Sick day

I saw the doctor today. Kind of a weird week, I've had. I nearly passed out last week after working 13 straight hours. Came home, talked to Scott, tried to get a drink of water and about fainted.
Then I felt like crap for 2 days - bad headache, weak, dizzy, extremely tired.
So Scott urged me to see the doctor, and unlike when I suggest he go, I went.
I have strep throat.
How weird is that? I made the appointment last Thursday and in the meanwhile developed a sore throat, but nothing too intolerable. The Dr. looked in my right ear and throat and quickly made the diagnosis. He also thinks the spell and strep are related.
So I tried to work after the appointment but got sent home. This stuff is spreading quickly, I guess, and many of my coworkers expressed the desire for me to leave.
Apple juice and antibiotics. I'm trying to write my stories for work from home.
Now, we just need a new laptop so I can blog, I mean work, from the couch.

The City by the lake

Yep, it's another Chicago post. Scott and I hooked up with Lockridge while he was in Chitown for business. Great weather, great food, great (too many) cocktails.
Swinger's got a crazy, hectic schedule so when the chance comes to hang out with him, we take it. He's a good friend.

My kind of town

At the end of March, I got the chance to spend a weekend in Chicago with the girls. We're all married and a few of the girls have chitlins. We were getting away for a couple days of fine dining, drinking, dancing and shopping. We had a blast and I'm so fortunate to spend good times with good people. I think we all bonded quite a bit during our weekend away (not like that, pervs).



It's something I hope we continue to do as a yearly tradition. And I hope more girls can come along. No matter what's going on in our lives, we need to make time for this. Yeah, that's the good stuff.

Nooker booder butts

I know it's been awhile, but not saying anything doesn't seem right either. These pictures were taken just after we found out that Nanook had lymphoma. We tried to cuddle, play ball, give him lots of treats and spoil the crap out of him because we knew his days were numbered.
I remember when I met Scott and he had this great dog. Hairy, but cute and fun. And he (Nanook not Scott) seemed to know all the commands - sit, shake, gentle. He was Scott's buddy and at times I felt like Nanook didn't like me. He'd even get jealous when Scott and I cuddled and kissed.
But we grew to love each other.
And it was the hardest thing we've ever done, saying goodbye to him. On March 20, 2006, we had to put Nanook to sleep. He had such a long, loving, fun life. He was the king around here - he knew it, we knew it. But the king has left the building.
We miss him dearly.

Seriously?

Seriously!
I've changed the heading up there on the masthead, finally. And for a few reasons.
One is to reflect that this is and should be a place for Scott & I to update what's going on in our lives. Although I realize it's primarily going to be up to me to do the updating.

Also, kudos to anyone who knows what or who said the quote above. HINT: It's an ode to one of my favorite TV shows.
It also completely summarizes the way I have felt about life for a few years. I can remember graduating from college, and being sad because I knew my future would not involve working for my entire life. Nothing but working 40 hours a week until retirement to look forward to. Congratulations, here's your degree. Have fun going to work everyday.

Nothing drives this home more than the fact that my two teenage brothers remind me what it was like to be a carefree high school kid living off the parents. Granted, I've been working since I was 15 when I started a part-time gig as a hostess at Chi-Chi's. And, like me, they do a pretty good job at holding their own. But I know that feeling of anticipation. That eagerness to be an adult. I couldn't wait to grow up and not be under the thumb of my parents.

Now I realize how nice it would be to go back. I know I can't make it stop, but at least I can tell my brothers to slow down.

Watch out Windy City!

You can take the girl out of the city, but not the city out of the girl.
There is this feeling I get every time I see the Chicago skyline. It's my favorite city (not that I've been to hundreds of metropolitan areas long enough to know if they are worthy of such admiration), and I seriously feel so at home when I get there.
Having grown up on the outskirts of "The City," as we would call it, I have been to Chicago hundreds of times. Memories include hitting museums with my dad, New Year's Eve parties with Scott and friends, my bachelorette party, Christmas shopping and hitting the town with Mike & Molly, and many more.
More memories are to be made this weekend as myself and five other married girlfriends are heading to Chi-town for what should be a wild and crazy time.
I'm calling it the first annual Desperate Housewives weekend.
Oh, yeah. There will be more.

I know, Sorry

I had the best intentions of keeping up with this blog and trying to post several times a week, if not more often. I failed.

We have been so busy. House, work, house, work.....

We're just wrapping up one of the biggest projects we've ever tackled on our home. We sanded and refinished our hardwood floors. What a mess. But the outcome is beautiful. And since we took all our furniture out to do the floors, we figured we should paint while the rooms were empty. We don't know when or how to stop. Or, Scott might say, I don't know when to stop.

As for the painting - our room looks awesome. We choose a nice chocolately malt color. Love it. However, we weren't so happy with the finished product in the spare bedroom. What was supposed to be "Smoke Screen," turned out to be baby blue. I feel like I should paint clouds on the wall. But we are so sick of painting and living in the basement that it's going to have to stay that way for a while.

Meanwhile, Scott was promoted and I am looking at some added responsibilites that could lead to a promotion. We'll keep you posted.

Welcome Abigail!

Gushing grandma Sheena called today to say the Napa Newbies (Liz, Luke and Ethan) welcome the newest addition to their family this morning.

Abigail Sarah Pestow was born Oct. 4, 2004. She was 6 lbs. 4 oz. at birth.

I can't wait to see pictures, which I post when I get some.

Congratulations!

the one where the season could be over

As many of, at least those of us in the Midwest, are relishing in the last few days of summer, it seems like the season is coming to a fast closure. Too fast. There's still lawn work to do, boat rides to take and golf courses to challenge.
But, just as the fading of summer makes some weary and ready for respite, it gets others thinking about their favorite fall past time.
Football.
I'm a huge football fan, just ask my co-workers who I am competing against for the fourth season of fantasy football. I love pro football, college football (nothing beats a game at the Big House of U of M or Spartan Stadium) and even high school football.
Especially since I have two brothers (Seth and Matt) who play high school ball in Illinois. I'm a proud sibling of two Reapers football players. Seth, the older of the two, is a captain of the Varsity sqaud again. The team has played three games thus far, has 2-1 record, with one of those wins being against cross-town rivals.
So on Friday, those boys were playing the game of their lives when Seth dug deep, as linemen do, stepped back off the line and felt his knee - is rubber-banding a verb? It is to him.
He thinks he blew his knee out and is out for the rest of the season - his senior year season. Today, he's going to see an orthopedic doctor and we should know more later.
Football is just beginning, and like summer, could be ending much too soon.

Update

Well, we finally got my ring back from the a-holes in NYC. We'll be taking it to a locally owned jewelry store to replace and repair the baguette diamond that fell out. Then, I probably should have my wedding band resized so I can actually wear that on the ring finger.

Wendi and I went to the Kenny Chesney concert a couple weekends ago, and again it was a blast. We found ourselves a life-sized cardboard cut out of singer. We made quite a scene with our cardboard Kenny.

For Labor Day weekend, we made it up to Silver Lake again to visit Donnie and Karri, and see our friends the (C)Rusts. It was a blast hanging out on the dunes all day, even if I was stung by a bee earlier in the day. Allergic, yes? But, not a bad reaction.

Scott has been working a lot, and is not too fond of the job. A couple months ago, things were going well, but since the new contractor, the place is a mess. No one knows what's going on.

My job? Well, work is work. I must admit anytime that there is an event that takes over national and local media, such as Hurricane Katrina, I feel this renewed interest in being a journalist.