happy birthday, january!

we have so much to celebrate this month, well — december too, because we STILL haven't celebrated becky's birthday, then tyler was born, then lt and i tied on friday for celebrations since he turned 1 and i got engaged (did i mention that i'm getting married yet? no? really? because I AM!), now janny's birthday. we need to celebrate good times. COME ON.

they have survived the car ride back from nh!

aw!

champagne!

don't think i didn't save the bottle, the cork AND the little twisty tie. i bought a scrap book. what is HAPPENING to me? also? i think my ring was built with a special 24-type tracking device and mic so tom will always know where i am and what i'm doing. and if it isn't, we should totally invent it. maybe even a spy cam! ok, see why i can't watch that show???

we're engaged!!!!

this is tom and me in at hampton beach in new hampshire... he asked me to marry him friday night!!!! more to follow!

cute.

mel should get her laundry soon. those are hunter's underpants. clean, but still.

lazy much?

my pervert of a cat.

yeah another snow post!!

it's like FAREEL snowing!! everyone says i'm crazy for wanting snow, but it's winter for cryin out loud. just one big snowstorm is all i'm askin for. BUT, i'm excited we've got snow on the ground. woo hoo! i'm NOT excited that tom's all the way in stamford, but the jeep will get him home safely. :)
so i have a proposal. can we just skip february altogether? it's a short month anyway, would anyone reeeeeally notice?
i'm all for just going from january to march. bam.

good thing i got a picture...

because it's almost melted already. BOO!

meh!

ok, well, maybe it works, maybe not!?

trying it out! (mobile blogging, that is.) a picture should be here, too. tartar sauce. it didn't show.

um, what?

i am expense-retarded. i've been working for tp for four years and i still can't submit expenses on my own. it's ridiculous. and i just checked again and i submitted them for the wrong project code. WHATEVER. JUST REIMBURSE ME.

anyway. in addition to my new money management "skills" (ahahahahahha) i'm also 100% back on track w/ ww. i had been seriously slacking the last few months. also in those last few months, somehow my daily points allowance has gone DOWN! they base it off a bunch of new factors now instead of just height and gender. now they take into account your age, what you do for a living, etc. boo!

we watched hunter last night and he was so funny. he and tom were playing... tom was batman and hunter was blue ranger. so they made me call them for help because my house was on fire and my cat and i were trapped inside. "how do i call for you?" i ask. "911 !!!" is the exasperated response from the other room. oh obviously if you need the batman/blue ranger team, just yell 911 and they'll appear!

he also told me all about martin luther king's birthday. it's amazing how much they learn. it was so sweet to hear him talk about because how martin luther king was such a great man and fighter, he gets to go to school with all of his friends. he got it a little wrong... he said king was in the army to fight for freedom and died there, but the gist is correct. and i'm proud that he knows more about him than a lot of grown ups.

my favorite part of watching him is tucking him into bed and reading stories. when i kissed him good night (after him needing the night light, 85 stuffed animals, an extra blanket, a drink of water, a plea for another "bednight snack") and said, "i love you to smithereens" (that's one of our favorite words) and he replied sleepily, "i love you, too. and NEVER forget it!" :)

happy monday!

to those of you who have a holiday today. like tom. who is in the living room yelling at cablevision because they owe him a big refund and have conveniently lost it. or those of you like keli, who is maxin and relaxin on the chair behind me, watching me slave away at work. brat.

well since winter is skipping new england...

let's have summer back! (i don't know who that guy in the background is, but i bet he'd like some summertime, too!)

sorry!!!

sometimes i just can't sleep because of it and writing helps me just get it out and feel more ok. i already feel a little better. :)

i miss her.

it's one of those nights. where i lay in bed just reliving that last phone call wondering how i didn't know that she was dying while she was telling me that she loved me. how did i not know? she told me she was short of breath, but she was always short of breath. i remember us discussing our next trip to seattle and her saying the doctor told her she wasn't well enough to fly alone. i remember saying that's silly. i really, really didn't think she was THAT sick. i don't know why. denial? i guess. i guess i was unwilling to accept the fact that i might lose my only remaining parent so soon. i remember asking her if she had her oxygen on and she said yes, so i relaxed a bit. i mean, she had just come home from the hospital that morning. certainly, if she was that ill, they wouldn't have released her.
but, of course, as we all know now, she was that ill and they did release her. and she did have a heart attack and she did die.
and she left a hole in my heart so big sometimes i almost drown in it. it's not even windy tonight. i don't know why i'm so sad. i guess because february isn't far. i don't know. it doesn't matter anyway. i'm just sad because i am and that's enough. it'll pass. writing always helps it pass. thanks for reading even though i know it's not fun. i appreciate it. love you all.

the new me.

it's saturday night and i'm home. no, that's not the new me. that's the every weekend me. my sweet hunter is sleeping over tonight and is using the tiny christmas tree (we sadly took down my glorious giant tree today. feel free to take a moment of silence...) as a night light. so sweet. alas, that is the regular me, too. but, instead of watching the uconn/lsu game, i am watching cnbc. that's right, i said cnbc. yes, it's me. stephanie. but wait, it gets better. i am watching the suze orman show. fareel, yo. and? i'm dvr'ing it. why, you ask? because 2007 is.... say it with me now...
THE YEAR OF SAVINGS!!!
and i am taking this seriously. like, stephanie-seriously.

here i am!

rock me like a hurricane.
jeesh, the holidays just mess with your entire schedule, don't they? i'm actually kind of glad to get back to eating regularly scheduled meals, etc. but i do miss Vacation Tom. he had a four day weekend last week, since the exchange was closed for president ford's funeral and he was just so chilled out. we decided that 2007 is the Year of Savings. don't laugh. i am committed to it!!! let's see what else can i catch up on? we're all still sort of sick. oooh, wanna see one of my awesome christmas gifts? tom got us tickets to the sun winefest! food and wine? hi, does he know me or WHAT?!?! jen, i KNOW you are a tiny bit jealous.