Ink!

After putting this off for...oh, say 15 years...I finally took the plunge and got inked. I love it!!

If you can't tell, I'm a Libra - and who I am is pretty important to me. The 7 stars are for all of the kids - confusing if you don't remember that Tyler died shortly after he was born, and remember that Manny is not mine-by-birth, but mine.

Tylers star is the black one - shaded in at midnight on what would have been his 15th birthday. Profound for me...and a moment I'll never forget. The pain was secondary at that point.

Let me know what you think!

Summertime...

Summer thoughts...

It has been quite a while since I've blogged...

The first half of summer in nearly over. The girls will be returning next week - work is clicking along, Noels new job is going well. Enjoy some of the latest pictures that I FINALLY found some time to upload some pix. Hopefully, I'll get the opportunity to blog a little more frequently!

You are all in my thoughts!

Working for a Living

Noel's office view downtown...

As many of you know, I plunged back into the full time work force at the end of February. This is a move that has been much discussed in our home over the course of the last six years. It's official - I'm now a full time working stiff!

I am employed by Millennium Electronics, Inc. I did my homework on this company well in advance (OK, online stalking of their website...) but a few details escaped my research. I'd like to share these with you -

1. When you read testimonials from employees about "The best thing about working for MEI is the people" - you start to be a little leary. Does this mean that the people are the ONLY good thing about working for this company? I have to answer this in two parts. A.) I was fully integrated by the people already working there by the third day. Yes, they really are THAT AWESOME. B.) It's not just the people. The benefits that MEI offers are pretty amazing for a CM as well. Not the medical, but just the motivation and rewards that they have in place. It's pretty wild! In fact, I plan to use some of those ideas in the gym to help motivate the girls. I'm impressed...

2. It is so exciting to have the opportunity to grow with a company as it goes from "Mom & Pop" to "Global Leader". Which way are we leaning? Well, let's just say that we are headed in the right direction but there is much work to be done - and I am SO excited to be a part of this! It is a serious rush for me to solve quality problems and find ways to save money while still operating in the black that I consider this my "drug". I love being a part of something big - and I think that MEI is really poised for this transition...

3. Nothing could have ever prepared me for when my nameplate arrived this past week. It's slotted outside my cubicle (OH, the dread...). My name was spelled right and EVERYTHING! I guess that makes me a part of the MEI family - but I really hope that if I ever get fired, they'll let me take it with me :O)

-SO-

I apologize for being a phantom blogger this past month, as my body and time constraints are going through a real transition as well. I am trying to balance everything, and some little things are being left in the dust. Add to that some very action packed weekends and I'm having a hard time staying on top of my internet responsibilities! I still think of you all everday :O)

Performance link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMru7FI4YzE

Ok...here is a link to Sundays performance. This video was taken by a parent who was sitting next to the mat, so the view is slightly askew. I love it from a personal standpoint because you can see Jillyan's spinning scorpion really well. When you see the kids move into stunt position with the back spot kneeling like she's tying her shoes - Jillyan is the incoming flyer. Since it's only a partial view, it's tough to keep track of both of the kids, and Allyson is on the other side of the mat - so mainly this video is focused on Jillyan (of my two performers!). Jilly also flies a show-n-go that is the first one to move (they come forward), and she is the point flyer in the pyramid: performing a tick-tock/ball down to full-cradle. Let me know what you think!!

Excitment = finding Fendi knockoff shades for $10!! Almost takes away from the chins!

Let me explain!

After previewing my blog...I realize that I forgot to explain what the whole "Crazy Cheerleaders" post was!

This is the video of the awards taken ON the spring floor (sorry for the shaky video). If you listen carefully and/or can hear the announcer over the noise, they naturally begin the awards starting with last place. There were 7 total squads in our division, so even though it sounds like he says "second", it is actually "seventh"! The realization that second place was not them hit pretty quickly after it was announced! There was a lot of screaming, jumping around and tears when that happened! Please keep in mind that I am excited as well - AND standing near excited parents that want to "shake the coach" when the kids place well! Apologies ahead of time!

Copy and past the link to your browser, and it should take you to the video!

Crazy Cheerleaders!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxUQfs_4PeY

Snow...snow...snow...

Last week, we got 14 inches of snow. Monday night, we are supposed to get 3-6" more. This is on top of the official total for the season = 40 inches. Spring - where art thou?

The birdhouses are listing under all of the snow!

Poor bushes! Poor dogs trying to find the bushes!


Where'd my bench go?

Beautiful FAT white flakes!

Champions...

CHAMPIONS


Jillyan's cradle twist.




Jillyan's scorp

Allyson waiting for her flier

First Place!!

Allyson hammin' for the camera

Mr. Manager / Assistant Coach / Photographer / All-Around :O)

Silver pulled out a Champion win today! We are ALL so proud of the work these kids have put in! Purple finished a heartbreaking 5th out of 7 teams. In their defense - it was an extremely tough line up. What a day! In spite of below zero temperatures, wind chill factors of -30, the cheerleaders put on a great show! Congratulations kids!

Long awaited band video...

Well...it's not happening right now! Again with the Nero! I'm getting rather grumpy :O( I have a new video camera that records straight into MP4 format - but I have to get a memory stick for it. Look forward to that soon :O)

Here's a pic of Melyssa playing at the concert. I had to at least post that.

and a hush falls over the room...

While I'm too lazy to upload tonight, I did want to share in words our experience this evening. Look for a video and pictures to come...

Melyssa participated in her first full band concert this evening at Hannah Beardsley. Attending this concert were the elementary schools Canterbury (ours), Coventry and Hussmann. A surprising 120 kids were there to play their hearts out for the first time in front of an audience. Heady stuff!

The chairs and music stands were all set up on the gym floor (I gave a sigh of relief...there wouldn't be stage lights to mess up any media I planned on using to capture the moment), and the little musicians trooped in by sections - their black pants and white shirts making a statement of uniformity. The band teachers/conductors for the evening were light hearted and praising with some raised eyebrows that had more than a few of us in the audience thinking - "Uh-Oh. this concert is going to be LONG!!"

Melyssa's teacher; Mr. Bell, had the first honor of conducting, and as he stepped up onto the block, each and every student raised their instruments to the ready. I was completely impressed by this, even as he raised his arms and every musician popped their instruments into their mouth to play (OK, not percussion, but you get the point). Wow. All of the songs on the list accomplished AND unified obedience? Ooooo...these band teachers are GOOD!

Camera at the ready, camcorder primed to record: Mr. Bell waved out the rhythm and the students struck their first note, and a hush falls over the room. Forget the camera, forget the camcorder - the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up.

NOT ONE honk, NOT ONE "jump start", NO ONE out of tune. Just one sustained note that brought tears to my eyes. "Mix 'em up" is only a three note starter song - but what a statement it made. These kids have band ONE day a week for 45 minutes. The rest of their practice time is done at home. Prior to today, none of these schools had played together, and it is RARE that the kids play together as a full band at their own schools. To unify for music, and to do so in such a wonderfully talented way was remarkable. All of the songs that they played was a testament to the patience of the kids, their families and their teachers - these kids are all beginning band students. Talent abounded within this half hour concert...

We are proud of the blond one. She did great, blending her instrument with the others there to play. There were six girls out of sixteen saxophone players - and each section got a solo in the French folksong "Au Claire de la Lune". It was terrific. Now I am envisioning her on the field at half time for our high school band, playing concert after concert and living her dream of being a musician. How wonderful for her to find her niche! Great Job Melyssa!! We are proud of you!

Song selection for the evening:

Mix 'em Up

Three Note Samba

Hot Cross Buns

Jingle Bells

Good King Wenceslas

Dreydl, Dreydl

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

Shoo Fly

On the Bridge at Avignon

Bile Them Cabbage Down

Lightly Row

London Bridge

Stodola Pumpa

Frere Jaques

Camptown Races

Bugler's Dream (full page song)

Big Beat Boogie (full page song)

The Poet Within Us

I'd like to quote part of a letter that arrived here today...

"Dear Allyson,

Thank you for entering our Fall 2007 student Poetry contest. Congratulations! Your poem has been selected to be published in the fall 2007 hardbound anthology A Celebration of Young Poets. This is an honor, as most entries are not selected to be published..."

We are very proud of Allyson for being selected to appear in this publication, the format of which is similar to a coffee table book. She entered this contest as part of extra credit, imagine her surprise when she was selected! Her selected poem is an acrostic of Thanksgiving Feast. How utterly appropriate - as this is one of my favorite traditions, and she captured this wonderfully!

Meanwhile...here's an updated picture of Zaoli in her winter jacket. I'm not quite sure what she's doing with her tongue!

Evan update

Evan, as many of you know, is my high maintenance medical child. While he possesses many gifts...one of them is defiantly NOT a tolerance to environmental allergens!

Today, we had a check up with his allergist, a great guy named Dr. Brown. He takes the time to explain to Evan what allergies are, how they effect him and his asthma, and what he has to so because of it. In a nut shell, while explaining this to Evan, I saw the actual "list" and "severity" of allergens he was tested for. Yikes...

As it was explained to me, anything with a score of 2+ will give you allergy symptoms. Enjoy his list...I think you'll understand my surprise!

Cat = 4+
Dog= 4+
Horse=4+
Feathers Mix=4+
Althernaria (mold)=2+
Fusarium(fungus)=4+
Aspergillus Mix (mold)=4+
Helminthosporum=4+
Elm Tree=4+
Maple/Box Elder=4+
Oak Tree=4+
June Grass=4+
Timothy Grass=4+
Ragweed=2+
Kochia (Burning Bush)=3+
Mites=3+
Cockroach (eeewwww)=3+
Histamine=3+
Soy=3+
Wheat=3+


We will begin a new medication to replace his nebulizing twice a day (I'll let you know Chelle!)and - wonder of wonders...his Zyrtec is going to OTC later this month. While no price has been seen by me, we are hoping that it will be more affordable than his current $45/month tab (that IS the co-pay!).

Brandon - this one's for you!

OK Brandon, your Mom said that you really liked the pictures from the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) Chicago, so I'm posting more just for you! I'll try to have an explanation of each picture for you - the best that I can remember. If you click on the picture, it should make it bigger for you to see more detail. Enjoy!

Part of a control panel in a Mercury space capsule. Isn't it amazing how little our first astronauts were left in space with? I would have been more than a little scared!

One of the Mercury capsules. Look at how small it was compared to the boy walking along side it! They fit 3 grown men inside for hours while they orbited the earth!


Some history for you of Apollo 8, the Apollo spacecraft on display at MSI. A most interesting point for me - Jim Lovell was on this mission. Jim Lovell was also on the ill fated Apollo 13. What pioneering warriors these men were.

The Apollo 8 spacecraft. Amazing...

The following pictures were taken of MSI's model train exhibit. It shows Chicago and all of it's rail lines (the Metra and "L" trains are also exhibited in this), and the freight and Amtrack lines from Chicago to Seattle. The detail in this exhibit is awesome, and I posted my favorite of the pictures!

There are trains that run through the model, and the houses and businesses have flickering lights! I loved this 50's style diner!

The farmland actually has "fields" laid out. Again, the detail is awesome!!

Melyssa running through the molecule room. You have to try and hit 4 or 5 (I don't remember) "molecules" running through it once.

Allyson sitting in a jet turbine engine in the Take Flight exhibit. There is a Boeing 737 jet that was donated to the museum INSIDE the museum. They removed one wing, and some other portions to HANG it from the balcony. There are many activities inside the airplane - but I'm a little hesitant to actually get "on" the craft. Pretty cool all in all...

A replica of the Wright Brothers first flight...

Check out all the museum has to offer at www.msichicago.org! You would love it there!

New Year & New Puppy

On Thursday, we finally brought home our new puppy Zaoli (pronounced: zow LEE)! We were SO excited to add to the doggie family, as Gooti really needed a friend after Ares passed away. What better dog for Gooti than her sister?!? Good stuff, good stuff...

Zaoli MoMo spend her first day home with about half an hour of "on her feet" time (we were also doing "the sleep over extravaganza" that night, so three extra girls in the house!). Apparently, everyone in the house felt that she shouldn't walk!! On Friday, we discovered that not only can she walk, but she will probably be the alpha dog of the two, because this little boggie (bug-doggie) packs a punch! Gooti still isn't sure how to play with her - so it's a lot of Zaoli running after Gooti growling and yipping and Gooti backing up with a "What the hell?" look in her eyes! Talk about funny! We've been in stitches!

Gooti had hidden all of her "Greenie" bones (I thought she was eating them!!) - and has been digging them out to give to Zaoli. I woke up on Friday morning with four of them in my bed. Gooti is being a nurturing big sister in her own way.

Enjoy the pictures and captions. Allyson snapped all of these off. Aren't the girls cute?

Aww...Gooti looks after her little sister Zaoli.

Gooti sharing her favorite beef flavored rawhide bone with Zaoli.

"Uh oh...I think we dropped the bone...who's going to get it?"







WHO CAN RESIST THIS FACE?!?!?

awwww...little Zaoli MoMo...

Happy New Year!

2008. Holy Cow! I know that it is said that the years go by faster as you grow older - but I think I need to slow it down a little bit! Am I prepared for all that 2008 will bring? I'd like to think so...but then there is reality...

2007 was a crazy year. We had a lot of emotional transitions this year. Evan went to school all day, Allyson settled into middle-middle school, Manny saw just how fast high school was flying by. Melyssa discovered the joys and trials of the saxophone and Jillyan has had to adjust through a growth spurt that has left her a little clumsy. Elly has come into her personality fully. We said goodbye to our protector Ares, welcomed Gooti into the fold of beloved family members - and set goals as a family to attain within the coming 12 months.

This past year was a year for renewing friendships, gaining new friendships, making stronger connections within family and spending more family time together. I feel so blessed to have each and every one of my friends and family in my life. I am not who I am without you, can not be what I want to be without you - and I thank you all...

Sorry no artsy New Years photos...just a couple more from MSI. The top pic is the U-505 taken by Noel (he's the better photographer between the two of us!), the bottom picture is dedicated to Michelle - I took this with her in mind. It's a genetically engineered froggie that has green eyes. Sorry it's blurry Chelle, but I can't make little froggies hold still for a photo shoot and I couldn't use the flash :O)

Happy New Year every one!!