Final Days of Freedom

Hello! We have Birdie gurl now, and life as we know it has turned upside down. I'll get to her in my next post, but for now I thought I'd share with you the last few days of life before puppy.

I wrapped up Job #1 (before now having this week off) with a board meeting presentation for the Rochester Philharmonic League - a group of volunteers I work very closely with. It was their final meeting of the season, so they had a cookie cake! Cookie cake is something I never really had growing up. It still seems a little strange to me, but I must say I enjoyed it.

One of my coworker's dogs also paid us a visit at Job #1. I met Chuck the beagle when he was a brand new puppy. He sure is a lot bigger now!

And I also went in for a physical, just to have one since it had been a long time. I ended up getting a tetanus booster shot :-( and was told I have a mole that I need to have looked at. I'm falling apart!!! Here is a picture of the suspicious mole. You are welcome.

On Saturday I worked Job #2 and then ran off immediately to make it to Andy's cousin's wedding. The bizarre thing about this wedding is that Andy's cousin (the groom) was marrying my coworker's (Job #1) brother's step-daughter (the bride). Did you follow that? What a small world!

Austan and Gloria got married in a church in Chili, NY. Austan's dad (Andy's uncle) is a reverend, so he preformed the service. I thought that was pretty cool.

They had the most beautiful day for a wedding. How come I didn't get weather like that?!

We had an hour or so to kill between the ceremony and the reception, so Andy's side of the family all headed to a nearby sports bar for drinks and appetizers. It was pretty fun!

We weren't sure whether or not there would be alcohol at the wedding, so as you can see, Greg (Andy's cousin) did a good job of making sure it wouldn't be needed, lol.

The reception was at a banquet hall called, "The Diplomat."

It turns out... there was a bar!

The food was actually really good. It was typical wedding buffet food, but it was reaaaally tasty! And of course they had wedding cake, which I always look forward to.

One of the bride's sisters did a dance to honor their father who had passed away. I can't imagine getting married without my dad. So sad.

The bride and groom seemed to have a really good time, which is what it's all about. And I had a really nice time with Andy and the rest of his extended family. It was a really fun night!

Next up.... BIRDIE GURL!!!!!

One Busy Wednesday

Hello Friends! I thought after my busy weekend of work things that my week would be nice a calm. Not quite... Monday wasn't so bad, but Tuesday was long as always (both Job #1 and #2) and yesterday was PACKED.

First I had Job #1. Then Andy picked me up and we headed straight to Buffalo to have dinner with his family. It was his brother's birthday so we all celebrated together. Happy birthday Chris! The big 2-8!

We left Buffalo around 8:00pm, so you'd think we'd head home and go to bed like normal people. Nope! Will's mom was visiting from Texas, so we headed over to their place to meet her and hang out for a bit. Rose had made a delicious rhubarb pie, so that was a bonus!

We didn't get to bed until midnight. Not exactly ideal for a weekday for sure. Anna headed for Omaha this morning, so my day today began extra early with a trip to the airport. I know it sounds weird, but I love taking Anna to the airport!

When she got in the car she presented me with a bag full of Birdie presents. Auntie Anna is so nice!!! Along with treats and toys was this...

She is going to look ridiculously cute!!!! Thank you Auntie Anna!

I'll be honest. Birdie's impending arrival is occupying 75% of my thoughts right now. I've been hurrying to finish my puppy training books - I even read out loud to Andy on our drive to and from Buffalo yesterday. Here's a video that I received of her playing with her littermates. I have probably watched it 30 times at this point. :-) 

The other 25% of my brain is occupied with thoughts of my Mema. Her health is declining and she's going in for a procedure this morning. Hopefully all will go well and she'll feel better soon. :-)

And that's about it! Today is less busy but still not a walk in the park. After Job #1 I am going to participate in a market research study. I love doing those - getting money to give my opinions?? Sounds like my dream job!!!

Post Full of Pics

Hello friends. I have a gazillion pictures for you, so let's just jump right in.

I inherited a mini-fridge from Andy, which required me to rearrange some things in my office. Once again, things got pretty messy until they got better.

Before (actually mid-process)...

After!

Preparations for Birdie have continued. I bought her a crate and bed to go inside. As you can tell, she's going to be one spoiled little girl. :-)

And here is her latest picture.

This last weekend was incredibly busy with Job #1. In between a rehearsal and concert, Anna and I grabbed dinner at Wegmans. And yes, we shared that watermelon.

Friday night's concert featured a group of inner-city kids playing with the orchestra. Considering how overly-complicated the lead-up for this concert seemed to be, I thought it came off pretty well.

After Job #2 on Saturday, Andy and I went to Costco!!!! I am now a grown-up with my own Costco membership!!!!

Sunday was ridiculously busy. First, Andy's clarinet students played a recital. They all did a really good job. :-)

Then we had a repeat of Friday night's concert in a different part of town.

Although they were a handful, I think the kids had a good experience.

Sunday evening was spent with Anna and Andy at a fundraiser for Job #1. While the event itself was a little strange, the venue was beautiful. It was at Hurd Orchards, a place we've gone berry picking before. Had it been bigger (and air-conditioned) Andy and I would have seriously considered getting married there.

The dinner was farm-to-table, and one of the tastiest meals I've ever had. Yum!!!

But wait, there's more! Monday saw a visit to a charter school. Anna was nice enough to go with me and (unknowingly to both of us) ended up teaching an entire 30 minute kindergarten music class.

Afterwards we recouped with some retail therapy. Hello again Costco!

And there you have it! The countdown to Birdie is on. I only have a few more days of work until I'm taking a week off to be home with her. Things are about to get really exciting really soon!

Can't Wait/Never Liked

Let's talk about things I am looking forward to (in order of occurrence).

#1 - COSTCO OPENS ON FRIDAY!!!!!!! It's been a slow process, but Rochester is finally going to be slightly more livable. :-) As for the things I am looking forward to in regards to Costco...

- Sample Ladies
- Bulk Toilet Paper
- Clothes
- Easy Breakfast Club Options
- Kirkland Brand Everything

#2 - BIRDIE'S ARRIVAL!!!!!! We are less than two weeks away! The time cannot go fast enough, although I'm glad to have the time in order to continue to prepare for her. We still need to get her all of her puppy basics and get the house ready. And make sure Andy and I are on the same page as far as our tactics are concerned. As I'm reading my book, I'm realizing that everything I think I would want to do is wrong. Yikes! Like when she whines, I'm not supposed to comfort her - just let her work it out on her own. It's going to be so hard! I told Andy last night that I want to quit both jobs so I can just take care of her. I don't think that's going to happen though. ;-) Here is her latest pic sent yesterday!

#3 - The birth of my hairdresser's baby! Not so much because of the baby (although I am happy for her of course), but because I want to go blonder and that can only happen once she returns from maternity leave, lol. I know - I am shallow.

#4 - THE CRUISE!!!! Of course I hope to be much skinnier by then, and I'm sure I'll miss Birdie like crazy, but I can't wait to see my parents and to get away from everything! Plus get a suntan!

And that pretty much takes us to the end of summer!

In other news, my healthy eating and exercising have continued. I even did my DVD at 9:45pm the other night. I did NOT want to miss it!

I sent that picture to Anna as proof that I did it - she has been such a good cheerleader!

Ok this is starting to get a little scattered. Let's make it even more so by throwing in a random list. I used to HATE going to Costco when I was little, and now I can't wait for it to open. However there are some things that I never grew to like. Here are some of them...

- Home Depot/Lowes (I won't throw a fit, but I still dread going to those kinds of stores)
- Rice (I'll eat it but it does nothing for me)
- Cotton Balls (I HATE how they feel)
- Fish
- Olives
- Having my Achilles tendon touched (I know, I'm weird)
- Thrift Stores (I donate to them all the time, but the smell really bothers me)

So there you have it! What have you just never liked? What are you looking forward to?

Weekend Recap

Happy June! I am so excited for this month. First - Costco opens. Second - we get Birdie. What more could you want?!?

Here's how I said goodbye to May:

Andy and I got more dog practice as we were asked to watch our neighbor's dog while he was out of town. Meet... Porter!

Maybe not the cutest dog on the block, but she was super sweet, and having her around made me that much more excited to get Birdie. Speaking of Birdie... my mom sent us a book by Cesar Milan - How to Raise the Perfect Dog, as well as my precious Phoebe's favorite toy, Suzy Bunny. I hugged Suzy Bunny for a long time when I pulled her out of the box. I still miss Phoebe so much. But now Suzy Bunny is waiting to meet Birdie. :-)

Porter actually discovered Suzy Bunny. Watch what she did!

Although she seemed scared of Suzy Bunny, I still thought it might be best if I hid her for the remainder of the weekend, just to keep her safe. :-)

I also spent the weekend finishing Gone Girl. I flew threw the book and really enjoyed it. Now I want Andy to hurry up and read it so we can watch the movie, which I've heard is also good.  If you're looking for a book to read, I would recommend it!

And my healthy eating/exercise continued. I've started a new journal to track my progress, and this time instead of cutting out pics from magazines and gluing them in, I've decided to go the inspirational quote route. I am having a lot of fun finding quotes and then decorating them to make my journal nice and pretty.

The big highlight of the weekend was a bridal shower for Kara - my friend at Job #1. I was in charge of the decorations, games, and cake. Let me tell you. I am THRILLED with how well my cake turned out.

That is four layers of chocolatey goodness. FOUR. I am so impressed with myself. :-) But anyway, haha, Kara's shower was really nice and she looked beautiful as always.

It is so easy to celebrate Kara and Paco's marriage because they are so obviously in love. It is a deep kind of caring I don't think you see outwardly exhibited by couples everyday, and it just makes me smile every time I see them together. :-)

And I'll end this recap with a technologically amazing conversation that I was a part of on Sunday evening. Anna (at her house), Lisa (in Baltimore), Bipul (in Omaha), and Andy and I (at home) were all able to communicate through different FaceTime devices all at the same time!

It wasn't quite as good as hanging out together, but it was pretty darn close.

Alright, that about sums it up. This week is the final push for Job #1 and then it's calm city for awhile. I can't wait!