New Arrival

I've been blatantly absent from the blog as of late.

The reason....

 This precious little guy(all 9pounds, 1oz. & 21 inches of him) came into our lives on July 7.  My parents and I had been staying with my lil' sis in Chicagoland 2 weeks prior to his arrival and were there when he was born.

Mommy, Daddy and Baby are doing great and the family couldn't be happier.

Aunt Kellie is 100% in love with her nephew.

What I Won't for 2011

A new year is fast approaching and it's a time when, instead of looking back at the missed opportunities and misfires of the past year, I(like a lot of folks) prefer to look ahead to the possibilities that a new year brings.

A few years ago, instead of making resolutions I made a Not-To-Do list. I was inspired by this article and liked the idea of thinking about what I didn't want to do rather than coming up with a list of resolutions that I may or may not make happen. For 2011, I think another list of un-resolutions is in order. 

My 2011 Not To Do List

I will not continue to hate my body. I've been doing it since I was in the fifth grade and the family doctor asked me if I was going  out for the football team.  I've done a lot of damage to my body since then by going on unhealthy diets...gaining and losing weight over and over. I've crammed my body full of junk food and neglected to take care of it. And have landed again at 30 40 50 too many pounds overweight. But, I refuse to go on another diet! Diets are motivated by self loathing and I'm done with that. Instead, I plan to love this body by:

• moving it with regular exercise that makes me feel good(not something I dread doing that makes me feel like I've been trampled by a herd of elephants).
• feeding it healthier foods and water.
• taking in less junk.
• taking time to unwind and de-stress.
• surrounding myself with positive people and a support system via SparkPeople to help me as I learn to love my body once and for all.

I will not put myself down in front of other people or worry about what other people think of me.  Not only am I guilty of calling myself names and putting myself down, but I worry constantly about what other people think about me. Constantly. I think this probably stems from the whole body image thing...never good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, cool enough, blah blah blah.  Of course I realize this way of thinking is ridiculous, which is why:

• Phrases like "I'm so fat" and scores of other lies I've uttered about myself are banished from my vocabulary. Anyone who hears/reads these phrases from me has my permission to give me a smack upside the head.
• I will no longer get bent out of shape when someone calls me "Little Susie Homemaker" or makes a crack because I like to sew, cook, and hang out at home. I've taken offense to it in the past and regarded it as a put-down. I simply refuse to see it that way anymore.
• I am not going to seek approval from everyone I know(and don't know).
• I am proud of who I am, quirks and all.

I will not be the nagging wife.  I'm flawed, y'all.  I admit it, I pick and I nag at my husband sometimes. He'd probably argue that  I do it a lot. I hope not, but I fear that I am hard to live with. So when the situation arises that I want and/or need him to do something around the house, I'll ask. Once. If he doesn't get to it in my time, I'll let it go. I know men and women live in two completely different time zones and I'm going to try to be more attune to that.  If he does something in a way that is different from my way I'll be appreciative instead of pointing out why my way is better...because it is(wink wink, nod nod).

I will not give in to negativity.  God bless them, there are just some people who are unable to be positive. If you gave them a hundred bucks they'd say "Dang. Now I have to get out my wallet to put this away." I have to be honest with myself here and admit that I tend to sway to the negative side. Which means I am easily influenced and brought down by these Negative Nellies. It's gonna be hard but I'm going to try to deflect that negativity as often as I can. While I can't avoid all the negative that comes my way, I can make a conscious effort to surround myself with more positives.

I will not spend money frivolously. Unless it involves fabric or books.

I will not be bored.  There is absolutely no excuse for me to be bored. I'm OK with lazy every once in a while, because a day of  wearing pajamas, stretching out on the couch and reading or watching TV is relaxing. Boredom, on the other hand, is ridiculous and uncalled for. There's alway something to do...even if it is to simply meditate on how incredibly blessed I am. There are so many things I want to do creatively in the coming year that I refuse to let boredom ever rear it's ugly head. 

I will not forget to be thankful. I serve a wonderful God. A God who has blessed me with the most incredible family a girl could ask for and the most undeserved gifts of everlasting Love and Grace. I have so much and have done so little to deserve any of it. I am thankful for this past year(and all the years of my life) for the overflowing of love from my family and friends, for health, for a home, for all the things I take for granted on a daily basis.

More From Chicagoland...Stuff We Ate.

Finally! More photos and yammering to share from my summer trip to Chicagoland. I had such a great time with Jackie and Scott...I'm already thinking of planning another trip during Fall Break.

I'm not really a huge fan of hot dogs and no way would I think about eating one with all that "Chicago Style" stuff piled on it. However, because I am a hopeless superdork, I decided that I HAD to go to Superdawg during my visit. Mainly, because I'd seen it on a PBS documentary called "A Hot Dog Program",  but also for the building(I dig Googie arcitecture) and for the giant hot dogs standing atop it....none of which disappointed! The hot dog was dang tasty for a plain hot dog...hey...I can hear you...stop snickering at me.

Scott, w/a Chicago style Superdawg.

I sampled Jack's chocolate milkshake...fantastic! And in case you didn't believe me when I said I was a  superdork...here's proof...I took a photo of the box the hot dog came in.

We also ate restuarant in the 'Burbs called Portillo's. 

The atmosphere was really fun...the gal you see at the counter would call out a number and whenever someone went to pick up their order...she'd grin and rhyme the number.  "Number Two...I've got a meal ready for you!"

Portillo's  had a little bit of everything on the menu...including their own version of the Chicago dog, I, however, opted for another classic....Italian Beef....Lord. Have. Mercy. 

Then there was the Hollywood Palms...a resturant/movie theater. Our servers actually brought out a meal while we were watching a movie!  For whatever reason, I didn't take any photos of the individual theaters, which were all decorated in a different movie genre theme, but there are photos of those here.  I did manage to get a photo of one of two bars.

And what trip to Chicago is complete without amazing pizza? I give you Giordano's. Amazing is an understatement.

My favorite restuarant was Ann Sather.  I loved everything about it! 

....from the Swedish style decor to our waitress (who looked alarmingly like Ed Begly Jr.)... 

..to the ENORMOUS & delicious cinammon rolls... 

...to what has got to be hands down the best breakfast sandwich and potatoes I've eaten in my life.

 I would ride the train 5 hours just to eat at Ann Sather again. 

Expect more Chicagoland photos and yammering at a later date...

Happy Father's Day

To my dad.

He is most excellent and much loved.

Since I mentioned it, now I have to show you the photos.

OK, so I mentioned a certain World Tour concert in my last post. It was freakin' incredible people! U2 is an amazing band. I'd never seen them live before, but they have been one of my favorites since the first time I saw the video Sunday Bloody Sunday on MTV. That was, of course, when they still showed music videos on MTV.

This was a stadium tour...and I've been to several concerts before but never anything on such a large scale! Every minute of it was exciting! And singing along with nearly 70,000 other fans...it was so much fun. I have a whole new appreciation for the band and their music now.

There's a video posted that shows some highlights from the tour.

And now for the photo sharing portion of today's post.

These are from an afternoon spent in Napierville IL. the day before the concert, our day in Chi-town, followed by the awesomeness that was U2:

My brother and me at Giodorno's in Napierville. Best pizza I've ever had. Ever.

My sis and her husband Scott.
There was a guy playing showtunes on the bells at the top of this tower in Napierville. It was creepy-cool.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

To my little sis Jackie, whom I adore!

Eleven days and counting...

An ice storm hit the Bluegrass State last week. 100% of our county lost power for a while. That was last Tuesday.

Eleven days later, we are still in the dark. Well, our house is anyway. Mark and I stuck it out the first few nights at home w/a generator, but ran out of gas...the whole TOWN ran out of gas, actually.

My brother has graciously taken us in and we've been camped out at his house since last Friday.

We've been fortunate to have family to turn to. Many people in our town and in the county haven't been so lucky. My parents, my sister and her husband lost power as well and they've also been staying here at my brother's house. They were able to head back home yesterday.

.

I wish I had taken photos of the ice, but y'all, it was cold and the ground was a solid sheet of ice! Once we DID leave the house, the drive leaving our neighborhood was terrifying and I couldn't have taken a photo for hiding my face and crying(so now you know, I'm a big scaredy cat).

So, what does one do when away from home for this long...and school, therefore work, has been canceled? Here's what I've been up to...

...playing with her

.. buying DVD's at Circuit City's going out of business sale

....watching

Laverne & Shirley Season I

August Rush
Mystery Science Theater 3000

Sweeny Todd

Princess Bride

along w/the the normal weekly TV(Biggest Loser,Lost, The Office, etc)

...lunch at Chick-fil-A with Shea...a souvenir.

...embroidering tea towels(we picked up my floss box on a trip home to check on our kitties, yay!)

...making felt cookies that have been doubling for pincushions

...and a robot

...and a doomed to never be finished robot

...finishing two books, starting another

...hanging out with the family, eating...eating a lot

...getting acquainted with this

...heading to a movie with my sis. We saw this.

..learning my brain isn't as big as I thought it was

Would you say they have a plethora of pies?

Today, after Dad's surgery, Shea and I went for lunch at the Grand Traverse Pie Company.

He had been telling me about it and he's blogged of the place and posted some fun pie eater sketches and more pie eater sketches. Between hearing/reading about it and sitting in the hospital waiting room a most of the morning, I was more than ready to give it a try.

And no, the irony of a person on Weight Watchers eating lunch at a restaurant whose name contains the word PIE is not lost on me.

But it didn't stop me from eating there either.

And when they say Pie Company, they mean it. You walk in the door and are immediately slapped in the face with pie. Pies of all shapes and sizes. Pies in both the fruit and cream variety. It was Pie Overload! It was a Pie-O-Rama! You might say it was a Plethora of Pies!

Surely you don't think I ate any...

Of course I did. You expect me to go into a place called Pie Company and NOT eat pie? It wouldn't be right.

After what I thought was a "light" lunch of a half chicken salad(duh, they use REGULAR Mayo, not the fat free version I've been using to make it at home) sandwich on whole wheat bread and a cup of chicken noodle soup, I made my way back to the pie case.

Dear Lord. SO many choices. Not just pie...baked goods too. Cheesecake...plain, chocolate chip and cherry topped. Brownies. Cookies. Assorted Flavors of Muffins. Apple Dumplings. Giant Rice Krispie Treats. Death-by-Chocolate Cake. Turtle Cake. I could go on. It took me about five minutes to decide on a slice of peanut butter chocolate cream pie.

If you could take a bite out of Heaven, I imagine it would taste like the Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie at Grand Traverse.

It was one of, if not THE most perfect pies I believe I have ever tasted. The chocolate...decadent, rich and this is gonna sound weird but "old fashioned" tasting. The peanut butter...smooth and creamy...just the right balance to the chocolate. Crust baked to flaky perfection. If that's not enough it was topped w/whipped cream and peanuts. I'm drooling thinking about it.

I ate half of it. It took every single inch of willpower I had not to eat every last bit of it and then lick the plate. But I didn't.

So tonight I'm filling out my WW journal and look up the nutritional stats online.

One slice of that pie has 13 WW points!!! YIKES! Nearly 600 calories and 15g of fat in that ONE slice of pie. ONE! Luckily, I only used 7 by eating just half.

And it was worth it.

Every. Stinking. Point.

A Thankful Update

Dad's surgery went well. He was in the hands of a gifted surgeon and many prayers were heard and answered today. Recovery should take a month or so.

Thanks again to those of you who prayed on his behalf and I would ask that you keep him in your prayers.

Two Belated Birthdays

I cannot believe I forgot to mention the birthdays of two people I love most in this world!!!

My Dad...August 24th. Words don't do him justice. He's that great. Happy Belated, Birthday Dad! Love you!

With Mom a couple years ago at the Loveless Cafe.

With me, Shea and Bryan sometime in the early 80's.

With me, 1968.

And Bryan. My little brother would have been 35 on August 25th of this year.

With Shea in the 70's being his normal silly self...dig the HeeHaw overalls!

With Jackie, mid 80's.
On a cruise to the Bahamas several years ago . One of my favorite photos.

When Bryan left us, a light went off in this world that can never be turned back on. But I can still find reason to rejoice...because I know one day we will be together again. Miss you and love you, Bryan!

For Bryan...a song from one of his favorite movies.