December 31, 2005
I saw this on Laura’s blog and thought it would be fun to do.
January
We went on a family trip to North Carolina to see snow with our good friends and their son. Our timing paid off, and not only did we see snow, we got to ski and go tubing. And not only did the kids all get along, but the adults did too - yay! We had a kick-ass Superbowl Party where everyone ended up taking the Purity Test online. Much hilarity ensued. It’s always fun to find out who’s paid for sex and who has been arrested!
February
We went with the same couple to see Duran Duran. Jim surprised me for Valentine’s Day with a new pasta set and ruby jewelry. We used our Disney passes to surprise the kids with a weekend trip to the Mouse. We celebrated a year of having Lola Puppy Cups as our little girl.
March
We bought new living room furniture after 9 years of using hand me down crizap. My office moved to a new location only 7 miles farther, but the commute started taking at least another 20 minutes - thus ensued more working from home. I did not get drunk on St. Patrick’s Day.
April
I went to Utah for Kim’s daughters wedding, thereby scratching another state off my list to visit. I helped plan a huge 40th surprise birthday party for my sister. My husband and I celebrated 9 years of marriage. My grandfather died.
May
I took off for New Jersey for my grandpa’s funeral. We went to Star Wars weekend at MGM. I got Gracie to stop sucking her thumb. Matthew turned 6.
June
We went away for a beach weekend for Father’s Day. Hurricane season messed with us. Red tide also messed with us. Jim and my mom took the kids to NJ and I enjoyed a week home alone. Leslie stopped by on her way to Key West to visit us.
July
I turned 29. My husband surprised me with a night out with friends - dinner and dancing and music 
Matthew started golf lessons. We started seriously looking at new homes.
August
Gracie turned 8. School started, and the kids left their Catholic school to attend the public school near our house. We joined the YMCA. Jim went to Vegas without me. Our lab turned 9 years old.
September
We found a builder we liked and signed a contract to build a new home, and my mom decided to build right next to us. We went on an adults only cruise with my sisters, BIL, nephew, friends Shane & Shannon, and Sindy and her husband to the Bahamas. I went to Colorado for Laura’s wedding.
October
We started showing our home and enjoyed what would be our last Halloween at that house. We got an offer on our house. I decided to do the Breast Cancer 3 day walk.
November
Jim had his 36th birthday. We moved into a rental home. We took a family cruise to Mexico, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. Jim and I saw Bruce Springsteen in concert for the 2nd time.
December
We had our last Christmas Eve in my moms house. 
Christmas Eve was also the 12th anniversary of my first date with Jim. Catherine turned 10!
See ya on the flip side!
7:42 pm
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Tonight will be a semi-quiet NYE for us. Our best friends, Shane and Shannon, are coming over, and the children are going to their grandmothers. Yay!
I’m off to Publix in search of screw top wine (love that Arbor Mist), some Barcardi Razz, a shrimp ring, the elusive pumpernickel loaf for my spinach dip, and some frozen horses-doovers. We’re going to crack open my new Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture edition and Scene It TV edition too. Man…don’t we sound like some boring old farts? We were invited to join friends in Ybor City, but I think my days of camping out half drunk on someone’s floor or couch are LONG behind me. I just want to start 2006 in my own bed!
4:29 pm
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December 30, 2005
Why do all my postings show a time of twelve minutes past the hour? What’s up with that??
10:14 pm
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I’m so ready for Christmas to be over. We made a big mistake this year in putting the tree up so early, because I’m completely sick of it now. I’m ready for the presents to go away, the tree to be put out to the curb, for all the decorations to be packed up again - whatever it takes to return my house back to normal. (As normal as it can be since we’re only here temporarily.)
I’m just not motivated to DO IT! I feel like a complete slug. I’m watching House Hunters, Moving Up, Property Ladder, and Flip This House on DVR and ignoring my own domicile completely.
10:13 pm
Filed under Daily Happenings, Home Sweet Home
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Is there anything more irritating by missing a deadline by a few minutes? Today I spent some time wrapping up 2 big boxes to mail to a friend. Then loaded them into the truck. And then finally headed out to the post office, thinking the counter would be open til 5pm. We got there at 4:38, only to find out they shut down the service counter at 4:30 sharp daily. And of course, the boxes are WAY too big for me to use the self service kiosk.
On top of it, I had to mail a deposit to my credit union and invites for Catherine’s party. They HAD to go out today. I didn’t have change for the stamp machine, so I attempted to use the kiosk to print out the stamps. Nope - it had to be a minimum of 50 cents per item I was mailing in order to do that. To get the three stamps I needed, I had to buy a whole book of stamps from the kiosk. What are the chances I’ll use the rest of those by Monday when the price of postage goes up?
How come the price of stamps keeps going up, but the level of service keeps going down?
6:20 pm
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My new bed has arrived! It only took Jim and I an hour to put the darn thing together :eyeroll:
Anyway, it’s VERY purty and I love it!
The mattress is a wee bit higher now so the little dog is needing to get a running start to make it up onto the bed. I think we need to find some little doggie steps for her so she doesn’t get hurt!
2:14 pm
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December 29, 2005
Last weekend, we took Matthew on a very special outing. When Jim and Matthew attended the hockey game, there was an announcement that Vinnie Lecavalier (the center for the Tampa Bay Lightning) and Brad Richards (another center for the Lightning) would be at a local bookstore to sign copies of a new book about the team. The three of us piled in the car and went off.
We were waiting outside when the guys pulled up. Brad drives a black Mercedes, and Vinnie drives a black Hummer. We were literally 3 feet away from them as they entered the store. We had to buy the book of course, to get it signed by the players. Unfortunately, they weren’t signing anything BUT the book…Jim was hoping to get his Stanley Cup game ticket stubbed signed by the guys. He already has The Bulin Wall’s autograph on it from meeting him in Publix.
Anyway…after a 40 minute wait in line, it was our turn. Vinnie was quiet and didn’t say much, but we got to chat up Brad for a few minutes. Matthew was wearing his hockey jersey and hat, and so was Jim. Brad really impressed me by being such a nice guy! He asked Matthew if he’d been to any games and they talked for a bit about that - Matthew told Brad the high (nosebleed) seats scared him. Brad said the seats down low were scary too, especially when the players hit the glass. He said “You’ll spill your pop!” Ha…what a Canadian!
It really made Matthew’s day. Mine too - Brad’s pretty easy on the eyes! See for yourself here…pictures in the extended entry! Read the rest of this entry »
4:22 pm
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December 28, 2005
I was right. My poor girl has a raging bladder infection. At least there’s a reason for the accidents and not something that we can’t fix! She’s on some meds now and hopefully that’s the last of steam cleaning the carpets!
10:53 pm
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I’ve got to take our 9 year old lab into the vet’s office today. She’s completely housetrained, but after going out this morning just squatted on the carpet in the boys room and peed - in front of both of us! She did the same thing in the girls room yesterday. I’m thinking she’s got a UTI…? Hope it’s something that easy - I’m tempted to go buy the Bissell SpotBot today to clean these spots up!
2:11 pm
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December 27, 2005
10 years ago, at this very moment, I was enjoying my newborn daughter.
It was a rough pregnancy. I had morning sickness for 5 months. When I started feeling better, I found out I had gestational diabetes. On December 27th, my due date, we went for our weekly OB appointment. I asked to be induced, and she agreed! (Due to the diabetes, they were concerned about the weight of the baby) I began pitocin at 12 noon, and by 3pm was feeling the pain. I got my epidural, and the nurses left me alone for a while to progress.
Meanwhile, my mom and Jim ordered pizza, and boy did it smell good. However, I wasn’t allowed to have any, since I had just thrown up my clear liquid lunch. I asked the nurse to check me around 7:30 to see if I was dialated any further since the last check, when I had been at 5 cm. Surprise, surprise, there was a little head - I hadn’t felt a thing.
Suddenly the room was full of people, and I began to push. Three pushes later and we had a baby. Jim’s mom saw the cord from across the room and announced, “It’s a boy!” Jim said “It’s a girl!” I turned to the doctor, and said “What the heck is it?” She told me I had an 8 lb 3 oz baby girl, measuring 20 inches long.
Now that baby girl is a 4th grader, an A+ student, and an amazing little girl to be with! I love you Catherine!
11:32 pm
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