Quack quack...

Here is a pic from our weekend in Boston. We went there for Hazel's bachelorette party, and one of the things that we did was called the Duck Tour. We went on this amphibious vehicle that was able to travel on land and water, so we toured the city on land and then toured the Charles River. I have a TON more pics to post when I have some time, but for right now this will suffice. : )

Counter-clockwise from top: Lori, Fran, Julie, Hazel, Monica, Me, Angie

Rollin', rollin', rollin'...

Although in my case that should be "Flyin', flyin', flyin'". I have a couple of trips coming up that's going to limit my blogging time (and since posting is my gig and not Craig's I have to do it), so I'm taking a few mins during lunch to post what's new.

We've been spending a lot of time at my grandpa's old place, renovating and such. My mom is going to have a new tenant beginning in Sept so we're trying to it all done by then. Craig's dad Bill has done a TON over there...if it weren't for him I don't know how much would even be done. And it's turning out soooo nice over there. I'll post pics of it next week when we finish.

Maximo has finally learned to roll over. I haven't seen it yet, but that's what Angie tells me. Last time I saw him he was 3/4 of the way there, he just kept getting his arm stuck underneath him. He's so awesome...everytime I think about him I just smile. : )

Work is still crazy for the both of us. I was supposed to go to Houston for a day on Tuesday to meet my new boss, but it looks like she's going to come to Cleveland instead. But I'll be in NYC on Sept 10-11 (that feels weird) and in Chicago on Sept 19th (Rachel's birthday). I'm excited because I haven't been to either place; I just wish that Craig was able to take off of work and school to come with me. : (

Hmmm, what else? Max's sister May is really close to her due date...my friend Kathy is getting to the end too (she's due on Halloween. How awesome would it be to have a birthday on Halloween?!? Imagine the parties that you can have!). I have my 10 year high school reunion in October, and we have two weddings in November (one in NY wine country). So this fall is ramping up to be pretty busy.

We have a bunch of projects that we (meaning: me) want to do this fall/winter. On the definite list: new front doors since ours are warping and drafty, patch and re-paint the downstairs, and the bathroom. On the nice to do list: the basement (which now has mold from our little flooding experience), the ceiling in our bedroom, and the office. So we'll see how much time and money we have to get these done. And I know that I still need to post pics of my yard, so I'll get those up soon too. Although I'm going to have to redo the lawn since it's all weeds...

I guess that's it for now. I have to get back to work since I need to leave a bit earlier since I'm off tomorrow (going to Boston!) so I gotta run.

Toodle-oo!

A week of firsts...

The theme for this posts is "a week of firsts". We've had a few things happen this past week that was the first time that they had happened (obviously). We have the first time we lit our fire pit in the backyard, the first time I babysit Maximo all day, and the first time our basement flooded. Yes, you read correctly, our basement flooded.

I'll start with the least fun one first: the basement. Last Tuesday we had torrential downpour in the morning...I think we got 2 inches of rain in half an hour. Anyhoo, that much rain that fast caused the storm sewers in Parma to backup and flood people's basements. Water flowed into our basement via the storm drain and covered the entire basement. I think we were lucky though...when Craig got home at 4 most of it had receded so it just looked like we had spilled a few buckets of water down there. And I think that it helped that we had a bunch of area rugs down there to soak up a lot of the water (and you can bet Craig won't yell at me anymore to get rid of some of them...I saved our basement by holding onto those rugs!).

Some people we know weren't so lucky: first, I think that our entire street had flooding because everywhere you looked that night there were professional cleaners and people just throwing all sorts of stuff out on the tree lawn. Our neighbors Angel and Jason had up to 10 inches at one spot in their basement. And since he is in a band, he had a bunch of band equipment down there that got soaked, along with a bunch of stuff for their kids like 100 diapers. The band stuff is OK, but their water heater got flooded and they had to get a new one, replacing the water heater they just bought less than a year ago. Our other neighbors had about 5 in of water AND sewage in their basement. And this is just a few months after they spent like three grand refinishing the basement for their kids. Neighbors across the street also had around 6 inches, give or take a few. My friend Melanie, who lives 5 min away, had hip deep water in her basement. So Craig and I count ourselves to be very lucky indeed to not have had as much flooding as others did. We totally know that it could've been a lot worse.

So after that experience Angel, Jason, Craig, and I decided that we needed to have a night to chill and relax (more for them than us). So on Friday we grilled out, had a few beers, and then lit our brand new fire pit. Craig and I weren't going to get one until we redid our backyard next summer, but this one is really cool and was on sale for a really good price. When I have a sec I'll put up some pics of it.

And finally, this past Saturday was the first time that I got to babysit Maximo all day while Angie and Max were at a wedding. As much as I love and adore him, he is a little stinker!!! When it was time for him to go to bed he would just fuss and cry. For almost 3 hours I did nothing but hold him and walk around with him. Just when I thought he was sleeping, I laid him in his crib and he woke right up. But this time he was laughing and giggling so I couldn't be mad (not that I was anyway, but my back was getting sore from holding him so much). That is, until he looked me right in the eyes while laughing and smiling, that he took a HUGE crap in his diaper that I'm sure the neighbors heard. It was like he was looking at me going, "Heh heh heh, watch this." Even then I thought that it was funny, but man, that diaper...

Anyhoo, it's been a pretty crazy week again. I can't believe that it's the middle of August already! Before I know it it'll be time to start working on our fall and winter projects, and going to weddings and other events. *sigh* Well, I can't say that life is boring...

Adios muchachos!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Yeah, so this is about a week+ late, but it's been pretty busy around here. We had to take Milo to the vet again (where we found out that he may need a $900 surgery. If he stay healthy till Christmas we'll be OK.), we're doing work around the house (meaning that I am still weeding the crabgrass out of our yard), work is REALLY busy, and then we've had some birthday parties to go to. SPEAKING OF birthdays, mine was July 30th and Angie, Max, and Maximo had a BBQ/birthday party for me a couple days before. It was such a fun night, and honestly one of the best birthdays I've had in a few years.

A lot of Angie's co-workers (who I'm friends with also) were there, as were my family, Brian and Kim (leaving Robby at home to begin drafting his next post), and Max's family. It was such a nice night, and it was so nice to spend it with my family and friends. Here are some pics from that day along with explanations of each. And many, many thanks to Angie and Max for helping me have such a happy birthday.

Later donkeys!

(if you watch Hell's Kitchen you'll know that I mean that in an affectionate way)

Nana with Maximo. My mom had just gotten back from Vegas with some friends so Maximo's wearing the shirt she got him.

Mine and Maximo's first attempt at my first birthday pic with him. He's not the first guy I've made yawn...

Closer...look to the camera little man!

Woo-hoo, our first good birthday pic! And to prove what a big dork I am, I did in fact buy party hats just for me and him to wear.

The guys set up a poker table to play outside. Craig actually won $36! In our house that's big money. :)

Some bonfire pics...

Uncle Craig, Auntie Roxanne, and Maximo