Another Reason to Love Austrailians

After work, I ran to the library to drop off a soon to be overdue library book. As I left and started driving home, I realized my cell phone was missing. First I thought it fell between the seats as it has done that before. I pulled over and preceded to tear my car apart. No luck. Panic sets in. Must retrace steps.
I drove to the library, checked the parking lot: nothing. Drove back to work. Checked around the parking space my car had been: nothing. Retrace the walk to my car: nothing. Check my office: nothing. Ask my employees: nothing. Ask the receptionist: nothing.
Less than an hour before, I had walked all three floors of the building. This is the last time I can recall having my cell phone. So I walked each floor, asking co-workers as I went: nothing.
The cleaning crew promised they would put it on my desk if they found it.
So I trudged back to my car. Tore it apart once again. Nothing.
And so I cried. All the way home.
I feel helpless without my cell phone. Fears creep into my head: what if I get in an accident? what if slide into a ditch? what if something happens to the baby? what if something happens to my family and they can't get a hold of me?

Forty-five minutes later I pulled into my garage. My husband runs out of the house exclaiming, "Thank goodness you are home!". I burst into tears, telling my husband between sobs that I had lost my phone.

"Don't worry, Kelly. A man found it in the parking lot. Molly talked to him."

After reassuring my parents I was okay (Molly had called them trying to get a hold of my husband). And then getting the info from Molly. I called the man. He was Australian. He had found my phone in the parking lot of the library.

We made arrangements so I could collect my phone.

When he dropped my phone off, I tried to give him a Thank You card with a small reward in it. He wouldn't take it.

"Australians don't accept tips or reward money. I'm just glad you got your phone back," he said proudly.

I am so thankful there are still good Samaritans out there. He saved me so much money and time and stress!

Two Pink Lines

I have a bun in the oven.

I am 13 weeks pregnant.

I am due June 27, 2008.

I feel wonderful.

We have known since October (since Michelle's birthday!), but decided to keep it a secret from most of the world until we passed the precarious first trimester.

We told our parents and siblings first and then Molly (my bestest friend for 16 years!). And then my grandparents.

I told Molly, my parents, and my sister, Kim, by giving them the above picture framed.

Kim's response: "I knew it!"

Molly's response: "Really?!" (followed by a tight hug)

My Mom's response: "Kelly baked bread!"

Richard told his parents by giving them baby booties.

I broke the news to my grandparents by mailing them a picture frame with four windows. The first two windows had pictures of my nephews: Antonio and Jack. The third spot had a note: "Baby [cousin's last name]. Due: January 2008." (My cousin's wife is very pregnant.) The fourth position had another note: "Baby [my last name]. Due June 2008."

I told Richard by placing a baby bib ("I Love Daddy") on his night stand. And laid the positive pregnancy test next to it. Then I waited for him to wake up. When he did, he ran downstairs exclaiming, "I'm going to be a daddy?!?!"

Richard and I are more than excited. I think our loved ones may be more ecstatic then we are! Richard's mom loaded me up with maternity clothes, baby scrapbooking supplies, and a pregnancy book. My mom bought me maternity clothes and some baby outfits (even a little dress!). My sister had her old maternity clothes at my parent's house the next weekend. Molly bought me a pregnancy book and sent Richard and me flowers. The support and love has been wonderful and so so helpful.

I am scared and excited and overwhelmed with what the next six months will bring. I know, no matter what happens or how I may change (not only physically, but emotionally as well), I have a wonderful, supportive husband, fantastic parents who would do anything to help me, a generous sister who answers, with her nursing background, even my most silliest of pregnancy questions ("What if I have cravings for lard?!") And a best friend/sister who will listen to me babble on and on about this pregnancy (and read endless letters about it too) and at all hours of the night.

And so my blog which was once nicknamed the "The Log Blog" by Michelle after my relentless posting of my dog, Logger, will now become "The Baby Blog" {insert clever nickname by Michelle}

My Favorite Cake Eater

Santa called Michelle a "Cake Eater". This amuses me to no end. Check out her account!


I tried to upload pictures to my computer this morning. No luck. I'm going to try again tonight

Does anyone care if I shave my cats?

My 2 little (OK, big) furry cats are going through their teenage angst phase (even though they are technically middle age). Or they have decided to hate us for getting the Loggerhead puppy.
In the last month, I have come home from work, exhausted, fishing around the wall for the light, only to step on broken glass. My lovely cats have decided they are now allowed on the counters. They have also decided when Richard and I are not home, drinking glasses look much better smashed on the kitchen floor. I don't know if its the swinging tails, the playful paws, or the gyrating tummies that are pushing the glasses over the edge.
Richard and I have resorted to the spray bottle technique. Maddy is fast though. She leaps off the counter before I can grab the bottle. She knows she is not suppose to be up there. They both know.
The problem is once they see us glaring at them, voices raised, feet stomping, their first reaction is to jump down, onto the floor. But Logger sits there, waiting. Waiting for them the leap so he can chase them. So they have to jump from counter to counter to dining room table (their safe haven from the dog). It's as if they are jumping over a crocodile with its snapping jaw.
Does anyone have any other suggestions to keeping them off the counters?

It's Contagious!

My bestest friend, Molly, had a large wedding party. 7 girls. 7 boys. (I say it is large because I had 4 people TOTAL!)
My point is of the 7 girls and Molly, all but one now has a blog. Nikki, our high school friend who migrated south east, has just started her blogging adventure.
Check out the other bridesmaids' and Molly's handy work:
Molly
Chris
Emily
Angie
Chelsea

Friends & Wine

Molly and Ryan's Annual Wine Tasting Extravaganza!
Richard and I drove to Red Wing early. I haven't seen Molly in over a month! I wanted to be selfish and have some time with her all to myself. Richard and I helped her clean and organize. Richard kept Ryan company while he sashayed around the kitchen making delicious, rich appetizers (he even improvised on a few recipes to make a meatless version for me!). I was Molly's little helper for the wine tasting. I made labels for the bottles and assisted her when bringing out the new mystery bottle (the wine tasters had to guess types of wines from 8 different varieties). Richard, who has never liked wine, even tried a few and liked some.
It was fun to watch reactions to different types of wines. The bitter, the overly sweet, the just plain bad.
Oddly enough, and without purpose, Molly chose all wines with animal names! I wish I could remember all their names....
It was a fun night, filled with conversation, tasty food, and good friends.
By the end of the day, Logger was exhausted. He loves to play with Penny (Molly's Golden Retriever). But he gets overwhelmed when Zephyer (Molly's giant lab) joins in and double teams him. Angie and Lane brought their dog, Bear. Bear was obsessed with Logger. She followed him all night, nose stuck in his behind. If he stopped for a second, she would try to mount him. By the end of the night, you can imagine Logger was tired of this. He began growling at her if she even looked at him. So Richard and I took turns scooping Logger up and holding him on our laps.

Zoo Boo

The weekend before Halloween, my parents, my sister Kim, her boys: Antonio and Jack, and I went to the NEW Zoo Boo.

Antonio dressed up as a Boxer and little Jack was a skeleton. Antonio loved the Trick or Treating part of it. He would scream, "Trick or Treat" at the employees working the Trick or Treating stations. And he always thanked them for the generous handfuls. Of course, with large amounts of candy, came the hunger for eating the candy. He would tell Kim specifically which candy he wanted: "I want a Tootsie Roll."

Antonio rode the Merry Go Round of Endangered Animals.

He also danced with Ema (my mom) and a group of employees dressed as lions and skunks and other animals.

It was so much fun to see him run and get excited for candy. He is at such a fun age.

Earlier that day, he ran laps around my parents couch. Logger would chase after him. Logger would shower him doggy kisses. Antonio would giggle and exclaim, "Logger is crazy!"

Don't Worry...

Be Happy! (sorry)
Because I will be posting soon. I didn't forget about my blog. Just haven't had time.

Best Friends

Logger annoys our cats, Elvis and Maddy, to no end. He tries to herd them as if he were a sheep dog and they were his faithful flock. He snips at their legs when they jump to get away. And he sticks his nose in their behinds every chance he gets. Oh and he chases them around the house. He is an annoying little brother to them.
But then.... the truth came out. Richard caught Logger and Maddy in the act! The act of friendship.
He caught them cuddling!

Aren't they cute?!

Logger denied this ever happened until we showed him the pictures.

RenFest '07

Snot: "Where are you going?"
Puke: "To take my wife's panties off."
Snot: "Why would you do that?"
Puke: "Because they've been riding up my leg all day!"
-Puke and Snot, MN Renissance Festival 2007



September 1, 2007: A hot, sweltering summer day. And Molly wore all black.

We ate lots of tasty bad food including more cheese curds and a caramel apple that stuck to every part of me. We watched half of a bad magic show and thoroughly enjoyed the comedy of Puke and Snot. Jokes so awful they make you groan.

As with any fair, the animals are my favorite. I talked to the piglets (in my secret pig language!) and I pet a few brand new puppies. The goats are always entertaining. And I saw the biggest horse I have ever seen! This woolly guy was cute. I resisted the urge to pet him.

Our first outing with Molly and Ryan since they took the big plunge. They were very patient with Richard and me as we searched for the perfect souvenir mug.

Do you see the poof ball of hair behind us?!? Wow!

Sweaty, tired, and smelly. That sums up how we felt at this point.
Richard swears he'll never go to another Renaissance Festival. He's a country boy. His alliances lie with the State Fair. He says Molly and Ryan will just have to go with us to the State Fair next year.
Sounds like a plan!

My Mother's Seance

Monday evening, I chatted with my dad on the phone. He casually mentioned that my mom was going to a seance Tuesday night. WHAT? That's so odd. I had never known anyone to go to a seance. Let alone treat it as casually as if she were attending a Pampered Chef party.

Tuesday night, under the full moon, my mom attended her first seance. In her own words:

"We first stood and held hands and the psychic (Regina) said a prayer.
Then we sat in a circle with our feet flat on the floor and our palms up with our eyes closed.
She told us a story about walking through a rain forest to an island. We were supposed to imagine that we were there. She was every descriptive, saying things like “the moss on the ground feels like velvet on our feet”.
Then she asked if anyone wanted to contact someone. She had already told us to just say our name, the name of the person we wanted to contact, and the relationship of that person to us.
I said “ Bonnie Christopher My Son”. Right away, she said, “I see a pinwheel”. I audibly gasped and burst out crying.
Brenda, Laura, and Mary Lou said later that they heard me gasp in shock. I told her that we put a pinwheel on his grave. [Every year on Chris's birthday, my mom puts a pinwheel by his gravestone.]
She asked if there was anything I wanted to say to him and I said ”Tell him I love him and I think of him every day”.
Regina said Christopher wanted me to know that he chose to go when he did so he wouldn’t be a burden on me. He said he would have been in a wheelchair and I would have spend the rest of my life taking care of him. When the angels came to him and gave him a choice, he chose to go so he wouldn’t be a burden to me.
Then she said “You have a daughter”. And I said “I have two daughters”. She asked me your names and I said “Kim and Kelly”. She said, “Christopher is trying to get Kelly to lighten up, but she’s not listening”.
I thought about that and it made sense.
Oh – she said if I smelled baby powder and there was no baby powder around that Christopher was there.
She said he’s with a large white dog. She asked if I ever had such a dog and I said no, but my parents did.
Do you remember, Ginger, the Japanese Akita? She was born 3 years before Christopher. We got her when I was in high school. I can’t explain it, but I feel he really is with Ginger. It just makes sense to me."

I have never believed, nor disbelieved psychics. I have never had an experience with a psychic. I also started crying when my told me about the pinwheels. How would she know about that? And how would she know that I worry about everything and take everything seriously.
I am taken back by this. And now I'm a little curious about psychics.

The Great Minnesota Get Together

Richard and I along with our friends Nikki, Josh, and their son Collin ventured to the Minnesota State Fair on Saturday.

We did a lot of walking and eating.

Richard and Kelly's list of things we ate at the fair:

• Cheese Curds (deep fried)
• Funnel Cake
• French Fries
• Root Beer Float
• Corn on the Cob
• Corn Fritters
• Bull Bites
• Deep Fried Milky Way
• Sloppy Joe on a stick
• Hot Dish on a stick
• And a variety of lemonade, water, and pop

Attendance on Saturday: 182, 277 (www.mnstatefair.org)

Princess Kay of the Milky Way butter sculpture!


Nikki and I: a couple of turkeys!



Richard eating his Deep Fried Milky Way.



Richard LOVES looking at the new trucks.


Josh and Collin, hanging out.

My favorite is visiting the barns. This cute cow looks so peaceful.

Goats are my favorite to pet. They have so much energy and they nibble on everything! I wonder if Logger is part goat...



Baby Piglets!!

Meet Pretty Ricky. He is Minnesota's Largest Boar.

He ways a modest 1200 lbs! Such a cutie!

Tunnel Vision

I went to the eye doctor yesterday. It has been about 18 months since my last appointment. And I was on my last pair of contacts. I made sure I scheduled the appointment right after I started wearing my last pair. Last time I was at the eye doctor, I was scolded for wearing such filthy lenses and then he proceeded to rip them from my eyes!

This was a new Optometrist. The little clinic was set in a new strip mall. The doctor was wrinkled and hunched. He looked as though he should have retired 5 years ago.

I sat in the exam chair and we chatted about my eye care history. When he stood up to exam my eyes, he exclaimed that he was going to cut my bangs because they were too long. I thought he was serious until a small chuckle escaped his mouth, followed by throaty cough.

He then jokingly called me Veronica Lake and asked when my next movie was coming out. I did a polite laugh, but I didn't really know who Veronica Lake was. I knew she was a classic film star, but I didn't realize she was from the 1940's!

He came in for a close up. He smelled like a hospital and his hands were bone cold.

After exclaiming my new lenses would make my eyes better than 20/20, he handed me over to his assistant to pick out frames. He told her to collect my old glasses and put them in the ancient frames cabinet on display. I think he was joking because a smile spread across his face. I smiled back and thanked him.

I picked out new frames and paid my bill.

And I kept my old, Logger abused glasses. Just in case.

Mrs. Molly

I can't believe Molly is married.

Even though Molly and Ryan have been together for 8 years, and I could never imagine them apart, I can't imagine them married. I now understand how weird it was for her to hear me call Richard "my husband".

Molly and Ryan. Husband and Wife.

The wedding was beautiful. It had hailed and stormed (even causing the tornado sirens to blare) the night before. Even late morning of the day of the wedding, it down poured. And around 6:30 pm, hail pounded so hard against the roof of the reception hall, it sounded like fireworks. But for pictures and the ceremony, it was a perfect day. Sunny and hot. Molly radiated in the sunlight. Odd to see her in front of the camera instead of behind it.

The park clearing, right on the Mississippi River, was protected from the deafening sun by the trees' canopy. Little spiders fell from the trees onto our skirts. And Molly floated down the aisle, bright white against the lush green and brown backdrop.

7:30 am: Too early for this bride





Drowning in crinoline!

Emily!

Chris!

Angie!

Megan!

Nikki!

Molly's bridal locks

Sister Chelsea putting on Molly's makeup

Molly & Me: Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Molly's Bouquet

Ryan walking up the aisle!

Mike & Me (see Molly peeking behind us. I told her bad jokes while we waited to keep her from crying too soon.)

Here Comes the Bride....

Ryan's Mom's reading

Mr. Sutton's adorable song!

The Groomsman!

The Bridesmaids!



Eireann's emotional reading

You may kiss the bride!

Mr. and Mrs. Ryan and Molly

Richard's view as we walked down the aisle!


Richard's view again

Just Married!

My Husband!

First Dance!

First Dance!

Father/Daughter Dance!

Feeling no pain. I defiantely enjoyed the night!