you sprint down to the other goal to block your man and then all over again - up and down the field, back and forth. And since it's indoor and there are walls, no one can kick the ball off the field to give you even a 5 second break - just run back and forth and back and forth. Anyway, it was crazy fun but I am just too bad to possibly plan seriously. I'm going to try to get Cody and Marissa to teach me how to play and then maybe take a baby soccer for adults class and then maybe I can play on a baby team next year. But we'll have to see. In an event, I had a great time in my first two soccer games!
p.s. The reason there were two games was that we played our game and then the team that played after us didn't have enough players so we played for them. One game of soccer is hard, two in a row makes your legs hurt like hell the next day. :) Good fun though.

Weekend Update

Can't really claim much productive, unless you call drinking a productive activity. Friday I had a work happy hour for one of our associates who is moving to Virginia, so that began the consumption. While I was there, Cody was playing golf with the boys so you can only imagine the drinking that occurred there. Then we met up, ostensibly to figure out details for the Germany trip (which has now become a Eastern and Eastern-Western Europe trip) with Dude - such as getting some train tickets (at least between World Cup games) and figuring out cities to visit (my list is: Paris [where we fly in], Gelsenkirchen [first game city and where Cody's folks live], Berlin [game 2], Munich [game 3], Hamburg [game 4], Krakow, Auschwitz, Prague, possibly Austria, castle city in Germany, possible wine country in Germany, and Brussels [where we fly out]). Anyway, we met up at The Drinking Horn, the most dive bar around. Needless to say we didn't get a darn thing done for the trip, Dude managed to spill half a pitcher of beer on the floor and we had to leave Cody's car in West County.
Saturday my goal was to start painting the dining room - I really want to get this room done so Cody's parents can see it when they come up (I have to prove I've done something since they were up here in July of last year). :) Well, I caulked around the ceiling where it's "shifted" but then got tired of looking up so I gave up that quest for the time being. Then Cody had soccer practice out in Creve Couer, so he did that while I ran with Marissa. Then we ate dinner with Marissa and Cassidy at a cool Chinese place - Jade Garden. I was quite excited that they had steamed dishes instead of just the typical fried fare - quite impressive. That night we celebrated Kyle's girlfriend, Cashelle's, arrival in STL at Kilkenny's (she moved here about a week ago). As odd coincidences go, she went to FSU (in Tally where Cody and I are from) for her Master's before moving here. Small world sometimes. Anyway, a good time and great amount of drinking was had by all. :)
Sunday actually deserves it's own post, so I'll do that one later. :) Happy Monday everyone!

Rare Occasion

It's 8 o'clock and we're "done" for the day. On a typical day, this either never happens or happens around 1 a.m. As you can see from the previous post, the weather probably had a lot to do with us already being "done." We thought today was going to be one of our typical busy days, where we try to fit 30 hours worth of life into a meager 24, but thanks to the weather man, it wasn't. On our perverbial plate for the day was: I needed to run, Cody had soccer practice out at Creve Coeur, and there was Parties in the Park in Clayton. Our plan, as usual, was to try to fit everything in. Since soccer practice was near Cody's work, I was going to ride with Marissa (who is on the soccer team) out to Creve Coeur, run while they practiced soccer, then ride back into town with Cody, come home and change clothes, hopefully all in time to run out to Clayton to meet up with everyone for Parties in the Park. But, alas, our day was lessened by the rain. All three of the above were cancelled. So Cody worked late, I worked out at the gym (Cardio Kickboxing kicked my butt), we made dinner (salsa and chips for Cody, left-over salad from lunch for me) and now it's only 8 o'clock and we're "done" for the day. Mind you, I still have the dishwasher going and some laundry to sort, wash and fold but that can be done after being "done." So now we're going to relax.

STL Weather

I guess this means soccer practice, running and Parties in the Park are cancelled?

The Countdown Begins

30 days until we leave for Germany! We got our World Cup tickets in the mail - very cool - and very expensive. Oh well, gotta love eating tuna fish until the wedding. :)

More last week/weekend update

Two very important updates since the post before the last post. So important they deserve their own post, not just a lump into the "week update" post. . . .
First, last Monday my friend, Kari, from law school just happened to be in St. Louis! It was the weirdest of coincidences since no one I have ever known has even known where St. Louis was on a map, much less had any connection to my new city (though on a side note, I guess I can't call it my "new city" anymore since as of last Wednesday I've lived here 2 years). Anyway, Kari's husband, John, has a sister who lives in St. Louis and just had a baby boy (on another side note, they named him Noah, which after I told Cody he is obsessed with naming our future, not-yet-conceived kid Noah - not after the arc guy, but after the Florida basketball player) so they were up here visiting the new nephew. Even though they were only up here for a short weekend, they were kind enough to take time to have breakfast with me Monday morning (worked great for me since it was only a block from my office). Kari, might I add, is one of the greatest people I've ever come across in my entire life - she's incredibly intelligent, one of the nicest people around, is strong in her convictions, fun, yet pragmatic, and now pregnant! Yup - she and John are having a baby girl! I am so excited for the two of them. They really are going to be wonderful parents! She even looks great pregnant! Anyway, we had a great visit, albeit too short. :( Hopefully we'll be able to keep in better touch (I've been lacking in this category) and be able to hang out again. I can't wait to see pictures of the baby when she finally arrives (August) -hopefully they'll be able to make it up for the wedding with her next year so we can ohh and ahh over her!
On another, totally different, note - we saw They Might be Giants on Saturday. Another weird coincidence, Kari and John had a TMBG song on their wedding CD (Birdhouse in Your Soul - one of my favorite songs of all time). Anyway, they played at The Pageant and were great! They played a lot of the new stuff that I must admit, I was not too familiar with, but they were great nonetheless. I was somewhat disappointed in the crowd, as every other time I've seen them in concert (more then a few times) the crowd has been very excited and energetic and this crowd was more mellow. Maybe it was St. Louis. Maybe it was the fact the band has been around for over 20 years and most of their huge fans are now in their late 20s early 30s now and not teenagers anymore. Maybe every other time I saw them it was a younger town (Tally, G'ville, Tampa, etc.). Who knows, but it was still a great show - I even got John Linnell's set list at the end of the show!!! For those of you who may be interested, they started with the Malcom in the Middle song, played the Sun song, Birdhouse in your Soul, James K. Polk, New York City, Istanbul, Song #3 on the first album, and some other stuff I can't remember because the set list is in Cody's car (also the songs were not in that order). All in all a great concert!

Week Update

Wow - it's been a while since I last blogged, but I have a good excuse - my mommy has been in town visiting!! We had a great time hanging around St. Louis and working in the yard. The last time she visited she helped me landscape our front yard and this time our goal was the back yard. Well, we didn't get it finished, but at least we got a plan as to how to lay everything out. Here's a quick run-down of our adventures.
Saturday - we picked Mommy up from the airport and headed to Bandana's for lunch. We planned to do a bunch of stuff in the afternoon, but we all ended up falling asleep as soon as we got home. :)
Sunday - We started at a huge book fair in the Famous Barr garage. It was awesome - all the soft cover books were a $1 or less and the hardback books were all under $5. We found at least 20 books, though couldn't find the one I was looking for - Of Mice and Men. Oh well, I'm sure I'll find it used somewhere. Then we headed out to Augusta to the wineries. It stormed on the way there but by the time we got there it had cleared up - it was still a cloudy day so the wineries were pretty empty. We went to Montelle, Mount Pleasant, and Augusta wineries and got to taste all the wine. We had a great time! Sunday night Cody had an indoor soccer game, so we went to watch that and then I made homemade spaghetti and meatballs.
Monday - I went to work but got off early so we could go shopping for Mommy some new clothes for her new job. We found her tons of great skirts and tops at Kohl's and then headed to Target. We had yummy Crazy Bowls and Wraps for dinner.
Tuesday - We played in the yard and made my specialty, enchilladas, for dinner. Cody hates them so we made them while he was at German class. :)
Wednesday - We went back to Kohl's to try to find some matching tops for some of the skirts we got for Mommy's work. Afterwards we went to my friends, Meghan and Danny's house for dinner. I've known Meghan since I was a small kid so she's known my mom the same length of time. I missed her birthday dinner last week so we did a delayed birthday celebration. It was great to see Elizabeth again -she's growing up so fast. She's getting great at sitting up!
Thursday - We worked out in the yard some more and then went to The Loop. We walked the Walk of Fame, ate at Blueberry Hill and then had root beer floats at the Fitz's bottling plant.
Friday - I took off work so Mommy and I could play in the yard all day. :) We dug and planted and dug some more!
Saturday - Not much to report here. We got ready and went to the Airport - of course, even with the utmost planning we still manged to leave half of her new clothes here. :)
All in all, it was a great visit and we can't wait to have her up here again! Now we just have to talk the rest of our family into visiting!!!!