Little Miss Impatient Pants

*sigh* I had another check up this morning. Little to no change/improvement from last week. I realize it doesn't mean anything. Heck, they could check me at 3 cm and I could stay that way for a couple weeks , just as I could be at 1 cm and go into labor tomorrow. Its just so frustrating, because I WANT to see some progression here!!! I want to know when to expect this little person to arrive! I'm SOOO impatient! I guess I just don't like the anticipation, nor do I like the not knowing. It all goes back to all my control issues I have, I suppose.

UGH

Dr. guestimates baby at around 6 - 6 1/2 pounds right now. He said today "if you go to full term, this baby won't be a shrimp, that's for sure". Great. I've been trying to mentally prepare myself for a 12 pound baby, but wouldn't it be so much easier/quicker if it were just an itty bitty 6 pounder? I'm really not thinking that's gonna happen though. But, I suppose since God gave me this big ol' child bearing hips, I might as well put them to good use and pop out giant babies!

Side note, an old wives tale states that if you have heartburn, you're going to have a hairy baby. I recently read that there have been studies to confirm this tale. Something about the same hormone that relaxes the esophagus and contributes to heartburn (in addition to the fact that your stomach is all squished to high heaven sharing prime real estate with the baby) has been noted to be the same hormone that is responsible for fetal hair growth. Hmm.....interesting.

Given that A) I've had wicked aweful heartburn over this last trimester and B) Baby Daddy is a rather big fuzz ball himself - I'm sure I'll have a baby that more resembles a monchhichi than the bald baby I was (I don't think I had hair until I was 3.....). What do you think? There's still lots of potential for cuteness through the fuzz, eh?


And dammit - now I can't get the Monchhichi song out of my head.

oh, Happy Labor Day weekend to everyone!!! Summer is officially over.....almost! We're headed to Michael & Kristen's tomorrow morning for the weekend. It will be nice to visit some family again.....especially since they don't live far away :) Its still within my one hour radius of the hospital my Dr. says I'm allowed to roam freely in.

::::::::::: AND NOW, YOUR MOMENT OF SCRAPPING ZEN :::::::::::

Chicago Botanic Gardens: The End of Summer [Credits]


Journaling Reads:

The end of August. The end of Summer.

But all is not ending. This means that September is almost here, and September brings the beginning of a new life for us! This day, we took advantage of one of our last days alone as a couple, and took a walk around the Chicago Botanic Gardens...enjoying each others company, the scenery and the warm late summer sunshine. Don't get me wrong, we love each other so much, but we can't wait until our new addition arrives! Bring on the Fall!

Dammitallanyway

I was getting antsy and tired of working at home today, so Pat and I decided to head to Staples to purchase some office supplies - and then head to Target. It was supposed to be a quick afternoon jaunt, but no such luck.

Upon our exit of our parking spot, Pat noticed another person who started backing up after he was already mostly out in the isle......he stopped. Honked. For a good couple seconds. The other people kept on backing up. Right into the drivers side back door. *sigh* at least it was a low impact collision, and the door just crumpled. Turns out it was a college age girl and her high school age sister......they had insurance and everything, but were obviously relatively upset about backing into someone.

But its still a giant pain in the ass. No police report since it was in a parking lot (Chicago Police have bigger fish to fry). Exchange of information - blah blah blah. We already were able to report the accident with GE, take the car to a body shop to get an estimate already, so we'll just wait to hear from them to see what to do next. Or at least Pat will, since it was his company car. We definitely have that to be thankful for too - fleet vehicle companies are awesome. I had a couple accidents with our other company, PHH, which went pretty well, but this will be our first with GE.

We were able to make it to Target afterward, but at the end of the day our 1 hour trip a total of about 2.5 hours. Oh, and note to self (and a good rule to follow in general). When going to Target, don't show up in khaki pants and a red polo shirt. Luckily, Pat had a very visibly pregnant wife in tow and we weren't bothered at all, but I'm sure if he went alone he would have been bombarded with many questions about where the milk was, or if the swiffer wet jet was on sale.

Christian Humor :)

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer.

They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, "THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job."

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.
They faxed.
They e-mailed.
They e-mailed with attachments.
They downloaded.
They did spreadsheets!
They wrote reports.
They created labels and cards.
They created charts and graphs.
They did some genealogy reports
They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off.

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming: "It's gone! It's all GONE! "I lost everything when the power went out!"

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work.

Satan observed this and became irate.

"Wait!" he screamed. "That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?"

God just shrugged and said,

JESUS SAVES

I have a new best friend.

And his name is Tide To Go :) Sweet lord - that thing is amazing! A definite must for me and my messiness...and now that I'm driving more, eating more in the car, that means more Taco Bell red sauce drips. So I'm driving, and even after I had devoured my bean burrito (minus onions) i noticed I could still *really* smell the red sauce - but I didn't have any on my hands and the bag was neatly tucked away in my car trash. Then a look down, and see my fate. A nice big drip on my shirt, and another on my jacket. Luckily, I had already seen customers for the day, and was on my way home. But still, I didn't really want to stain my new preggo girl shirt, know what i mean? So, I remembered I bought the Tide to Go stick a while back and stuck it in my car, just for this occasion. So I used it, as I was driving - and at the next stop light I looked down - and it was gone! HOORAY! *This Product Offically Has the Karin Seal of Approval* Not much else new - The Massey Trio is playing tonight at The Note with special guest Singer Kyle Mayer. So Pat and I will go down there tonight.......I had a good OB appointment this morning, heard the little blob's heartbeat :).......and now I'm tired and hungry - so its time to stop blogging and go take a nap.

We're Ready!

The classes have been had, the nursery has been set up, car seats are installed, and we are officially READY to go for baby!

Or rather, as ready as we're ever going to be!

The classes were really helpful - the breastfeeding, infant CPR, and the Great Expectations classes. The CPR and breastfeeding classes were informative, and gave out lots of useful information. The Great Expectations class can't actually teach how to be a parent or anything, but it was more so just to expose us to various issues that may arise during labor and when the baby gets here, so we'll be a little more calm, and less likely to freak out. And Pat proved that he could put on a diaper and shirt and give a sponge bath - on a motionless doll anyway :) He's so cute, and going to be such a great dad!

The last thing we really needed was to get our car seat and stroller set, which arrived via UPS on Wednesday. I put the stroller together myself :) Pat installed the car seat base, in my car anyway, and we practiced taking it in and out, just like we played with the stroller too. We ended up purchasing a travel system from Costco - I'm glad we did! We got a great deal on it, and ended up with a less bulky stroller to boot! The stroller is much more city friendly - it folds quite nice and small for trains and buses and such, and the infant car seat still fits and snaps in nice and snug too. I'm very happy with it.

We didn't have a doll handy to practice using the car seat buckles and such, but we did have a Teddy bear handy........so Ted was our practice victim. Ah Ted. He's seen better days, but he's still my go to man in a pinch.




I had a check up appointment on Friday - and things are still going well. I have a touch of an Urinary Tract Infection, but I've got antibiotics for that now. Aside from that, Dr. Kelsey took a Group B Strep swap test (I'll get test results back in a week), and an internal exam to see how I was doing. Baby is down nice and low with its head locked and loaded :) And I'm about 1 cm dilated (not that it means anything at all) and on my way! He also restricted me to working only in the Chicago Metro area, so no more trips to Cheeseland :( But I suppose the less time I spend in the car, the more comfortable I am.

And I also found out that Dr. Kelsey is going to be on vacation from September 7th - 24th. I wasn't really all that heartbroken about it - I've spent lots of time with the other practitioners, and I like all of them - it doesn't matter much to me who catches the baby...that was one of the reasons why I wanted a multi-doctor practice.

We're almost a month out - and getting more and more excited as time chugs along!

Lonely Saturday

I shouldn't say lonely.......I've got my cats to keep me company :) Pat has been gone most of the day today galavanting about in Chi-town. His buddy is getting married soon - so they are having a Bachelor party boys day for him. I'm sure he'll be home late, but the weather was fantastic today (which is a nice break from all the stinkin' rain and storms we've been having!) so I'm hoping he had a great time!!

Truth be told, I enjoy a day to myself now and again, and I SUPER am enjoying this day because I know in another month these days will be few and far in between! Its been very relaxing - I did yoga, cleaned a bit, sorted photos, cuddled cats, talked on the phone with some friends / family, ate lots of snacks, watched a shit pile of HGTV - overall, yeah, I guess I'd say its been a fun day! Solitary, yes, but definitely nice!

I think in the next week or two (or maybe sooner) I may integrate my two blogs into one - its just a pain in the butt to have two, know what I mean? In the beginning I thought it would be a good idea, and it was (especially before we had shared the news with everyone), but now so much of our life is consumed (and will continue to be) by this little person growing inside me, it seems silly to keep them separate. So, look for changes soon....very soon.

Family Photo :)

It was great visiting the fam last weekend - in addition to the baby shower we also went to go see a movie. Karli, Nikki & Janelle and I went to see Hairspray, while Pat opted to go see The Bourne Ultimatum in the theater across the hall......I was pleasantly surprised about Hairspray - I mean, it was a cheesy musical, but it was well done and entertaining. Other than that we spent our time hanging out and lounging in the pool and just visiting over all.

OH - Pat and I slept on my sister's waterbed. That was fun - NOT! I slept pretty well the second night, but the first night Pat was being rather over exaggerated in his motions and flopping us all over god's green earth. And the bed may have been a tad overfilled for the two of us (compared to one teeny tiny Karli girl!)....so it was kind of like we were sleeping on a hill. But it worked out great for my hips and back - no pain at all!

HOLY COW! Did you know my sister has her permit!?? And turns 16 in about two weeks!? When did that happen!??! I had her drive me to the store this weekend, and it was so strange having her in the seat next to me! She's just growing up so quickly!

Even though everyone wasn't there for all of the time, I was able to wrangle the entire family together for a photo session before we left on Sunday - everyone was less than enthused! Hey - I HAD to try out my new tri-pod! But, they eventually cooperated (even Chino was patient!) and I managed to get a good shot or two (or ten! LOL). Here's my fav......

Here's another one we took the night before, including our cousin's Janelle & Nikki, and excluding Keith.

I really like these shots because they were rather spontaneous - meaning I didn't give anyone any time to primp or prepare.....so its us, just as us. Real. I {heart} my family!

No big plans for this weekend - we've got a few baby classes to attend, but after the crazy travel weekend last weekend I would like to just hang out and do a whole lot of nothing, know what I mean?

Just in case you want to do a little digi-scrappin'!

Oh! Other Weekly activities!

Last week, I went to TWO (count 'em - TWO ) Tiger games - unfortunately they lost both :( Tuesday I went by myself (cuz Pat was in Buffalo) and the weather was kind of drizzley and crappy, but on Thursday I did get to spend a little bit of time with two of my cousins! Pat and Will's friend Rudy also went with us, too! Rudy was rockin' some serious Magglio Ordonez hair - but he ended up putting it in a pony tail because it was H-O-T! We had FABULOUS seats - and I got a gazillion pics! You can see them all on the baseball set on Flickr - but here are a few of my favorites here:

Lil' Dan
Willis
Me & Pat
Rudy, Will, Dennis & Pat
Tiger Pics

Culinary disaters and other dissappointments

*whew* its been so long since I posted, I guess I need to do somewhat of a weekly recap. Last Friday was Pat's 31st birthday - so I decided I needed to make him a cake. From scratch. Which was a bad idea from the get go seeing as how I sometimes have a negative attitude towards stuff made from scratch. Its deep seeded and would take more explaining than I care to go into right now - but suffice to say it was a bad idea before I started.

So I made the cake (and a huge mess, as almost always one accompanies the other). And it was tasty. But, since I can't do anything half assed I was trying to be all professional and stuff cutting and trimming. Hey, I figured I've seen enough episodes of Ace Of Cakes - I'm almost professional myself. WRONG! I mutilated the cake, but I figured I'd be able to save it the next day when I assembled it and put frosting on it.

I go out and buy a mini-starter cake decorating kit from the store, and proceed to try to make the frosting that Pat says is the easiest and yummiest to make. Well - once again, no such luck. The frosting turned out to be more of an icing (think: cinnamon rolls)....so I poured it over each layer, and basically just threw in the towel. I didn't even get a picture of it - it was so embarrassing. We did sing Happy Birthday and did eat the entire thing because although it was horrifying and mutilated, it still was cake and icing, and quite delectable. But the whole experience was rather traumatizing for me.

On Saturday, I had made plans to go to this benefit event at Shedd Aquarium called BLU. A great big "Save the World" kind of thing, where you get all dressed up and eat food and drink. Because it was in conjunction with fireworks and the Venetian Fest Boat Parade, I thought it would be a good birthday present for Pat. You know, a nice night out on the town before Baby gets here.

Let me back up. I despise buying presents. I hate the pressure and emotional turmoil that goes with it. Because really, even though its the thought that counts, why give something that someone either doesn't really love, or doesn't need? Then you've wasted all this energy and time trying to think of a good and/or fun surprise, only to be let down if the recipient doesn't think its the greatest well thought out gift in the world. Life would be much simpler if presents were agreed upon before hand - or chosen from a list. Kind of like a registry. It might not knock their socks off, but it certainly is guaranteed to be something needed / appreciated.

Last year, I surprised Pat with a new, nice Gary Fischer bike - that he totally wanted, and liked and uses often. I spent good money on it, because I knew it was exactly what he wanted - and I knew he wasn't expecting it. I was told this year to not spend that much money....which pretty much nixed the Blu Ray Disc player or 80G iPod off the list. So that in itself creates all this pressure - I could get him something that he needs (Socks and underwear, anyone?) and be totally lame, or try to come up with something fun and romantic. Which is what this BLU event was supposed to be. Back in February, we went to what we thought was a similar event at Shedd, and it was actually kind of fun - so it seemed like a good choice.

Apparently this evening was as doomed as my ill fated cake.

Let me back up again: Earlier on Saturday we had the opportunity to go out shopping, and also stopped for a yummy dive lunch at the Bunny Hutch, and then played 18 holes of super retro mini-golf. The place was awesome. And I got a hole in one on the WINDMILL people - the WINDMILL!! I also kicked Pat's butt by like, 5 strokes. It was awesome.

OK - back to Saturday night. We get there, and there is a big line - 20 minutes after the event was supposed to start. I don't know about you, but if I'm paying big cash to go to an event, I don't want to stand in line. At all. After we get in, there are only, like, 4 teeny tiny food stations - two of which are laden with onions and make you throw up a little bit in your mouth after eating them. Then, there are a million people standing in line to get one little cream puff at each area. Again, if I'm paying a lot of money for light, tiny dishes - there had better be sufficient areas so no one has to wait. Ditto with the booze lines - even if I am only getting a Sierra Mist. Top that off with a zillion Chaz & Trixie's - and its just not a good vibe. I know - what did I expect right? Its a benefit to save the world. Of course Chaz & Trixie and their yachting friends will be there.

I was hoping to have a perfect view of the boat parade and fireworks from the North Terrace (as advertised in the BLU promotion), but there weren't very many seats around, so Trixie & Buffy took all of the seats, and Chaz & Thurston were blocking the areas around the girls, so basically I didn't get any good shots at all. We were packed like sardines. Save for this semi-blurry view of the Chicago sunset, that I had to beg some ol' biddy to let me stand in front of her for three seconds.

While standing in line for strawberries & chocolate, I saw them open up an area, which allowed Pat to go and scope us a spot to actually sit down and maybe even eat. We scored a mini-steak burger from Gibson's (OHHHH SOOOO YUMMY!) and were able to enjoy our chocolate covered strawberries in peace. But we were completely out of view of the fireworks at that point, so all we saw were a few glows, booms and smoke coming back out of the harbor. I did snap this city shot (again, blurry) through the glass squeezed between a couple people:

The good things: Kettle One sponsored the event, and they had this really cool ice bar they were making cosmo's and dirty martini's for everyone (except me). I made it Pat's mission to drink as much as possible, so we could at least get some money's worth out of this gig.

They also had a nice selection of decadent desserts at the end...some almost too rich - but yummy! And, we got a nice Save The World bag with fun goodies (including a nice Porche Pen - because Porche was a sponsor and they weren't sending us all home with cars).

So, with our tired feet and aching backs from standing all night, we left at 10:30 and made our way home with the rest of the Venetian night traffic. Hopefully we'll look back at this birthday and laugh - but for now, ugh, what a disaster.

Death & CHA

First, Pat's Uncle Joe passed away this Friday. He lived in Buffalo, NY (where Pat's parents are from)......Pat is headed to NY with his brother & sister for the viewing and funeral early tomorrow morning......I opted (or rather Pat insisted) that I stay behind - even though I feel pretty bad about it. Yes, I know I've never met the man, but Pat is my husband and I want to be able to stand beside him through this kind of stuff. The issue is me sitting in a car for 8 1/2 hours Monday & again on Tuesday - for a total of 17 hours in two days. That's with normal people. I would probably add a little more time onto that if I went to take into account me peeing every two seconds, and needing to stretch my legs, hips and back. I think at most, I might be in the car for work about 5 hours in a day - and even then I'm stopping at least every hour or so to rest and stretch. Medically safe, probably - comfortable and fun for the whole family? Probably not.

We had another death this weekend too - Rev. Dick McCool - a family friend for many years - passed away. He was a paraplegic (or was it quadriplegic?) that lived around the corner from us. Keith and Kyle used to help him out with daily activities when they were in high school......and I think Karli did to some extent as well. He recently had another surgery, which didn't go very well - and slipped into a coma. One he wouldn't awake from :( I didn't know him very well - but he was always the most kind man.......I know he'll be missed.

::::::::::::OK ENOUGH GLOOM AND DOOM:::::::::::::

Before I get myself crying again - lets talk about something more light hearted. I spent most of the weekend at a scrapbook trade show put on by the Craft & Hobby Association. Very very cool experience. I'll be taking photos of the projects that I completed hopefully tomorrow, so I'll share more then - but lets just say it was a whirlwind of seeing all the new products displayed so creatively was about enough to make me want to paper scrap again instead of digital! I MUST venture more into hybrid scrapping......when I get a little more room to work, anyway!

The other cool thing is that I went as a member of the A Cherry On Top creative team - so I was able to meet some of my online friends in real life!!! We got together for dinner on Thursday (I think there was 9 of us) and had a great time! 3 people were the store owners, four of us were on the design team, and two were designers - from all over the US. It was too cool :) And I got to meet some Scrapbook Celebrities - and I even won a book that was signed right there by Becky Higgins herself! It was cool because the book isn't even in distribution yet - not until September 1st - so when we saw the book it was the first time she had as well! Yeah, I know its cheesy, but we all have to have passions, right?

So now, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow is a big work day, and then I have to do some serious cleaning around this house. Ta ta!

Caught in the Act

Oh yeah. He doesn't like my cats at all. No sir. Not one bit. He just tolerates them.



Whatever dude. Just admit you LOVE them!!

Camping Etc.

This weekend Pat O'Brien and I headed out to our first solo camping trip to Illinois Beach State Park. We had fantastic weather, and all in all, I'd say it was a heck of a way to spend a weekend. We mostly just chilled by the campfire or played in the sand (even making a few sandcastles!!!). It was quite a relaxing weekend after a rather hurried, intense work week, and a nice way to enjoy the company of my wonderful husband without the distractions of computers, cell phones and televisions.

Here are a few photos, click on the cluster for a larger view (frames by Nancy Comelab):They came out pretty nice anyway. I'm glad I bought a remote :) I got a few other flower pictures that came out neato burrito, but I'll have to save them for another day. And Holy SCHMOLY man - look at that BELLY! And I still have two months to go!!! Speaking of which - that is mostly why I haven't been religious at posting lately. I'm just so stinkin' tired the last thing I want to do is try to find the least uncomfortable position to sit and type....know what I mean? Actually, during the camping weekend as I was sitting mesmerized by the fire, I wanted to grab my computer and type up a post to capture the contentment and deep thoughts I was having....but that would have required me to get up out of the chair and get my computer in the car, and well, that just wasn't happening!

We did have a couple cool sightings that I didn't capture on "film".....a cute little baby skunk tried to investigate our site, but our flashlight ran it back into the brush. We also saw a momma deer dash across the road, only to be followed by her sweet little spotted fawn. And there were a TON of bats flying around at dusk capturing the plethora of mosquitoes for dinner. A very cool sight....from a distance :) OH - and the STARS! They were just amazing! And, if we looked south we could actually see the light pollution put out by the city of Chicago, even 70 miles north.

Hey, is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to snag a position to golf today with the Dubuque Homebuilders Association. I really wasn’t that heartbroken over the ordeal because already at 8:00AM it was about a billion degrees out, 98% humidity and the sun hadn’t even come out yet. So I was content to plant a kiss on Pat O’Brien at the Tee Box, and make my merry way into the city.

The trip wasn’t a loss though, because I was able to entertain my customer and spend some time with other industry personnel at the great dinner we had last night, and at the local Greyhound Racetrack / Casino into the wee hours of the morning (which, to my pregnant body, is anything after 11:00PM – I made it until about 1:00AM, then I had to call it a night). We also had a dinner this evening after golf, but that is neither here nor there. No big prizes were won – but Pat’s team did win the 1^st place in the 2^nd flight (whatever that means). So we had a $20 shopping spree in the Pro Shop.

Oh, I guess I should clarify. We’re not actually in Dubuque, IA – we are in East Dubuque, IL, right across the river. All the fun stuff (i.e. CASINOS) is in Iowa, though. Pat taught me how to play craps….which we won a nice little chunk of change last night…although I promptly lost it all at the blackjack tables. We went back again after lunch today and came home $100 or so up. Craps is a fun game – super exciting when lots of people are involved. I don’t think I could explain it to you – but I probably could play for a while and not lose my ass doing it.

Anywho – instead of working (like I should have been – but there wasn’t sufficient internet access) I filled my morning with a trip to a place to cross off my life’s To Do list – visit the Field of Dreams movie filming site. I didn’t really have high expectations, since it is just a ball field in the middle of a corn field. But it was a cool place, and I find it impressionable enough to get a souvenir magnet and poster. There were families running the bases, and groups of young men trying to hit a long ball into the corn. Also I noted lots of people taking pictures, the hot humid air hanging around, people browsing the souvenirs and appreciating the beauty of the tranquil surroundings. Oh and corn, lots of corn. The sad thing about the whole visit was that the feud between the two families that own the site kind of overshadowed the magic and sanctity of the game and the movie. You can read more about the Lansing/Ameskamp rift HERE. Sadly, its always all about money.

Despite the overshadow of the feuds, Field of Dreams is still a great movie. Baseball is still a great game. It was a fitting way to spend the morning heading into the All Star break. Go Tigers :)

“This field, this game, is part of our past. It reminds us of all that was once good, and it could be good again. Oh people will come. People will most definitely come”

- From the movie, Field of Dreams.

The Massey Trio at Silvie's

Friday night Pat and I traveled a long 3 miles to see Kyle play with The Massey Trio at a bar called Silvie's. I, of course, brought my camera along....even though low light concerts are about the hardest thing to shoot, I did my best and caught a few cool shots. The nice clear ones were taken of Kyle before the show outside.....with Jim's super shiny cool guitar he borrowed since his own is in the shop. The grainy ones are from the actual show. It was hard to get pics of Kyle because there wasn't any direct light on him at all....but I did my best. I'll have the rest loaded up to flickr after I get back home.






This week will be long for me - Pat and I are headed to Dubuque, IA in a few mintues for a customer golf outing, then we'll spend the rest of the week in Sales Meetings. But, on Thursday we'll head to Illinois Beach for a weekend of Camping :) I can't wait!

Scrappy Bloggage :)

Just thought I would share a couple new layouts completed by me recently:

Pup Parade
This one is for a photo swap I did at ACOT. Doesn't this pupster look fake? Totally the cutest. Full credits HERE.





Hanging Lake
I finally was inspired to scrap a few more old photos. Full credits HERE.


Tippecanoe :) I actually did this one right away, cuz I was totally lovin' the photos. Then I realized I didn't even do a camping re-cap. I will...promise. But for now, enjoy this layout :) Credits HERE


I have more I could share.....but I shall save them for another day :)

Karin & Pat's Wussified Triathalon

It was a fantastic morning - a cool 63 degrees, with a light drizzle. Its a perfect day for a race really. I'd much rather run in that than a hot sunny day! Pat and I biked down to the start of the event (about three miles away), got all checked in, visited with the neighbor peeps and started our 2 mile walk :) We finished just before the first 10K runner did.....it was about 32 minutes or so. I feel like I did pretty well - kept up the pace even through some mild braxton-hicks contractions and the constant feeling of me having to go pee.

Here's a picture of the fabulous finish line :)


It wasn't as big of an event as I expected, but it was a good vibe, and pretty fun. And, we were back home by 9:30AM, already feeling like we had accomplished a lot for the day. It just feels good to get out and exercise, and still have the rest of the day ahead of you, you know?

So now, all I have to do to complete my mini-wussified triathalon is to take a bath :) OK, so its not exactly swimming, but close enough, right?

He loves me, he really loves me :)

Pat and I are officially registered for a walk/race event this weekend. Wanna know what its for?

Proud to Run 2007

Totally not Pat's idea (shocking, I know) :) But I think he's awesome for participating and letting me sign him up. I think I've mentioned before that we live in a very gay friendly area - and some of our new neighbors/friends mentioned that they have signed up for this event - and when we were having our condo BBQ a few weeks ago we were talking how it would be cool for us to do it too. But, since Pat hasn't run in a while, and there's no way in God's green earth your going to get this preggo pants to run, we signed up for the 2 mile fun walk. So we still get to support our friends, and celebrate lesbian and gay pride. And we get a cool T-shirt. Here's last year's design:

I don't think we'll be headed to the Pride Parade though - which is on Sunday (this year's marshall is former NBA player, John Amaechi). We haven't had a lazy weekend to ourselves in a while, so I'm sure we'll just chill and enjoy not doing anything on Sunday.

I think participation in this event officially makes me an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgendered) ally. It kind of makes it sound like a super hero or something. Said in my best action movie promo voice "We're part of the Allied Forces - defending the world against evil wrongdoers everywhere." I'm not much of an activist, but its always nice to stand up for something in some way - even if its just a small donation or gesture like participating in a walk. And, as I read somewhere.....just because I'm straight, doesn't mean I'm narrow.

Weekend plans!

We're going camping this weekend! Somewheres in Indiana - Tippecanoe State Park, I think? I've got to do a bit more shopping and packing yet - but I'm just excited to finally spend some time out of doors :) We'll be headed there with Mike O'Brien and his family - and taking a canoe trip on Saturday. It will be strange since I haven't camped in a while without my parents, and they are the supreme campers - their pop up has everything you need in it! We'll just be tenting it, so we'll see what's up. So far, the weather looks good....if not a bit hot.

WOW! What a weekend!

Whew! We had a whirlwind weekend! We had a great time (albiet way too short) with Danica and Brad, even though the Tiger's lost. No runs whatsoever....only like, four hits or something ridiculous like that. What a bummer. I did get some fantastic pictures though - and already made a great LO! (click to enlarge)


I also took a zillion photos of Seamus's T-ball game, and hangin' out on the deck at my parents house (Friends and Family Oh My!) Saturday, but I'll have to post those later. OH wait - I did test my camera out and take some pics of Kyle playing pool basketball.....check out his mad skilz.....and my mad camera action! You can see the droplets of water!!! (click to enlarge)

The pictures are still kinda blue for my taste, but I haven't figured out how to get all that right on my camera - its still running on auto mode. Those pictures were shot with continuous shoot - 3 frames per second. I LOVE that option!

All in all - it was a great weekend, even though it involved a TON of driving! We even went to church - two weeks in a row - WOO HOOO!