Dogs and Balloons......

Some dogs love balloons.....as demonstrated in Maureen's birthday blog post and the picture below:

So, as you can see, Liddy is a big fan of the balloon. As you know, Lee's birthday was last weekend and there are still numerous mylar balloons hanging around in the house. This is what Farley does when a balloon comes near him:

Yes, he's hiding under our bed and wouldn't come out for a long while!

The Cure for Juvenile Diabetes Invitational

About a month ago, I was asked to participate in a charity golf tournament through work. My company, Noblis, sponsored a foursome to participate in the tournament and the three other people in the group consisted of our CEO, our CFO and one of our HR folks. So, how could I turn it down. Better than that......the tournament was for The Cure for Juvenile Diabetes. As a lot of you know, my uncle Thom and my uncle Jim both were diagnosed with this disease when they were a lot younger. Thom passed away on December 24, 2002 from this horrible disease and Jim still struggles with it every day. So, this was the perfect tournament to be involved in.

The tournament was held at Lowes Island Club in Potomac Falls. Registration and lunch started at 11 and the shotgun start was at 1:00 PM. I am not one for being late, so after picking Farley up at the vet and picking up Andrew's percussion learning kit and book from Music & Arts in Sterling, I headed over to the club and arrived right at 11. Well, I got a call from one of the executive admins telling me the CEO and CFO had to attend a meeting and would not arrive until around noon or a little after. Our CFO lives in Lowes Island and belongs to this club so he is definitely familiar with the course.....worked in favor SOME of the time! Anyway, I was able to head out to the driving range and hit a few after stretching a lot.......yeah, that didn't help!

After I hit a few, I headed back to the clubhouse for lunch. It was pretty decent! I enjoyed an Arnold Palmer and some fruit and then the rest of the group showed up. We chatted for a few and then had to head over to the carts for our instructions. Here are the directions, as I remember them:

Format = Shamble (not to be confused with a Scramble)

Every player will hit a tee shot. The team will decide the best shot and all players will hit their second shot from that location. THEN, each player will play their own ball all the way to the hole. Each team MUST use each player's drive at least once and NO MORE than 9 times. Each player will record their own individual score. The best score will be used as the "team" score for that hole. HOWEVER, each player's score must be used at least once and NO MORE than 9 times. As if this wasn't confusing enough, each team is given a tournament ball that will rotate among the players for the entire 18 holes. A separate score will be recorded for the "game" ball. Geez!! Good thing we had our CFO there to figure all the numbers out!! Anyway, everybody was quite nervous when they had the game ball because if you lose it, you are out of the running for the game ball score prize. Lucky for us, it lasted until our 16th hole. Who lost it? Our CEO. SIGH OF RELIEF!!! Better him than anybody else!!!!

After we finished, we headed into the clubhouse for dinner. GOOD food. Shrimp, oysters, scallops wrapped in bacon, crab martinis with avocado, chicken satay, a carving table and made to order pasta!! Oh, and open bar!! So, I drank a beer with our CFO. How cool! Anyway, we didn't win a thing. Did I mention I played like CRAP???? It was horrible. I have a feeling I won't be asked back!!!

Well, all in all, it was a great and BEAUTIFUL day, so all is good!!

Lee's Birthday Weekend Part 2.....

After all the bottles were put in the recycling bin, the confetti was picked up off the floor, the BBQ was put away and we went to sleep, it was time for ROUND 2 of Lee's birthday weekend. We woke up on Lee's actual birthday and enjoyed coffee and breakfast as a family. Then, it was time to prepare the house for Part 2. This party consisted of family. Lee's family and my family all came over to enjoy some conversation, laughter, MORE BBQ and CAKE!! Yes, it was time to try the 5 hour cake! I was able to use our wedding cake knife and server to cut and serve the cake. It definitely was good, it was just a little dry, as most homemade cakes are (I am told). I am excited that it turned out well and everybody seemed to have a great time.

After having two parties to prepare for, I was EXHAUSTED. I think we all were! So, Sunday night was spent watching some football and just going to sleep!

Lee's Birthday Weekend Part 1.....

Well, it's official....I am married to a 40 year old man!!! :) This weekend was just wonderful. Despite Hanna and her stupid rain downpour, tons of people came out on Saturday night to help celebrate Lee's birthday. Thanks to everyone for braving the storm to come party! We had roughly 40 people here on Saturday night....Yikes!! That's a lot of folks for our place, but we managed!! The day started with us waking up pretty early, taking Farley to the vet for the weekend and getting started on the cake. This was my first attempt at a "make it from scratch" cake. Lee LOVES chocolate cake, so, naturally, I made a chocolate cake! I started around 8:00 Saturday morning with the icing. That was the easy part. Even if I had to stand at the stove and stir the cream and chocolate chips for 35 minutes. Trust me, that was the easy part!! Then, I started on the cake. This was a triple layer cake. Well, I only have 2 pans....that was the beginning of the fun. So, I decided to go ahead and divide the batter as evenly as possible into two of the pans, leaving what I thought was an equal amount in the bowl. I baked those two layers and took them out to cool. Once they were cool enough to take out of the pans, I washed the pans and filled a third pan with the remaining batter. WOW....that's gonna have to be the base layer....it was HUGE! Oh well.....so, I baked it and cooled it and then I started to assemble and ice. The whole process took roughly 5 hours from start to finish. Ok, Betty Crocker DEFINITELY had a good idea with the boxed cake method! I wish I had pictues of the cake when it was all said and done, but unfortunately, Lee's computer sorta died and we lost the pictures that were on it. Oh well....just for a visual, it was a triple layer chocolate cake...you get the picture?

Ok, so then it was time to get the house ready for the guests. Unfortunately, the weather was NOT too fabulous. Tropical Storm Hanna came to visit us on Saturday. What a pain she turned out to be!! Although, she certainly didn't stop the people from coming!!! In the middle of the treacherous downpour, I had to go to my parent's house, pick up balloons in Leesburg and pick up the BBQ. So, I went to my parent's house to get a few things I would need for the evening and came back home. Lee really didn't want me to drive in the mess by myself all the way to Leesburg, so the three of us piled in the Element and headed to Leesburg. The rain was just crazy! He dropped me off right on the curb at Party City and I ran in to grab the balloons. I ordered 3 mylar and 12 latex balloons, so not a small bunch! When I came out the door, that was when the HUGE gust of wind came through and almost knocked me over and I had balloons pelting me in the face. So, I quickly backed up into the store and tried to figure out the best way to get these suckers into the car without any casualties! Lee ran out in the rain and helped me get them into the truck. Ok, they're in. Time to go get BBQ! We ordered 12 pounds of BBQ (6 lbs chicken and 6 lbs pork) from Carolina Brothers Pit Barbeque. We also got 6 pounds of baked beans, 5 pints of cole slaw, 8 pounds of potato salad, 48 buns and 3 bottles of BBQ sauce. Wow, that's a lot of food!!! If you've never been to or eaten food from Carolina Brothers....PLEASE GO. It is fantastic!!

After getting back to the house, it was time to start decorating! I placed the balloons around the house and put the table cloths down with confetti and all.

Sarah and Greg showed up a little early so they could help with the rest of the decorations while I got ready for guests to arrive. We truly were nervous that we wouldn't have a great turnout because of the rain.....boy were we wrong! I think we counted a total of 42 people, 10 of which were children ranging from 3 months to 10 years. Crazy!!! Because of all the rain, the party was pretty much held inside. After a while, the sky cleared up and people were out on the deck which helped with space!! We don't have a big place!

All in all, we had a great time, and most importantly, Lee had a blast. You only turn 40 once right? Here are some pictures that Polly took of the night's festivities.....now you can see what I mean by all the kids!!!

Today's tunes.....

Crazy Love by: w/ Van Morrison

Tommy Can You Hear Me? by:

Evenflow by:

Hard Headed Woman by:

Tempted by:

Stupid Girl by:

Noah's Dove by:

I've Been Everywhere by:

Skin Issues......

So, about 5 1/2 years ago, I developed a problem with my skin that caused my whole body to itch all the time. There was never a rhyme or reason as to when I would breakout in rashes. I tried to see if it would happen during certain times of the year or when I ate certain foods, but I could never find a pattern. I went to a dermatologist who said I had eczema. I was prescribed a cream to put on the effected areas; mainly my arms and legs. This worked, but only for about 2 weeks. I continued to breakout after every medicine possible would run its 2 week course. That was the magic number. After 2 weeks on any medication my skin issues would return and I would be back at square one. I even went as far as moving into my parents' house over the summer of 2005 to see if I was allergic to my dog or something.....nope! (good thing for Farley)

Over the course of about 3 years, I saw roughly 20 different doctors. Some were dermatologists, some were allergists and some were just general practitioners. Just when I thought I had found some pattern or a medication that I thought would work over the long term, it would just sneak back up on me and ruin any hopes of ever finding a cure or even finding out what I had. I ended up at a dermatologist in Reston that was highly recommended by Washingtonian Magazine. I was pretty excited when he really acted as if he knew what to do. I tried some new medication and was doing pretty well, but then, BAM, it came back again. I went back to see him and he then suggested I see a specialist at Johns Hopkins. So, I did.

Lee came with me and we saw a dermatologist there who specializes in contact dermatitis. This is what all the doctors thought I had, so it only made sense. She sent me to the lab t0 have some blood drawn so that numerous tests could be run. We went home with some prescriptions and instructions on how to handle my skin. Again, these remedies worked, but they wouldn't last long.

Then, I got the call. The doctor from Hopkins called me on my cell phone while I was at work. She preceded to tell me that there was a slight possibility that I may have Hodgkins Disease. WHAT? Are you kidding me? You are calling me on my cell phone and telling me that I could possibly have cancer??? Wow. So, she told me to make an appointment with my family doctor to get a physical and have my lymphnodes checked and to also get a check xray. So, after freaking out and calling Lee to completely lose it, I called and made an appointment with my family doctor. I couldn't get in for a couple days, so I had to wait. It seemed like FOREVER but I made it to the doctor and had a physical. She said everything seemed completely normal and she gave me a prescription for a chest xray. I went right next door to the hospital and went right in for my xray. Of course, now I had to wait again. When I didn't hear anything I called my doctor who told me she hadn't heard but that she would call. I was a complete mess and was totally impatient, so I called over and over again. Finally, I got my test results and they were negative. THANK GOODNESS!!!! That was definitely a scary time but after all was said and done, I STILL didn't know what was wrong with me.

Over the past 5 years, I filled about 50 DIFFERENT prescriptions for different creams, ointments, tars, pills and even some "Egyptian Magic" vaseline type crap that some crazy lady, who called herself a doctor, convinced me to buy....what a waste. At one point, I was even on Prozak because they thought it would help calm my nerves and help me if stress was any part of it. That certainly didn't work either. The ONLY medicine that did any good at all was prednisone. As a lot of you may know, this is a steroid and will make you eat EVERYTHING in sight and also causes you to retain water and look like a beached whale. I have enough problems with my weight that I didn't really need another reason to gain weight, but it worked, so I took it when I could. However, there are long lasting side effects to this medication so doctors stopped prescribing it to me. So, again, I was screwed.

Lee was absolutely WONDERFUL through all the crying fits and frustration and just sheer madness. He even married me after all of it!! I was very nervous about the wedding because I had a sleeveless gown. I filled my last prescription for a 9 day dose of prednisone that I started taking a few days before the wedding so that I would clear up. It worked for the most part and then I was able to enjoy our honeymoon as well.

Lee and I moved into a new townhouse in April of this year in preparation for Andrew's arrival in August. It appears that since we moved, I haven't had ANY breakouts (KNOCKING VERY HARD ON WOOD RIGHT NOW). Could it have been something in the old house? Who knows. The bottom line is, I am doing SO well right now it's almost unbelievable!! I will say that mosquito's certainly like me and take ANY opportunity to bite me so that I have SOMETHING to scratch at all times!!!!!

Anyway, that is my skin story. I have the best friends and family anybody could ever ask for. Everybody supported me through all this craziness and I am very thankful. YIPPEE!!!!! Here's to a lifetime of ITCH FREE skin!!!

When you put EVERYTHING on an IPOD.......

So, when you have access to SO MUCH MUSIC, it's easy to get carried away with what you put on your IPOD. It's also a lot of fun. With my new work schedule, I drive myself to work in the mornings and Lee rides his bike (with handlebars). So, I am at the mercy of Lee's IPOD. When you can put 30GB of music on an IPOD, it's fun to see what's next when you just put the whole thing on shuffle. Today's mix included (but is not limited to):

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by:

Sandy - John Travolta from:

Steal My Sunshine by:

Curbside Prophet by:

Night Flight by:

Yellow by:

Apologize by:

Baseball Mom

So, today is Andrew's first baseball practice. Well, we think it is anyway. We got his schedule from his coach which is different from the schedule on the Dulles Little League website. So, what to do, what to do. Lee will take him up there and see if anyone shows up! So begins the baseball season! Looks like he'll be on the Rockies. It's a AAA team and should be pretty fun! I just hope we don't run into psycho parents!!

Why do we even have wisdom teeth?

I'm trying to figure out why we have wisdom teeth in the first place. Pretty much EVERYBODY I've talked to has either had them removed or will have them removed in the near to distant future. I have been told for the past 10-15 years that I needed to have mine out. Well, as you all know, I'm a pretty big procrastinator. So, I just had them removed yesterday. Just 2 months before my 31st birthday. Yes, most people had them out in high school or college, so I'm just a little late. But, it's done. I no longer have any wisdom teeth. About 8 years ago, I had one removed in the dentist office. It was a no brainer because it had already grown all the way in. So, they just had to numb my mouth and yank it. Yesterday, I went to an oral surgeon to have the other 3 removed. As most of you know, I am a HUGE needlephobe (new word). I told the surgeon this as he was tying the stupid rubber band thing around my arm to find a nice big vein to stick the needle in. Just so you know, I am cringing just typing about it. Anyway, he told me I was a little white around the gills and leaned my chair back to get the blood flowing AND the laughing gas flowing. Wow, that's some good stuff! He told me to let him know when I started to feel like I had downed a few glasses of wine, but by the time I felt that way, I could barely speak! I think he knew it was time to put the iv in just by looking at my eyes that were probably rolling back into my head. That's all I remember!! So, when I woke up, I was shocked to hear that everything was done. I didn't see, hear, feel anything. Just the way it should've been! So, the nurse walked me down the hall where I laid down with a blanket (finally, it was FREEZING in there). Lee and Andrew came back so the nurse could explain to them how to take care of me for the next few days. I got a nice ride in a wheelchair down to the car. That was great! We left there and headed straight for the pharmacy. It was here Lee got all 4 of my prescriptions and some gatorade. I had to take my 600mg of Motrin and some antibiotics as soon as I got home. This was a HUGE challenge since I couldn't feel my face....my entire face was numb. This was probably pretty humorous to Lee and Andrew as I had to pull my bottom lip up around my cup so I could drink to take my medicine. The tough part was keeping nasty gauze in my mouth to stop the bleeding. Pretty gross actually. I pretty much slept all day yesterday and I slept pretty well last night as well. Today, I woke up pretty late and was able to come downstairs and spend the day on the couch. I just feel like somebody drop kicked me in the jaw. Definitely uncomfortable and I'm really just done with liquid and soft foods. My cheeks are puffy and hurt to just barely touch them. Sucks! Anyway, I suppose it could've been much worse, so I'm very lucky! Anyway, there's my story!

Hodgepodge

It's been forever since I've posted a blog. I'm trying to think of creative things to write about, but I can never figure out what to say! So, I think I will just try to write about whatever from now on. My blog may look like a Seinfeld episode, in that it is a blog about, well, nothing! But, it's a blog post none the less.

I suppose I will take this opportunity to write about a special event taking place in October.

A lot of you may remember when my friend Sarah and I walked in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3 Day four years ago.

It's hard to believe it was that long ago. Anyway, the walk is back in DC this year so we decided to participate, this time as crew members. Sarah and her husband Greg and Lee and I will be on a team (Team Newlyweds - cute huh?) and will be at one of the Pit Stops on the event route. We will help motiviate the walkers, give them food and water, and just be there to help cheer them up on the long 20 mile a day walks. I am really looking forward to this event because it was truly incredible when we partipated in August, 2004. I'm excited to share the experience with Lee as well.

Let's see, what else have I not blogged about.......

Oh, I made a cheesecake!! Yes, I know, I don't cook or bake too often even though I LOVE to do it! Here was the final result....yummy huh?

Oh yeah, in other news, Lee's son Andrew moved in with us last weekend. I'm pretty sure you all knew this was going on, but I wanted to write about it! Andrew will be going into middle school this fall and is a very bright kid. I'm nervous because I won't have answers to any of his homework! HA! I'm excited to be a part of him growing up and I am really looking forward to the school functions we will get to be a part of. I can't wait for back to school night and things of that nature. I know that's strange, but I really am looking forward to it! Andrew and I spent the day building his dresser and putting some of his things away in his room. That was fun! I love building things and it was nice to have a little helper! He loved doing the hammering, that's for sure! Friday, Lee took Andrew downtown to the International Spy Museum where they both assumed new identities. Pretty neat I think! They went around DC taking pictures and really just enjoying the day. Oh, this was all while I was at work! BLAH! Anyway, here are some photos from the day.

Saturday, we celebrated my brother's 33rd birthday. We enjoyed a fabulous beef tenderloin (DELICIOUS) with some wonderful corn on the cob, salad and veggies! We finished up the evening with gift opening and my brother's favorite cake:
Sherbet Angel Food Cake

Today's Blog

I wish I could be as awesome as my friend Leah. She has something to blog about every day! I guess my life isn't as awesomely awesome as hers!! I do love reading her blog though, so I hope she continues to blog away!

Given that the Tour de France is in its second week, I thought I would enlighten everyone with a quote of the day!

If you want to know what it feels like to crash while racing in the tour:

"While riding in your car at 45 miles an hour, strip down to your underwear and jump out"

Happy Tuesday!

Just trying to understand......

Yesterday, a father left his 21 month old son in a car to die. This couple spent a long time trying to adopt little Chase and now he's gone.

There are many things I have forgotten in my lifetime.

I have:
1) forgotten to turn the curling iron off
2) forgotten to bring my computer to work
3) forgotten to buy milk at the store
4) forgotten to call my father on his birthday
5) forgotten how to do algebra
6) forgotten many things........

But, I cannot and will not EVER understand how ANYBODY can "forget" that their child is in the car and leave them there to die. I can't think of any excuse for this horrible tragedy. This isn't the first time this has happened either. People need to take a deep breath and slow their lives down just a bit. People say "stop and smell the roses", I say "stop and remember your kid is in the back seat". Get it together people!

The 4th of July Weekend!

This year, my parent's attempt at getting us to go to Wintergreen for the 4th of July finally worked! I'm glad it did. We had a great time! Lee and I left work at 1:00 on the 3rd and went home to gather our things and Farley! He got to go with us on our little trip. Aside from the stupid speeding ticket we got on the way down there, the trip itself was uneventful. We got there, unloaded the car, let Farley walk around and smell every square inch of the house, and settled in for dinner. Unfortunately, Lee had to do some work over the weekend so he took his laptop up to the Mountain Inn so he could dial in and do work. Meanwhile, we enjoyed some salmon at the house. Lee got back around 8:00 and we heated up some food for him. It was a pretty relaxing night (except when Farley wanted to go outside at 3 in the morning).

Friday was a beautiful day for golf. I played with Mom, Dad and Mark up at Devil's Knob. I played pretty well only losing 3 golf balls the whole round! Pretty good considering the course is very narrow and not forgiving at all! I shot a 102 which sounds high, but made me happy! If I could learn how to putt I'd be in great shape! While we were playing Lee took Farley for a hike. Here are some picture from that excursion! What a tired puppy after that hike!

Friday night we headed up to the ski slopes to watch the fireworks show. Fantastic!! We brought a ton of food including: cantaloupe soup, sandwiches, hummus, bean salad, pasta salad and wine! The weather cooperated and we had a fantastic time!

We woke up Saturday morning to a wonderful rainfall. No golf for me today! Oh well. Instead, Lee and I went up to the Mountain Inn where he did some more work and we walked around the craft fair and the shops in the Inn. The rest of the day was spent relaxing.

Sunday we woke up, packed up, and hit the road around 11:30. We headed to Lee's parent's house for a late lunch/early dinner then head on home. Great weekend!

The Nationals

So, last night was the Noblis Intern Social Event at Nationals Park. We were bused down there and were given tickets loaded with $35 to do with what we wished! Lee was able to come with the group since there were a few extra tickets available. We sat behind home plate in the PNC Diamond Club. Great seats!! Somebody in our group even caught a foul ball. Unfortunately, $35 doesn't really go too far at a ball park, but Lee and I managed to squeeze in two hot dogs, a basket of fries, a soda and a water for a shade under $30! So, that was most of one ticket. We enjoyed Helmet Sundaes (soft serve ice cream with one topping in a little plastic baseball helmet) for just $5 each! A steal! I was able to purchase a Nationals t-shirt with the rest of our funds. All-in-all, a great night! Well, except that the Nationals played like crap! Oh well, can't win them all I suppose! Lee was able to get a bunch of pictures of the group and the stadium. I have posted a few for your viewing enjoyment!

This one is Genny....she's the intern I mentor.....(I think Lee caught her offguard)