Hey You Guys!!!!

Can you believe that this month in 1985 The Goonies hit the big screen?! One of my all time favorites hands down. And luckily enough even Jaime and Joe like it too. The torch has been passed!

Check out a great article from The Washington Post on a weekend in Astoria, OR celebrating the film!

Funny enough? I have been to Astoria myself. In fall of 2005 I was in Portland for a conference. My friend Serena and I made a trek along the coast and ended up in Asotria. But it didn't really hit me where I was until we were up in the Asotria Column (and yes I walked up all 164 steps to see such an amazing view!). And then I was floored. And had a great blueberry beer at a local resturant (which if my memory serves me correct is Wet Dog Cafe). And the beach was amazing! Unlike any beach I had been on before. I went before I had a digital camera, so I have to drum up my old photos and negatives and see about getting them transfered. While we had sun/blue skies, three days later a friend went on the a conference sponsered tour, and it was cold, wet, and cloudy. We were so lucky!

Hit the road Claude!

16 months ago I received a call that my sister Molly was being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in Williamsburg, VA, with a blood clot in her leg which had traveled to her lungs, it was a pulmonary embolism. A blood clot. ICU. It was pretty scary. James and I hit the road at 2300 hours that night and made it to Chesapeake in the wee hours of the morning. After picking up my other sister Nancy, we made our way up to Williamsburg and spent the next four days in the ICU with Molly and my family. We didn't leave Williamsburg until they released her from ICU. She was only 35 years old.

Since January 2009 Molly has had to change almost everything in her life; from eating habits to how she travels. Because she was put on coumadin, a blood thinner, she has been in a doctors office almost every week for blood tests. She named her clot, Claude, and feels that it would have been less expensive to have a baby than a blood clot.

Here are the facts: a blood clot is medically known as deep vein thrombosis. It can lead to death. Learn about this condition and learn how to prevent it. I use travel socks when traveling by car, train, or airplane. If you don't own a pair, buy a pair.

Last Thursday she recevied the greatest news: Claude was gone!!! No more coumadin!!!! It was finally over!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Such fabulous news! I had to share! But more importantly to share knowledge about DVT and how it can be prevented.

By popular demand

     Since Kate is out of town and it has been pointed out that I need to "get on the ball", I've decided to do a post of my own.  This will most likely be short, but hopefully it will apease my critic.

     While Kate covered most of what has been going on in the last post, but she did leave out a little bit of information.  For starters, as most of you know I've been back in the states and here in Virginia for nearly three years.  This is a bit long for me to spend in one place, and according to the Army it is almost time for me to move on.  So, this January, right after the holidays, I will be moving to Fort Huachuca, Arizona.  The Army has decided that my "talents" can be put to better use in TRADOC (Training and Doctirine Command).  At this point, I don't know if I will be working as an instructor or as a Platoon Sergeant.  Basically either way I will be most likely dealing with a bunch of whiny trainees, the ranks of which will vary depending on my duties.  If anyone finds this the least bit confusing, you're in the same boat as me.  While this is the earliest I have ever been notified of a pending assignment, I have absolutely no clue what I will be doing.  Kate will unfortunately not be joining me for at least a year, so I will be spending my free time talking to Lulu and Ben and Roosie.  I may or may not actually be sane when Kate joins me in 2012.

     As for a previously covered topic, my table is finished and if I may say so myself, it is nearly perfect! So, hopefully this passes muster with a certain redhead and alos informs some of you a bit as to what's going on with me.

Has it been a month? Update time!

Has it really been a month since I last posted?! I've got to get better about this. Here are the updates bullet point style:

• Dara and I took a trip to the Big Easy mid April to celebrate her birthday. It was the first time for both of us in New Orleans. And we loved it! Such a great city. You can skip Bourbon Street (even worse than Duval Street in Key West, FL) and still have a great time. I have posted my photos here if you want to take a look. I am still working on adding captions and locations. Dara and I want to go back and accomplish and see all the things we were unable to see this past trip. It will be another fun filled weekend I'm sure. Hightlights were Coop's Place on Decater, Cuvee on Magazine, Mardi Gras World, St. Louis Cemetery #1, and seeing the mighty Mississippi River.
• My mom came up for a visit the first weekend in May.
• I got a wicked head cold/sinus infection that I have been battling since April 27th. I think I am finally on the mend.
• I went to New York City for work on April 29th. The meeting was really bad but I got to see Mary Kate (sans family) and she let me drink my way back to Penn Station. It was fabulous.
• James' command had a picnic on May 7th and James came in first place in the fishing competition under the catfish category! Go James!
• We traded in the Escape for a Ford Freestyle I have named Lola (the Land Yacht). She's my "mom car" and I love her. Leather seats, dual climate control, third row seating, I could go on and on about how cool she is. But I won't....we all love it, expect Lulu is still getting used to it.
• Our garden is planted and bulbs are in the ground. And we already have a squash growing!!!! I need to buy some new plants as ones I planted have died off for some reason. I think it is the liner of the basket.
• I have begun Operation Green Light at Dara's. Her birthday present this year was a "green" present. My manual labor to clean, organize, and plant the flowerbeds in her front lawn. She's a trooper but is very thankful for my labor. I need to take some photos to chronicle that journey.
• Joseph celebrated his 11th birthday on Saturday! We all went to see Iron Man 2 and ate dinner at Red, Hot, and Blue which is one of Joe's favorite resturants. We bought him pads and a helmet for his skateboarding adventures.
• I celebrated my birthday this week too. I don't mind my birthday, I just don't like celebrating it. But at the last minute I decided I wanted to go hit golf balls at Top Golf and drink beer. Many couldn't make it due to the last minute invite, but I had a good time none-the-less!

Okay, sorry for dropping off the blog for a month. I will try and do better. I swear!

Spring has sprung!

Alot has gone on since the last time I posted. So I will update you all in one post.

As many of you know James and I have this on going battle, it's really a skirmish, about his hair. He wants it. I don’t. I fell in love with a bald man and I want to stay married to a bald man! So our compromise is that from April 1st to September 30th he is bald. And October 1st to March 31st he has hair. I would have a photo if I had been home the morning of the 1st when he shaved it. Alas. But most of you know what he looks like without hair anyway!

I went and saw the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin on Friday, April 2nd. They had peaked on Wednesday, March 31st. The cherry blossoms are a pretty big deal in the Washington, DC, area. They don’t last very long and when they are in bloom all is right with the world. Check out the rest of the photos here.

James took a short trip up north to say goodbye to our friend Ryan. He has taken a position with a NGO to spend a year in Afghanistan. It will be just as if he were here in the states since he is never far from his facebook page! We wish him the best of luck and will send many care packages. You can see the limited photos James took here.

From April 1, 2010 until April 6, 2010 we lived without a refrigerator. On March 28th we awoke and heard a very strange noise coming from downstairs. It turned out it was the fridge. That night I timed the noise which would run anywhere from 17 to 21 minutes and then would be silent for 13 minutes. It wasn’t until the 7th before a contractor from the home warranty folks arrived to inform us that the compressor was failing. Really? How could you tell? Then another contractor was sent out to confirm what the first guy said. Really? I couldn’t take the noise anymore or the threat of my refrigerator catching on fire, so I bought ice and filled the coolers with as much as I could and recycled and tossed a lot. Molly and Chris were kind enough to offer their freezer for our meat. Wasn’t about to lose that! It wasn’t until Monday, April 5th, that the home warranty folks finally gave us an answer as to what our options were. To make a long story short (too late) I took myself to Lowe’s that night and bought a new fridge. It was delivered the next day and that night I had all my food back where it should be. Long live the bottom mount fridge!

My college roommate Jess delivered a healthy baby boy named William on April 8, 2010. Congrats Jess and Nick!

Jaime decided it was time for a haircut this past weekend. He looks fantastic! And I wish I had taken a photo. But more will come soon since we have the boys for the summer. Yay!

And finally, James was pretty industrious yesterday and built us a new tabletop for our table frame. We lost the original one in 2008 due to a freak storm. Instead of buying a brand new set he built a top. This past winter it took a beating as we didn’t cover it and we couldn’t use it anymore. He is pretty handy when he needs to be.

I'll post the finished product later this week. He still has to stain it.