December Highlights

We’ve had a busy month! To spare you the great details, I will summarize the highlights:

November 26th - Thanksgiving:

We had a very nice Thanksgiving at my cousin Andrea’s house. All the kids are growing up so fast it’s hard to believe how big they’re all getting. TJ is 9 already, Chloe is talking up a storm and very social, and Max is walking! Then of course there’s us expecting our first so we’ll be adding to the mix next year. Mike is preparing for fatherhood by playing with the kids. I believe Chloe beat him at gator golf!
December 4th- Art Hop:

Every first Friday of the month downtown Kalamazoo hosts an Art Hop for local artists to display their work and to promote downtown businesses. A big part of the draw is local businesses hosting local artists will offer free wine/Champagne and refreshments while people walk around. We met up with some friends at a local Italian restaurant and had a nice dinner before taking off to look at the different art work. The night was pretty cold and it had started snowing heavily but we made it through and had a great time. My friend Kim brought her daughter Natalie who is such a trooper and handles moving around from place to place very well. She didn’t make a peep the whole night!

Mike took advantage of my inability to drink and helped himself to many of the refreshments offered at the various places. It also didn’t help that Kalamazoo isn’t a very big town so we ran into a lot of people we knew who all were mingling and drinking. Overall it was a great time, although we did not buy any art work, and we made it home at a decent hour.

December 7th - Christmas is coming!

Once again we bought our tree from a local tree farm and put it up. This year we had to put it on our large family room because we are planning to paint our formal living room, dining room and kitchen later this month. I didn’t go crazy on the decorations this year just because I knew we would be painting and I didn’t want to take everything down later.

December 19th - Stryker Christmas Party

This year the Stryker Christmas party was held at the Radisson. Last year was a disaster because we had a huge snow storm and the location of the party was so inconvenient, people were waiting hours for their cars and the valet was losing people’s keys, etc. I guess after that Stryker decided to change venues. Mike and I were happy with the change because the Radisson has a huge parking garage and a few of a our favorite restaurants to visit in case the party got boring.

The theme was Casino so they had fake money for people to gamble or you could use them as addition raffle tickets for big prizes. They didn’t have slot machines, just card tables, so I didn’t play anything. Mike lost a bit in some table games but saved some for the raffle. Unfortunately we did not win anything in the raffle =( There was also a comedy show, dancing and other things to do. We had a really nice time but were very exhausted by the time the night was over.

December 17 – 22nd – Painting Project
** See more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/dssmolsky

After two and a half years in this house, we finally started painting! Granted, we did the bathroom months ago but that still wasn’t finished. Mike, his dad, and my mom all worked really hard to get the painting done before the holidays. We decided to paint the three rooms a shade of green to match the rug and paintings we bought earlier. I’m really happy with the living room but the kitchen and dining room need to grow on me. I think it doesn’t help there is nothing to pull the colors together in the kitchen/dining room like the rug and paintings do in the living room. Just one step at a time…

December 24th – Christmas Eve

As usual, my husband is still doing his finishing touches on the house. I’m panicking slightly because we have Mike’s family coming for Christmas dinner and the house is in shambles. I spent most of this day making cookies and preparing for Christmas. I was not having a good start. I made a horrible batch of cookies that tasted like sand, my basement flooded from a load of laundry that didn’t drain properly, I only had time to wash half the clothes on the floor before we had to leave for a Christmas party at Norm and Mary’s! Since the day didn’t go as planned, I knew we were in for a long night.

We did stop for a break at Norm and Mary’s house for Christmas. We had a really nice time and needed the break from cleaning/painting/putting things back in order. We stayed about an hour and half visiting and eating before we had to head back home to finish for Christmas.

After working until 4 a.m., we had the house in somewhat good shape for Christmas day. It was a very long night for a pregnant lady!

December 25th, Christmas Day

We manged to drag ourselves out of bed early enough to catch the last Christmas mass on Christmas day. We then headed back home to finish cleaning and getting ready for our guests. It took all day but by about 4 o’clock we had the downstairs finished enough for company!

The ham I bought turned out great and I think the meal was up to everyone’s standards =) I don’t claim to be a good cook- I can bake but not cook. I was really excited though because I finally had the opportunity to use our new china from Mike’s parents. They handed down the china from Mike’s grandmother. It’s very beautiful and I was so grateful for the complete set with serving dishes and everything! I’ll look forward to using it year after year =)

I managed to surprise Mike with a repaired Neptune model. If you remember, Louis destroyed his months ago. I tried to see if they had spares at work but Mike didn’t want to trouble anyone to make a new one. I thought the matter was closed when one day I received an email out of the blue from an engineer telling me he had made Mike a new model and I just needed to pick it up. I am so proud I kept it a secret until Christmas. Mike is very happy to have his new model and had been very protective of it. No one but him has touched it since he got it! I also surprised him with a bowling lesson. He is a little obsessed with bowling right now but he is improving his game greatly which is more than I can say about my own game. We’re still in a league but I’m not doing great!

Otherwise, we also received some very nice gifts from Mike’s parents, Tia and Steve and the Gibson’s. Since we’re old now it’s kind of nice to be surprised with gifts at Christmas! I managed to finish my gift baskets in time to give everyone. I only do baked goods and canned goods though. I don’t really do any shopping…

December 27th – Catch up!

Yesterday we were complete beached whales sitting in the mess from Christmas day and just relaxing after a hectic few weeks. We did leave the house long enough to get food and see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. We liked it a lot. I was slightly disappointed they didn’t follow the stories very well but overall the movie was entertaining. Not to sound like a snob but how could they make Sherlock Holmes without mentioning his heron addiction and making him swoon over a woman! In the stories Sherlock admired one woman but I would say he was far from swooning over her. Anyways, I know I’m taking the story too seriously =) It was only PG-13 after all…

Right now I’m trying to finish my mountain of laundry and dishes. I’m making progress! We have bowling league again tonight so I only have a limited time to finish what I need to get done.

Baby Update

Pregnancy is going well. I’m feeling much perkier now that I’m in the second trimester. I’m 18 weeks along now and have my big ultrasound on December 31st – at which point I will be 19 weeks. We plan to find out what we’re having if the baby will cooperate. We just hope everything is going well and the baby is healthy. In the last few weeks I’ve started feeling movement. It’s small but happens every once in awhile when I sit very quietly. I’ve also noticed the baby tends to move a lot when we go to the movies. I assume it’s because I sit still for a long period of time and the theater is usually loud.

I have no started the baby room or anything like that yet. We want to wait until we find out if we’re having a boy or girl before we start any new projects!

Blog Pending!

I know it's been awhile but I've had a lot going on =) We're currently painting (as I type I am only taking a break) our living room, dining room and kitchen. I'll have updates as soon as possible. Most likely after Christmas when I'm not working and I have a day to devote to blogging!

Chicago Bound...

Friday, November 13th

After a really long week where I tried to cram too much into one day 5 times this week, I was so grateful for the start of the weekend on Friday night! I was also very surprised to see a bouquet of flowers when I arrived home. Mike had bought me flowers to celebrate our anniversary =) I know it was last week but we're celebrating tomorrow in Chicago. It was very sweet of him and made me smile!

Tonight we had plans to visit my parents in Battle Creek for a late celebration of their anniversary, my dad's birthday, and Mike and my anniversary. We had a nice meal at Applebees and then played a few games of bowling.

Mom and Dad claimed they had not bowled in 20+ years so Mike and I, on a league after all, thought we would beat them flat. Not the case... my mother bowled a 120 game on her first shot! I didn't even break 80... Mike did a bit better with like a 135 or something but all in all, it was a terrible game for us. We did play another round but Mom still beat me and I was greatly disappointed. Dad and I competed pretty closely but with a little practice I know he would beat me easily. Maybe I should get bowling lessons...

Overall we had a great time and agreed we should get together again to go bowling. Mom and Dad discussed getting their own bowling balls so maybe they will join their own league!

Saturday, November 14th

Today we had to get up very early to catch a charter bus to Chicago. Our employer offers a chartered bus to Chicago once a year for Christmas shopping. Mike and I didn't want to go shopping but we did want to have a day in Chicago. When we were dating we frequently went to Chicago for the day just to have a good time walking around.

We did end up doing a little window shopping but overall we didn't see too many stores. We found the Hershey store and their crazy candy bar sizes. The smell was so nice too... fresh chocolate from the factory is the best.

In addition to great smells at the chocolate store, it was a fantastic day out - in the mid-60s with no wind. We couldn't believe our luck. The only downside was having to drag our coats around all day. Two years ago in October when we were in Chicago I remember freezing just from the wind blocks away from the lake. It was terrible.

We did end up seeing "Boondocks Saints II" since it's still in limited release everywhere. We liked the first movie and enjoyed the second as well. It wasn't as good as the first but we were still entertained. After the movie we walked a bit around Millennium Park and then headed to dinner at a memorable restaurant.

Three years ago in October Mike and I made our relationship "official" at the Chop House Restaurant in downtown Chicago. We made reservations to celebrate our first anniversary (a week late) at the same restaurant. We had a fantastic meal and stuffed ourselves just before we had to return to the bus. We had a great time even if it was a short trip =)

Sunday, November 15th

Today was a pretty relaxed day... Mike and I were exhausted after getting up early and staying out late for the Chicago trip. We slept most of the day away before getting around to a few things we needed to do around the house. Before we knew it, it was time for bowling league!

I had a crazy first game where I scored the highest I ever have in bowling: 146! It was amazing but for only one game. After that I was back down to the 90s. I did raise my average a bit though. Mike also did well but I can never remember his exact numbers... I think his average is in the 150s now.

Monday, November 16th

Today we officially announced we are expecting Baby Dozeman in May 2010 =) It's been a very rough 12 weeks keeping it to ourselves but we wanted to make sure everything was okay before we spread the news.

I'm feeling great and not having too many problems. I have a lot of nausea but no morning sickness really. I feel like I eat all the time even though I'm not really hungry - ever. They tell me that will change as time goes on but I'm also hoping I won't become a whale throughout this pregnancy =)

Mike has been a great support. He's come to every appointment and read about four books by now. He's really ready to become a dad and I'm so thrilled he's as excited as me. We find out whether or not we're having a boy or girl on December 31st. I believe that's like 45 days or so from now =)

Tuesday, November 17th

Speaking of babies, my friend Michele had her baby last night so Melanie and I made a quick trip to the hospital to visit her. She and baby are doing well. It hits a bit closer to home for me now when I think, geez, this will be me in less than 6 months!!

The rest of this week looks pretty normal for me. Mike's going on a business trip tomorrow and Thursday. Luckily his trips are never too long! I give up asking what they're for anymore. I can never keep up with his projects =)

Halloween, Concert & First Anniversary

I know it's been awhile but honestly, we've been pretty boring lately. We do have a few fun events to mention though...

Saturday - Halloween - October 31st

Today was a pretty laid back day up until Trick or Treating. We had prepared 110 treat bags because in previous years we've had about 100 kids. This year the weather was really nice and only got down into the 50s. We had some really cute kids come around earlier in the night. Some memorable ones were a little girl dressed as a Jellyfish and three little boys who were all pirates traveling in a homemade pirate ship made out of cardboard and glued to their power wheels car. They used the boat to go house to house so it was priceless! I wish I had taken a picture. In addition to the cute mode of transportation, when they came up to trick or treat I said, "Wow! Those are some scary costumes." One of the boys, probably 4 years old, replied, "Doh! We're pirates!" I thought that was hilarious.

After an hour and half we had a lot more kids than expected. By 7:45 we were out of candy bags and started giving out our personal stash of candy. Once the coast was clear we turned off all the lights and hid in our living room. Not ten minutes later we had some very obnoxious teenagers ringing our doorbell repeatedly demanding candy. Mike told them we were sorry but we were out of candy and three of the seven revolted and said, "What, no candy!?" and started to come at Mike. Luckily they're only 13ish so once Mike turned on all the lights again and started to go outside, obviously towering over them, the rest ran away. Luckily that was the only issue we had and thankfully we did not get TPed for running out of candy.

Saturday, November 7th

Today I went to a concert with my mom and friend Kathryn. We went to see Celtic Women who is often on PBS and a group I've enjoyed in the past. They had a very cool concert and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. I was a little disappointed they didn't sing as many Celtic or original songs (they do a lot of remakes) but I still enjoyed it.

Since Mike was not interested in the concert he went with his friends to a Pinball Party. A friend of a friend collects Pinball machines and once a year he and his wife have this Pinball Party. Mike said it was a lot of fun and he was shocked to see so many Pinball machines in one ranch-style house. He said there were rows and rows of them. He did take a picture on his camera. I'll see if I can get that on the blog somehow.

Sunday, November 8th

Today is our 1 year anniversary! We made it a year and things are still going well =) We had a nice relaxing day of just lazing around. We did pull out the old wedding cake we've been saving since the wedding day. I was very pessimistic about the cake so I bought a spare at the bakery. We did let the old cake thaw and Mike and I tried a piece.

I thought it was terrible. I spit out my piece shortly after it was in my mouth. It tasted like an old Popsicle that was too close to the side of the freezer and had serious freezer burn. Mike on the other hand thought it tasted good and he finished his piece. I decided to not bother and cut up our new cake. I tried to warn Mike the cake was bad but he didn't believe me until later when the cake he ate made him sick =P After he was ill he agreed I could throw out the remaining cake.

Monday, November 9th

Today we took our cat Louie to the vet. He had some caked blood on his paw that we noticed yesterday and we couldn't figure out what he did. He wasn't limping or anything but there was definitely something wrong with his foot.

I took him in after work and after the vet and a few techs held Louie down and snipped the tuffs of fur out of his toes we had a clear view of burned skin and a few burn blisters. Somehow Louie burned his foot! Obviously it's been bothering him so he's been licking at it causing irritation and the blood we saw. The vet came him a strong antibiotic to help with the healing and pain so hopefully Louie will leave it alone and let it heal. Now we're just watching him.

Mike and I think he did it on the space heater. He loves to sleep by the heat and usually is too close for comfort. The other possibility is our glass stove which he's not allowed on but I'm not watching him 24/7 =) Hopefully this is the last time it happens but we're certainly trying to keep a closer eye on him.

Finally... Furniture!!

Wednesday, October 14th -

Finally... after weeks of searching we found and had delivered a new living room sofa and love seat! It's a little out of place now but it's a start. Next we'll focus on end tables (arriving soon from Mike's grandfather's estate) and pictures for the walls. Once we have those, we can choose our colors and start painting. I'm super excited to actually be starting the redecorating process =)

Thursday, October 15th -

Today we had dinner with our friends Adam, Jessica, Hannah, Maya, Kim, Phil & Natalie. We had a great time playing with the kids and just hanging out with everyone. Life is so busy it's hard to find time we're all free to get together. Plus, every time we do, the kids are usually twice as big as the last time we saw them!

Maya & Natalie

Hannah & Adam

Kim & Natalie's Arm =)

Maya

Jessica & Hannah

Adam & Hannah, Natalie & Phil, & Kim

Saturday, October 17th -

I've always talked about having a Harry Potter party but I never got around to actually doing it. Finally, this year I told my friends I was having one no matter what! I didn't plan very far in advance but I invited every HP fan I knew to come. A lot of people loved the idea but the day didn't work out well for them. In the end I had about 7 people confirmed. On the day I lost 3 to sickness and 1 to an unexpected event! I had two troopers who stayed despite the low numbers - My mom and friend Melanie =)

Mom and I dressed up and I think we look great. Mom put a lot more time into her costume than I did though. Maybe next year I'll be more prepared. For the actual party the three of us tried to eat what we could but we ended up with a ton of leftovers. We watched two HP movies and then called it a day.

Sunday, October 18th -

After my party I was pretty spent so Mike and I didn't do much this day. In the end I think we looked for some pictures for the living room and then went to our bowling league. We kicked butt in bowling this week. Last time we lost every game and this time we won every game. Mike's average went up quite a bit from all the practice he's been putting in. Mine stayed the same. I will be happy if I average 120 by the end of the league.

Tuesday, October 20th -

Melanie and I have started our Christmas baskets! Usually we're very behind but this year we're trying to get on top of things. We made our first item for the baskets - Applesauce! We're very happy how it turned out and were shocked how easy it was (after all the peeling and slicing... that took forever). We're becoming canning pros. At first we weren't so great but now we've made a few mistakes and learned from them so the canning process is going very smooth for us.

Friday, October 23rd -

Today I relaxed and watched a chick flick (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past) and had a quite night to myself while Mike and his buddies went out to the Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek. Apparently he had a great time because he didn't get back home until about 3 a.m.! Luckily he broke even gambling so it wasn't a wash financially. I haven't heard too many people coming back as big winners from that particular casino. I think some people won early on but not anymore. Maybe someday we'll win big too =)

Saturday, October 24th -

Once Mike recovered from his night of gambling and drinking, we went to Grand Rapids to look for pictures for the living room. I'm surprised how hard it is to find places what have a lot of choices for living room photos. We didn't want anything special... maybe a nature scene or something colorful yet not too contemporary. We couldn't find anything in GR. After a day of looking at all kinds of places and finding some art gallery paintings considerably out of the budget, we were tired and grumpy. We came home kind of late and I crashed on the couch while Mike played a few hours of Rock Band. We lead such an exciting life...

Sunday, October 25th -

Today Melanie and I planned to make our second basket item: Salsa! Last year we had a pretty good batch so we were optimistic about this year. After hours of peeling, chopping, cooking, canning, etc, we ended up with an even better batch than last year salsa! We think the trick is this year we used lime juice instead of lemon and it really made a huge difference. We also made larger jars this time around. Last year we had really small jars which were more personal size than sharing size.

In between all the cooking, Mike and I stopped by a Persian rug place in town that we made a quick stop at yesterday. The owner runs the place and is a super nice guy. We looked at several rugs yesterday and loved one particular set for our living room. We gave ourselves 24 hours to think about it but today we decided we liked them well enough to buy. I think they compliment the couches well but the walls really need some color now.

We also lucked out because the rug dealer happened to be selling some student art work in his shop. We found two real oil paintings for dirt cheap done by a New York art student. After such horrible luck yesterday, we were thrilled to find something we liked! They're not exactly what I wanted but for the price and the quality, we're very happy with what we got. Now we just need to work on the paint colors!

Fall is here...

Thursday, October 8th

After work I met up with my friend Kim to start a pumpkin project for Halloween. We planned to make pumpkins our of old glass jars we didn't use anymore. Kim got the idea off a friend's blog. We got started but soon ran out of time because we were invited for Margarita night at another friends house. We at least got a start on the project... I'll post pictures later with more before and afters of the pumpkin project.

Me, Kim, Erin and Kristi all met up at Kristi's house for the Margarita night. I was so jealous of Kristi's house because it was nicely decorated and she had furniture in EVERY room. I know we're getting there but I was green with envy =) Anyways, the night was a blast and I'm so disappointed I didn't get any pictures of the fun (kicks self). I will be sure to get pictures next time. We all enjoyed the night so much we agreed to do it again soon. We'll start rotating houses or something.

Friday, October 9th

Today we continued last week dinner and a movie tradition with Melanie and Bruco. In an effort to save money we're cooking in and watching on demand movies or something on DVD. This week we watched a British TV series Melanie brought called "Coupling". It was a mix of "Sex in the City," "Seinfeld" and something else... Anyways, it was really funny and we agreed to we should watch a few more episodes next dinner/movie night.

Saturday October 10th

Today we went furniture shopping... I'll talk more about that in Sunday's entry. It's depressing.

Saturday night we went to visit our friends the Brockman's and their new arrival: Garrett Christopher Brockman. He was born on Friday and both Mom and baby are doing great. Mike and I are beginning to feel out numbered by our friends with children!

Sunday October 11th

Today and yesterday were pretty much the same thing: Furniture shopping. I swear Mike and I are about done with furniture shopping. We've looked at every furniture place within a 50 mile radius and been greatly disappointed. Not that the selections aren't great but more our budget does not meet our taste. We loved things twice our budget. So, in the end I think we finally decided we liked this one set enough from Taslma in Grand Rapids to consider buying it. We're still on a fence a bit but I think it's only because we want to continue having the illusion we'll get what we want for the exact price we want. Short of estate sales, I'm not sure how that will happen.

Otherwise, after a long two days of furniture shopping, we made a quick stop at the Cider Mill to get into the fall spirit. We drank some cider, ate some donuts, walked the apple orchard, picked out a pumpkin and a basket of mums for the front porch. It was really chilly but overall it was a really nice time.

Afterward we headed home for a much needed break. Or at least I did. Mike decided two weeks without mowing was too long so he decided to go out and do yard work. I didn't sit around completely... I decided it was a great time to finish the pumpkin project. I'm very pleased with the results!!

Birthday Celebration, Fall of the Neptune, First Bowling League Game

Tuesday, September 29th - Lois's Birthday

After work we headed off to Grand Rapids to celebrate Lois's birthday. We started off the night playing a few rounds of bowling. Mike and I want to get our practice in before our first league game. We both didn't bowl great - I couldn't break 100 and Mike stuck around the 130, 140s - but it was just practice, right? Once we admitted defeat for the night we all headed to Carabba's for a really nice dinner. Somehow Tia managed to avoid my camera all night... I'm not sure how that happened when I'm sure I saw her getting ready for a photo and then the next thing I knew it was time for me to bowl the moment was gone. I will get her and Steve another time!

Wednesday, September 30th - The Fall of the Neptune

Some of you may remember last December/early January when Mike worked on a project for a new product called Neptune II. It was a major product for our company and many engineers, including Mike, put in 80-90 hours a week at the end to launch the product successfully. Well after all their hard work was done and the product was on the market, they had a celebration dinner for those who worked on the project. They handed out awards and mentioned each team member by name. Anyways, as a token of appreciation, all team members received a miniature model of the Neptune II. Mike loved it and displayed it proudly in our home.

It has been on our book shelf in the living room since that award ceremony. That is until Louis finally found it. I came home today to find the Neptune out of it's glass container and scattered in little pieces all over the living room floor. The main body of the model had teeth marks, the wheels were completely off and the label on the glass globe was licked almost completely off. I looked at Louis with sympathy as told him Daddy was going to kill him.

Luckily I managed to get to Mike before he came home and I made him tell me over and over that he loved Louis and that he would remember that when he got home. He was very upset but I'm proud he did not harm the cat. Unfortunately for the Neptune, it is not repairable.

Saturday, October 3rd - Je parle Francais... un peu.

Today I started a new french class! I always said that I wanted to be fluent in french but its been almost 5 years since I graduated college and I've made no attempt to take a class. I took a leap and joined a group in my Kalamazoo French Language Club called "Toward Fluency". The entire thing is in French so it was a bit of a shocker for me at first but I'm proud to say I understood 90% of what they said. It's amazing how quickly it comes back but equally amazing how much I've forgotten. Wish me luck... this is a 14 week program that meets for two hours each Saturday night. I'm nervous but I think I'll made.


Sunday, October 4th - Our First Bowling League Game!

Yes, today is it - the first day of our bowling league! We were a little nervous about the first day but I think we did well. We even had a fan club (Mom and Dad Smolsky)! It was the first time I bowled with my newly drilled-to-fit-my-hand ball and I did surprisingly well. I don't have the stats with me but I bowled like 120, 113 & 105. I'm not sure what Mike bowled exactly but he had a bad first game where he barely broke 100 and the other two games he picked up and did like in the 130, 140s. The team we played against had a heavy handicap for the skills on the team. We were irritated because they bowled just as well as us or better but we kept starting the game with negative numbers to make up for their handicap. So unfair. We didn't win the round but we did kick their butts on the last game!

Monday, October 5th - Mike's Out


Today Mike had to leave very early for another business trip. Luckily this one is just one night. I'm not really sure what he's doing. I can't keep track (no matter how hard I try) of what he's doing. I swear he's working on like 4 things at once. Anyways, I took the opportunity to get some things done around the house. I worked my tail off and cleaned the garage, the house and did some laundry. I know it doesn't sound like much but trust me, the garage was a mess and the house was equally trashed/dirty. I'm very pleased with the results. My only casualty was when Louis drank oil off the cement floor from the leaking chain saw. Gross. I almost called the vet to find out what I should do but I've given up doing such things now. After he eats wasps, gets into things he shouldn't and just overall is in to everything. I'm taking a stand back role and waiting for him to fall over before I call the vet with yet another dumb Louis move.

Tuesday, October 6th - Laundry...

Laundry is never done. I'm working on the rest of the laundry and some ironing I've avoiding for a long time. Not very exciting. I did manage to get this blog updated though so at least I can feel some sense of accomplishment this week. I have a busy few days too. Wednesday we need to winterize some things before it SNOWS this weekend. Thursday I'm doing some crafts with a friend and going out for Margarita's, then it will be Friday and our hectic weekend plans will start all over again =)