Family Weekend to Begin

Tomorrow, which because I had to save this is now today, I'm picking up my nephew Bry for the weekend here. Since Lydia got to come down in July he's been asking so this weekend is it. The only solid plans are that we're going to the Newport Aquarium since he loves animals. Not sure how he feels about petting sharks but we'll deal with that piece of entertainment when it comes. At the end of the weekend we're heading back up to Y-town for the annual family Labor Day picnic. Considering there is going to be about 50-60 family members there I'm sure it will provide much material for future blogs!

In more news, The Office returns to tv Sept 27...Hooray! To see some hilarious footage check out Sarah's blog or You Tube. I can't wait!!!

Okay, I can't think anymore so I'm off to bed. Good night!

Highlight Reel

The past couple of days have been pretty full so this is just a smattering of all the interesting or not so interesting occurrences.

Success!!!
On Saturday I was able to find the first season of Psych at a very reasonable price. Since Sarah was with me and encouraged the buying of said DVD pack I introduced her to the joy that is Psych: Fake Psychics, Real Detectives. We watched the pilot episode and I do have to say it was enjoyable. The fact that Sarah enjoyed it and laughed hysterically at all the right parts was a bonus as well. The pleasure of a comedy is exponential when coupled with another's laughter.

Adventures in Babysitting
Last night I watched the 4 kiddos that I nannied for when I first moved to Cincy. If anyone has read the Nanny Diaries then all I can say is that I can totally relate. It is always an adventure or drama of some sort and last night was no exception. (Total tangent right now but when I started watching the kids they were 6, 3, 2, and 3 months...it's hard to believe they're now 11, 8, 7, and 5 years old...crazy how time flies) Everything with the kids went smoothly. The only funny story from there is I was drying the youngest's hair after her bath and I noticed a sort of bald patch on her head. Here's how the convo went:

Me: Carissa what happened to you hair here?

Carissa: Where?

After moving her hand the to the spot in question...

Carissa: Oh that's where I vacuumed my hair.

Me: What?!

Carissa: I was vacuuming the steps and my hair got stuck.

Apparently she was using the dirt devil to help vacuum the steps and became a little tired so she laid her head down on the step. She continued vacuuming until said hair got caught. Her mom said she heard screaming and then looked and saw Carissa wrestling with the dirt devil on top of her head. Needless to say Carissa's hair is now about 4-6 inches shorter and her chore around the house has been changed to dusting.

After the kids were in bed, around 11pm, the electricity went out for about an hour. I went outside on the porch just to make sure the whole neighborhood was out and it wasn't just their house. As I was sitting there I saw the neighbors 2 doors down pull up (they looked like high school kids) and not be able to get into the house because the garage door wouldn't open and I'm guessing they didn't have a front door key. Anyway, apparently one of them had to go to the bathroom and couldn't wait to get inside so, no joking, he got out and relieved himself in their neighbors yard. I guess it's a good thing that we haven't had rain in awhile and all the grass is brown.

A Good Plot Twist
Lastly, most all of you know that there is nothing like a good book to me. So it's a real bummer when I can't find one that has been recommended. But what is totally awesome is when the book you've been searching for magically appears at your house. This is what happened last night at 2am. After babysitting all night and getting little sleep from the night before I was tired and pretty much ready for bed when I got home. There sitting with the other mail was a package for me. A good friend of mine who lives in NZ had recommended a certain book since he knows I love Harry Potter, but I couldn't find it over here so he totally sent it to me. So this is a shout out to my kiwi friend...you're awesome! The only down side was that it was indeed 2am and I was tired and had to be up for church this morning so there was no reading for me.

In the spirit of Sesame Street this blog has been brought to you by the letter Z, which I'm off to catch a few of before I head to the Gathering.

I'm Melting, I'm Melting

Well folks, it's 2:30am and I'm wasting some time while my room is cooling down so I can actually sleep. It's been over 100 degrees in the Nati the past few days and since I don't leave the air conditioning running in my room all day I now have to wait for it to cool down because I definitely can't sleep like this.

It's kind of funny thinking about that because when I was a kid my parents didn't have central air or window units and somehow I still slept. Kids seem much more tolerable than adults or I'm just being fussy or both maybe. I just had an image of me talking to my kids. Instead of saying "When I was your age I walked to school, uphill both ways, in 15 foot deep snow." I'm going to be saying, "When I was your age we didn't have central air and it was 120 degrees outside and humid." Oh how I would love to say that I'm not turning into my father but I believe that ship has already sailed and that's a blog for another day.

In other news that is going to make me sound like an old person, it's sad when music is playing that you know all the lyrics to and can remember dancing to them at junior high dances and someone younger than you goes, "Who is this?" and "How long ago was that made?" This happened tonight. Luckily I was not the only one there who knew or loved the song, but still that's just like a stab in the heart especially when a birthday is looming in the near future. I don't mind birthdays but I don't like to be reminded that I'm getting older either.

Alright, the room is cooler, it's almost 3am (seriously ignore the time thing down below because the actual time right now is 2:50am or as I already said almost 3) and I'm getting a little incoherent so off to bed I go...

Back from the Land of Cable TV

Since I've gotten harassed by a number of people including kiwis and my mother I decided to cave into peer pressure and update my blog.

Honestly most of the past weeks have been pretty much a blur. Work has been pretty much consuming every spare minute to the point where I felt like I was running around with my hair on fire. Last week though provided a very needed break in the action.

I was able to head up home to the Ridge and basically spend a week doing nothing. It was great! During this time however I fell back into the lure of cable tv. Unlike the Penrose house my parents have not only cable tv but a tivo type thing to match. It took me a couple of days to get fully acclimated to it but then when you do it's hard not to love it. Because my dad likes to tivo just about everything now so he doesn't have to watch commercials I got hooked on a new show that unfortunately I'm not going to get to watch here. It's called Psych and for anyone who was raised in the 80's it is hilarious because of all the references. Sadly the library doesn't have the first season on dvd so now I'm trying to hunt it down for as cheap as I can find it. Seriously if you have cable, check it out and then invite me over!




Unfortunately there is a dark, very dark side to cable television. It seems harmless enough but once you've experienced it there is no turning back. Yes friends, I'm talking about the Disney channel and in particular High School Musical 1 and 2.

I had done a pretty good job of resisting the craze but this week I fell. Not only did I watch them but I actually watched the premiere of the second one. I was one of those record breaking number of people who tuned in to see what would happen to Troy and Gabriella and all of their friends on summer break. Needless to say it is probably a very good thing I'm back home to rabbit ears and 3 channels.



*** In better tv news the third season of The Office comes out September 4th! Hooray!!! And the fourth season will be starting soon!!!



This weekend was also my cousin Jake's wedding. I didn't get any pictures of the actual couple but I thought I would add the a pic of the kids all dressed up and ready to go. All of them like to get dressed up. Cameron, in particular, has never met a mirror he didn't like and loved it even more in his dress shirt and tie. I think they clean up pretty well.