Can she get any cuter?

These above are the pictures that I took with my own crappy camera. The ones on the link are what Shannon took. I am going to have a hard time picking which ones to keep. We had a lot of fun and Reagan made a MESS, but loved every minute of it.

http://www.flickr.com/gp/9873817@N03/q9P84F

SURPRISE!!!

Oh yes, we totally got them. So it was my parents 40th Anniversary and I planned this dinner at Pisces Rising in Mt Dora for what my parents thought was the normal Sunday dinner crowd. What she didn't know is that out from behind a curtain would first come Dana and Matt and then Anthony and Jenny with little Haley in tow. And as you can see she had no idea. She says it was the night of her life.

We had dinner which was a menu Elena and I put together with the coordinator for my parents and they loved it. Then we showed the slide show that I put together which received roars from the crowd. Brian actually said the nicest thing ever. He said, "I was wishing it wouldn't stop, those were such great pictures."

So then we went back to Bri and Laura's and watched the old home movies which I successfully put onto DVD myself. If any of you have VHS tapes you want put onto DVD just send them with a DVD. I think I might start that as a side business seeing as the only guy in town that does it is an idiot.

So all in all it was fantastic. A lot of work went into it but it paid off. Even my dad who shows zero emotion in the surprise category said, "Now THAT'S a surprise!" when Dana and Matt walked out.

Opportunities Abound

Sometimes I feel like I should keep a mini video camera in my pocket so that I can fully capture what a day in the life of Howie is really like - and then sometimes I REALIZE that I'm probably the only person in the WORLD who REALLY cares about all the STUPID things that happen in my day to day existence. And that's when it occurs to me that maybe I don't have to blog about EVERY little thing I do - though I wish I could!!! (I think there is obviously a part of me that secretly desires to be my own reality show!)

Anyway, enough randomness. Did I ever mention that our decision to move back to Tennessee brought about a HUGE discussion about the limited number of opportunities available to us in our small East TN town?

Whenever anyone in our area begins to allude to how beautiful and serene our town is, it is almost quickly followed by the phrase, "Yeah, it's just too bad that there aren't more opportunities here."

I suddenly disagree. Whitebread and I are fraught with opportunity. We have so many opportunities that quite frankly we're overwhelmed!

Last week, Whitebread put in his two week notice at his job. It seemed like such a great job at first. But it didn't take long for things to sour. The position just never developed the way it was supposed to. He was never given the additional responsibilities he should have been handling and was essentially little more than a glorified line cook with the title of "Chef".

So, after great deliberation - a whole lot of nervousness mixed with a whole lot of excitement - we decided that we would try life out as a Stay At Home Family. I could obviously use the help. I'm already up to my ears with personal assistants and I'm interviewing another one tomorrow!

In fact, I can sum my current lifestyle up by sharing the quote of the day - spoken by my primary assistant - as she caught me running in the house to pay her and then quickly out of the house to run some errands..."Ashleigh, I know you're a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of girl, but this is ridiculous - you're going to have to start scheduling things better or you're never going to get through it all!" - My response - "I thought that was why I hired you!" (hee hee)!

But I'm off topic. After we decided WB would become a Stay At Home Dad - I got a little nervous and encouraged him to apply at Earth Fare - Johnson City's FIRST health foods super store that hasn't even opened, yet! So, he reluctantly applied, got invited to interview and pretty much blew it - atleast that's what we thought. He just doesn't want a job right now, so he didn't exactly paint himself qualified in his interview (well, that's what he told me, anyway).

I guess he was wrong because they offered him the position of Food Service Manager, today. Which either speaks wonders for WB or says very little about the applicant pool from these parts!

Anyway, no decision has been made either way - but if he decides to stay at home - I think I have to Incorporate - YIPES! Watch out world!!! Howie Incorporated - H - O - W - I - E (and now you're gonna have the Kid's Incorporated tune stuck in your head all day - see how persuasive I am - LOL)!

Tough day...

Hi there...

Just wanted to drop a line since I have not for a while. I am not up to writing much today but, just touching base. Today is my Mom's b-day so it is a tough one for me. I never imagined not have the oppportunity to say Happy Birthday to her in-person. I know I can still say it to her but, it is just not the same. I feel that Birthdays are special and important so I guess that is why it is hard. I miss her so very much it hurts. Okay, I must go before I lose it here at my desk. I can hear her saying come on now, pull it together. I know she is always here with me, Blain, Dad, and GM and all of us. Blain and I talked last night and we realize we need to talk about her more...it makes us feel like she is still alive with us. It does help when we talk especially because we feel the same way.

I received a beautiful flower arrangement just a few minutes ago from Crissy and Elena. It is so pretty...again, thank you for thinking of me C & E.

I know Mom is with me all the time giving me strength and love. But, what I wouldn't do for a hug and conversation? Okay, moving on.

Not too much else new here. We are laying low this labor day weekend. Probably do something with Dad/GM on Labor day Monday. Our garage door came unhinged this am while we were trying to leave early for the gym. Kirk tried to repair but, no go. So, repairman will be coming this afternoon. Hopefully it is an easy fix. Fingers crossed.

Well, talk to you later. TTFN.
love, krame

Howdy

I haven't posted in a while so here are the latest happenings. Sean and I has a great weekend. We got haircuts! I only got a trim but got finished before Sean! How funny is that! :P
Work is really stressful right now. Busy busy--can't complain though I like my co-workers.

Sean is not feeling well today so he is working at home. I hate seeing him sick.
Other than that, I have an ultrasound scheduled for Sat--checking my ovary where my cyst was. Not nervous about it.

Other than that, nothing is really new.

Ladies Night

I need some advice. We have Ladies Night scheduled for tomorrow evening. Now, as you are aware, there is a tropical storm coming directly our way. I have usually been open on hurricane days because the kids are out of school and it usually is good money. Our students only went back Monday and now they are off today and tomorrow. Tomorrow is susposed to be the worst of it, especially in the evening. I have 18 people signed up for Ladies night and I want to have those numbers here, but then again, I don't want to let the people down that still would come. Should I reschedule or try and have it anyway?

Low Key

I have ALOT to chat about - but we'll start with this weekend's wedding...

This weekend, we traveled down to Gainesville to see Erica Gyllstrom get married. I'm not sure if any of you remember her - she was the Crew captain that followed me. One year younger and a VERY good rower.

Anyway, her wedding was GORGEOUS - we're talking about a reception at the Natural History Museum - with full access to the Butterfly Rainforest, servers walking around with appetizers, open bar & the UF Mascot making an appearance - all of this was BEFORE the sit down dinner featuring two fancy carving stations (does that still make it sit down?)..

Right, so the evening before the wedding, the groom's family hosted a Sonny's BBQ catered dinner. We got to mingle with all of Erica's friends and family and catch up with each other. At our table, was mostly rowers with a few of Erica's close friends from high school - all of whom were getting along very well with us - joking and waxing sarcastic.

At one point, one of the girls sits down at the table, looks at me and says, "Gosh, your baby is so low key, what's his name?" We all laugh and the conversation moves forward.

Well the next day, we're having breakfast with the bride and I'm carrying on about Loki and the girl stops me and says, "you never did tell me his name." I just stopped. I mean, REALLY? LOL... So, I told her and she was hysterical. She had no idea. It is pretty funny. He is a pretty chill little dude.

What a weekend!

This is what we have been up to:

Thursday: Left our house about 9:30am, headed north. Made a few stops, tried to find fast food places that had playgrounds so Reagan could burn off some energy. Stopped in Kentucky about 10:30pm, got a hotel and slept!

Friday: Got up and out the door by 9am, then we realized that our GPS was still on Eastern time zone and we were really an hour ahead of schedule. Got to the hotel in St. Louis about 11:30am and put Reagan down for nap. Woke up from nap and went to Illinois for the viewing.

Now, I have only been to 5 funerals in my life.

• My 1st was my Grandfather's and it was at Arlington National, so a totally unique experience.


• The 2nd, unfortunately, was my dad's, so it was a blur through all my tears.


• The 3rd was Mike's mom and they had a viewing and a Catholic Mass. But, it wasn't like we were related to her, so we were just visitors. I didn't really know her, I was just there to support my sister.


• Then, unfortunately, there were Paula's and Aunt Jackie's. Very similar to each other, but different from the other's. I knew them well and I grieved for them and their family because I was truly sad and because of the love I have for their families.

Then there is this one. I know Brian is upset, I know Jeanette is upset, but I didn't know Grandma. I knew stories of her and lately the stories have been stressing out Jeanette because of the Alzheimer's and a stroke. The viewing was really long and they had an open casket, which was a 1st for me. We (Carol, Sarah, Beth, and a few of Carol's family members) went to the funeral home and saw my dad, but no one else did. It was just us saying goodbye. So, there is a lot of family at the viewing, I mean EVERYONE. We leave to get the kids something to eat and then we come back and there is more family there and all in all it was HOURS of just people standing around and talking. It started at 3 and I think we left at 8, but who knows what time Jeanette left. The next morning there was another viewing, but we didn't have to be there till 9am. Then, they put her in the hearse and we all drove in a processional through town and through another town and past the house she used to live in and then up to the Church. This driving probably took almost an hour. Then there was a mass. This is where it gets funny (yes, funny in a funeral story). Reagan was on her best behavior, but it because very clear that Brian and I need to take her to Church on a more regular basis. She was bored, aren't most children? So I gave her a snack and that worked for a little while. Then, as the Priest comes up to pat her on the head (bless her maybe?) she says straight to his face, "I pooped." Then she proceeds to say it over and over again and louder and louder. Finally, I take her out of the church and we go outside. I check her diaper, no poop. I am utterly embarrassed and Reagan is now wanting to run free in the cemetery. Give me a break! We go back in, just as the service is over. We walk outside to the grave site. Again, this is kinda a 1st for me. At Arlington, we were at the grave site, but it was just WAY different. At my dad's, just the very immediate family went to the grave site and if I remember, it was the next day (don't quote me on that). Anyway, now we are standing outside at the grave site and Reagan wants to run free, we keep her contained and then it is over. Everyone goes into the little banquet house and there is a feast. We all eat and be merry. Vivian convinces Brian to stay overnight and leave the next morning. We were originally going to leave straight after the reception and drive as far as we could, then drive the rest of the way on Sunday.

Sunday: Get up at 4am, ouch. Leave the hotel by 5:15am and drive all day. We make it home at 10pm, unload the car (thank you Brian) put Reagan to bed and go to bed ourselves.

Monday: 8am came way too quickly for me and I know when Brian's alarm went off at 5:30am, he was hurting. Back to work and I have to admit, for once, my staff did a good job this weekend.

All in all a very different experience for me. I am saddened by the fact that Jeanette now has no living parents and Brian is without any Grandparents. I guess I am so lucky to have 4 families, plenty of parents and Grandparents to go around. It's just so different how families react to death and the rituals that we follow. I have decided that I do not want a viewing and an open casket. That is the last memory your family will have and I just want them to remember me alive. I also don't think I want to be burried in a casket and in the ground. I think I would like to be cremated, but I'm not sure. If I am burried in the ground, I don't see the point of buying a casket, because then they still put you in a concrete box to be burried. Why waste the money on a fancy casket, a pine box will be just fine, thank you. This post has gone on long enough, look for pictures to be posted to Reagan's site sometime tonight or tomorrow. Love to all.

The Storyless Story

There isn't much to tell at this time, guess I'm just saying hi. I've been getting called into work more and more which is good. It does however make my website fall by the wayside which is not good. So I work on that at night and at ungodly hours of the morning before most of the world even thinks of getting up. :-) But I love both jobs so I'm happy.

Elena and I have joined the Y and we're enjoying it so far. It's really fun to watch EJ try to roll out of bed after a tough workout the day before, hee hee! I also went to court on Wednesday and talked myself out of my "Failure to Yield" ticket. Here was my closing line that really won the judge over. Sir I work for the United States Postal Service right here in Tavares and if there is one thing I do cautiously it's drive. I wouldn't waste your time here if I were guilty." Good, right? Insufficient evidence to convict...DISMISSED!!!! Music to my ears. Saved myself $123.50

If anyone needs representation for anything I can be made available. Now I have to really start getting ready for my parents anniversary dinner which includes putting our old home movies on DVD(currently on VHS). So I stopped by the only local place that does it after lunch with Krame on Wed and dropped them off. Only to pick them up again 30 seconds later. I didn't like the guys attitude when he was ringing me up but I needed the tapes done. But I walked out to my car, pulled out of the parking lot turned right back around and went back in and asked for a refund. He did nothing to earn my business and so he lost it.

Now I have to go and buy a VHS to DVD converter and do the tapes myself. Just as well cause now I can do ALL of their tapes. As Kramer would say, PUNK!!

So that's my story for now. Oh yes also this week my transmission did something that cost $400, our fridge decided to pee all over the floor for approximately 14 hours and the irrigation system became possessed and would not stop watering the lawn. That was all on Monday. All in a day's work. Talk with everyone soon.

This is what it boils down to

As we are driving home from Sea World, I began to think.....And this is what I came up with. My goal in life right now could be broken down into 1 thing, making Reagan happy. Brian and I have driven down to Sea World 2 weekends in a row to see this child grin from ear to ear. And, we would do it the next two weekends and probably every weekend thereafter if we didn't have things planned. The look on her face when she sees these characters in person, is just breathtaking.

• Today, we started out really early, even for her. We woke her up at 7:15, got ready and were out the door by 7:45. At 8:30 we are sitting down to eat and what do we hear, "Sunny days, chasing the clouds away" and here comes Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Zoe and Tully. Reagan was on cloud nine and truth be told, we could have left then and she would have been happy for the whole day. But, they finished singing and each character came to each table and gave everyone very equal yet plentiful face time. Reagan was of course mesmerized by Cookie and Elmo, she really liked Zoe's dress and she was so-so interested in Bert and Ernie (but aren't we all). Then they did another song and dance (mesmerized) and then we could all go up to take a family picture with Big Bird and Elmo. I have to admit, I was a little star struck seeing Big Bird so close, he was always my fav. After that, back to our tables and more face time with each character, except Big Bird but I tried to hide my disappointment. Then we finished eating and as we are leaving the staff suggest that we take a box of cereal for the road, for later, for Reagan. I mean how sweet was that?!?!? Now it is time for the Elmo and Abby show. Yes, we could have skipped it all together, but it was starting and we were right there, so why not? We got the same seats as last weekend and when Cookie started up the stairs, he went right to Reagan, like he (or she) remembered. Reagan of course remembered and was beaming. Then, we did the meet and greet after and Reagan hugged Elmo, no Abby this time but it was fine. The rest of the day we went to shows and saw whales and dolphins and sharks and other fish, but nothing made her smile like those characters.

Now I wonder how we are going to top that, and what are we going to do this weekend to make her smile. Yes, Loki will be here and he will be so cute and she will get lots of extra attention from KK, Kirk (whom she has now added to her prayers all on her own, how sweet is that), Howie, Whitebread, Crissy and Elena (wow that's a lot when you have to type it out) but will she ever be as happy as she was this morning? As a mom, I think I have found my new drug, seeing your child in pure joy. I wish I could bottle it and see it everyday, but I guess glances of it on video and photos will have to do the trick till the next time we can make her day. I think I have now written the longest post on here, sorry to keep rambling on about my child. I am turning into Kathie Lee Gifford. I just love that little monkey and her little face and her little smile and her little laugh. Nuf said, Peace out

Sing along with me

She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes...Yehaw....She'll be bringing Whitebread and Loki when she comes...Yehaw....She'll be wearing bright pink hair, She'll be wearing bright pink hair, She'll be wearing bright pink hair when she comes. (hair color may change depending on her mood)

Howie, Whitbread and Loki are making a stop at our house after a wedding in Gainesville and we thought "Let's have a barbeque." They will be here around 1ish on Sunday the 17th. We are suggesting that if you can come, be at our house around noon, bring your suit and we will have lunch all ready for them when they roll in. If you can come, please bring something. Brian and I will do the burgers (meat and turkey), hotdogs and buns. BYOB (or beverage of choice) You know we will have plenty of diet coke!!!!

RSVP ASAP

Sorry for the short notice, we totally understand if you can't make it. I also sent everyone an email with this exact same info.

The Little Things...Like Batteries

Hello all-

Sorry bout your softball experience Turn, who could imagine this day we're still segregating? Anyway, you're playing SOFTBALL, not BASEBALL!!! It's the boys who shouldn't be allowed.

So yes our dinner company last night was grand, the fish came out a little soggy I thought but all in all a decent meal. So after dinner when we decided to flip on So You Think You Can Dance but the remote wouldn't work, no AAA batteries in the house. No big deal, right? It happens. So we do it the old fashoined way. Well after K & K left Elena says, "Everything was going so smoothly up until the remote thing."

Love her to death!!! :-)

Thanks for coming Krame we already have the next meal planned, something a bit more messy and even better tasting. :-)

Saying hello...

Just wanted to say Hi! Keeping busy as I am sure you are too. Had a nice weekend. Kirk and I had a nice dinner out for his b-day. He really was surprised and enjoyed the restaurant. We got to split my fav dessert - creme brulee and it wasn't even my bday. But, we both love it! We also had a nice time on Sunday night at Garibaldi's mexican with Dad/GM and came home and kirk opened gifts and we all had cake.

The Kick-off meeting went well on Saturday for ADA at the Orlando Science Center. As you know I am involved with the American Diabetes Assn in Memory/Honor of Mom. I am on the planning committee and also captain our family/friends team. Just something we really want to do for Mom. We just had the kick-off meeting this past saturday and it went well. We had about 100 attend which is pretty good since last year they said that they only had 35. Kirk, Dad, GM, Katie, Brian, and Reagan came too. During the kick-off, they ended up showcasing our team webpage "Paula's Sous Chefs" and I had to say a few words about how you can make the site personal and talked about Mom. I was nervous but, something happened and I was totally fine talking about it. I think I became less nervous because of the reason I am doing this. I was pretty proud of myself I won't lie. I also think that Mom helped me through. In addition to more walkers to help fundraise...we also need "Event Day" volunteers to help with set-up, registration etc. So, let me know if you are interested and I can get you signed up. The diabetes walk event is on Sat, Nov 1, 2008.

Things are good though. Work has been busy. If you can believe it...it was my 10th anniversary in July. So I have officially qualified for an awards trip to Hawaii. So Kirk and I are taking a trip to Hawaii in October. We are very excited...I have always wanted to go. We are really blessed to have this opportunity.

Had lunch with Stace yesterday...it was fun catching up Stace and hearing about Michael. Last night Kirk and I had dinner at Crissy/Elena's...dinner was just delicious and their place is adorable. Thanks again for a fun time Crissy!!

Well, I hope you all are well. Happy Thursday! :o) Love ya!

Sexism and Softball

Well I finally have something interesting to post...YIPEE!
Sean's office has joined a rec softball (slow pitch) league and last night was the first night we could go (rainouts or other plans). We went a bit early to warm up and stretch. As we are playing catch, Sean mentions that a few rules of the league--
1. Each team must have 3 girls on the team, if not the team can't play (sexist point #1). In my opinion the best people should play.
2. The opposing pitcher cannot walk a boy to get to pitch to a girl (sexist point #2). Some girls hit better than boys, right? Right.

I was a little disappointed in these rules but still wanted to play. The game begins.

Our pitcher had aggrevated a leg injury so in the first inning he was hurting. I was playing 2nd base and Sean was in the outfield. Our team sucks. Plain and simple. We finally get 3 outs and head to the dugout. I grab Sean and ask him to catch for me. For those who don't know, I pitched both fast and slow pitch in middle school and high school. I also played in some traveling tournaments all over PA and WV. I start warming up and am pitching pretty good.

I ask our pitcher, Mike, if he wants me to pitch. He says he wants to see how the leg feels and if he is still in pain, he will stop and give me the ball. After about 3 batters, he walks over to me and says he can't do it anymore and can I pitch. Sure! He gives me the ball--then the ump yells, "You can't pitch!" I ask "Why?" Ready for this--"Because girls aren't allowed to pitch!" (Sexist point #3). They try to convince me that this rule is for my safety--I don't get hit by a ball, blah blah blah. I wanted to mention that I probably have years more experience with protecting myself on the pitchers mound than Mike does. Did I mention Mike is about 300lbs? Believe it or not, I did not make a big deal. I gave the ball back to Mike and went to my position and we finished the inning. You should of seen how pissed Sean was--oh my!

We lost the game big time and despite the sexism, I had fun. I am not as sore as I expected my fat ass to be so that is good! I don't know if I will play again. I was really hot about this last night. Both Bob and Marilyn could not believe it--speechless--my parents! That doesn't happen very often!

Hope you all are well.

Sunday Sail

As part of my birthday weekend celebration, my sweet hunk of a loaf of bread took me sailing, yesterday!

We went out on our friend Tron's boat. You may remeber Tron from the wedding - tall, thin, VERY long pony tail...

Anyway, we had a BLAST. Whitebread loved learning how to sail and pretending that he was Ernest Hemingway. We took out some snacks, sailed around Cherokee lake and swam for a little bit.

We came home a little pinker than before and a lot more knowledgable about sailing! No major catastrophes - just some good clean fun (well, as clean as Cherokee lake can be)!

By the way, THANKS gang for the gift card!!! It will be put to a good use - I'm thinking a fire extinguisher for the trunk of Howie's car might be appropriate!

A NEARLY Explosive Birthday

Getting older isn't all bad. I really had a FANTASTIC birthday weekend.

This past week has been a little hectic (read: Howie's been SUPER stressed). In case we didn't have enough going on, my cousin Ana Maria has been staying with us. Ana Maria is the daughter of my uncle's mail order bride from Columbia. She's a typical tween - 12 going on 39. And she was a GREAT help with Loki - but I think she got a little bored hanging out at home with me while I worked.

So on Friday, I decided to declare it FUN day (it helped that it was my birthday)! We went down to Wetlands Water Park in Jonesborough. It's not much of a water park, but it's not bad for only being about 15 minutes from the house. It has 3 slides, a lazy river and a kids area. Nothing spectacular, but good enough for our purposes.

On our way to the park, I must have had a lot on my mind. I decided we needed to stop and fill up the gas tank because gas was SUPER cheap in Jonesborogh (we're talking $3.68/gallon). As I pull into the gas station, Ana Maria was telling me some story about how she doesn't know how to pump gas and last time she tried, she was with her Dad (my uncle) and the tank overflowed and they lost about 3 gallons of gas. 3 gallons of gas is alot of gas, and I told her as much - thinking she was just exaggerating.

Anyway, as she was wrapping up her story, I had pulled up to the tank and was working on setting up the gas pump. I put the little latch in place to ensure that it would auto-pump the gas and then I told Ana Maria to stay put and watch the pump while I went inside to get a couple of sodas.

(You can probably guess what might have happened next). As I'm paying for the sodas and chit chatting with the rather apathetic gas station attendant, Ana Maria runs into the store screaming about the gas tank overflowing. Well, in all of my brilliance I was certain she was joking so I nonchalantly signed the credit card receipt and while I was doing that I asked the attendant to check to see if the pump was still running. He told me that it was with a glazed over sort of stare and I looked back at him incredulously and said (with quite a bit of emotion developing in my voice), "I THOUGHT IT WAS AN AUTOMATIC SHUT OFF!!!" His very non-emotional response, "So did I."

As I'm running out the door to try and shut off the overflowing pump (which I'm still pretty sure should/could have been done from inside the store by Captain Apathy), another man who had been pumping gas on the other side of the gas station said to the attendant (also in a rather casual - obviously NOT overly excited tone, "Boy, you got you a hose? You're gonna need to hose that down. You gotta rinse that out." Well, this apparently inspired my favorite Gas Man to move his rather obese self into action. He turned around, grabbed a rather small bucket, filled it half way up with water and followed me out the door.

As I stop the gas pump, he splashes his tiny little bucket of water onto the back of my car. GREAT - that's really going to keep the rear of my car from going into flames, I'm thinking. And so I look at him and I say, "Look at my gas cap, it's full of gas, that's no good!" So, my genius "Anti-hero" grabs a wad of paper towels and soaks the gasoline out of my gas cap. Brilliant! Those paper towels, surely aren't flammable!

I'm just waiting for all of this to go TERRIBLY a rye. My cute little silver Ford Focus is floating in a pool of gasoline. You see, my tank only holds 10 gallons and it was over 1/4 full - meaning it probably only needed about 7 or 8 gallons. By the time I got to the pump, I paid for 15 gallons of gas - 8 of which was puddled on the ground beneath my get away car!

Luckily a very nice man had saddled up next to our pump and he helped me push my car out of the river of gasoline. And while the whole event was rather dramatic, catastrophe was averted. We left the station, with a new perfume, but relatively unscathed - other than the emotional damage.

Poor Ana Maria will probably NEVER pump gas EVER. Bless her heart, she tried to tell me that she didn't know how to do it. Gosh, I hope that I can improve those listening skills. I've clearly become a Mom. As soon as a teenager starts talking, I tune out. That can't be good.

The really funny part about all of this, is that a few weeks ago, Whitebread and I got into a heated debate about whether or not you can walk away from the gas pump when the auto pump lever is in place. I was just certain that they always shut off when the tank was full, and he told me that this isn't always the case. Clearly, I didn't believe him and now he is dancing merrily to the "I told you so" tune!

Anyway, aside from the nearly explosive fueling event (talk about having to blow out some candles), the rest of the day went off without a hitch. Ana Maria and I had a BLAST at the water park. On our way back home we passed the same gas station and it was still there - much to my surprise.

So the only great loss was the 8+ gallons of gas seaping into the ground and my dignity.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOWS!!!!!!!! :o)

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday Dear HOWIE!
Happy Birthday to YOU!

How old are you?
How old are you?
How old are you HOWIE?
How old are you?

29 YEARS YOUNG!!!! Wishing you a wonderful day with your sweet fam!!!

Hi Buds,
Hope you all have a great weekend. It's also Kirk's b-day tomorrow so he and I are going to celebrate tonight. I was planning a picnic at leu gardens (they have a date night once a month with a movie and they were showing casablanca). But, weather doesn't look good so we are going to plan B. Plan B is reservations at this little european bistro...I can use our entertainment card there too for buy 1 entree get 1 free. You can also bring a bottle of your own wine for a $15 corkage fee...still cheaper than buying there. Perfect. Should be nice and something different as we have never been. I think Kirk will be surprised that we go there. We will also celebrate sunday night with Dad and GM. Tomorrow evening we have the diabetes walk kick-off meeting at the orl science center. Dad, GM, and Kirk and I will be attending along with K, B, & R . Looking forward to that too. We are working on planning our Hawaii trip hopefully for October :o). Not much else to report...I really did enjoy our girls weekend and can't wait until our next get together. TGIF and Happy Weekend to all.
Love you,
Krames