Easter with the Little Ones

I was lucky enough to have several days off the week before Easter to go down in La Fayette. Here is Zoe & Bryce with the very elderly cat Ernie. Blessings to Ernie and his sweet life these past two years in La Fayette.

What does a visit from Teppie mean? Lots of picking up, throwing around, dropping and tickling. Later followed by sore muscles and a back ache. But its worth it.

The first of Project CupCake Practice. The kids were sooooo helpful with the baking of the cupcakes, which Bryce picked out from the grocery store.

Who loves cake mix? Pretty much everybody. It must run in the family.

Learning the art of partially-filling the cupcake holders. Zoe wanted to fill them all to the top.

Now for the Icing making. They picked their own favorite colors.

Stacy had the awesome idea of bringing her friend Cresta over to teach basic Icing techniques to me. I was affirmed to learn that I had started down the right path with my collection of Wilton supplies, and Cresta then gave so many additional Handy Tips & recommendations to my many questions. After this night of Icing practice we headed straight to Hoby Lobby to pick up the rest of my needed supplies and pertinent decorating books as recommended by Cresta.
Saves me so much time and money!

Zoe & Nanny

PICTURE TIME WITH TEPPIE!!! Which means making lots of silly faces!

And just like Otto, all the playing around and dancing and being a general goof ball eventually wears the lil pups OUT!

When I got back from Indiana, I had the awesome task of baking cupcakes for the Vlcek Easter Sunday gathering. It took sooooo much more time that I had expected. I did get the icing texture correct - even maybe alittle too tough.

Ray took this sweet picture. I suppose that without thinking about it, this is the smile that he brings to my face.

My hands got so cramped and
sore for days afterwards.
The Icing was so thick, it took
lots of muscle to work it.

Eli drinking soda from a wine glass. He had lots of opinions to share on Sunday about global warming, the bailout and the government! Lol.

My easter cupcakes with Pam's double chocolaty-chocolate lamb cake.

Emily's 3rd eye!

Playing a fun game of 500 Rummy. It came down between Ray & Becky.

The two little pooch's running around Pam's house. Ray and I left Otto at home to relax...he'd had two days and several hours of dog park fun lately and we decided he needed some time off from all the socializing.

Ray helping Emily unravel her Easter Egg towel. We also had fun playing outside with her giant bubble wand and some bouncy paddles/balls.

A really good Easter time was had by all! Thank you Pam for hosting & Thank you Stacy for letting me stay over for the week. Such a great Easter week.

Come ooooonnnn Spring!

Otto and his girlfriend. Seriously, these two are crazy for each other. Lola belongs to our neighbor Heidi who lives on the first floor and we've gotten to become good friends with her. And now, whenever one of them are outside getting a walk, the other one some how knows it and starts insisting on going outside too.

So this past weekend was nice enough for Ray and I to hang out on the balcony and surely enough Lola pulled Heidi up the stairs to come see Otto. Then Otto brought Lola into our apartment to show her his pad...like this the couch where he likes to lie around.

What's really nice about these two is that Lola doesn't mind playing the submissive and Otto likes just standing over her even if she's ignoring him because she's chewing on something.

Another great shot of these two and their smiles.
Boyfriend & Girlfriend in the dog world...how cute!

Here's Otto showing Heidi how he greets Ray and me whenever we come home - with a big doggie hug!

Just hangin' with the adults out on the balcony.





















In mid-March we had Ray's friend Fred from Maine come visit with us.

It's always a fun reminder having a friend from out-of-town visit Chicago because it gives you a chance to be a tourist again yourself and see in the city with fresh eyes.

With Fred we went to a fun Jazz Club one night, caught an improv show and Ray and Him checked out the Natural History museum as well.

Otto hanging out with Linda on the stair steps while Ray does the first Grilled dinner of 2009!

Otto liked Fred quite a bit and gets to be with the boys.
And for future guests, just know that while staying with us you are required to sample several of Ray's home beer selections (he's up to Brew #9 now). Fred enjoyed the lighter beer versus the darker ale and every time Ray gets to share his beer it gives him new ideas for future recipes.

Otto playing with his mommy :-)

Our Home Brew collection is growing and busting out of the closet.

Ray's Beer Label is "O.E.B." which stands for Olde Englishe Bulldogge, and on each of his labels Ray puts a picture or profile of Otto. Here is Otto over-seeing the making of his Ginger-Honey Wheat ale. But Ray has to remind him that he can't sample his beers until he turns 3!

One last go-around in my 30's!

This is it world! I wanted to capture a picture of myself today, my 39th birthday, and the first of my last year being in my 30's.

So this is what 39 looks like on me. I really want to enter my 40's in the best shape ever - in best physical health, mental health, nutritional and all.

Today I went on a gig and played piano for a Dave & Co show. I rode with my friend & the stage manager Jen Taylor to Schaumburg for the show and on the way I was talking to her about my wedding plans when it suddenly hit me (privately) that she might be expecting an invitation to the wedding and I hadn't even thought of her at all. So that was my first hit of the kind of wedding-planning-stress that no one looks forward to. Just a small thing, but still something that you don't ever want to inadvertently hurt someone's feelings.

So yes, the wedding plans have started and the biggest thrill of all for me is how much Ray is supporting me and being enthusiastic over the little discoveries I'm making. I'm finding myself strongly driven to design a lot of it my own and I expect that I'll be able to slowly garner all of the pieces over the course of the next year and at half-the-cost it would be with a wedding planner.

In fact, I've already picked out my favorite designer wedding dress and amazingly was able to "win" that very dress on ebay for a fraction of its designer-cost. Well, I won't be entirely certain until it shows up that I got what I'm expecting to get. Still, it's really thrilling to even think about wearing such a beautiful, elegant dress on that uniquely special day.

I would love to succeed with a few accomplishments this year - like a flatter stomach, a stronger body, and the ability to run more than 3 miles at a faster, lighter pace. I wonder what change it might make in me if I went my entire year at 39 without eating any processed sugars and desserts. Could I do it, I wonder. Well, the answer is yes I could but it would take some moments of very strong will-power to resist all external temptations and the inner demons as well. I definitely have a long history of aching for a full stomach and eating sweet desserts/candy to offset difficult feelings. But I also have a history of taking myself into brand new territories and embracing a healthy lifestyle fulltime.

It's no special insight to comment on how much work it takes to make healthier choices. Last week I got back up to running 3 miles a day for 4 days...then it snowed, Otto got very sick, and my mood just got down again and I neglected to run at all this week. Every day, every week is a day to try again and that's what I say to myself when I fret over my inconsistancies. Life was simpler when I was alone and single and I had tons more freetime and energy to be so focused on my health. Then comes all the transition of this year and while I've tried make all the adjustments, I've also let my previous health priorities slip quite a bit. So it's hard.

I think loving and being in love is a very vulnerable place to be. I know its suppose to be the easiest and best to be with someone who loves you for just being yourself. And that's true too. But additionally, there's a great sense of accountability when you committ yourself fulltime to another person. What affects you also affects the other person. And its just plain vulnerable.

But maybe I'll find it less vulnerable in my 40's. Maybe its just a sense of my uncertainties about life and remenants of younger insecurities that'll finally shed-off this year and lessen those vulnerabilities & insecurities I still struggle with.

One year left.

39.

I put the last of my birthday cupcakes in the freezer tonight.

There's the wedding tradition of saving the top of the wedding cake for the one-year anniversary.

So I want to keep those cupcakes for one year and not have another sweet sugary thing until next February 27, 2010.

They'll be so tasty!

Wish me luck.






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Christmas Snow in February...still!

It's the first Friday in February and also the first time since before Christmas that the temperature gets above freezing! Heck, it's suppose to get near the 50's tomorrow. If so, then all this snow/ice/slush/dirty-muck might finally start to melt away and clear.

But I wanted to make an account of this past Winter '08-'09 with these pictures remembering what it has been like to have a brand new puppy in the house and have to take him out at 6am every morning thru to 11pm at night while we've been under this constantly-near Zero degree cold. So much cold that the ice, snow, ice and then snow again from December is still around.

Crazy!

We haven't been able to
walk through our gangway
to get to the front of the
house since early Decemeber.

The pipes freeze and drip
down long ice-sickles that
form a solid sheet about
3-4 inches thick.

Even Otto doesn't want to
try slipping through this.









But on the good side, Otto and his girlfriend Lola (our neighbors dog) have an awesome time chasing each other around in this back drive-way. And its still so icy that we don't have to worry about drivers speeding down it. Not yet, at least.















Just one last picture of all the piles of snow still mounded up in the yards. Those who never bothered to salt their sidewalks are now leaving all of us to have to slip-slide down the street.


Then again, if it hits the warm temps that it's suppose to in the next 48 hours, things will finally start to clear.









Christmas morning '08 with Otto helping tear up the wrapping paper.


You have to admit, it's really adorable. Here is Otto tearing at the Big-Kahuna gift that I got for Ray --- his beer making kit!


And Ray surprised me tremendously by giving me everything that I had on my list... from V.S. pajamas to a luxury robe and a sports-line heart monitor watch for exercise.


I think in this picture I'm opening up a very bright travel light for attaching to Otto's leash for those very dark early morning constitutionals. Hilarious gift there Ray.



Here are my boys now crashed on the couch after an exciting morning of gifts, morning breakfast and an afternoon of Its A Wonderful Life!


We spent New Years Eve at the home of Jim & Roseanne, (Ray's friends from elementary school) and their two children. One adopted (William in pic) and the other one is Benjamin, who loved having Otto around in their house that he followed the dog everywhere he went.



































New Years Eve antics. This is Jim. Jim and Ray have known each other since 2nd grade and only recently got back in contact with eachother in the past year. Typical of best friends, though it had been perhaps 6 years or more, they picked up exactly where they left off. Jim & Roseanne are super special friends for us.

Kids & Dogs!

Ray's first evening cooking up his beer brew. He's got a system down now of having working on two-or-so brews at the same time, each at a different part of the 10-14 day process.













And here's where Otto hangs out when we're working in the kitchen. And sometimes, when he's being too spastic we leash him to this spot for him to calm down. I think he actually likes the down -time sometimes.











After the new year, the fate of Otto's family jewels were in jeopardy. The first day, it really sucked for him. But after that, I think he forgot he had anything in the first place.

Ray is wearing this T-shirt on purpose. It was inauguration day for Obama and here he is enjoying his home-made beer brew and watching t.v. with our cone head dog.