Been a long time, been a long time baby

I have to start this post by stating that I love the show "Glee." I mean, has there been another lately that makes you want to just break out in song at any given moment? Right now I'm watching the "Rocky Horror Glee Show" and lovin' it!!!

Ok, so it's been quite a minute...and OK, I said that the last time...so now, moving on.

Halloween is this weekend and our little guy is dressing up as Scooby Doo. We've got a full weekend planned complete with a hockey game, trick or treating at our church and fun tricks Sunday night.

My stomach hurts this morning. Can't figure it out- I'm eating well- must just be "one of those bugs." Hm.

Gavin started Pre-K yesterday. New classroom! New friends to play with! New teachers...who keep getting him and Joe confused. YES! Joe and Gavin are back together- the gruesome twosome, the red-headed duo! Wonder how Gavin is doing with that...

We keep making more and more progress on our yard. We actually planted some rather lovely ferns over the weekend. Now, when you pull into the drive, it looks nice, not unkept or ugly, as it was.

You know, not feeling very creative this morning, but thought I'd touch base.

Had a great weekend in Nashville with Gavin and Windy's family. He has a blast with her children, Fisher and Cooper. They hosted another kid's birthday pool party on Saturday and by the end of the day, my little guy passed out on the couch from all the fun.

Jeff stayed at home and got a lot done around the house.

Not much else to report, just thought I'd check in though...

This weekend we celebrated Gavin's 4th birthday at Leapin' Lizards in Decatur. He had such a blast!!! All his friends from school came and they ran around for about an hour and a half. I bet we had a bunch of thankful parents later- those kids were probably ready to pass out afterwards!

My brother came in town with his wife- it was a nice visit with them. It's been awhile since we just hung out together. Jeff and I finished off the weekend trying to put together Gavin's new swingset. Ok, word of advice for parents out there- HIRE SOMEONE TO PUT TOGETHER YOUR CHILD'S SWINGSET. Not fun- 'nough said.

Since Gavin's birthday isn't officially until tomorrow, we've saved a couple of presents for him to open. I might get a couple more cupcakes...celebrate a little more. You know, it's hard to explain to a 4 year old that even though they celebrated their birthday, it's not actually for a couple of days.

Happy Monday!

Again- been awhile cyber-world, good to be back!

The little guy is turning 4 next week...FOUR. How do I already have a 4-year old? They don't lie when they say "time flies." Gavin is so excited- we're throwing him a party at a place called Leapin' Lizards in Decatur. Just about all of his class is coming! He's totallly into Scooby Doo these days so, of course, we're going with the Dane himself as a theme. My brother and his wife are also coming into town- can't wait to see them! I think everyone's staying at Hotel Stevenson Saturday night- should be a blast. Guess I ought to stock up on some libations...hmmmm....

I promise, I'll try to be more attentive...I have moments while driving where I think of catchy, witty stories to tell, then I get home and reality starts.

So I know, it's been awhile. I do that though, you know, go in and out of blogland. Sometimes I feel up to scribbling a few thoughts and anecdotes, other times, I'm good. Everything at home is good- we're starting to plant in our garden. Yay! It's only been 2 years... Actually, that's not true, we did some annuals in the front last year. Annuals don't count though, there's not much to them.

I've hit a stump again and don't feel like writing. Just needed to check in.

Hello world.

Spring is Springing!

Jeff and I met with a landscape designer the other day to discuss layout options for our front yard. Can I tell you how excited I am!?!?! We finally have a plan!!! It's two years in the making, and now we can actually start planting! Ok, ok, so I know this is not the typical way to tackle a yard, but we had a lot of C-R-A-P to take out of our yard before we could even begin. When we moved in, the yard was a total disaster- filled with holes, ivy crawling up and over everything and absolutely no design. Once we start planting, I'll try to remember to take pix and upload! The before and afters should be incredible!

This weekend is Easter and Windy and Company are coming in town. To say Gavin is excited about seeing Fisher and Cooper is an understatement. He's especially excited since Fisher is staying with us. Methinks I won't be able to get him to bed any night this weekend! We're going to do a little Easter egg hunt for the kids Sunday morning- should be a blast!

Make the luck of the Irish be with you today! You know, many a moon ago, I kissed the Blarney stone...did it give me the "gift of gab?" My husband would say yes.

Drink green beer or at least a Guiness tonight!

Happy St. Pat's!

This is awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w

So the Olympics are over- sad. But Team USA did fantastic this year- racking in more medals than any other Winter Olympics prior. The USA/Canada hockey gold medal hockey game was disappointing, would have liked to have taken that one back from them (since they took it from us in Salt Lake). All in all, great coverage of the events and super fun to watch!

At home, we've become bird nerds. Not sure how this happened, maybe it was the first hummingbird feeder I hung outside our tree port, maybe it was the sight of an unusual bird. Can't remember. But now, we are full-on, feathers out, bird watchers! Yesterday, I saw my first goldfinch...ever. We never had them at Audubon (ironically), but we've got them at Grand Prix (the street we live on). They're so beautiful! When I saw the first one, you'd thought I'd won the lottery! Unfortunately, he was gone before I could grab the camera. Told you, bird nerd.

We took Gavin to the Universoul Circus last night. Lemme tell you, that's a party- probably the best circus I've been to. So much fun, music and dancing- he loved it! I loved it! Unfortunately, we had to leave before the end of the show since it was getting late and we hadn't eaten dinner yet. It about ripped my heart out when Gavin started crying because he didn't want to leave yet. We had to lie and tell him that it was over, we were just leaving before most of the crowd came out. Of course, we ain't raisin' now dummy- he knew. We're such sucky parents, we should have snuck some snacks in or just bought him the $6 popcorn...what's 6 bucks?!!?

The Olympics are winding down. I always get a little sad during this time. We've been watching and following them the whole time. It certainly appears these particular games have been filled with drama, controversy and tragedy, more so than any other games. Between the horrific death of the luger to the Vonn/Mancuso run in pea soup, it just seems like a lot of things haven't gone right. However, a lot of things have gone good! The US medal count is still higher than anyone else's. Germany is hot on our tail, but I hope we keep ahead!

This morning, when Jeff dropped off the little man, his teacher pulled him aside and told Jeff how incredible Gavin is at doing puzzles. She said he's way ahead of any other kid his age. Jeff said it made him so proud, he was a little teary-eyed (love my husband). It's funny, we've had Gavin in front of puzzles since he was probably a year and a half. We used to dump 4 different simple puzzles on the ground and let him figure out which piece went on each puzzle. Makes a mommy proud.

I love the Olympics. More specifically, the Winter Olympics. I even like curling...what can I say, I'm pretty visual!

Maggie gets her sutures out today- yay! I'm sure she'll be happy, no more lampshade collar.

Not feeling very wordy today, just thought I'd check in though.

The "Little Girl" had surgery today. She's doing just fine according to her vet. She had to have a bladder stone removed. Poor baby. She's in ICU until tomorrow. Hopefully, I can get her home before the snow closes down the city...if it comes to fruition.

On another note, things are looking OK for the post-Kovy Thrashers! Even though they didn't get the OT win last night, they're playing really well together. Although, they did melt down a little in the 3rd and gave up two too many goals...

Ilya Kovalchuck was traded last night to the New Jersey Devils. For those of you who aren't hockey fans, this was a bit of a blow to us local fans. I gotta say, it hurt to see him go. Even leading up to the trade (months prior), it was easy to be a little cavalier about it because in the back of my mind, I was thinking, "there's no way they're going to let him go." Ouch. Anyway, in the spirit of trying to see the positive, the players we got are definitely solid and it'll be nice to see how they meld in with our team. If they stay after this year, well, that's another issue that our team seems to have.

Side Note: Sure do wish we'd paid the money for the Thrashers Casino Night in January- would have been nice to see Ilya in person before he left the team.

Moving on, Gavin and I visited Deb in the hospital last night. She's battling asthma-like symptoms along with some other things. It was good to see her feeling better than she did earlier in the week though. She certainly was happy to see Gavin.

Looking forward to the weekend. Back on hockey, we've got our first Kovy-less game tonight against, ugh, the Washington Capitols (at Washington), who are on this killer winning streak (lovely). And, we'll get to see the guys live on Saturday as they play the Florida Panthers. I really hope my guys rebound and show the league that they're made of more than just one player.

So Gavin had his first night away from mom and dad last night. Surprisingly, we were OK. Jeff and I mostly ran errand after errand- including a very expensive trip to IKEA. I love, love, love IKEA. We bought a cabinet and a couple of bedside tables. Afterwards, we ate a fabulous place called Feast. OMG- the scallops were fantastic!!!! They melted in my mouth...frickin' incredible.

Watching the American Idol try-outs from Atlanta- "Pants on the Ground" is by far my favorite audition. I think Jeff wrote the lyrics.

When Gavin came home, I think he was coming off a sugar high. He was a little lethargic...lol. He did really well though and had a great time with GG and Pop Pop.

Tonight, I'm just going to blog, well, to blog. I don't have much to say. It's been a well, boring day. The rain dampened our spirits and we got lazy. I didn't care that I put cartoon after cartoon on the TV and let my child indulge himself. What can I say? It happens. I just wanted to surf the web and read magazines today.

Tomorrow, Gavin goes up to the grandparent's house for his first night away from mom and dad (at the same time- we've been out of town before, but separately). Jeff and I are looking forward to stuffing ourselves at some restaurant that doesn't have to be "kid friendly." We're not looking forward to the quiet house we'll come home too, however. Ah cyberparents, how did you do it the first time?

Saw "Julia & Julie" last night- that was a movie my mom would have liked. Makes me want to cook. You know, I think I sold my copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." And, I've never been more pissed at myself. Now I even doubt if I ever had the book, but I can't imagine my mother didn't have it in her foodie library. I'll look again tomorrow, maybe I creatively stored it somewhere.

I have to launch into a little hockey irritation right now. First, I love hockey- I grew up loving hockey, I married a hockey man and my kid enjoys it to, so, no, I'm not ever going to give it up. However, what is it with Atlanta??? I mean, there's a pretty decent, and loyal, I might add, hockey fan base here, but the team just can't seem to get over the hump. Is it the coach, the GM or the players? Regardless, there's always something...and there's always gonna be- new team members, new coaching staff, crappy goals you just can't stop- just like anything else. There are hurdles with any challenge in life...so GET OVER IT AND FRICKIN' WIN! Ok, I feel better.

Honestly though, the Thrashers need to start winning for the fans- we're still here, we're still coming to games. However, after 10 years of "next year will be better," or "just having a bad night," people are starting to get weary. Just look at the Baltimore Colts band that didn't quit, they just got weary. At least Baltimore finally rewarded them with a new team, where's our reward?

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

And, it's not really snowing. The weather Gods are trying their best to give Atlanta a snow day tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath. Right now, we're in-between the bands of the snow storm moving through the South. Nothing is sticking.

Can't believe it's 2010 already! So what were you doing 10 years ago???