OMG

So, my 40th birthday came and went with a blown tire, a rapid pickup of the children and a broken air conditioner. Oh well, that’s life.  **shrugs**   The next day I shifted focus to Girl 2’s 4th birthday party in 9 days and another mini- vacation with all the extended family and all the hostessing that includes. Somewhere in that time frame dr soc had a nose job (okay, it was sinus surgery. But calling it a nose job is better for teasing because I love him), we set up a new big girl bed for girl 2, and somehow had to clean the house for all the company coming in because omg there are going to be 11 people in my house at the same time. 

Friday before the party I text dr soc with the last minute party/grocery shopping and come home to a clean house too. God I love that man. But something was slightly off. No one was downstairs like usual when I come home from work, and the sofa tables are cleaned off with the exception of a purse I didn’t recognize.

me: I’m home! Hey who’s here?
dr soc: What do you mean?

me: Whose purse is this? (I’m not too concerned, and if even if it was his mistress if she cleans my house she can stay)

dr soc: - realizes the jig is up - Oh. As for who’s here…

My bestest buddie from when we were 11 and lives in Portland and haven’t seen in 6 years runs down the stairs.

MY BESTEST BUDDIE FROM WHEN WE WERE 11 AND LIVES IN PORTLAND AND HAVEN'T SEEN IN 6 YEARS RUNS DOWN THE STAIRS.

OMFG.

I’m in shock to say the least. I'm in disbelief and hugging her so tight because all the feels! I mean now I have to figure out dinner but that’s okay because omg my bestest buddie who I haven’t seen in 6 years has flown across the country to surprise me for my/our 40th birthday! 

But wait, there’s more! Dr soc has ordered food for tonight too so I don’t need to worry about dinner either. And speak of the devil, the doorbell rings. I open the door and it's sorta food but not really because  

It’s 4 of my best friends from college who live in 4 different parts of the country and haven’t seen in at least 2 years because of the pandemic standing on my front porch (to take me out for dinner).

IT’S 4 OF MY BEST FRIENDS FROM COLLEGE WHO LIVE IN 4 DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY AND HAVENT SEEN IN AT LEAST 2 YEARS BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC STANDING ON MY FRONT PORCH (TO TAKE ME TO DINNER).

Well now I'm crying tears of joy, my friends are crying tears of joy too and dr soc is welling up as well because he arranged for all of them to surprise me for my birthday on this particular weekend. That night we went out for Mexican food with margaritas college style but better because we're all 40 now and have disposable income.

And Saturday they came to girl 2's birthday party and then we had a night on the town. I had a girls' weekend and it was the absolute best.  

clockwise from bottom left: Jeanne - Cleveland, me -Charlotte, Priya -Portland, Nancy - NYC, Michele - DC/Maryland and LB - Orlando

SO MANY MILES 

Some of my favorite ladies

And my shoe exploded. It didn't just break, it exploded and ceased to function

Funtimes is an understatement. Amazing isn't a strong enough word to describe my friends. I was completely surprised and overwhelmed at how much I am loved.  A huge thank you to dr soc for making it happen, and another billion thank yous to my best friends for all the miles traveled!    

Happy Birthday Little Lion!

Little Lion is officially 2! I say officially because as soon as this girl could walk she has been running me ragged and been the a quintessential toddler. She is also:

my little climber 

SO proud of herself

My little artist

Have writing utensil - will draw on anything

Rock star

Baby Shark doo doo doo doo 

Big sister adoring

Yeah, she needs the leash

Yogurt loving

(and bath) 

And ice cream adoring

ALL OF IT IN MY MOUTH

Smiling 

Extroverted 

so outgoing

Party girl* 

The most precious, snugly, strong willed, vocal (when frustrated she releases these banshee cries until someone relents and she gets what she wants), most kissable

absolutely most darling little one our family could have

Happy birthday sweetheart! 

*She slams her juice cup down with the enthusiasm of a college kid at a frat party. Speaking of frat parties she wriggles all her sleeveless shirts into togas. Her 21st birthday is on a Saturday (yup I checked). And my personal favorite, before we legit* baby proofed the kitchen, she reached into the party* cabinet and gleefully pulled out a full bottle of wine! 

*put childproof locks on. Previously we had hair ties wrapped around some cabinets because big sister didn't really get into things and also had 2 sets of eyes on her. This one not so much.

*booze, serving platters, fondue pot, punch bowl...aka: party 

10 years later

So. In 2008, that is 10, yes, 10 years ago, I started this blog with 100 things about me. 
Some things in that 100 haven't changed. Such as: 

• My favorite color is pink.
• I talk all the time unless I am exhausted or mad as hell.
• I do whatever Jeanne tells me (PS: buy her yarn!)
• I'm allergic to cats (including that mother f*cking one)
• Text talk is one of my biggest pet peeves.

Some things are in the past and therefore cannot change. Such as: 

• My appendix ruptured and had to be removed when I was 6.
• I had my belly button pierced until I was 21 when a drunk wrestling match went horribly, horribly wrong. 

Some parts of things have changed. Like: 

• In 2008: I know so much random pop culture stuff, but not as much as my friend LB. 
• In 2018: I know practically nothing pop culture unless I heard it on NPR. LB still knows more than me though so I have her explain things. Or have my (much) younger coworkers explain things to me (occasionally I get to tell them stories of my youth).  
• In 2008: I don't judge my friends. But everyone else is fair game. 
• In 2018: I don't cast my judgement net as broadly. I realized for the most part no one really knows anyone's story. So when I do judge it's typically warranted or I'm just being a bit (or lot) of an asshole.

And some things are just not the same at all. Like: 

• My dad was alive in 2008. He was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2010 and up until he passed away in 2015 it changed so much. It changed my parent/child relationship with both my parents. It lead to some serious crisis's. I found courage I didn't know I had. The fights my mom and I got into. He died right before father's day and while I was pregnant with little turkey I'll never forget being there when he died, and how it it was one of the saddest and strongest moments of my life. I miss him so much and always will. 
• But the biggest most changing thing that has happened in 10 years is that I married the love of my life in 2012 and we have two children! 
• Because when I started this blog I had just broken an engagement. It HURT for a long time. It was hard. I grieved over my could have been, I vented. I cried. I was angry. I wished a lot. I wondered. I doubted. 
• BUT! Ultimately, many, many, much more wonderful things were a result of that broken engagement. Like having an epiphany. Discovering what I truly wanted in a a husband. I celebrated things. And came up with multiple, (often time) hilarious, random lists. So the day came and went and life moved on. 
• And life got better. I met dr.soc and we clicked pretty quick. He had 19 out of  21 of my husband checklist. I was so happy engaged to him and swirling around in the bubble of tulle. Sometimes I'm a great wife and other times not so much. Our marriage isn't perfect (no one's is) and there were tough times I didn't talk about here. But our marriage is good, it's strong, our anniversaries keep coming and I know I wouldn't love him the way I do if I hadn't given back that other ring.  
• AND, dr soc and I created our own family! Which changed everything. Parenting will probably be what this blog will be about more often than not. Sometimes I'm a great mommy and have instagram to prove it. Other times I'm bad mommy and phone it in. It's all about finding the balance. But now my future think is beyond my own lifetime. I'm willing to fight for things, to voice my opinion, and try to make the world a better place now for my girls. Motherhood is hard and very challenging at times, but it's also one of the most fulfilling and wonderful things in my life.  

So. Ten years later, here I am! I hope my life is just as happy in another 10 years. Thanks for reading y'all!  

Signed, Seeled, Delivered

SHE'S BORN!!!
My baby girl was born healthy on November 24, 2015 at 3:27 am!!
Mike and I are thrilled to be parents and over the moon in love with our tiny little girl. Overall, we're dealing with little sleep, the most perfect baby and tons of well wishes. It was a fast labor (maybe one day I'll write more about it, while omitting many gross details), and I was able to get the epidural just in time. (OMG GET THE DRUGS, DRUGS FOR THE WIN)
And yes, we were surprised up until the very end. Especially me since I was thinking boy, but Mike was thinking girl and he was right. Which he may be a little smug about, but I don't mind. I'm a mommy! Mike's a daddy! And she's perfect. So much happiness.

novocaine

Last week out of the blue I had a monster toothache flare up. I really was in agony, the throbbing got so intense that I was on the brink of tears at time. At home I took a few anti-inflammatories and kept an icepack to my face to alleviate some of the pain, but my 7am dentist appointment the next morning couldn't come fast enough.

Thank god I was able to get an appointment though. I had tried to call them several times while at work and the call dropped and never connected every time. For a dentists' office that sends a snail-mail reminder, an email, a phone call and text message to remind you of an appointment, it was baffling not being able to call them. I decided to try their appointment request online, and about an hour later they emailed me back with a 7am or noon appointment. (Turns out their phones were down that day for some reason, but it was so frustrating to not be able to call them the one time i really really needed to see them.)

Anyway, 7am arrives and I am in the dentist chair, miserable and still holding the icepack to my face. The dentist figured the pain could be from one thing or another. Either the nerve was infected and created and abscess that would require a root canal specialist, or the nerve was just beat up from my bite and the whole area around the tooth was bruised. But to even figure it out they would have to do a bite adjustment. If the pain increased I needed the specialist, if it decreased I had the bruise. Before they started the bite adjustment though, my dentist said I probably couldn't take all the work they would have to so they were going to give me some Novocaine to help then get to work.

My reaction to the Novocaine? "Yay!" Apparently, that is not a normal response.

PS: I had the bruise. Yay again!

Take Out Part 2

Back in July we gave our kitchen a facelift by changing the counter top color and putting in a tile back splash. I posted pictures of my "new" kitchen here, but we knew we weren't done quite yet.
We painted. We put "art" up, on the walls and on top of the cabinets. I made curtains! (major craft points for me!) And though you can't see this part I put new shelf pins in most of the cabinets so I can easily change the shelves heights and use my cupboards much more efficiently. (expect the Tupperware cabinet, the bane of every organizers existence. I hate my Tupperware cabinet). All those changes were a pretty big task combined, so we figured we were done with the kitchen for the moment.

Except.

I got it in my head that I wanted a new kitchen table. Well, ok, not exactly. I started pushing/really looking for a new kitchen table set is what really happened. See, for most of my adult life. I've wanted a real, vintage Formica kitchen table set. The kind that was built in the 1950's and made to last. But dr soc didn't see the need to get a new table set since we had a perfectly functional one already, he thought a retro table wouldn't really go with our old red kitchen, and he likes things new shiny (except his wife, that he has to like even old and busted), so vintage isn't his ideal look. But we were going for a somewhat retro look in the kitchen facelift, so now a retro table look wasn't a look out of left field for him. Plus, I knew we would have to change the counter top height table to a standard size table once we have kids.

Because a counter-top height table requires higher chairs, and if my kids are anything like me not only will they want to climb* things, they will also want to jump off said things and/or fall off said things. And that's long way for a little kid to fall, plus having to help them get in and out of a chair every. single. time they need to sit at the table is going to get really old, really fast.  And we can't use the higher chairs with any other table in our house.

So...it really was only natural that we get a new kitchen table set that we were totally planing on getting anyway at some point and one to match our pretty new kitchen! So I give you:

Our Christmas present to ourselves!

 

Also pictured**: the curtains I made and some of the aforementioned "art."

*Still do.  And squeal "and I go WEEEEE!!!!!" while leaping.
** not pictured: me giggling and clapping and squealing with absolute delight over how much I love this table.

Family Tree

My sister had her baby!
On Sunday September 29 2013, 4:16 pm, an 8 lbs 1 oz, healthy, perfect, beautiful baby girl joined my family and made my sister a mommy!!!!

To say I'm thrilled is an understatement. My heart just burst with love when I saw her picture. Mike and I "met" her via face-time the day after she was born and we meet her in person next weekend. I told my mom that she would have to fight me on holding the baby since I have no other plans for that weekend except to hold and stare at her. However when my husband heard that he said "what about me? I want to hold her too!" So I agreed to give him an hour or so because I love him.

I'm just excited. And happy to be an aunt (again). And thrilled that my family tree has gotten a little bigger.
Congratulations Amy! Thank you so much for making us an aunt and uncle!

OMG

My mom doesn't text. Granted, I don't text much either because I am the slowest texter ever. I have a dinosaur for a phone that can only do one thing at a time, so it (ok, me) can't keep up with rapid fire group messages, plus I insist on spelling everything out since I hate text talk with the exception of STD because that is hysterical.  Though I on occasion I use btw or fyi for brevity's sake, and sometimes things happen and the only thing that can be used to describe something is an OMG.   

Anyway. 

After seeing my sister and I use/play/facetime on our ipads, my mom hinted heavily that she would definitely want one when there were grandchildren. And since my sister is due in September (!!!), grandchildren are no longer an abstract thing. So for Mother's Day, Amy and I (and our husbands) got mom and ipad. It was scheduled to arrive the day after Mother's Day, and we didn't give her any hints, so she said she would email us when she received her present. Mom's email subject line when she opened the packaging slip? OMG!

Frankly I am just amused that my mom a) used OMG and b) even knew OMG in the first place!

Newlyweds

As of yesterday, dr soc and I have been married for 6 months, and I've never been happier.
Six months down, forever to go!

Here Comes the Bride (ME!!)

So, I haven't even blogged about the wedding! After blogging about the bubble of tulle for a year, I have yet to show and tell about the happiest day of my life.  This will be a pretty heavy picture post (which for me, means something like, 5 photos), but I don't think any of you will mind!

The whole whole weekend was perfect, everything went smoothly, the weather was great (hot, but no rain) and everyone had a great time it seemed. The beginning of the reception was a bit sloppy from the dj and a few communication blips with our venue, but the day was still just perfect.

The day started with a Thriller dance lesson: 

Seriously. Flash mobs don't just happen on their own

Then onto the salon where we were the weirdest bridal party ever to them

Fun fact: Jeanne's grandma made my veil. It was beautiful and perfect and I hope to pass it down to my children and/or grandchildren one day. That and it was super fun to dance with like a cape! 

We headed back to my parents' house for lunch and to get ready until the limo arrived to take us off to the theater

We got held up in some graduation traffic on the way, and I wondered if I needed to call mike to let him know I was on my way. Then someone pointed out that the entire bride's side not there yet would probably be enough of a clue .

Waited excitedly in the dressing rooms for a few minutes before I got ready to walk down the aisle

My heart was racing a thousand miles a minute but it was a good racing!

Walked down the aisle and met my groom

He was up there waiting for me while I tried my hardest to not sprint up there and squeal out loud!

Got married 

the first 'official' kiss
(without thinking, we had kissed hello the second we met at the alter!)

Took lots and lots of pictures

 lots and lots of happy

And then partied down! Which included: 

Dances with our parents: 

Too Marvelous for Words for me and my dad, and The Man That You've Become for Mike and his mom. The dj played a different version of the song my mother-in-law picked out. I think this picture is when they figure that out, but obviously every one's too happy to really care

The coolest groom's cake ever

Everyone LOVED the shark cake. And the wedding cake was beautiful too!

The aforementioned flash mob: 

Thriller! My wedding present from my high school crew. Nothing says happily ever after like zombies! 

Cake cutting

We're both thinking: how do even cut the shark cake?!

And cake eating

They were both quite tasty in addition to being beautiful

More dancing: 

I just love this picture of my sister

And the happiest couple in the world: 

Best. Day. Ever!!!!!

Best Day Ever!

Our wedding day was absolutley perfect!
Maybe one day I'll post more pictures of the day, that is if I ever tag, save, and post them from facebook, of course.
But for now here's a picture of the happiest day of my life and the people who made it possible

pictured: a WHOLE lot of happy!

Thank you everyone!

I do

We're married!!!!!

Best Rapture Day EVER!!

Saturday was supposed to be the rapture and the world was going to end.  I put no stock into this because I have plans and these plans do not account for the world ending. 

Anyway, Saturday was an ordinary day except for that Mike and I found find our favorite Chinese restaurant.  The food was really good, the servers were attentive, and oh yeah,

IT'S WHERE HE PROPOSED!!!!!!!!

I was so in shock that I don't even remember saying yes, he put the ring on my finger and the whole place clapped and cheered for us as I cried and we hugged.  It was beautiful and wonderful and romantic and just the happiest moment of my life.  I haven't been able to stop squealing and giggling since.

So, the world didn't end.  But it certainly did change! Best rapture day ever.  

Half Wrap Up

So, I just found out my results.......
2:05:00 on the dot!  That's a 3 second improvement and I have a new best time!
So I didn't finish under 2 hours, but I'm super ok with that.  My overall pace was a 9:35 mile, which is about right and what I figured  since I knew I ran a 10 minute mile the first 3, a 9 minute mile the next 3, and then a 10 minute here, a 9 minute there.

We were literally trying to outrun the severe weather that was sweeping towards the east.  The race day weather contingency plan was that the race would go on rain or shine, but if there was thunder and lightning the start would be delayed.  If the delay lasted long enough so that the time span on the road closures ran out, the race would be shortened to a 10k.  Fortunately, mother nature wasn't slated to throw a tantrum until 10 am, so most people would be finished or close to it by then.  It's actually just starting to really storm this minute, so looks like all of us runners caught a break on that one. 

Not that the weather was beautiful.. By no means did we have optimal running conditions.  There were a few rain showers and some wind, which blew (oh! pun! hehe!), but it wasn't pouring the entire time so I didn't feel soaked, and I wasn't running head first into the wind all the time either.
 

action shot dr soc took of me a few seconds before I crossed the finish line

This might be the worst shape my body has been in after a race though.  I'm physically tired which is to be expected.  But this is the first time I've gotten blisters on my feet. My 10 mile training run I got two small ones on both arches and they hadn't healed fully.  So I re-irritated the area and now I have a big 'ol blood blister, but just on one, so phew.  It's not pretty, but walking isn't an issue, so it should heal in time.  My toes hurt a little but I expected that since that's status quo for me.  However, my sports bra, which I've never had any problems with, decided it would choose today to chafe.  So that's not the most pleasant feeling.  My final post long run woe is my sentiments towards the training gels: Oh running gels, you are my running's friend but my intestine's foe. (I went with a carb boom this time, so it's mainly discomfort and not the feeling of my intestines being shredded)

But, hey, I just ran and finished my 5th half marathon.  Fifth!  I have a new best time!  I'm still going to do a marathon next spring, and I'm ready for that.  Go me! 

Boyfriend

I have a boyfriend!

Yeah, I think of dr soc* as my boyfriend. I don't know if we're using the titles per say, like this is my boyfriend/girlfriend, and I don't know if he thinks of me actually as his girlfriend. (plus I don't know if I think of myself as a girlfriend yet. Wait, why is it not reciprocal?) But I know he intends to see me for at least the next few months because we've made plans through the summer, and he doesn't want to see anyone else but me for that matter either. (He did say "I love you" the other night, but it was during sex, so clearly, that doesn't count) But he does like me, and I know that because he told me so, without promoting or in response or during ya know. So... that works.

You know, I haven't had a boyfriend in..... almost 3 years. My fiancé was my last boyfriend, that is until he became the fiancé. Eventually after him I started seeing the library guy, but he and I were never anything serious. I don't even know what to call us. Oh. Wait. Yes I do. ::snort:: yeah. Not a boyfriend. And then there was the default crush, but obviously nothing panned out there (being that he wigged) Which was an odd blessing in disguise, because now I have a boyfriend who I just think is so squee and smart and funny and hot and just freaking awesome.

While I really like saying/thinking I have a boyfriend, doesn't it sound a just a little young? But what else can I really say with the same status? Significant other? Manfriend? The guy I'm seeing exclusively? Yeah, those all sound... stupid.

So: I have a boyfriend!

* I will probably still refer to him as dr soc rather than boyfriend in blog-speak. Because that's easier and I think the name is funny and cute and unmistakeably him.

added 5/9/10: yep, he's definitely my boyfriend. Just as I'm definitely his girlfriend. We had this talk last night. There's no ambiguity there, we had the talk and used the titles and everything now.

Run Sarah Run!

So. I completed my 2nd half marathon (4th overall) of the season yesterday!

My time was 2:12:58. Phew, just under 2:13 (I don't like 13), and better than I anticipated, because I was thinking I finished about 2:15.

While that's not my personal best, I'm happy with everything overall. The weather was great while I raced (the marathoners and half marathoners who were still running 40 minutes after I finished... there was a tornado warning and they had to finish in the pouring rain). Not going to lie, it was a hard course for me. I didn't train for rolling hills, (that's a my bad) and it was a packed race so I had to do a lot more bobbing and weaving when I had to get around people.

But the crowd support was amazing! The volunteers who passed out water/cyto-max (Gatorade wanna-be) were every 2 miles or so and they cheered the entire time for everyone. There were gels at mile 11 (I passed since I already had one at mile 7 and I didn't want to have stomach issues the rest of the day), a fruit stand passing out bananas, apples and oranges around mile 5, medics handing out gobs of Vaseline and other stuff (I was so happy for them, my arms were chafing), cheerleaders from the local high schools at different parts of the course, music stands about every 3 miles (it's music city, makes sense really) tons of "go so-and-so" signs, and plenty of local spectators who just came to watch, cheer and give a random high fives without anyone in particular to cheer for. I don't think there was a quite portion of the course.

So it was a ton a fun, even if my time wasn't my best. I'm pretty happy with everything.
Wow, I just completed my 4th half marathon! God, who would have thunk?

And the results...

So the half this morning...

There was rain. Sideways rain, sideways because there was wind. And rain + wind = cold. I had to pee the last half of the race. I couldn't feel my fingers the entire race. My feet were wet, and by mile 4 I couldn't tell if the water on my skin was sweat or rain (it was not sweat fyi). The course wasn't spectator friendly, so there was very little cheering and that was a bummer. I did see my family twice and that was nice. By the time I crossed the finish line, (woot!) all I wanted was a bathroom, a banana and a hot shower. I didn't have any idea of my time, and I didn't really care to find out at the moment.

Honestly, I wasn't too happy with the whole experience right after.

But I got home and took my shower looked up my time. My goal was 2:20.
my results...

2:05:03

Oh. My. GOD! Two hours. Five minutes. Three seconds. Mother fcker, that's awesome! I rocked it!
And suddenly, I was very very happy.

And now, I nap. Or get a pedicure. Whatever. Go me!

Pay it Forward

I believe in karma.
Want proof?

I smile at the bus driver when I get on, and I make sure to say thank you when I get off. You just never know how far that will go. The other day, as I was getting off the bus, I dropped my wallet and didn't notice. It has my ids, credit cards, bus pass, pretty much my life in it. Another passenger saw me drop it, picked it up and ran after me. I had my ipod turned up a bit too loud and didn't hear the passenger calling out to me. So the bus driver honks his horn to get my attention, and then waits until the other passenger hands me my wallet.

I was absolutely relieved and of course I said thank you to both of them. I know how incredibly lucky it was that it went that way and my life wasn't stolen due to my own carelessness. It was a good situation for everyone. Me for getting my wallet back. The other passenger for running after me, and the bus driver for waiting. It was good karma for everyone involved.