a new addition

after a dinner out with the family, georgia, nana day and i left in one car and andrew and eric left in the other to meet at home. eric had mentioned the need of new running socks so, i sent him to a running store and expected to see him shortly after we arrived home. an hour passed and still no sign of the boys so i reached for the phone (it was close to bed time) and heard the garage door open. my sweet little andrew came in carrying a small box with holes along the sides. the thought of are you kidding me, what has eric done! immediately crossed my mind and i walked into the kitchen where andrew gingerly set the box down and gently opened the handles to show me the contents within. inside was a very small and very scared yellow bird. a canary, eric had bought andrew a canary! with my mind accepting this small pet, my thoughts wandered to the other small pets i have had. when i was 12 years old, my mom took me to this amazing pet store, filled with just birds! i remember there were birds in cages all along the walls, hanging from the ceiling and stacked in the middle of the small space. i studied all the birds and chose a small yellow canary for his song the store owner promised me. he became known as sunny and seriously brightened my world for quite some time. unfortunately i had to say goodbye to my little bird when we moved countries and i always had missed him. shortly after eric and i were married, i had told him about this story. after totally missing the boat on our first valentine's day as a married couple (as in forgot), he came into our small dingy student apartment holding a small box with holes on the side. this little friend came to be known as columbus and traveled all over the united states with us! he was with us for 7 years and died new years eve of 2006. we've missed our little bird, and andrew has asked for over a year now for another canary. both andrew and georgia have been completely taken by this new little addition to our family, andrew checks the water hourly and georgia just sits and watches the bird and if you move her or the bird, watch out! this bird is a singer and has taken no time at all to accept his new surroundings. he even won nana day's heart as he sang and sang all day long. and no, a canary's song is not too loud, not too high pitched and squawky, it is a beautiful song that repeats itself and sometimes picks up on the sounds the bird is surrounded by. i realized today how much i missed little columbus and how happy i am that my husband gave in to my son's pleadings and brought this little guy home. no, we haven't named him yet, we are waiting to get to know this little friend better to name him. but, we are open to suggestions, so if you have an idea, please leave a comment!

liar liar

not really the small box i was expecting
andrew and georgia being very helpful
the base with the gorgeous wood grain
the finished product


there have been very few times people i know have actually 100% surprised me. and it's really never my fault. i have been called the biggest snoop known to man but, in all honesty, i don't intend to snoop. i am just really great at noticing things other people might never see, like receipts, bags, a car that i recognize somewhere it shouldn't be, you name it, if it's out of place, i'll see it. with this disclaimer, let me share what my liar liar husband conjured up for me. here's how the big liar story starts: the x-box breaks (trust me, i couldn't have been more joyful) and eric proceeds to e-mail, call and wrangle with microsoft in order to replace the broken console with a new piece before the warranty expires. fine. so, he asks me what my plans for the next day were, i, of course, ask why and he gives me the whole song and dance how i needed to be home so i could sign for the delivery of his precious x-box package. fine again. i had lots to do around the house so i told him i would stay home except for the driving of andrew to and from school. so, the doorbell rings and i race to the door in anticipation of the expected x-box delivery.(well, not really) as i open the door, i was a little startled as the delivery man is empty handed and asks me where i want him to place the box. i said just right here and pointed to the inside of my house. i receive a blank stare. hmmm. the man lets me know the package may be a little larger than i was expecting. i told him it was just x-box stuff, how large could it be. another blank stare and a mam, maybe you should come look inside my truck, it's more of a crate than a box. what? how big could this x-box thing be? hmmm. as i peered into the truck, it finally donned on me that there was a large chance i was not dealing with anything from x-box and the delivery guy began to laugh. i asked him where he said the crate was from and he said that it was not from x-box. still somewhat confused i ripped the shipping label off the crate and immediately recognized the shipping name as my favorite classic modern furniture retailer. then, the lights came on, i realized eric had completely snowballed me and had bought, with andrew at his side, a piece of classic modern design i had studied and loved and dreamed about owning since design school. and even though i absolutely do not condone the whole lying to your wife, i suppose i could find it in my very spoiled heart to forgive him, and andrew too. oh, and andrew's response was classic, he was not one bit shocked and simply stated, "oh, that's the glass table you like that daddy and i bought for you the other day." nice, my son can even keep secrets from me! just to let you in on why i love this piece so much: besides being beautiful, it is one of the few furniture pieces designed by famed sculpture isamu noguchi. the base is a beautifully organic shaped sculpture of walnut while the free form glass top simply sits on the wood. it is the perfect balance of beauty and function and has been in demand since it's introduction in the 40's. it is simple and beautiful and looks fabulous in my front room. (if i do say so myself!) so, if you happen to be around, come over and take a look!

happy mother's day

growing up, i always wanted to be a mom. wow, i have been so blessed.

mother's day

some things that made my day today the best ever!

future artist

andrew's painting
grandpa's painting
last week, andrew was given carte blanche in nana day's art studio. he loved playing with the paints and loved the freedom from direction. he has art classes at school but, they are guided in order to teach them shapes and how by shape placement, you can draw anything. i thought his colors and brush strokes were beautiful. i love how free and wild everything turned out. this morning i walked down stairs and realized he may have been influenced by his grandpa's painting hanging in our living room. so with influences from both sides of his familly, i think andrew may have a budding artist in him after all.

x-box widow?

for those of you who have husbands that enjoy visiting the 12 year old inside of them by playing video games more than once a week, you will completely understand this post, and why i had so much fun writing it.

i just found this picture, it is so fitting, paris, one of the most romantic places on earth with a big x-box sign next to it. very nice! just how i would imagine a man would think of a fabulous vacation, a beautiful city and his x-box! just kidding! even though i am truly not and x-box widow, sometimes, i prefer to play the martyr. (i'll admit i like to complain about it) i feel it creates a support group of sorts. (he, he!) so, how do you know if you're a true x-box widow? hmm, let me count the ways...

16. your sis in law asks to have the husband not call her husband more than once a week and you ask for the same courtesy

15. there are certain numbers and messages you don't tell the husband about that show up on the caller id (can't figure out how to block them on the cell phone though)

14. when you're out of town you know to call home before the husband leaves work, and, in case that doesn't happen, you know the conversation will be held to a minimum with the greatest response from the husband being an uh, huh every so often

13. you seriously think about bribing your friend's husband to kidnap the husband, drag him to a bike store and spend a small fortune just to get the husband a new hobby (ok, it really is the husband's goal to get into biking not mine)

12. you, all of the sudden, have long lost friends and family members across the country, translation: there is always someone the husband knows online - any time of day

11. you no longer feel the need to ask anything about any game

10. you are shooed from the room because you are distracting and getting the husband killed on cod4

9. you actually know what cod4 is, even without one question

8. your 5 year old son refers to friends and family by their gamer tags

7. you actually know what a gamer tag is

6. the reason for the very expensive very large tv is that it was rated very high for gaming purposes

5. your travel plans are not made until the husband has figured out if there is enough time to play upon arriving home and upon travelling, the husband receives many calls asking the estimated time of arrival

4. it appears the husband talks more with the "boys" than he does with you

3. you have actually thought about joining the game because you for sure can't beat it

2. you are not offended and not surprised when a family member starts referring to the game box as sex-box

1. and, here's my favorite, the husband buys a very nice tv for the room you have been banned to because he feels the guilt of knowing you're watching the same tv you got for your wedding almost 9 years ago. aka before hd.

now, here is my disclaimer: this post was made in fun, i do love my husband, and he does put the kids and i first. he is a very attentive father and husband, and i really couldn't ask to share my life with a better person. i just came across this picture and it got me thinking! very funny! and just for the record, i will admit to buying him the x-box live package! love ya babe! (referencing the office babe)

i am a survivor

waiting at the finish line
i'm the runner in pink and black - trying not to die!
natalie, me and adam we finished!

a week ago today i was a nervous twit. i was so anxious about the half marathon i was about run, i had a hard time thinking of anything else. well, i ran 13.1 miles on saturday and not since child birth have i been so involved mentally, emotionally and physically in a cause. i do believe i was a little too consumed by it but, it was something new and very foreign to me. it has been an amazing journey and i'm still in shock when i think about what my body and mind just accomplished. i could say my half marathon was awesome, no problem and that i loved every minute of it but, i'd be a big fat liar! i came into the race expecting to be tired towards the end, to want to quit sometime along the way but, i didn't expect to hit two major mental blocks on top of that! i'm proud of finishing what i set out to do and even though i finished about the same time as the man who came in 4th place for the marathon, i never stopped and the only time i even slowed up was to drink, considering my first attempt at hydration left me coughing and giggling for the next mile. i was lucky enough to meet up with some friends, and towards the end, it was following their lead and picturing my family at the finish line that kept me going. the scenery was amazing, we started at the base of the mountains and ran by three parks, residential areas and had quite a view across the valley. it was a beautiful, cool morning and the adrenaline of running with thousands of people was quite exhilarating. so, overall, i would have to admit i did enjoy myself and the second i crossed the finish line eric and my sister in law already had plans to have me run another race with them in august. i still am amazed at what can be accomplished when you put your mind to it. i feel like this race taught me so much more than just about running. hopefully, i will carry what i learned into my spiritual life. that it's not about cramming the night before, that it takes a lot of hard work and some sacrifice (sleeping in) to reach any goal. so, even though i missed the 2 hour mark, i only came in 5 minutes after my goal of 2:15, at 2:20. hooray!