Family

Congratulations Time!

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I realized today how many people have accomplished great things recently–things that were a long time in coming–and I wanted to put out a word of congratulations. So, in no particular order:

*Dorothy got a job as a kindergarten teacher at a Catholic school. Congratulations!!

*Dave got a raise at his current job and says, “It seems that the more belligerent i get as an employee, the more i get paid.” Too bad that’s not the case for everyone… Congratulations, Dave!

*Andrea also got a raise–Andrea and Dave are really bringing it home. We’re going for drinks and they’re buyin’! Congratulations!

*Kate got an apartment in California (this may have been mentioned before) and she is living with my dear friend Sean and his friend Ryan. It’s sort of like a backwards “Threes Company.” Good job, Kater!!! But even more importantly than that, she has accomplished her life long dream of living out in Cali–even better!!

*My parents turned 50 together. Good for them! Way to be old farts… (teehee)

*Frank started his new job and is almost done with week 3 of training. GOOD JOB FRANK! I know you can do it!

What’s on tap…

Tonight I am going up to Frank’s parents and printing out my resume. Then Friday, Sandy (Frank’s mom) and I are going to drop off resumes, look at apartments and have lunch with Frank. Saturday, I am trying on my bridesmaid dress for Dor’s wedding. Later that afternoon, Frank, Meghan, Anthony, Leah and I are going to a wine tasting and then to dinner. Yum! Sunday will hopefully be a lazy day… Let’s keep our fingers crossed! Frank will leave Sunday night for his parents’ house for his last week of training in Milwaukee.

Angie & Bill S

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Frank and I went to Angie and Bill’s wedding on Saturday and it was STUNNINGLY beautiful! I haven’t ever seen a wedding reception quite like it. Very tasteful and elegant and perfect. Angie’s dress was just about the prettiest dress she could have had and fit her personality perfectly. It had a princess neckline and waist, a ball gown bottom and just exquisite beading. The reception site was gorgeous. It was at The Glen Club in Glenview. The brick terrace overlooked the golf course that was laid out in such a way that it obscured the surroundings and made you feel that you had plunked down in the middle of nowhere (except when the occasional plane took off from O’Hare). Angie and Bill had special cocktails that included the Wedding Bellini and the Mai Bride. They even had a harpist!

For dinner, we ate the most yummy tomato bisque, followed by a great salad, then fillet and chicken for dinner with asparagus (yum), mashed potatoes (yummier!), and finally, an almond wedding cake with creme brulee & strawberry filling. SOOOO GOOD! I told my mom that this is where my sister needs to get married. Just gotta find her a guy, first.

Showers, showers, everywhere…

The showers were really nice this weekend… from what I saw of them… eek! Too much on my plate. I left Dor’s early to go to Angie & Bill’s wedding. And I was TERRIBLY late for Jennie’s. Due to some miscommunication between my roommate and me, I thought the shower was at 4p, but it was at 12n. Woops. I was soooo embarassed! But this is what happens when you are crazy busy.

Last but not least…

Mom and Dad’s party went off with few hitches and they loved it. I can’t write any more about this because, quite honestly, I’m tired. 🙂

So what is new…

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I am going to take this time to do a thorough update on everything that is going on in my life. In no particular order:

Frank’s New Job

Frank is now working in Milwaukee and living 45 minutes south of that with his parents. I am still living in the western ‘burbs, about an hour from Frank. I miss him like crazy, especially when I am home from work and about to go to bed. Very lonely. Fortunately I have had some friends staying with me, and that helps a lot. He has about 2 1/2 weeks left of training, then he goes to NY for 2 more weeks of simulator training.

My Job

It has been okay. Nothing terrible, nothing great. I’m exhausted today because I went to see Nickel Creek with Kelly last night. It was a fabulous show, although it doesn’t technically belong under the heading of “my job.” I have several leads for my potential new job, which helps. My boss, who normally annoys me, hasn’t been too terrible. I think he is happy with our team and has stopped trying to prove to us how great he is. Mostly. Whatever, though. I really can’t care less.

Family

They are okay, too. Mom & Dad turn 50 next week (the 18th and 17th respectively). My sister is in town until the 14th. Right now, she and Mom are flying back from Santa Fe where they vacationed. Andy is doing a big concert with his band at the end of this month. They created a pretty trippy band room in the basement and they call it the Rave Cave. Interesting, eh?

My sister-in-law, Kathryn, is preggers with #2. Father-in-law has named the child Coco. I think that is still up for discussion. Karen, my other sister-in-law just came back from the Czech Republic. Her stories about her trip are fantastic and maybe one day, Frank and I will go there! That would be great 🙂

Moving

We have to move soon… not sure where or when. Our lease is up on 9/30. Hmmm. This could get interesting…

Headache

Since writing this blog, I have developed a headache.

Expectations

Headaches made me think of expectations. Specifically expectations of others around me. With everything on my plate, there are some people that don’t quite understand that I leave the house at 7 am and I get home, if I’m lucky, at 7 pm. I do my very best to spend time with friends as much as possible and attend to everything I can. There are some people that haven’t exactly been entirely understanding of this. I am doing the best I can to honor my commitments, but sometimes you drop a ball when you’re juggling 1,000,000.

Congratulations are in order…

*ANGIE AND BILL ARE GETTING MARRIED ON SATURDAY!!

~Angie and Bill were engaged a month before Frank and I, so Angie and I have shared the whole getting married/marriage process together. I’m so excited for both of them and know they are going to have an excellent wedding and life together. 🙂

*Jennie and Jim will be having their bridal shower on Sunday, the wedding will be on October 7. Yay!

*Dorothy and Erik have their first of three showers this weekend. The wedding is on October 16. Finally! Yay! We’re almost there! 🙂 (They have been engaged since Sept. 2002)

…and last, but not least…

Congratulations to Kater for her new apartment! After everything she’s gone through to move to Cali, she finally has a place to hang her hat… WOOHOO!

Happy 4th!

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Well, it was the nation’s birthday–hurrah for us!

On a sad note, July 5th was the 1 yr anniversary of my grandpa’s death. I feel, in some ways, like he has been gone for longer than a year since so much has happened in that time.

Tonight, FK and I are going to go see Spiderman2–hurrah!

So yes, up, down, up, down–life is a roller coaster.

Lovely Weekend

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So! We had some very exciting Father’s Day news–my sister-in-law, Kath, is pregnant! YAY!!!! This is baby #2. HURRAH!

Other than that excitement, Frank and I had a relaxing day of canoeing and napping up at the lake. We had a nice time with the family all weekend long. Woohoo!

Sunday night I stopped by Dave and Andrea’s new house. It is so adorable! They are doing their kitchen like a retro-1950’s diner, complete with black and white checked floor. Their new home is spacious and pretty. They even have a cute little fenced-in backyard for their doggie, Giles.

Anyway, very nice weekend. Hard coming into work, tho!

How We Say, “I Love You.”

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This week has been VERY busy. I have worked past 8 or 9 every night and Frank has come down just about every night to pick me up at work and drive me home. What’s amazing is that he offers to do this and is cheerful (for the most part–his back is hurting–another story for another time) when he gets me.

Well, today, he met me at the station at home and told me that he saw that I took out the garbage and folded the laundry. It was really sweet that he noticed that I did that. Anyway, tonight he was going out with the guys for a couple beers, cigars, etc. I came home and turned on the light–the apartment looked amazing!!

Frank put away laundry, started a new load, did the dishes, cleaned the bathtub, scrubbed the toilet, vacuumed hte house, made the bed, straightened up the family room, WENT GROCERY SHOPPING and there were a dozen red roses on the kitchen table, freshly cut and put in a vase.

On the way home from the train, I was thinking aboutall the things I needed to do at home, in addition to some work I brought home. Seeing everything so clean and perfect–he thought of everything–was phenomenal. Taking care of everything at home was the answer to a prayer!

It was the most extravagent, beautiful, meaningful way he could have possibly said he loved me. So, Frank, I LOVE YOU, TOO! 🙂

Number 5 is Always Number 1 to Me!!

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So when Frank and I were in premarital counseling, our pastor imparted a ton of wisdom on us. I’m sure he’d be happy to know that it didn’t go to waste. He told us that he and his wife go through seasons in their marriage. He mentioned that he had just been through a particularly difficult season and he was excited to see what was in store for them.

I noticed that Frank and I also go through seasons, even though we are fairly new to the married game. Right now we are in a particularly contented season of our marriage. Ahh… ::Sigh:: It feels really nice.

This weekend was Frank’s birthday, so we had a busy one. First, Friday, we celebrated Erik’s birthday at Dor and Erik’s beautiful new coach house! It’s absolutely stunning and very new. I love the things she’s done with it so far, even though she doesn’t even live there yet. (technically 😉 )

Saturday I spent A LOT of time with Kate. I say that because it took us 1 1/2 hours to get to a mall 4 miles from my house. And once we were on the road, there was no way to get off because the next exit was the exit to the mall. It was nuts.

Saturday night, we went to Famous Dave’s for Frank’s birthday dinner with a bunch of people and then we went out to Cubby Bear North to see Mike & Joe–very fun! We stayed out very late (way past our bed times!) and danced and sang and everything. GOOD STUFF!!!

Sunday we went to the National Restaurant show–very fun! We ate a ton and came home and napped… ahhh!

MY PEDOMETER…

This brings me to my nifty pedometer. I found that it is great to see how far I’ve walked and all that, but what is even cooler is that if I shake it, it moves a step. That’s MUCH easier than walking all those steps.

So far, I walked 10,564,392,456 steps. I rock.

🙂

A Day that Made Me Love My Job

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Yesterday was one of those days that reminded me of why I sometimes love my job. I worked for an hour, then went to a meeting where they had pastries, fruit, juice and a raffle for prizes. I worked for another hour, then went to lunch with a magazine at a fancy restaurant for 2 hours. I worked another hour and then went to the Peninsula Hotel for afternoon tea for the rest of the day and went home. I didn’t eat dinner, that’s for sure! How could you NOT love a job on a day like that?

Shout out to my peeps…

I gotta say “hey” to my cousin Meghan who reads my blog–What’s up girlfriend?? Ow ow!

Have a great weekend!

Hoppy Easter!

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I know, so cheesey. Anyway–quick update. Friday night was Dave G’s birthday party–yay–good times. He’s aging rapidly–25 yrs old! eeek!

Saturday morning, Mom and Dad picked me up and we went down to Roanoke for my cousin’s bridal shower. That was loads of fun. Good to see the family. Found out one of my other cousins is having child #6. Can’t BELIEVE that. That’s just nuts. Two of my other cousins are also expecting, no need to worry keeping the population up, that’s for sure.

Saturday night we went out to dinner with my friend Ann and her new boyfriend, Jim. He is totally nice and we had a great time. They are a very playful couple–obviously very happy. Yay for Ann and Jim! 😀 We saw Lady Killers after dinner, cute movie. I love Tom Hanks as a general rule. He’s in my top 5.

Sunday we went to church at 9:30 and then went to brunch with Frank’s parents and his sister. His other sister, her husband and our nephew were all sick and couldn’t make it. That was quite disappointing since we rely on my nephew for all of our entertainment 🙂

After brunch (which was quite an amazing spread), we went to my parents’ house and took a much needed nap. Then round 2 of eating! We didn’t eat too much dinner, but what we did have was just so tastey.

So today, I guess it’s not surprising that I woke up exhausted. 🙂 Thank goodness for the work week, right?

Home again!

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Well, we’re back in Chicago, but the weather is at least warm (though wet) and I can’t complain about that! We spent a long weekend in San Francisco, seeing as much as we could with Frank’s parents. They are AWESOME tour guides. It’s as though they have lived there all this time! Dr. K even knew the birthday of Joe The Shoe Shine Guy–how crazy is that??!

San Fran is gorgeous and interesting–modern and vintage at the same time. The cable cars that go up and down the hills are from all over the country–some from Chicago even! Whatever everyone else has cast off as old, they make new and unique again. How fun is that??? And the shops are just interesting and the people watching is fantastic! They have beautiful flower markets and intriguing peace protests and lovely sunny weather. San Francisco is quite the treat!

Here I am, though, back in Chicago. HURRAH! 🙂