2007 March archive at Filtering Life

Archive for March, 2007

OHHHH Canada!

Published by Kelly March 30th, 2007 in Life in General. 8 Comments

So I did it again…big fat gap in writing…whatcha gonna do about it? I have a great reason. Our dearest friends and Ryan’s BFF, Alex and Holli, came down from Canada on Saturday and we have been giving them our undivided attention for the last week. Man have we had a great time. We have some of the most amazing friends in the world. So in true Kelly style…let me take you on a photo journey instead of rambling on and on.

Sunday afternoon, my way cool friend, Steph and her husband, hosted a BBQ in honor of the Torrie’s returning back to us after two years of being in the Great North. It was absolutely GORGEOUS out and a BBQ was a perfect choice.

In true junior high style…it was girls on one side and boys on the other.

As luck would have it, the insanely talented and super sweet, Jacob Zachary, was in town to play a few shows. Man I love this kid. Check his music out… So great to see him.

So glad Holli forgot Jacob’s new CD in my car…oh well…I guess I will have to keep listening to him until she comes back to VA. SCHUCKS!

Alex had an opportunity to play hockey while he was here…oh those Canadians and their hockey..eh? Here he is in all his studly glory.

and we fools in the stands messing around with the new wide angle lens…..”No Alex, we totally saw you score that goal, we were paying attention the WHOLE time.”

On Monday, Steph, Joy and I took our daughters to the mall and got their ears pierced. Go ahead, cast your stones of judgment….it is already done…so if you disagree with piercing babies ears…tough! A piercing party…what could be more fun or STRESSFUL??? I had one of the worst night sleeps in history so my nerves were totally shot. I was sweating bullets going to the mall, conflicted over doing this. I know she will never remember because she is such a trooper about shots…but it is hard to watch her cry. Joy had some numbing solution…so that kinda helped. KINDA.

Whata face….

Actually she cried for about 10 seconds and was over it…pinky swear promise. She is a trooper!

The three victims. Can you see how desperately tired and frazzled I look. UGH…that was nerve wracking.

Two mornings later I came into her room only to find that one of the earrings was laying on her sheets….WHAT!!!!!!!! Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty putting that bad boy back into her ear. Thank goodness for the distraction of breastfeeding. The real kicker is she had to get two shots only an hour later. So let’s just say that won’t go down in her memory book as one of her favorite mornings.

So back to Holli and Alex..ahem…well…like I said, Alex is Ryan’s BFF. As much as we make fun of them being “boyfriends” it really is awesome to see their friendship. Guys have a hard enough time being real with each other, so when they actually find a friend who they have a tons in common with and can also trust…you hold onto them. I thank God for the friend Ryan has in Alex, they would go out on the porch and talk for hours….boys…TALKING…FOR HOURS!!!! It is awesome. Anyway, there is an inside joke that the four of us have and I decided to make t-shirts for the guys as a joke. Now these shirts sound dirtier than they actually are. It has NOTHING to do with sex people…just about being boys. I have to say, I will not have a future in customized t-shirt making. What is so hard about ironing on letters to a t-shirt???? Apparently, it is VERY hard because not only are all my letters ill spaced and crooked….the “D” on Ryan’s is completely backwards!!! Oh Kelly….

So yesterday was our last day with Alex and Holli, sniff, sniff…we had a farewell meal at the best local restaurant in Lynchburg, The Cavalier….YUMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYY Gorilla dog and season fries! I did a little photo shoot of them (pictures to come in the next week) and then we drove our Subaru Foresters in opposite directions. (small, glistening tear)

Well, as I wrap up each entry with recent Chloe pics…here she is…my cutie, cutie, cutie. Oh…and one more thing. She finally didn’t put on 2.5lbs this month!!!! Only 9 ounces! She is slowing down folks…17.4 lbs and 26.5 inches. Only the 90th percentile in weight, not 95th percentile. Somehow that made me feel better…is that weird? AND…she finally rolled. In honor of Uncle Joey’s b-day, March 24th marks her rolling milestone. We haven’t seen her do it since then, but by golly…she did it!

There are many many more pictures of the week…but go to our flickr to see them.

Following in mommies blogging footsteps:

She is now reading…that is how smart she is…

When she giggles, her upper lip disappears…so sweet.

That’s all folks…have a great weekend!

Flashback Friday

Published by Kelly March 23rd, 2007 in For Kicks and Giggles. 14 Comments

Hey if radio stations can do it…so can I. Who can’t dig up some atrocious childhood pictures and poke fun at them. We all went through our awkward years…why not revel in it. Here are some gems from my past. Sit back, enjoy, and please add some saucy comments to make fun of me more. I can take it…dish it out…I double dog dare you.

Let’s start from my humble beginnings.

I was always destined to be trendy with my hair and Chloe is following in my follicle footsteps. So it was a few years before the A-Team was a hit….but I still “pitied the fool” who dare make fun of me.

This is when i hit my stride of cuteness….toddler hood…before my teeth got jacked up and I experimented with blue eyeliner, big hair and perms. Here is me and the bro hamming it up for the camera.

and then there is this little ray of sunshine. Not sure about the matriarchal bun my mom put in…but who am I to complain. Don’t you love when bangs start from the back of your head forward.

Now we hit some awkwardness. This is my throw back to Captain Kangaroo. I think the black ribbon bowtie is a nice touch. You can’t tell that I lost my front teeth and didn’t want to smile…I am so subtle.

This where I snowball quickly. Yikes…where to start. Let’s start with the obvious…those crazy shark teeth. Just a little fun fact. The average human mouth is 10 inches (top and bottom)…mine is only 6 inches total and I only have 23 adult teeth…yes an odd number. I had 13 teeth pulled before I even got my braces. Can we say CROWDED in there. rows and rows of crooked teeth. Next, the bangs. This was when I started with perms. We only permed the bangs, of course, and then teased them and feathered them back. Wicked cool! And the smock, bib thingy…whoa….edge of fashion. I was only in 4th grade….so I suppose it was endearing to look this way.

Lastly, a high school shot. To say I had big hair would be an understatement. My hair had its own time zone. Contrary to what you think…it is not “so 80’s”…I rocked the big hair until 1994…thank you very much. Believe it or not, I never stuck out in Central NY. Me and AquaNet were BFF for many many years. It really is a lost art sculpting hair to new heights.

we all look like plastic dolls turned into awkward directions. Nobody looks comfortable. Love the black and white theme? That is how we roll in my family….matchy, matchy.

Well I hope I left room for you to add your two cents. I may do some flashback Friday’s a little more. Please, feel free to leave a link to a picture of yourself from childhood. I want to point and laugh too!

MishMash

Published by Kelly March 21st, 2007 in Kellyisms. 19 Comments

So I seem to be suffering a mild case of insomnia since the clocks have jumped forward. I just can’t seem to fall asleep before midnight and when I get up to feed Chloe around 5:30 I can’t fall back asleep until 7:00ish. Man it is killing me! Is this normal? I do have a hard time turning off my brain, but I am getting so annoyed with the huge gaps of awake-ness. Seems a cruel irony given my baby is a great sleeper and not keeping me up…yet I can’t stinking sleep.

So I have to get some feedback. Almay has a new line of eyeliner colors that are suppose to boost your eye color. Mine being “rootbeer” color, as Ryan calls them, falls under the purple color boost category. So I purchased this liquid plum liner and I am trying to decide if it is 80’s looking or it really does look fashionable and “pop” my eye color. Anyone, anyone….80’s or so very 2007.

In other exciting news, we recently sold our Rebel (thank you Tim) and purchased a second Canon 20D (thank you Tim and tax return). Of course I wish we could afford the EOS 1D Mark III….however, we only shoot weddings on the side….so a $4,000 camera does not fall into our “needs” category. I am just pumped because I usually end up with the older camera when we shoot and every time I seem to have a mild panic attack trying to remember how to use the settings on it. This is not cool when… let’s say…the bride and groom are kissing…you can’t exactly yell “DO OVER, my settings were wrong!” down the aisle. So here she is….ain’t she purdy? Just like her brother, our other 20D…but she is mine…ALL MINE!

Now my confession, which really isn’t a true confession because I didn’t mean to do it. I have hit the post baby hair loss issue. My hair is falling out at an alarming rate but because I have an insane amount of hair, you can’t tell….but every square inch of my house, the drains, my sheets and most recently, Chloe’s toes are a good gauge of my loss. She does have lint magnets between her toes, it is actually mind blowing how much crap gets between her toes. A couple days ago I was changing her and de-linting her toes when I gasped in horror as one of my hairs had wrapped so tightly around and around her second toe that it was purple on the tip. Was she crying, did she act in pain…NOOOOOO….I mean does she have nerves? So I am desperately trying to keep her foot still and get between her little toes which she was curling tighter than my dad clasps his wallet. The hair had actually cut into her skin, so it was hard to get it. Even days later the little cut is all red and deep into her skin all the way around her toe. She still could care less about this, but I feel so guilty. Ryan keeps saying, “Kelly, it isn’t like you deliberately wrapped your hair around her toe.” But I just keep thinking, what would have happened if I hadn’t seen it.
So here it is. It is hard to see it because I had to take a picture while she was sleeping so she wouldn’t move it, so the picture is grainy. That isn’t a fat roll, that is a cut!

Lastly on our sea of randomness. Ryan was asked last week to play basketball with other people in the admin. building against the teachers at an elementary school in front of all the kids. The game was today. Let me tell ya…it was a nail biter….techy people verses teachers. You can only imagine the skill level and athleticism that was displayed by these middle aged desk riders. I brought Chloe with me to watch her dad. I can’t say it was a bad idea because she was a total trooper…BUT… I am pretty convinced that Chloe and I are deaf now with 200 elementary kids screeching at the top of their lungs 9 million decibels above the humane level. This is my man hoopin it up for the kiddies. He promised me he would dunk once so I could see it.

Modesty Ryan...modesty. Oh swoon...nothing like impressing 5-10 year olds....oh and a 30 year old wife and mom. This is my opportunity to see a glimpse into Ryan's past....just a glimpse mind you...the "game" was pretty pathetic. One more for the road.

Yeah, I am sure I probably need a legal form to show these kids faces…so pretend you don’t notice them in the background. Thanks.

Eight things I don’t miss about my former jobs

Published by Kelly March 19th, 2007 in Kellyisms. 18 Comments

As I sit here sipping my coffee, watching the Price is Right, wearing my jammies, reading blogs….I smile smugly thinking about those suckers I left behind in my two former jobs. Note to Ryan….do not believe that first sentence, it was just for dramatic purposes. I am actually organizing your sock drawer, alphabetizing our food pantry, marketing our photography business, all freshly showered and dressed to the nines.

Anyway, in my former life I was a Special Education Teacher and Hotel Sales Manager. Titles, schmitles….
So here are four things, for each job, that I don’t miss one iota! Yes, four, not five…it is Monday and my clever gene doesn’t make an appearance until Wednesday.

The hotel:

1. I don’t miss Monday morning “rallies” where we all sit in the board room with our stale coffee breath and glazed eyes and give an account for our week. I became an amazing liar as I could eloquently convince you that I had a weeks worth of work ahead of me when in actuality I had about 2 hours and 35 minutes of work to squeeze into 40 hours. Thank goodness for Mahjong, IM and my own private office.

2. I don’t miss wearing pantyhose and high heels everyday. I worked on the second floor of the 12 story hotel, but had to give tours and run around that hotel all day long, logging some serious hours on my little feet. Looking professional is overrated…although I do love to dress up, it just better be for a nice dinner and hot date…not because it is the “dress code”.

3.I don’t miss parking in a parking garage where the parking attendant is a dirty old man who liked to say inappropriate things to me as I walked by every morning, under his breath, yet strangely enough I could easily understand each word. He was gross, dirty, and gave you the visual rape as you passed by his booth. SHUDDER!!!!!

4. I don’t miss my former boss who was about 80lbs, 100 years old, and had the mouth of a trucker. She could rip you a new one in 2 seconds flat. I would actually have a slight anxiety attack and nervous IBS poo every Sunday night thinking about Monday morning rallies and having to cover my butt for a whole week. She was scary times ten! I will say (patting myself on the back) that I did win her over with my charming ways…but that is after many many months of being embarrassed, degraded, and belittled.

Teaching:

5. I don’t miss teachers. What a strange breed of people teachers are. I went the unconventional route to get my license…never got my undergrad in teaching, so I jumped on the bandwagon later in life. Teachers are some of the most arrogant, gossiping, disloyal group I know. Now I won’t go and stereotype the whole breed of teachers….just the majority. You know, the holiday vest wearing, I am “so over my subject matter” so I teach in monotone with no fun activities, games or stimulating stories, kind of teacher. They are the ones that sit in the lunchroom and never stop flapping their jaws complaining about everything from the floors not being shiny enough to the principal not letting them park in the firelane. 99% of the year I ate lunch in my classroom, I couldn’t handle the negativity. GROW UP!

6. Parent/Teacher night. UGH….please, please, please…somebody put me out of my misery. First of all, when you are a SPED teacher you only teach a small population of the school. So I had a total of 57 students I was responsible for. Let me tell you…we had 6 parent teacher nights a year, that last for 3 hours each!!!! Only two of those nights did I have ONE parent show up to talk about their kid. The kicker is, you can’t leave your classroom, so you just feel like going postal after the first 10 minutes. The principals would walk up and down the hall checking on you too. What am I five years old?

7. Parents! Oh man…where to start. I could write a whole post about how not to be an obnoxious parent. My favorite are the ones that defend their kids bad behavior. They are also the ones who you can see where their kids got their mouthy, rude, “better than you” attitude. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Parents….please be open minded about your kids. Just because they don’t do those things at home doesn’t mean they don’t do them at school! I have seen kids act like total buttholes at school and I know their parents would die if they saw them….but their parents are in complete denial that THEIR kid could be anything but perfect. DON’T BE FOOLED!!!! Middle school it a tough place to be and kids will do practically anything to fit in. It is so sad…but true!

8. Lunch duty. I cringe just writing those words. Every teacher gets assigned some gosh awful duty around the school that is either bus, hall or lunch duty. I got the worst one! I was in charge of the 8th grade lunch. You literally stand at the front of the cafeteria and watch them eat and make sure they pick their crap up, and dismiss them. Sounds easy right? Well I suppose…BUT…having a couple hundred kids eating together is unbelievably loud. Not to mention, the ratio of adults to kids was 1:150. The kids are rude and messy. You go around cracking a whip to have them pick up their Dorito bag or pick up the grape they just threw and you get the worst attitude you can imagine. It isn’t like I asked them to mop the floor with their tongue. I said pick up the dang grape YOU just threw. The kids hated me in that lunch duty. You have to be a nazi and stay on them or anarchy would surely arise. It was 30 minutes of hell per day.

On a much lighter note. Here is what I do get to do by staying home….try and get my little Chloe to roll her rolie-polie little self over. We practice every morning until she starts crying and I get the hint that she isn’t enjoying this as much as me.

Guess what time it is Chloe?????

time to roll Chloe….you look so excited about this.

See Chloe you have to use your feet for more than kicking…you need to firmly plant them and push off.

Yeah, you are getting it….KINDA….um…sweet backside, you got your mama’s booty.

Nevermind…just go back to what you love to do…your Little Mermaid impression.

Wow…look at the aftermath of that workout…that is some serious drooling.

Makes you just want to bury your face into those sheets and sleep on the moist goodness.

Never fear…I am here

Published by Kelly March 15th, 2007 in Chloe Grace, Life in General and Uncategorized. 9 Comments

Wow…has it been almost a week….whooops! Actually, we have been busy, busy with lots of different things since last week. Let me take you on a photo journey. Too much to write out and honestly, it would bore you.

Ryan’s brother came home unexpectedly from serving oversees on Thursday and showed up for dinner at my house. It was great to see him again, alive…in one piece! So we were inundated with war stories and generally just enjoying his company. He is a pretty high-speed (kinda like the entire A-Team rolled into one…so he can kill you by looking at you with his laser beam eyes, eat rocks, and sleep naked in negative ten degree weather…cuz that is what the military teaches you to do.

The last time he saw Chloe was Thanksgiving when she was 3 weeks old..needless to say…she has changed just a wee bit.

November:

March:

Buddies for Life:

My parents came into town to watch my brother’s kids while they are in Chile. So I have been taking advantage of my mom’s love of walking and we have been hitting Black Water Creek almost every morning for 3 mile walks. Chloe is AWESOME…just kicks back and enjoys the view the whole hour or takes a snoozer.

My dad decided he wanted to carry her the last 1/4 mile.

Chloe also made a new buddy, Mr. Silas Walker. Man…he is a cutie and a half. He has that awesome old man/baby look. Like he could tell you stories from WWII…had he been alive. He just needs a cardigan and a pipe to complete the look.

He is also a fellow Red Sox fan, so he and Chloe will be friends for life…united through the love of the Red Sox and their daddies. Silas’ dad is Ryan’s old roommate. He is 2 months old and growing like a weed.

I also cracked open the cook books and made a few new recipes…FROM SCRATCH….I am an adult learner…so I have to pat myself on the back, especially when it turns out so insanely yummy.
this is my Pasta Alfredo and meat-tah-balls!

Then I made cinnamon biscuits and homemade cream cheese icing. To die for with some coffee…but a pain in the rear to make.

I also took on a new project. Making a purse. Of course I didn’t look up a pattern, I just kinda went for it. Once I had it pinned together I threw up my white flag and called my mother-in-law, who is a seamstress to help me sew it. This is Stage One. I realize the pattern and color choices are walking a VERY fine line between tacky and fun. Let’s see if I can pull it off.
Materials-CHECK

CUT SHAPE-CHECK

Piece together-CHECK

ADD BUTTONS-CHECK

Now what???? HELP????? We shall see how it turns out. We are meeting next week to sew it and put in a liner and all that jazz. Big dreams, amateur ability. Story of my life.

Charlotte has also been enjoying the amazing weather. I found a lemon in my fridge that was pretty much petrified. I actually clean out my fridge every Sunday night for trash day…but somehow missed this little guy. Ryan was playing catch with Charlotte. She can pretty much get her teeth through titanium…but she was struggling on the rock hard lemon.

Last but not least on our photo tour….we have our Chloe pictures. Here she is playing with her little Crayons.
She is being a wee bit selfish…not sharing at all.