The Only Thing Worse Than Trying On Bathing Suits...

is trying on bathing suits when you're pregnant.

I think that if you're very, very bad, there's a lower ring of Hades where all you do is try on bathing suits in a poorly lit fitting room. You have to do really terrible things to end up there, though. Like rip the tag off your mattress or forget to rewind your videos before you return them.

May Showers

By special request...the first in a series of blogs about the wedding shower. It was great. People came from far and wide to give me (oh, and Ryan) presents. Who could argue with that? Some stuff is already put away or in use. Omissions are not intentional (I just got way too much cool stuff).

I didn't take a picture of the other gift from Tammy and Lindsay, a gift card to Coventina Day Spa. Maybe I'll have someone take a picture of my manicure. I do have a picture of the lilacs and the pretty vase they were in. You could smell them from 10 feet away. They were great, too.


Aunt Marsha and Olivia provided towels for the previously naked downstairs bathroom along with a very useful cloth bin that is now holding scarves and other such goodies. Ooh, and some nice sachet-type smelly (in a good way) things.

This is the slow cooker my mom got. It's supposed to have three inserts... a 2, 4, and 6 quart. Unfortunately, I'm a spazz and I dropped the big one and it shattered into a million pieces.

That's why it's fortuitous that we got a 6.5 quart programmable slow cooker.


Ha! Ha! I will process you. Ryan was excited when I let him use the little one! Just wait.


Thanks again to Aunt Julie and Emma, who (with a little help from Uncle Bob, I'm sure) have made mine the poster kitchen for KitchenAid products. I still can't explain the purpose of an immersion blender to Ryan. He just doesn't get it.



This fine griddle has already entertained guests with a fantastic breakfast of bacon, eggs, and the best French toast ever. Works great. Cleans up great.


Monkey peeler and nifty biodegradable type scrubbies among the basket of goodies from Aunt Judy. Ryan loves the monkey.




Karen (and Greg) provide some tunes and something less obnoxious than the alarm clock to wake up to. I even programmed NPR into the presets...that's love. If I could just get the remote to work from downstairs.

Possibly the most immediately useful gift. Ever. Ryan feels like he's been replaced. If he'd just stay in one spot like the pillow...



Katy pitched in from sunny CA with the oil bottle and plates to dip. I love olive oil on my bread.


Wendy knows that it is necessary to take your lunch to school. Now I can do it in style.



There are a few others that get their very own blogs for various reasons. Wait for it!

Ryan's Tail

For somebody who hates cats...he spends an awful lot of time doing really silly things to amuse them.

Blueberry Does Some Gardening

It's well established that I usually can't grow things. My mom jokes that she's able to kill plastic flowers, except she's not joking. I inherited that from her.

Cindy has a theory, though. That Blueberry is the gardener...gardening vicariously through me.

I swear the window is not that dirty on the inside. I just can't reach the outside.

The window doesn't look as bad here...

The basil is great. It's been bruschetta-ed a couple of times now. The parsley is finally growing up instead of sideways. That's a bonus.

This kid has skills.

Wedding Party

I stole the basis of this idea from Katy and Sean's fabulous website for their wedding...with a little twist (because we're a little twisted).

My matron of honor. This is us back in the glory days of football cheerleading. We were hot.

A lovely bridesmaid. I realized this is the only picture of Lindsay that I have. I think it has to do with us b oth being a little camera shy. Put us together and we're more elusive than the Loch Ness Monster.


Ooh! Another bridesmaid. Look how cute she was. What happened? Just kidding! Hey, it's almost time for you to wear the awful, nearly-pink, polyester robe. Good job, kid!


Ryan and his best man. Circa early 1980's. You were cute, too. Again, what happened? Behave yourself...I have other, much more incriminating, photos of you, sir!


Funny thing about this picture is Pat still looks like trouble ten years later. That's what I like about him.


I'm in search of a picture of Ryan and BT together in which Ryan is not dressd like a pimp and appears to be chugging a 40. If anybody has any good leads...you know, something really dorky from way back would be great...let me know!

Burnin' Down the House

Well, not the house, but the place I spend a lot of time.

My little wonders in 7th grade decided that the day the assistant superintendent came to observe me teaching would be a good day to set one of the stoves on fire. They broke my 5 year streak.

It was an accident, really. They were just measuring the oil a little too close to the stove that happened to be on. We've had a big talk (again) about kitchen safety and proper measuring techniques. They think it's cool that I know how to use a fire extinguisher.

I suppose it's not all bad. How many teachers get to prove that they can handle an emergency in front of administrators? Then again, how many people have things in their rooms that catch on fire easily? I get the most sympathy from the shop guys and the chemistry teachers!

They managed not to set anything ablaze today while they made their pizza dough. That might have something to do with the fact that they didn't turn on the stove, but I still think it counts.

45 Days

Well, there's now forty-five days until the wedding.

We have a DJ.

We have a referee...we're meeting her for dinner next week.

I have a dress (while this is true, I'm uncertain as to whether or not I'm going to be able to get it zipped around my even more ample than usual bustline...it's karma for making fun of maternity wedding gowns.).

We have a wedding party (half of whom also have dresses...Sean looks great in his! Just kidding...although that would make for a much more amusing evening.).

Ryan has tuxes squared away.

We're working on invitations and finishing up addresses. Ryan likes wedding registry sites. He's been cut off, actually. He needs to address some envelopes!

We're having a wedding shower.

I think we have bartenders...not that it matters to me anymore.

We looked at wedding bands. They're expensive, by the way.

We have cake and food. That's the part I'm excited for since I can't drink! Oh, and that thing about getting married to the greatest guy ever...that's pretty exciting, too!

We might actually make it.