This afternoon, we had a "you're ONE!" birthday party for Fiona at Bertucci's in Herndon. Nearly 30 people came, and it was a great way to celebrate Fiona's one-year mark - we thank everyone for coming!
The party wasn't too "baby-focused." Food, drinks, a few balloons, cake, and a "pin the food into the Very Hungry Caterpillar's mouth" game. I brought some noisemakers and a HUGE bag of pipe cleaners, placing some on every table. In hindsight, I should have hosted a pipe cleaner building contest, because people went crazy with them. Craig, especially. He is a master pipe cleaner artist (who knew?!?).
When you look at the cake picture, notice the fingers creeping in from below... many thanks to Aunt Donna for feeding the birthday girl! Fiona was thrilled!
The picture of Fi in the white chair was taken back at home, as she worked off her sugar high. She crashed HARD!
Thank you to Nana, for providing this insanely adorable shirt (there was one for Fiona, too, but we couldn't snap a cute picture of the two of them). Also thanks to everyone who sent the girls a valentine, including Aunt Lizzie, Grandma, Nana, and Aunt Toni (who made Rory the cutest red-and-heart bracelet ever!).
The girls love all of you, too!
And a happy Valentine's Day to you!
This morning, I went to the dentist and had my new, permanent crown (right rear molar) glued in. Bye bye to the temp, which I was afraid I'd shatter (again, for the third time).
So why the title of this post? Well, my new tooth is gold. Gold as in pimp or rapper. If only it was a front tooth! I have a little bling going on in my mouth now! It is very different sensation than a porcelain tooth. It is... kinda slippery. And it's shiny. Luckily, you can't see it when I smile.
Notice that I didn't post a picture of it. No one needs to see THAT!
Today, Fiona turns one year old (officially not until 8:05 pm, but whatev!). What a year it has been! She is a fun, silly, wonderful baby, and we love her to bits. She is on the cusp of walking, loves hurling toys around the house, and is addicted to books. She has a doctor's appointment this afternoon, and I will post her one-year stats after that.
This picture shows what we see every morning, when we open her bedroom door to greet her. She pretty much looks like this all day - -she is one happy baby!
Today was Virginia's Presidential primary day. The girls accompanied us, and as this was Fiona's first participation in the election process (Rory's third), we took a picture of her with "I Voted!" stickers. She will certainly hate us for these pics one day!
Maybe we should have stuck them to her face. That would have made them really stand out! Hah. =)
So Miss Fiona and I could not have picked a better weekend to visit my mom and Roger in Sedona. He is slowly (yet quickly) going about the process of leaving us, and nothing could have made my mother (and possibly Rog) happier than having us visit. Baby therapy at its finest. You can't deny the circle of life when you experience both ends firsthand in your own home.
Roger decided last Wednesday (2/6) that he didn't want to eat any more, which basically meant that he had accepted his impending death and didn't want to bother with food. He had only been eating pureed veggies and fruit, as it was, but was (and is) still drinking water. He isn't taking any medication for pain because he isn't IN any pain. He is tired, and slept most of the time we were there (Friday through Sunday). We had a few short conversations (he told me to vote for Obama), and he was amazingly lucid and kind, considering his situation. A few people came to visit, and when he noticed them (at that point, he was only awake for maybe ten minutes a day) he greeted them.
It was very hard to leave on Sunday, knowing we will never see Roger alive again. He is such a great, smart, funny, friendly person, and he will certainly be missed.
Tomorrow am, Miss Fiona and I fly off to Arizona to visit my mom and Roger, as well as Aunt Lizzie. We are flying first class all the way (love those free miles), and return home on Monday. We are spending the weekend in Sedona with my mom and Rog, and we are glad to be visiting. Roger has been battling colon cancer for a few months now, and we haven't seen him since he undertook this fight. I am sure that, after spending all this time taking care of Rog, my mother will be happy to get her hands on her squishy grandbaby.
I will post an update later about how Fiona was on the plane. Cross your fingers! =>
Really, there isn't much I can say that hasn't already been said on every sports-related Website known to man. The bottom line is that the rest of the season has been made irrelevant by the loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl. That's about it.
Thank heavens for the distraction of hockey. And baseball spring training starts soon!
The Washington Capitals left winger scored four goals and an assist in the Caps OT victory over the visiting Montreal Canadiens last night. I was one of lucky people in attendance who got to watch AO sustain a broken nose, get stitches in his cheek (inside), and suffer a bloody lip - all while racking up the points.
AO now leads the NHL in goals, points, power play goals, and shots. He is 21st in the league in plus-minus, 5th among forwards in hits, and 9th in take-aways. Talk about earning his salary! And the NHL just named him the #1 star for January, 2008.
We are so lucky to have this guy on our team. Sigh. All the years of suckage are finally paying off.
We have been getting a prolific amount of spam at work recently. I don't know who beat our spam filters to death, but I'll bet Sybase (parent company) has something to do with it.
Anyway, everyone here at Sybase 365 (subsidiary) has been getting oodles of spam. I am talking 200-a-day oodles. More spam than work email.
Typically, as you know, spam is meant to be alluring to its recipient with the hope that a stupid person will click through and buy something (bigger boobs, more active sex life, you name it). I don't know a single living human who has ever acted upon a spam message, but someone *somewhere* must be doing it, or the fools who send spam wouldn't send so darn much of it.
Following are my five favorite spam Subject lines from last week. Keep in mind, again, that these titles are meant to tantalize you into clicking.
1. They plump when you take 'em
2. The quicker pecker upper
(and here is where it all falls apart)
3. Wheelchair necklace
4. Table Staircase Apple Torpedo
(and my favorite)
5. Kitchen Milk Fungus Clown
This afternoon, we had a "you're ONE!" birthday party for Fiona at Bertucci's in Herndon. Nearly 30 people came, and it was a great way to celebrate Fiona's one-year mark - we thank everyone for coming!
