For Sarah's Little Surprise...

I am posting this very moving little video montage for my friend Sarah who just found out this morning that she is expecting! Here's to unexpected little gifts!

I know you've got dial-up Sarah, but trust me...it's worth it to wait on this one. Dare you not to cry!

For Moose n Muffin...

This video has been circulating the internet like crazy so most of you have probably seen it but I still think it's so funny and cute! And in light of certain karaoke events from the not so distant past, I felt it was fitting.

Holiday in Memphis-The Highlights

Memphis ain't all bad. There are definitely nice things about a visit there. Some of my own highlights about last weekend's visit are listed below:

1. Discovering a New 'Shortcut': We had to leave on Saturday morning instead of Friday night, as originally intended, and since we knew holiday traffic would be horrid, we made it a point to drive thru Gallatin and catch 65 instead of driving I40 the whole way. It knocked a good 45 minutes off the drive and that was a big plus. Also, Victor slept almost the entire time. Easy Peasy.

2. Victor in all his 'fatness' meeting friends and family: Mom hasnt seen Victor since he was born so it was fun to watch her face when she saw him again, in all his fifteen pound splendor! I knew she wouldnt want to put him down...so cuddly and smooshy is he!

3.'Tear It Up' and White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha: On a quick little outting Saturday, my husband and I ran accross a great little clothing/accessory store on Cooper beside the Celtic Crossing. It's called Tear It Up and even though the store is the size of a small bedroom, there are some GREAT items in there. I couldnt resist a super-soft T-Rex (the band) Tee for 19.00. Also, lots of nice retro reproduction shoes and dresses in there, ladies! Afterwards, we treated ourselves to the novelty of Starbucks (we don't have any of those around here, guys) and their seasonal White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha which was AMAZING. Starbucks is the one thing that makes me wish I lived in the city...ha!

4.Seeing the new Assembly Hall: No, we didnt get to actually attend the assembly like we planned...sigh. We had to drive in on Sat instead of Friday so that day was gone anyway. And then on Sunday morning we were ten minutes late to the program and there were NO seats! Crazy! And since there was some work being done in the Cafeteria, we couldnt go in there. But we got to see the place anyway, and it is indeed beautiful!

5.Good Food: We have our 'regular' places we like to eat in Memphis but this time, we made two more yummy discoveries. Sunday we ate at the Dixie Cafe for the first time (which we loved...go figure how it's possible I havent' eaten there before) and Sunday night we tried the Blue Fin on Main st. Awesome place...loved the atmosphere, loved the beer, loved the sushi, but most of all loved the...

6.Good Company: So nice to visit w/ old friends...Moose, Monkey, Muffin, all of you guys were a blast! Big brother is always a plus too. I'm so glad we found out about the Karaoke at Alfred's and that practically no one was around to witness our foolishness! You know we have to sing our 'signature song' every time now, don't ya Moose? Oh, and here's the link to the RED lipstick: http://www.besamecosmetics.com/home/?page=home


7.Family : Time spent w/ my parents, niece and nephew, and spiritual family will always be the best part of any little trip. And I enjoyed seeing my brother's new house and forseeing the good times to be had there as well.

We had an easy drive home with almost no traffice, due to the Holiday. It was companionable and smooth. All in all, a lovely little Holiday.

Goodbye Dan...

I was just informed that Dan Fogelberg passed away Sunday. I know I should probably have known he was sick, my childhood having been wrapped up in his music the way it was, but I didnt. This video clip reminds me that I need to get out all of his albums and play them back to back...such an extraordinary talent. He was my first concert ever as well.

An Acute Case of Nostalgia

For those of you who grew up with The ELectric Company, a couple of Tom Lehrer's finest!

Hospitals Make Me Sick

Ok, this has to be some kind of record for one family when it comes to hospital visits within the calendar year! Not only has my family been sick on and off throughout the whole year (seriously, I kept a written tab of sickness in our house and only July and August were illness-free), but we have made so many trips to the hospital, I swear we're keeping the place in business.

In April, my husband woke up w/ severe chest/abdominal pain and rather than risk the possibility of appendicitis or, worse yet, heart attack-we opted to take him to the ER (something we would normally never do since ER visits are so dang expensive). After a pretty inept analysis by the ER doctor, he was diagnosed w/ severe 'gastritis'. Since this diagnosis is not considered an Emergency, my insurance declined to pay the bill and I'm STILL haggling w/ them over it. That's one.

In August, my oldest boy jumped off a pile of dirt at his uncle's house and hit his head on a sharp rock, causing a pretty nasty gash about 2 inches long on his forehead. The local ER is actually pretty good w/ these types of injuries (where diagnoses aren't necessary) and they fixed him up pretty good. That's two.

In September, my 3 yr old swallowed a magnet (as most of you remember) and I had to take him to the hospital for an x-ray so it could be determined that he would be passing it. Since we were never able to find the thing (even after fun examination of his doodie), we had to take him back to the hospital for yet another x-ray-just to make sure. Three and Four.

On Oct 1st, I had a baby. That's five.

And then this morning, I woke up around 1am to find that Victor (who has been suffering from congestion since Thursday), was running a temperature of 101-a very high degree for such a young baby. I called the doctor and because of his age and other symptoms, they advised me to take him to the ER and have him tested for potentially serious viruses, like RSV. Which I did. So I was there until 5am and happily he doesnt have RSV, just an Upper Respiratory Tract infection which is not even that severe. But still, that's six.

SIX hospital visits in one year, people! How normal can that be? And top all that off with the fun fact that when I returned home this morning at six-thirty, my three year old was vomiting and having diarrhea and still is. I should be stressed beyond belief but actually, I'm strangely calm. It's almost funny for some reason.

Song For A Winter's Night...

The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top
The snow is softly falling
The air is still within the silence of my room
I hear your voice softly calling
If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
Upon this winter's night with you

The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead
My glass is almost empty
I read again between the lines upon each page
The words of love you sent me

If I could know within my heart
That you were lonely too
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
Upon this winter's night with you

The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim
The shades of night are lifting
The morning light steals across my windowpane
Where webs of snow are drifting

If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
Upon this winter's night with you
And to be once again with you


-Words and music by Gordon Lightfoot

Hi Ho, Hi Ho...to DISNEY I shall go!

It occurred to me a few months ago that it has been over three years since I've seen Walt Disney World in all it's surrealistic madness. I was actually pregnant w/ Nathan and it was January of 2004 so I guess you could say I am seriously jonesing for my Magic Kingdom fix! So we are planning a trip for Oct of next year and I am already just giddy with excitement. Most of you are aware of my semi-unhealthy love for Walt and all his kin (http://learnthebigapple.blogspot.com/2006/04/walt-and-me.html). The place is just necessary for my happiness, I think (that's a little exageration there people, don't worry).

Planning a vacation is always half the fun for me. Especially a Disneyworld vacation. So even though some people might find it a bit disturbing that I am already in midst of doing so, 300 days in advance, there it is. We are planning to take all three of our children who will then be ages 8, 4, and 1 yr. I would normally never encourage someone to take a baby to Disney, but I feel like somewhat of a veteran by now and am certain I can handle it just fine. The way I see it, the two older boys will keep each other busy and entertained and since we're going to stay on Disney Property (as always), taking the little one back to the hotel will not be a problem. Also, this will be our last chance to stay in a normal hotel room (one that sleeps four) because after the baby turns two, we won't qualify for those rooms anymore.

Disney Hotels are monstrous works of art, themed to their toes and full of every bit of the charm that resides in the parks. So picking one is also an adventure. Thus far I've been a guest at the Port Orleans French Quarter Hotel (our honeymoon choice in 1995), the Disney Institute Villa Treehouses (in 1996 and these are no longer in existence), The Port Orleans RIverside Resort (2003-a Dixie themed hotel adjoining the French Quarter w/ lush landscaping and rustic furnishings), The Villas at the Wilderness Lodge (2004-mountain themed resort w/ a fabulous lobby and a cozy log-cabin feel to the rooms), and The Boardwalk Villas (2001-New England style resort w/ a real boardwalk and within walking distance to EPCOT). I loved all of them but I wanted to try something different this time. So we're going to try the Animal Kingdom Villas since my sweet sister in law is letting us use her Disney Vacation Club points at a great rate.

The Animal Kingdom Lodge and Villas are one of Disney's greatest themed hotels, styled after a rustic retreat on the African Savannah and surrounded by a 'real' wilderness and wild animals. The Lobby is absolutely stunning
as can be seen here, and you can book rooms that overlook the surrounding 'savannah' so that you get to see giraffes and zebras feeding right outside your window. From what I hear, they also have night vision goggles available so that the wildlife can be seen at night when they're at their most active. The pool is designed to look a bit wild, like a natural hot spring of sorts, and the affect is really nice.

I'm looking forward to visiting all my favorite haunts: The World Showcase at EPCOT (especially the Canada and Mexican pavilions), The Harambe Village at The Animal Kindom, Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom, The Tower of Terror at MGM. And also, I'm looking forward to seeing some of the new things that have been added since my last visit: Soarin' at EPCOT, Expedition Everest at the Animal Kingdom, The stunt show at MGM, and Jack Sparrow's likeness in The Pirates of the Carribean. I'll be starting my itinerary soon so that when it's completed, I can send it to my friends who'll be joining us. Then we can figure out what stuff we want to do as a group and what we want to do alone.

Anyhoo, that's enough rambling for now. Barring any unforseen problems, we'll be booking our trip in January. My brother and his kids are probably going to come, as are some dear friends of ours in Louisiana. But hey, why stop there? ALL of you guys should come along!

HUP two, three, four...

ON CATHE FRIEDRICH'S BOOT CAMP:

So I'm back in the saddle again w/ my exercise routine and today I did this workout again for the first time since I've had the baby. DEAR LORD! I'd forgotten how much it kills! So much so that I felt I should devote a whole entry to it and recommend it to all my friends...ha ha.

I first discovered Cathe Friedrich on FitTv a few years ago and would use her workouts (they air on FitTv every day) to supplement my days at the gym. However, when I moved out to the boonies, I had no gym nearby so I've been doing video workouts only for the past two years. I alternate All Star Workouts on FitTv, Cathe Friedrich's show, and various Pilates dvd's that I have at my disposal. Cathe's are by far the hardest workouts I've ever done and there are so many of them (even more if you go by her dvd catalogue) that I never get bored.

The Boot Camp workout is worth buying on dvd if you are so inclined or if not, you can always catch it on FitTv since it airs quite often. It is an hour long workout (or 45 minutes if you do the tv version, to allow for commercials) that consists of 8cycles of intensive cardio and weight-training segments. The cycle-segments are each one minute in length and go in the following order: one minute cardio, one minute upper body, one minute lower body, and one minute abs. Since there is no 'downtime' between the segments, they will most assuredly wear you out and could possibly make you cry...heh heh.

Cathe is a tiny person w/ a hard, muscular body and she uses really heavy weights much of the time. However, since my goal is to look more like this:






and not like this:

I usually stick w/ my light weights.

Anyway, it's a great, challenging workout for those who are so inclined to get moving and see results.