Thursday, February 28, 2008

Leap Year

So, tomorrow's the big day! My uncle is going to be something like eleven or twelve years old! :) His birthday is February 29th... he used to tease us, telling us that he was way younger than all of us. We didn't get it (we were something like 9 or 10 years old, and probably didn't know leap day from a frog). Now one of my friends is overdue for her first baby. She's kind of hoping she doesn't have him/her tomorrow. That'd be something, wouldn't it?

Other thoughts: it's a free day. Why isn't it a national holiday? it's just an extra day. We didn't have it last year, we won't have it next year. It's just there. So everything should be closed, like on Christmas and the 4th of July. and it'd be an extra bonus this year -- on a Friday! and we really should celebrate something. Something that everyone has, like... hair... or hearts. Yeah, I'm lame.

Okay, enough about that particular day. The games count for this week is four so far. If everything goes as planned, it'll be at 9 or 10 by Saturday night. I really believe it'll be a personal record! But then it's going to slow down dramatically. Depending on how each team does, there should be a couple of games next week. but who knows! For sure in a couple of weeks there will be no games left at all. All of the seasons will be over. Next up, track season. My sister has been training for it ever since cross country was over, so it should be a great season!

On the health front, I think I passed my illness on to my dad. :S geeeez.

The other evening, my friends and I were driving somewhere and we had a really interesting conversation. It was all about history. :) One of my passions! Not something you sit around and discuss with your friends. but we did, and I didn't even bring it up!!! We talked about things like the Revolutionary War, Civil War, the medieval times, and ancient civilizations.

Jim and Lynne's 2nd anniversary was on Monday. Can hardly believe it's been two years since their big day!! and Bob and Maria's 1st is coming up in a couple of weeks. Time sure flies!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

My voice...

I'm feeling better now, but my voice is betraying me. :) I've been sick since I last wrote on here (Sunday afternoon when I said I wasn't feeling so great). I have a pretty bad cough and for a couple days there I had a headache and was hurting all over. Today I'm not so out of it (so I feel like I'm "better"), but my voice is really low and scratchy. A couple of people said I sound like a guy, some others think I'm really really sick. It's just my voice though!! Actually, I'm still coughing quite a bit.

Anyways..... I'm busy getting some work done today that I really need to do, so that's good!

I'm hoping the Red Wings can get back on a roll and win a few -- starting tonight!!

Sunday, February 24, 2008

A first

I carved a turkey today!!!!

We had a big turkey dinner today (felt like thanksgiving!), and somehow, I ended up carving up the turkey! :) For some reason I ended up making a lot of the dinner (mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, gravy, and the end part of the turkey), and by the time we sat down to eat, I was so exhausted, I felt like I needed a nap! We usually divide it up and everyone does one thing, so it's not too bad, but for whatever reason, we didn't do that today. The bonus though, is that when you help make dinner, you don't have to do dishes. So I got to relax once the dinner was on the table.

Whew! I'm still exhausted now, because I'm getting sick. I have a lot of chest congestion and pressure, but it's not really coming out. :(

BUSY busy week coming up!! Lots of games! If I'm okay and go to all of them, it'll be seven games...

Friday, February 22, 2008

One of my best!!!


Addy's one of my best friends! :) She happens to be the daughter of my oldest friend Kelly. Kelly and I have been hanging out since we were about 2 or 3 years old (Addy's age!!). There's just something about our friendship -- it has lasted through everything. We've both changed other friends throughout the past 22 years, but through it all, we're still friends. It's different now that she's a mom (to two!!) and a wife, but we still make time for each other. And we still always have so much to talk about and share.
(I stole this photo from Kelly... twice! Thanks!)

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

basketball games!!

I just got home from watching my alma mater beat our arch rival in basketball TWICE!!! The women's team won by two points on a shot with four seconds left in the game!! The other team had three free throws with no time on the clock. The girl missed!!! and that's how we ended up winning! I imagine she'll shoot 1000 or more free throws over the next couple of days! It was almost too much excitement for me to handle.

Then the men's game....

We were down by up to 14 points in the second half, kept tying them in the last five minutes, then got the lead for the FIRST time all night with less than a minute left!! and won by two points!!! Some great steals and BIG defense made the difference in the game. Wow, I got exhausted just watching the game!

It was the most exciting day of basketball I've seen in a looooong time!! and when I was going to school, I didn't miss a home game for over two years. (maybe my memory that far back isn't the greatest.... lol) Whew!! Too bad it's just about the end of the season...

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Happy Day!

HAPPY THIRD ANNIVERSARY Kelly and Scott!!

Just think of everything that can happen in three years! :)

I can hardly believe it has been that long since I got a phone call from Kelly saying she and Scott got married that afternoon. I always knew that's how she wanted to do it (elope instead of a big wedding), but it still surprised me!

Goals

Here are a few of my goals for the end of February:
1. call Tamara, Sarah, and Katharina. I have to double check that I have their correct phone numbers. This one's going to be a challenge with the 6-hour time difference!
2. Wake up extra early to make breakfast. Instead of just eating an orange on the go.
3. Get caught up on gifts. I have 2 baby gifts and one birthday gift on my list so far. I need to get going on it so it doesn't get too long!
4. Find a new author. Any suggestions?
5. Call my CT fam. That one's not so much a goal as something I want to remember to do soon...
6. Have a scrapbooking day. My last one was really productive (I think I did 6 pages!), so I should aim for that again!
7. Organize some things that I have laying around. I worked on that yesterday, but didn't finish it up. I usually really get organized and throw things out whenever I move. I'm not moving right now (hopefully soon though!), but this definitely can use some work!

Seven is enough, right? I'm hoping since I wrote it down, I'll actually do it... we'll see!!

Monday, February 18, 2008

For Fun!

Here's a few random photographs I was looking at today. Some are old, some new, but I think they're all fun!!

Evelyn, Michelle, Julie, Sarah, and me. Summer 2006

My 24th Birthday Party: Central Park! :) Julie, Susie, Heidi, me, Liz, Ginny, and Diane :)
Cousins! Walking at a Relay For Life, June 2006

Sisters last summer in LT

Katharina, me, Tamara, and Sarah in Chicago, August 2007
Ed and Michelle, Jan 2008

Happy #21 Sister!!

My (little) sister is 21 today!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTIN!!





(This photo is from last August on the shores of Lake Superior!!!)

Sunday, February 17, 2008

I love chocolate

I love chocolate.
Hot chocolate.
Hershey chocolate with almonds.
Frrrrrrozen hot chocolate
Lindt Lindor truffles (red = milk chocolate)
Chocolatey ice cream (vanilla with fudge)
Fudge
Reese's
Mochas


Yep, I love chocolate!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Reflections: the last day

I know I do this a lot on here, but I've been thinking about this lately. So I thought I'd write a post about it. It's a reflection on.... once again, life in Connecticut. I guess one reason I'm doing it is to have it written down.

Here's some background information. So from Dec '06, I knew I was moving home on the morning of July 30, 2007. For a long time it seemed way off. So far off that I didn't think about it. Then my friends (Tamara, Sarah, Katharina, Ellen) and I started talking about how our time was halfway over. Or more than halfway. Then we all started traveling, so we realized we didn't have that much time together. Then all of a sudden, it was June, and we had one month left together. We wrote down a bunch of things we still wanted to do together, like to go the NJ coast (we did it!), spend a day in NYC taking photos at our favorite places (check!), have a last breakfast at I-Hop (not sure if we realized it was the last one), have a picnic in Central Park (done!), and some others that I can't remember right now. Then it was the middle of July and I was saying goodbye to Sarah on a street corner in the city.

Now it was my last couple of weeks. I have packing anxiety, so I started packing WAY early. The couple weeks leading up to going home, I was really excited to be going home to see my family, friends, and enjoy the rest of the summer. I didn't let myself think about leaving this place for good.

Sunday, July 29, 2007 I didn't sleep in very late, and I didn't have many plans for the day. I spent a few hours doing laundry and packing some things. Spent some time with the boys. Talked on the phone a little bit. Finished up a scrapbook I made for Marcy, Eric, and the boys. Wrote out a card for all of them. (THAT was hard!) Daydreamed about everything I had done since the first time I stepped into that bedroom (back to the present -- I'm getting tears in my eyes!) . I started getting very nostalgic. How could I be leaving already? I spent every day with these boys, and I had to leave them. Who knows when I'd ever see them again?!


Marcy, Eric, the boys, and I went out for a "goodbye" dinner. We went to a hibachi place in town. It was really fun and festive... until the ordering was done. Then the boys all gave me cards they had made. You could tell they all put a lot of thought into them. They all said in their different ways about how sad they were that I was leaving. That they were really going to miss me. (I still look at those cards every couple of weeks and relive fun times I had with them.) and I started getting tears. Then Marcy gave me a gift (which I LOVE!) and a card from all of them. Reading her card, I couldn't stop the tears. (I carry the card in my purse and read it every once in awhile -- it still brings tears to my eyes.) It was overwhelming -- all of that emotion.

Marcy, Eric, and the boys loved the scrapbook! It was so much fun giving it to them and seeing their expressions from each page (that I had put so much thought into)! After a delicious dinner, we headed back home. It was time for the boys to go to sleep, so I got to tuck them in one last time and say goodbye (I had to leave the house at 6:00 am the next day). I can still picture brushing my teeth with them one last time, doing all of the little games we had come up with over the year.

Then came the hard part. In one way, it felt like every other night I had tucked them in. In the back of my mind, though, this voice kept saying "this is the last time you're ever going to do this, Karen!" A. started sobbing when I was leaving his bedroom. It was hard to close the door. Then M. (who is a tough boy most of the time) was fighting back tears when I had to say goodbye (that almost undid me). T (the oldest) said some nice things, then said "It's okay, Karen. I'm not going to cry -- I don't ever cry...":) (he's 13)

After I said goodnight and goodbye to the boys, I talked to Marcy and Eric for awhile. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to them, and I didn't have to quite yet. Eric was bringing me to the airport in the morning, and Marcy was going to get up with us. Whew!


Then I met my friends (Tamara, Katharina, Ellen, Gillian, and Julie) at Starbucks one last time. We spent a couple of hours talking and visiting like any other Starbucks night. Then they turned the lights off because they were closing. So we just went into the parking lot and continued talking. We took a few photos. And kept talking. We got around to reminiscing about so many awesome things we had done. I finally told them that someone else was going to have to leave before me, because I was just going to keep on talking and visiting all night. I was in denial that I was leaving, so I'd stay all night. Finally someone said they had to get home. So amidst the tears, I said goodbye. (Here is one of the photos from that night!)



I got into my car and called my sister. She knew that I was kind of in denial, and she came up with a good idea for me. She said to take a drive through town, and drive past all of the familiar places one more time. She specifically mentioned the beach, a place I would go to when I first moved out there and call home when I was feeling lonely. I spent many hours in that parking lot overlooking the Sound, talking to home.
So I drove out there and had to pull over a few times to fight back the tears. I can still feel those last moments driving around those familiar streets, wondering when I'd make it back, and reflecting on all of the wonderful times there. I drove past the train station and my thoughts turned to so many train rides into the city. Past the post office that I went to to drop off letters every single day for the first month. Past the boys' friends houses. Through the last four-way stop before our house, then onto our street. When I got back, I just spent a couple of minues in the driveway, looking around.

I went inside and talked to Marcy and Eric a little longer. Marcy said that M. had put something in my room -- something he forgot to give me earlier. It was a picture and card from their dog :) that M. made for me. :)

My suitcases were packed, and I went to bed for the last time in Connecticut. What a day of emotion and reflection.

*****It felt really good to write all of that down. I'm glad I did -- even if no one reads it. I know it's long! The next day is a whole different story. Maybe I'll write it someday.***** So, if there's anything you can tell from this whole blog, I hope it's that I loved my life in CT and I really miss it. But I love life up here and can't imagine leaving again!

Monday, February 11, 2008

AnnaMaria

The Rules:*You must post the rules before you give your answers.*You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name.*Each fact must begin with that letter.*If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name.*After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers.*At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name.(Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details)

A: Always behind on scrapbooking. I can never seem to catch up!
N: Now I'm missing my "family" in Connecticut
N: NYC is one of my favorite places to be!
A: Am 25 years old
M: MT graduate (Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences, Education Concentration, minor in Mathematics)
A: Almost always try to find the best in every situation
R: Really love spending quality time on the beach at our camp!
I: In the middle. 2 siblings older than me, 7 younger
A: Ancient history is very intriguing to me!

Now for the tagging part. I don't "know" 9 other bloggers, so I'm going to be dumb and skip that part. I've been trying to recuit some people to blogging, but it's not going so well.

Friday, February 8, 2008

I'm boring!

I just realized I haven't updated this in a WEEK! way too long, but not that much has happened. Except that one amazing football game last Sunday! Way to go Giants! I was soooo pumped for them.
Wow, I just wrote a long paragraph and it's gone. It wasn't that cool, so I won't retype it... but that makes me a little crabby.


We went snowshoeing on the lakeshore the other day and it was amazing!! We got to walk on some places you can't get to in the summer, so that was really cool! It was a totally new perspective. We went shooting, too. Later that day my brother told his girlfriend "Karen went shooting today with some boys..." but it was actually with Liz and Sally. He was impressed. Just figured it was guys because he must not know any girls with guns. Yeah, I have cool friends!!!

Hockey games tonight -- yea! I haven't seen them play in about three months. WAY too long!

Friday, February 1, 2008

Just some thoughts

Just some random thoughts as I'm sitting here on this beautiful Friday afternoon:
  • One of my friends called me today to see if I want to go sailing with her in the Florida Keys for a week. Yes, seriously! A friend of hers invited her, and said to bring a friend. So she called and really really tempted me to go with her. SAILING for a WEEK! As you can tell, I just got back from vacation, so I had to tell her no. If it had been during the local schools' spring break, I don't know if I would have been able to say no. But if I went, then I'd only work for two weeks in March. And seeing as I just went on two pretty big trips, I can't take half of a month off in March. (You can probably tell -- I'm still trying to convince myself that I can't go.)
  • This is something I mention often, but I can't help it. I had a delicious peppermint mocha today!! Something little like that can totally make my day! I can admit it. I'm addicted.
  • LN is gone this weekend. She has a sister's weekend away. The last time she and I were both up here for the weekend was December 15th. Yeah. Luckily we've been hanging out a lot during the weeks in between... next weekend (Feb. 8-9-10), I can tell, it's going to be big!
  • My sister is looking more and more pregnant!! :) She's so cute! I can't wait for their little one to arrive in May!
  • BEN Arthur is such a cutie! I got to hold him for over an hour on Monday. Wow, I could've gone on holding him all day! He slept most of the time, so I didn't get to see who he resembles. As my dad says "then he must look like himself!" Liz brought Addy to the hockey game with her yesterday, and we had so much fun hanging out! She kept telling me "Karen, I love hockey players!" I told her that I agree. Two years old, and she already has good taste! Haha!! Wait until Kelly hears about that one!
  • Rabbit day today ---- I remembered to say it!

Have a fantastic weekend!!