Happy Birthday Jill!

I hope you have a wonderful day and a fabulous year!

Here is some trivia for you. What show theme song am I singing for you? Great, great show!

"And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew,
you would see the biggest gift would be from me, and the card attached would say, THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND!!"

The losing streak.

Big T has his Reese 8 & under ball tourney this weekend and is so far 0-2. He's handling it okay; so dramatic at times. Get this, he was upset that the other team celebrated their victory before shaking hands. Joe promptly reminded him of a few instances where a certain someone would go tackle his goalie after a win, followed by a bunch of, but, but, but Daddy. The scene ended with Tommy having to take a cool down lap around the high school track. He's definitely overtired and an early bedtime will hopefully remedy the attitude. He played well in his games but probably his play of the day was when he was running to 2nd base and beat the ball there however he slid too short and ended up being out. Reminded us of Willie Mays Hayes in Major League. The kid runs so slow, another time on 1st his coach said, "come on Tommy skate to 2nd base." His hockey rep. precedes him. So add on the last hockey games and Tommy is 0-8. Oh well, losing builds character right?

Between games we had an impromptu get together here with a couple of other families on the team. It was fun and the boys got their uniforms dirtier in our field than on the baseball field in a rugged football game. Last night we were at the Andriot's swimming. Poor Kevin was grilling out in the pouring rain when one doozey of a storm dropped in. A very close lightning strike sent a little electricity through Kevin. Kind of crazy. It's true that your kids definitely brighten up your social life. We've met so many wonderful people through hockey, baseball, and of course Babycenter. A quick shout out to my BBC girls, you all know who you are. ;)

And for a little more craziness. We had a leak under our bathroom sink. Joe has it fixed but not only have we lost our freezer goods from the freezer death earlier in the month; now we've lost some toiletry goods from drowning. Oh what next? The place is falling apart.

Here are some pics of the boys in their maroon and gold (and Amber in green)! The future Reese Rockets?!?

Canada! Eh!

Tommy had a hockey tournament this weekend with our Northern neighbors. Going from our house it's technically an Eastern neighbor. In fact we only live about 90 minutes from Canada yet have not been there in 8 years.

The tourney was in Toronto and we got to see the Hockey Hall of Fame and Joe found a ritzy mall with an Apple store. Canadians, true to their stereotype we found are very friendly and helpful. I was surprised at how diverse the population was, I didn't expect that in Canada. I do know for sure that they don't live in igloos or eat blubber. ;)

Tommy's team got absolutely blistered. They would play well for a while and then would just collapse like a house of cards. By the end of the tourney they were trying to put an end to all superstitions and bring luck anyway they could. On the last game they wore mismatched socks. It helped for about 2 periods. Tommy also thought he would be uber cool and had his stick taped in American flag tape, however the Canadians sure showed us.



Oh well, it was fun anyways. I think the kids and maybe the parents have more fun at the hotel anyways. One complaint in Canada is you can't just buy beer anywhere. You have to go to a highly taxed "Beer Store" it's really called "The Beer Store" and Teresa Kubiak can spot them a mile away. They also close at 9, except for the special ones which close at 10 which gave us ladies some trouble as we were trying to buy brews for our manly men. I guess that is the trade off for being able to buy it at 19 years old, you can't buy it at 1:59 in the morning.

Sunday we were done early so us and the Andriot's decided to travel a little farther into Canada and headed to Niagara Falls. We all enjoyed it. Joe and I had been there in 2000 when my Dad played in a tournament there, but the others in our group had not seen it. It is quite the sight to see and it was an absolutely perfect day weather wise. We had a nice lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe before heading out on the Maid of the Mist. It was misty.






In the pictures you can see that Tommy in all confidence is saying "we're #1!" Michael & Nicole are like "yeah sure, whatever you say Tommy." Then we have Joe, Michele, Kevin, and Austin finding out the hard way why it's called "The Maid of the Mist!" into the Horseshoe Falls. Everyone loved the boat ride at about $1 a minute for 15 minutes of fun!

Hot Child in the City

Time to finish the rest of the story on New York. I still can't stop thinking about it. It was a great time.

Tuesday morning we woke up bright and early and headed out to the subway to see the Today Show. We were a bunch of crazed loonies out there hoping to get on TV. Joe chopped a few segments that we were in on the Macbook and did a good job doing it. Check it out. We saw Billy Ray Cyrus and Piers Morgan as well as the whole Today gang. The entire staff was super friendly and seemed genuinely happy to visit with the crowd. On our way there, Jill got a picture of a huge pile of puke. I'm figuring she'd start retching at any moment but she had to get a picture. Yes, she's weird like that.

After the Today show we headed to the South end of Manhattan and got on a ferry to Ellis Island where we saw the Statue of Liberty.

Then we headed back into town and visited ground zero. We took an amazing tour and heard from a retired fireman who had been there that day. We saw old St. Paul's church which was saved by a huge Sycamore tree that shielded the church when the North Tower collapsed. It was like a shrine to the victims and recovery workers and was very moving. It was hard not to cry and has left an very vivid imprint on my mind. It's still unfathomable what happened. Surreal actually, you look at a huge building in NYC and then are told the Twin Towers were twice as high and just stare up in disbelief. I just can't imagine the horrors that happened and still think sometimes, did that day really happen? It was a tough 2 hours of the trip but 2 very important hours for me to experience.

We then headed into Chinatown for some shopping. What an experience.

We got freshened up a bit and then headed to our Broadway performance of Hairspray. IT WAS AWESOME! I had never seen the movie so was surprised often and found it super enjoyable. Norm from Cheers played the part of Edna (the leads Mom) and did fabulous. He is an awesome singer. I can't wait to rent the movie to compare. It was an exclamation point on a stellar day.

I of course can't forget to tell about seeing the family of rats in the Subway. I could have done without that part of the trip. Poor Jill, along with her puke pic she was hoping for rat pics and her camera died. I had already stolen her battery stash and didn't have my camera there. DOH! Jill got yelled at by the police officer for leaning over the subway edge. We talked quite a bit with him and he told us that he had lived their so long that he didn't realize he was taking the puke and rats that come with city living for granted. ;)

Our evening ended with a little more Times Square shopping and a midnight snack at our hotel. Just that quickly our trip was over. We had a very uneventful trip home. Tired but happy.

I'm so thankful for Amy planning the trip, and for Lupe and Jill going along with our craziness. It was a trip for the record books and one I'll never forget.

In Toronto, Tommy's hockey team is 0-2. The first game was good but they got a really good thrashing the 2nd game. We'll see how tomorrow goes. We are having a good time here though. I think I know why Canadians have universal health care, everything here is CRAZY expensive. I think we will spend twice as much here in Toronto than I did in NYC.

Well I've been waiting for Photobucket to upload photos and Joe just noticed that Jill and I are posting at the same time. You can see the puke on her page. ;)


Enjoy the slideshow, sorry for the sideways pics. I'm going to bed.

Pics

Having a great time!

New York! New York!

Hello all from Lupe, Amy, Jill, and your humble correspondent. No not Bill O'Reilly. We are having a wonderful time! We've done so many exciting things and have a ton of pictures to share when we have a moment.

Today we had the taxi get into a fender bender.
Got caught in the rain twice.
Jill got stung by something and her eye blew up.
Our hotel didn't have our reservations.

And that is just the craziness! Everything else has been wonderful. The weather for the most part was beautiful. The room is great on the 35th floor. Jill has recovered from her allergy. We had a fabulous bus tour of the city, I feel like I know NY. The city at night is amazing! It's just sublime and as I look out the window, it's almost midnight and the place is still crazy just as Joe said it would be.

Will fill you in more another day but for now I'm thinking that the morning will come quickly. Be on the lookout for us tomorrow morning on the Today show.

I Love NY! But not enough to live here. ;)

Good night all!

Austincredible!

Yesterday, Austin had his EEG in Ann Arbor. He has quite a bit of anxiety about doctors after his experience in the hospital so I kind of kept quiet about it. Thursday night he overheard me talking on the phone with my MIL and just freaked out about going to the doctor. I was very apprehensive about the whole scene because he kept talking about it in his scared little voice. Everything I read about EEG's seemed like it is a fairly easy experience but the sandpaper rub on the head could be uncomfortable.

Austin woke up in an amazing mood yesterday and was just super calm about the whole thing. He traveled well and was even being his crazy self in the waiting room. Once in the exam room he was nervous but not freaked and he had a wonderful tech that put him right at ease. My darn camera batteries had died so I didn't get any pics and they would have been great with all those wires coming out of his head. It was over before we knew it. We go back for results with neurology on June 30th.

I know I over tell this story so sorry for those of you that are hearing it for the 100th time. When Austin was first down there as an infant, we brought Tommy (who was 2 1/2) down with us for the weekend to meet his little brother. There is a giant Big Bird in the one lobby and Tommy walks by amazed and says "look at that big duck!" We got a lot of flak with that story because our 2 year old didn't know who big bird was. So every trip to the hospital we make it a point to visit Big Bird. I had gotten new batteries in the gift shop so you can see Aus and that big duck.

My next 30 years...

I definitely remember thinking 30 was old and seemed like forever away. But the years just seem to keep coming faster and faster. And like the Tim McGraw song, sure I want my next 30 to be better than the first 30. However, unlike him I don't feel like I have to totally reform my life to make that happen. Thank goodness.

With age comes life experience and as long I keep learning from my mistakes and surround myself with good people, my next 30, 40, 50 years down the road should be great, God willing! With of course those curves & speed bumps we never can plan for along the way.

Life truly is a journey. When I married Joe, Fr. Jim joked about it being a short aisle at our church but marriage being a long journey. The following song lyrics are meaningful to me because first of all, Austin loves it, he just blurts out that refrain since it's so repetitive; and secondly it speaks volumes to me about the sanctity of our lives and my life personally as Dawn. I don't know how God picked my spirit to live in this body but it's been an amazing journey so far and one I feel has maybe really just begun!


Strength for the Journey by Michael John Poirier
I will be, I will be,
I will be strength for the journey.
I will be, I will be,
I will be strength for the journey.

1. There is a road meant for you to travel.
Narrow and steep is the shepherd’s way,
and as you say, "Yes,"
letting me guide you,
I will be strength for the journey.

2. There is a cross meant for you to carry.
There is a cross meant for you alone,
and as you bow down
in humble surrender,
I will be strength for the journey.

3. How many times have you doubted my word?
How many times must I call your name?
And as you say, "Yes,"
letting me love you,
I will be strength for the journey.

Drum Roll Please...

I finally scored a goal!!!! After months of anticipation I waited until the last shift of the last game to finally put one in! Yahoo! It was a breakaway goal and I just shot it hard and by golly it hit the back of the net. Yes!

It was our playoff night so we had to play both Jill's purple team and the pink team. The first game we lost 2-0 but played well. It was a very rough and physical game. They have an awesome defense and I don't think Jill saw a shot from our team. We tied the pink team 1-1. (Thanks to me...hehe)

My Dad, Mom, and the boys were there. Joe had to go into work because his phone system blew up. I'm sure he'll blog about it. My family must have been going crazy! I know I was.

After the game the coach gave some feel good talk about how everyone has improved and all good stuff. He comes back a few minutes later with a puck and I don't remember really what he said but he tells everyone that he is giving it to my son, the little blonde for being our team's biggest fan. I didn't even know he noticed Austin but I guess he did. Austin was on Cloud 9 when I got out of the locker room. So it was a pretty special night.

They are going to have a summer session of hockey. Jill and I will be in NYC next week so we will miss the draft. Will we end up on the same team? Or will we continue our friendly rivalry? Time will tell. Our team finished 2-3-2. Not bad, and totally fun win or lose!

Austin the Insult Comic Kid

My poor Mom got a good insulting slam from Austin yesterday. If we are not careful he both may end up needing sensitivity training. Sorry Mom if you are reading this, but being this is my diary I just can't let these funnies drift away to the far off reaches of my sometimes overloaded brain.

Anyways, we were out shopping at Kohl's and my Mom was trying on some sleeveless shirts. I mentioned something about her "bat wings" in a certain shirt and Austin chimes in with "fat wings!" LOL, you can bet we laughed about that one. Good thing she is such a good sport especially with Austin's humor.

The only thing missing is a gold bow-tie and cigar and Aus could be Triumph from Conan's show. He's got the insults down.

Switching gears, Tommy had a ball game tonight and he made his pitching debut. He only threw 2 pitches when the kid got a hit to short. They then called the game because the big storm was coming. It was a doozey too! We made it home just before the horizontal rain and monsoon winds arrived. The neighbors lost two huge pine trees! It was crazy! Tommy starts playoffs tomorrow so he might not be pitching again, it was cool to see him on the mound though, even for just one batter.

On our first day of summer vacation I awoke to a lake in the kitchen. Our freezer had quit working and the Popsicles, ice cream, and ice cubes among other things were melting. Oh stress. Thankfully it was just a part and a fairly cheap fix. Mess mess, the fridge is now running and looking brand new as it got a good scrubbing. I guess that is a positive. Hopefully we will not have anymore broken appliances, that would not be good!

Have a great weekend. Ciao people!

Like Sands through the Hourglass

Just a little plug for my favorite soap. But my does it seem like the days in my life are a flying by. So much excitement going on in our lives right now. This post will both THRILL you and CHILL you!! Eh, maybe not.

Oh my goodness, the Penguins just tied the hockey game with 34.3 seconds from the cup! Oy, looks like this game is going to sudden death! Oh my, what an exciting game. I just hope we end up on top.

In my hockey action tonight, the Blue Angels played Jill's purple burple team and by golly we won 1-0! Poor Jill has been sicker than a dog today and the goal was one of those fluke shoot from behind and bounced in off of her I think. Our goalie Tammy was amazing!! She stopped so many shots. The coach bumped me back to defense today and I could have cried when he told me but the end result looks good. But Tammy seriously saved my crappy butt tonight! I don't like defense but he already told me that is where I am playing next week for our playoff. Grrr!! I was so happy to see my Mom, and coworkers Julie and Lisa in the stands tonight with their husbands. For a week I get bragging rights!! Woot! Jill and I are reunited Saturday with the Hat Chicks for an away game against Lapeer. Too cool.

Poor Jill's day was awful as Fr. Bill made her some of her beloved homemade whipping cream. At lunch she said she was going home to rest up for the big game and so some of us got into her whipping cream. Then Julie, goes and drags Jill back in to defend her whipping cream. Darn Julie, we see who she loves. ;) Anyhoo, us staff members decided to get even with her and while cleaning out a supply room found a life size cardboard cut out of a man. I ninja'd my way past 3 office workers including Julie's office and placed Mr. Man in the bathroom. It wasn't 10 minutes after and there is a message over the loudspeaker, "SOMEONE NEEDS TO COME GET THE MAN OUT OF THE BATHROOM!!!" Success, he freaked Julie right out! It was great! Way to go team!

School is out for the students already and tomorrow is my last work day. It was a GREAT year! One of the best years I've had teaching. Yay! I will miss this class. We had a nice send off for the 8th graders on Saturday night but my one poor boy was also sicker than a dog and threw up the whole night but didn't want to leave. Bless his heart. It was definitely a graduation that I will remember every year. He left his mark. Poor Joe is not feeling well today either so some sort of nasty germs are going around. Ick ick!

Tommy got a very good report card and should have no trouble in 2nd grade. Amazing that I have a 2nd grader. He was asked to be on an 8 and under Reese baseball team so he will be playing baseball through July now. The summer just gets busier by the day.

Yesterday our Stockmeyer Sod Farm coed ball team had our first game of the season. We won with a 15-0 mercy. Everyone played great. It was so not like our team, I don't think we've ever done that. We'll see if we can keep up our winning ways next Sunday. Joe & Dad played awesome going 2-2. Dad bought a $200 bat and it seems to be helping. Lance had an over the fence home run!

Austin and Tommy went to the St. E summer camp today for childcare while I worked. I about died tonight when we left and Austin pulls his pants just past his butt and says my butt needs some air, it's sweaty. Oh please Lord don't let him do that with people around. The kid kills me with comedy.

5 minutes into sudden death overtime! I hope the Wings can pull it off! So many chances!!! It's good to be a Detroit fan these days!