May Highlights

I know, I'm very behind. I'll try my best to give a summary so you won't have to read a blog novel =)

Saturday, May 9th

Today Mike and I worked out butts off to get the outdoor gardening done around the house. I'm not really much of a gardener yet but I do like a few flowers and weed-free flower beds. We started pretty early and worked the entire day to get things together. I weeded and Mike hauled mulch. By the end of the day we had everything looking pretty good and the flowers were planted! My hands hurt for days afterward from the motion of pulling weeds. I was grateful it wasn't a really warm weekend so we could work hard and not sweat to death.

Sunday, May 10th

Today is Mother's Day and we planned a dinner event for my mother and mother in law. My sister Cam helped a great deal with the food and Mike grilled burgers for us on his new grill (bird free for those of you who remember the Grill Babies story). Overall the day was really fun and everyone had a good time. Cam and I both bought dessert because it was one detail we forgot to discuss and then laughed when we realized we both bought the SAME dessert!! (Strawberry cake).

Saturday & Sunday May 16th & 17th

My college friend Carmen from Indianapolis came up to visit me for the weekend in between her graduate semesters. I felt terrible because I forgot to mention the recent news about a bridge on I-94 closing due to some problems. It caused a huge mess for everyone and she got caught in the middle of it! Thankfully she had a cell phone so I was able to pull up Mapquest and get her out of it over the phone. It took her an additional hour to get here because of my blunder!

The weekend was super fun though. We went out to the bars and did some downtown shopping. Unfortunately it was another colder weekend so we didn't spend as much time downtown as I would have liked. It was just too cold to walk around and have fun. I made Carmen attend a themed girls night in party at Melanie's where we all dressed up. I did have a corset on when I got there but the stupid thing is too tight on me now. I need to cut back on the cookies =) We had a great time though. There was some fun costumes.

The night we hit the bars. At one bar it was pretty cool because it was a piano bar and when the piano player noticed Carmen wasn't singing one of the group songs, he pulled her up on stage to sing with him at the piano. Carmen was mortified but our group that it was the coolest thing to happen all night =)

Unfortunately I did not find any hot guys for Carmen to party with over the weekend but I will continue to keep my eyes open in case someone else pops up!

Tuesday, May 19th

Today I became a star. Well, sort of. I'm still working on miscellaneous projects with Sally our Communication Manager and she asked me to model in one of her photo shoots for our cast cutter product line. I thought it sounded very cool so I accepted. It took up most of my morning but I didn't care. We shot at Borgess Healthcare downtown in their ER. One of the marketing managers and another marketing manager's daughter were also in the shoot. In the final photo the daughter and me at the most prominent people in the shot with just the marketing managers hands in the photo. Sally thinks the brochure will be available in July so I'll have to post it when we get it in.

As for the article update - it is complete and I believe in final stages for publication. I understand it will all be online so I'll post a link once I know where it is. For those of you who are curious, it's an article about our new Sterishield (they look like spacesuits) personal protection line called Flyte. It's a really neat new product.

Saturday, Sunday & Monday - May 23rd, 24th & 25th

This weekend my niece came up from Indiana to visit us. We had a really nice time with her although a bit exhausting =) Tiffani is far easier than J.T. because she's 12 (almost 13) and can take care of herself without supervision. The only down side to her is she hates pictures so I have only a few of Mike and I to post!

On Saturday we went to see Terminator at the movies, shopped at the mall and a few book stores, watched a ton of movies at home and even played some board games.

While Tiff and I were at the mall shopping, Mike was hard at work setting up our new Drip Irrigation System. I'm very excited about this because we will finally have a way to water our hanging baskets consistently. I'm terrible at remembering and we're always so busy and on the go it's one job that is frequently forgotten. Our neighbor set up his and got Mike started on the idea. Thankfully it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be so Mike was able to get it all done by himself. I'm very proud of him =)

On Sunday we went to Grand Rapids so Mike could fix some problems on his parents computer. Tiff and I spent the day at the downtown museum and walked around a bit afterward. The museum was fun but a little too young for Tiff. We did watch a Dinosaur show at their planetarium dome thing. I thought the movie was terrible but Tiff seemed to like it.

Monday we took Tiff back to Indiana and spent the afternoon with Russ, Sandy, J.T., Tiff and my parents. Russ and Sandy planned a really elaborate cookout for us with hot dogs, pork chops, shrimp, chicken and a ton of sides. We ate until we felt like bursting. Mike and I had to leave early, unfortunately, to get back so Mike could mow the lawn. It was a very frustrating trip home because there was construction on I-65 so we waited in traffic almost an hour before getting on to the highway we needed. I called Mom to tell her to avoid the area and she and Dad managed to get home 20 minutes after us! Totally not fair when we left an hour earlier =P

Thursday, May 28th

Today I had a pretty uneventful day at work. Afterwards my coworkers had a party for one of girls who is moving to another position next week. We're all sad to see her go but wish her the best at her new job. I didn't stay too long because I wanted to go shopping for a Bridal Shower I have tomorrow at work. These showers just never end =)

This weekend is pretty busy once again. Tomorrow I have the shower and hopefully we'll be spending some time with Melanie and Bruco. Saturday we have a wedding reception for another couple who just got married in Tennessee two weeks ago. They had a small ceremony down there with a few family members and are now celebrating with their friends. Sunday is open so far but I'm sure something will come up after church =)

I'll do my best to keep you all updated on our lives when I have the time. This summer is so crazy for us I'm not sure how often that will be!

Swine Flu... ? No, Just Allergies...

Monday April 21st - Thursday April 23rd

I have no idea what I did this week.

Friday, April 24th

The only notable thing on this day is I finished my article! I wasn't completely satisfied with it early on in the day so I emailed it to Sally, the project manager, to ask her to read it over and let me know what she thought. I asked her to be brutal... I could take it. (Not really, but I told her that anyways). I wrote a nice email and attached my rough draft. I hit send and wanted to throw up. I felt like there was no turning back now... it was sent.

Thankfully, Sally loved it. With a few edits the document was done. I felt a huge rush of relief the project was complete and Sally was happy with it. The article is currently in the editing wheel - meaning it's on its way to be published but I'm sure it's going through many more editorial eyes and changes before it actually makes it to any publication. I'll try to remember to post it when it's available.

Sunday -April 26th

Today is my boss/friend Kim's baby shower for her family. We had the work shower but this was a more personal party. Kim's sisters hosted the event and did a great job. The party was at Kim's grandmother's retirement community lounge area. It was pretty big and had everything you needed for a large party. Phil and Kim got a lot of gifts (Phil did very well displaying them all for the crowd) and we played some neat games. Phil got a "baby changing outfit" which was really a gag gift of scrubs and other protective gear for when babies have "blown outs". One of the games I actually won a very neat serving dish because I was good at the "Old Wives Tales" of babies. I.E. If you carry high, you're having a _____ (girl). Etc.

After the party Mike and I decided to enjoy the rest of the beautiful day by driving to South Haven to check out the beach. It wasn't as warm at the beach as we hoped but I was still able to walk down the pier without needing a coat. It's so refreshing to have warm weather again... the winter was really bringing me down.

Monday, April 27th

Today I showed up at work on time, as usual, but today when I walked by Kim's office, she wasn't there. I didn't think much of at at the time because Kim has a million doctors appointments at this point in her pregnancy. I was worried however when I got back to my desk and Erin said my other boss wanted to talk to us both. At that point I thought Kim was exhausted from the party and took the day off.

So we get into my bosses office and he reveals Kim's water broke early Monday morning (3 a.m.) and she would not be returning to the office. So... three weeks early, Natalie Claire Amsterburg made her way into the world around 5 p.m. Monday night. Mom and baby are both healthy. The rest of the Distributor Relations team is crying she couldn't make it the additional month =)

Tuesday, April 28th - Friday May 1st

Most of this week I'm catching up on stuff and trying to make sure we're set for the 12 weeks Kim will be gone. My team is great and very helpful. I actually feel like we'll be fine without her for the three months. However, I am counting down the days until she is back. The crap she deals with on a regular basis is exhausting... I truly appreciate her patience with the many people who call. I had no idea I was so sheltered from the numerous requests and questions she gets in a normal day. Thankfully nothing I can't handle yet but, I'm really only on week one. I do have her phone number though =)

Saturday, May 2nd

Today is my friend Lee's Shower/Bachelorette party. Our day started out with lunch at Food Dance Cafe and then on to the Radisson for games and drinks. We were at the Radisson quite awhile before we took off for dinner. I actually took off to meet up with Mike, Melanie and Bruco for dinner before the parties met back up again for partying/dancing/etc.

I was greatly disappointed with myself and the evening. My thyroid problems are finally fixed so my weight is coming off more easily (not fast... just finally coming off). I've been trying to eat really healthful to speed up the process the last few weeks. Well my diet of 40% protein and 30/30 of carbs/fat did not take well to my appetizer of nachos and dinner of spicy Thai roll ups. I was dreadfully sick the rest of the night. I managed to make it through the bars with everyone but I was restricted to diet cokes just to stay functioning. I will not make this mistake again. Junk food in stages... not all at once.

Otherwise, the night was a good time. All our friends had fun and we were out pretty late. As a result, Sunday was pretty lazy.

Sunday, May 3rd

As I said, our night out late (thankfully without a cab since I was a sick and couldn't drink) resulted in sleeping in the next day. Mike and I got up rather late and got ready enough for breakfast out. I had waffles which were wonderful (also not part of the diet but I couldn't imagine any grease like eggs or bacon at that point). After breakfast Mike and I had an exciting afternoon of yard work, grocery shopping and laundry.

Monday, May 4th

Nothing exciting to report today. Back to the old schedule of work, gym, misc. house chores and bed. Right now I'm sick or have allergies or something. I can't breathe but I feel fine otherwise. I suspect allergies over a cold since I don't have any other symptoms. I joked on my Facebook I may have swine flu but apparently my sarcasm wasn't thick enough. Several people replied I probably don't. Doh. I may make another allergist appointment though. I'm not sure if it's the dry weather or my allergy medicine, but I'm getting bloody noses a lot. Mike just happened to see on TV today an ad for Nasonex, my medicine, and it said a common side effect is bloody nose. Maybe I should switch medications =) It's bad enough not being able to breathe without having to worry about a bloody nose on top of that!

Big Casino Win & Sam's Club Savings!

Tuesday, April 14th - Thursday April 16th

Pretty usual week - work, gym, dinner, TV, bed - repeat.

Friday, April 17th

(There are too many good photos of Mike's birthday weekend for me to pick and choose. Please see them all here instead)

On the eve of Mike's birthday celebration, we made our way over to Mom and Dad Dozeman's for a birthday dinner. Of course we can't do anything simple - we tried to cram multiple events into one day by scheduling our chair and cushion (from the dining room set - it's been months of hassle back and forth to get everything together) pick up from the furniture shop. We were running late - another frequent problem - I didn't get out of work until 5 and it takes about 45 minutes to get up there. The shop was only open until like 5:30. We had to call Rich and Lois in a panic to ask them to pick up the products for us. Luckily they are nice, helpful people so they dropped what they were doing and managed to travel through rush hour traffic in Grand Rapids to pick up our chair/cushion across town. =) Yeah for parents!

We had a really nice time at the Dozeman parents. They made us a beef and pork roast with a ton of sides and two desserts. By the time we were done eating I was ready to roll away! We hung out with the parents until about 11 p.m. watching TV and catching up. Mike and I made it home by midnight - just in time to crash before our busy day on Saturday!

Saturday, April 18th

Today Mike had plans to play golf with his brother Steve at noon. We slept in pretty late so our morning was blown. I ran off to go shopping for Mike's last minute gift and he left to go golfing. I didn't hear much about the game except that he and Steve were close most of the game but Mike lost at the end. It was still a gorgeous day though so he was able to enjoy the weather and the game despite losing =P

Mike, Steve and I all left at 5 to head to New Buffalo, MI to spend the evening at Four Winds Casino. We had never been before but I heard great reviews about the place from coworkers. We started out the evening by registering at a nearby hotel with several other party guests. We had a slightly annoying experience with the front desk staff promising to call for a bus to the casino only to call us an hour later and say it wasn't going to happen. Luckily we were all in good spirits and made it to the casino by other methods. We all headed straight to dinner at the Buffet restaurant.

I'm not usually one for buffet but this place was crazy nice. They had just about every type of food and a little bit of everything to go around. The entire birthday party ate to excess before taking off for gambling. Mike insisted I could not micromanage this trip so I was forced to only plan dinner and hope the rest of the evening worked out well. Thankfully it did - everyone parted to play their favorites games/slots/tables/etc. We met up at various times but overall just had a good time. Our highlight of the evening came toward the end of our gambling experience.

By about 11 p.m. everyone was out of money and feeling out of sorts for losing. While we all prepared to leave, Ricky made one last attempt at a nickel slot machine by putting in a $20 and pushing "max bet". Before he knew it - he had 30 bonus spins at 3x the bet. We all stood in complete shock at the number claimed from the $100s to $500s to $1000s!!! At the end of 10 minutes, Ricky had won almost $4000.00. We were all amazed and stoked! The amount was so high we had to have an attendant come over to give Ricky the money.

After the check was in hand, we all cashed out and called it a night for gambling. On Ricky's new dimes, we called a taxi and went to "The Stray Dog" pub in downtown New Buffalo (if you can really call it downtown... more like three buildings) and celebrated. We had a great waitress who was very patient with 9 loud people celebrating a big win. The local band sounded great and we all had several celebratory shots for Ricky's win and Mike's birthday. After the bar closed down on us, we grabbed another taxi and made our way back to the hotel.

With booze in the room, we stayed up for a few more hour watching TV (some really bad bra infomerical in Spanish became a quick favorite) and the craziness continued. Akerman ran around with a decorative hotel blanket on his head claiming he was a Ninja... Steve got in Ricky & Lisa's bed because he was tired (or maybe cold?)... Chris showed some skin... I pretended to be Minchie (poor pregnant lady had to be around all us drunks) and complained to the front desk at 3 a.m. because Minchie & Chris's room door was broke and they still did not have a room for the night... the list goes on.

Around 3:30 we called it a night and went to bed.

Sunday, April 19th

After a brief breakfast with a few hungover party goers, we headed home. Once home, I gave Mike his birthday gift - Grand Theft Auto IV for PS3. I'm not really a game fan but anyone I asked about PS3 games told me that was the one to get for Mike. Luckily Mike liked it. Despite being one of the most vile, cruel, games I've ever seen, it does have a pretty interesting story line. Assuming you can avoid the temptation to run over people, randomly beat up someone because you feel like it, or pick up a hooker on your way home, it could be a pretty cool game!

Sunday was pretty laid back filled with games and pizza. Mike and I headed to bed early so we could function on Monday.

Monday, April 20th

Today was an exhausting day... I had panic attacked during the night because I realized I had this 10 a.m. interview! Last week I was taken up on my offer to help the Marketing Communication department and they asked me to write a feature article for our Stryker Forefront magazine. I am very excited about this opportunity but the time line is tight - it's due this Friday. I scheduled a few interviews last week without really thinking about the prep time involved before hand. I decided I better get to work early and prepare.

Luckily I managed to ask intelligent questions of my first expert. It was a bit nerve wracking - not because I was interviewing someone but more because I was interviewing someone under the watchful eye of the Marketing Communications Manager. I know this article is kind of test for me - to see how I do and such - and although the manager is super nice, I feel the pressure to do well. I feel very rusty on my journalism skills.

Overall, the interview went well. I asked some good questions and the manger didn't follow up with any so I must have covered all the bases she wanted. She only piped in a few times when she thought something said should definitely be covered in the article. Phew. Only 4 more to get through and a rough draft by Wednesday. Wish me luck!

The rest of the day was pretty standard. I did get a Sam's Club membership today and I'm so excited about how much I got for less! Granted, you need to know your prices. Luckily I'm a savvy shopper and managed to get some great deals for us. We were completely out of food (no time to shop) but now I feel we'll be in good shape for at least three weeks before we're out again =)

Louie's New Love

In March Mike's mother sent him one of his old stuffed animals - Snorky the pig. Mike remembers it fondly so I didn't stuff it in a closest right way (with all my old stuffed animals and other sentimental things). I decided to put the pig on our bed as a bed as a decoration, so to speak. Well shortly after doing this, the pig started disappearing. He would move from the bed to the floor... then down the hall... then in the bathroom.. then even downstairs. Last week the pig finally ended up all the way in the basement, under the computer desk, hiding in the wires.


What on earth could be moving him? Well, turns out he's Louie's favorite new toy. Louie will pick him up (which is hilarious since the pig is the same size as Louis) and drag him about the house. At first I thought it was just he liked stuffed animals so I bought him a cheap stuffed animal from Meijer so wouldn't damage an "heirloom". Unfortunately he wasn't interested in it at all. So began the Louie/Snorky relationship. In order to show Lois (Mike's mom) how loved the pig is in our household, I videotaped Louie with his favorite toy. Warning - the video is disturbing but I promise there is no nudity.

Recovery Day

Sunday, April 12th

Finally Easter Sunday! Even though the weekend went quickly Mike and I were ready to return our borrowed child =) Luckily my trick with the Easter Bunny bucket worked. I stood for a good five minutes the night before making sure the even breathing wasn't fake before I snuck in and stole the bucket back. I was able to fill it with the candy/gifts and hide it behind a curtain in the living room. I was still concerned I had blown this Easter illusion for J.T. so I went one step farther and spread hay from our back door all the way up to J.T.'s room and back down the stairs trailing it to the hidden bucket. I went to bed annoyed I had left my house a "mess" but it was worth the annoyance the next morning.

Mike and I woke up J.T. at 8:00 a.m. with horror at the mess on our floor and excitement over the missing bucket. J.T. bought it and was so excited to see evidence of the bunny's arrival. He was able to find his bucket with ease (thanks to my trail of hay I think) and he loved all he got. After the hunt was over, I promptly got out my vacuum and mumbled to myself over how difficult hay is to suck up. Thank goodness for my Dyson!

After a quick breakfast we left for church. J.T. was great during the service and the church was packed! We left as soon as the service was over to head over to my mom's for Easter lunch. Mom always does a great job of having a large spread and organizing the meal well. Mike and I ate until we felt like bursting and after that we ate some pie and cookies. We stayed for about four hours talking with family before we decided it was time to take our leave.

We came straight home and took a nap. We woke up when we got a call from Bruco asking about our evening plans. We drug ourselves out of bed and met up with them for a snack and drink at Burdick's. We relayed our exciting weekend and by the end of it I was so not ready to go to work the next day. I managed to convince Mike it would be the ultimate end of a great weekend if we took off on Monday. He wasn't sure at first but eventually gave in and we both arranged to take off Monday for a "Mental" day.

Monday, April 13th

What a great day... Mike and I slept in and when we woke up we had cereal in the living room wrapped in blankets and watching TV. I surfed the web for awhile and Mike watched this awful series called "Eastbound and Down." It's totally a guy show and even though I'm sure Mike wasn't thrilled with it, he laughed at several parts anyway and kept watching. Around 11 a.m. the unthinkable happened and we lost power. Kind of random since it wasn't storming or anything. We decided to take a long nap since there wasn't anything else to go. Eventually the power came back on around 1 and we started watching "Changeling". Kind of a weird show... not horrible but I'm not sure I would rush out and buy it.

We eventually made it to the gym in the afternoon and then StirMax for dinner. We figured it cancelled out each other to work out and then eat buffet. Obviously we're lying to ourselves just to feel better =P

Mike has a business trip to Chicago again tomorrow so we're taking it easy. Always the last minute person, Mike is making his travel arrangements right now. Luckily it's just coordinating the train/subway schedules but he's going to be dragging tomorrow since he has to leave at 4 a.m.!

Easter Egg... scramble.

Saturday, April 10th

This morning went well. I woke up three times to make sure J.T. was still sleeping and thanked the stars he slept in until 8:30 a.m. Once he was up we made our way downstairs to start breakfast. Actually I started breakfast and J.T. tried to figure out our cable set up. Luckily he was able to find something he wanted to watch on Saturday morning cartoons. Mike got up soon after us and came down to watch T.V. with J.T. I made pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast. I haven't made breakfast in a long time (we usually go out but we thought a home cooked meal would be better for J.T. Probably true but certainly more work for me!) so it was a bit of a struggle to get everything ready at the same time.

After breakfast we rushed to get ready to make our 10 a.m. deadline for the Easter Egg Hunt downtown. We were late - as usual - and didn't make it there until 10:30. Luckily we weren't too late for the actual hunt. When we arrived at the event we scoped out the different activities. They had fire trucks, safety trailers and ID tables to help keep kids safe and educated. Then they also had face painting and raffle drawings for various prizes. We were too late the for raffle but we did get J.T.'s face painted. He originally wanted an egg on one side and a white bunny on the other but once the egg was on his face he lost patience and decided to go with just one cheek.

Overall the Egg Hunt was pretty neat for a free event. We were a little surprised to see it wasn't really a hunt so much as a race-to-get-as-many-eggs-as-you-can-from-a-giant-area. They had it set up in three stages - first the 0-3 go, then 3-6, and finally 7-9. J.T. was in the 7-9 and when he had the go, he raced with the rest to get the most eggs. When it was all over, we were shocked to see all the eggs were empty. What a jip. Then we realized they were giving away goody bags instead. It was a little disappointing not to have the prize in the egg but while we were in line to get the goody bag, we discovered why.

As we were complaining about the lack of prizes in the eggs, the lady behind us said the reason it's done this way now is because last year during the egg hunt it wasn't fair for every kid. Some kids would get 20 eggs and some would get 6 making the prize range very far apart. Plus, Mike saw some kid steal an egg from J.T.'s basket when he wasn't looking. He couldn't stop the kid soon enough but I imagine if that happened last year too with the prizes in the egg it would have been crushing to the kids. I'm glad they had the bags and that we had a better explanation for the system.

Once the egg hunt was over and J.T. had egg on his face (har-har!), we decided to take off. Well, actually Mike took off with J.T. and I had to attend my friend Kristen's bridal shower across town.

The shower was really fun. They had some original games and lots of food. I was so upset I left my camera with Mike after the egg hunt. My friend Kim took some photos so I'll have to post them then. I had lunch and a cupcake and visited with several people. Kristen received a lot of very cool gifts and probably 30 people showed. We played three games: First game Kristen had to answer questions about her fiance like shoe size, their first date, his favorite this or that, etc and if she guessed wrong she had to chew a stick of bazooka gum. She wasn't doing well although all her answers were close if not right on. She had a huge wad of gum by the end of the game. Second game we had to break into teams and put make up and a veil/tiara on a mannequin head! It was chaos but the end result was fun. The third game was really just a raffle but the prizes were pretty cool. Unfortunately I did not win but Kim won something! Oh, there was also this neat mad lib we did for her too but I can't remember all the libs we came up with...

I was there several hours so I took off as soon as it was polite to do so. I had to make a quick run to the store to help out the Easter Bunny tomorrow with his misplaced child staying with us over night.

While I was gone Mike manned little J.T. with great responsibility. From the sounds of it, they had a great time while I was gone. First, they played four different sports in our backyard. I think they said Frisbee, basketball, and I guess two others but I don't remember what. They raced each other, took breaks and ate J.T.'s goodies from his goody bags, Mike made a Mac and Cheese lunch (from scratch and all by himself), competed very meanly at the game "Perfection" and finally watched cartoons together. By the time I got home, Mike was pretty spent. I tried to quietly bring in the Easter Bunny treats but Eagle-eye J.T. saw my spiderman bucket purchase. I decided I would have to think of a VERY good excuse for why that happened... later. Instead I ignored the cry and took the bags upstairs.

Once I came back downstairs, J.T. was on me reminding me I promised we would decorate Easter Eggs. He was correct and we specifically bought a Sponge Bob egg dye set the night before at the store. We got together a bunch of mugs and the hard boiled eggs and went to work. J.T. made some very creative eggs and decorated them all with stickers or cardboard decorations. After we were finished, I let Mike rest for about an hour before we took J.T. bowling.

Bowling turned out to be really fun. We had the bumpers up for J.T. so that also greatly improved my game. Mike tried a few times to help J.T. with his bowling technique but I think J.T. was more interested in just chucking the ball as hard as he could. Overall we had a pretty good game. We played two games and Mike won both, I came in second but J.T. wasn't far behind.


After bowling I get a call from Kristen letting me know the person who is buying my fish tank wants to come pick it up. I had not yet cleaned said fish tank so I rushed home and had Mike help me get it down to clean it quickly. Luckily I did about 90% of it before they came. It's a bittersweet moment to sell the fish tank. I always had dreams we'd refill it but after sitting empty almost 3 years, I'm finally admitting it's not going to happen. It has found a great home with Kristen's friend who is very excited to set up his new tank set.

Okay, now the fish tank is gone and I vacuum up my cleaning mess. Mike goes out to warm up the grill and J.T. follows. I work on getting the rest of dinner ready and cleaning up the mess from breakfast and lunch. Luckily this all goes smoothly and soon we're eating dinner. During dinner Mike puts on the movie "Beverly Hill Chihuahua." Both are excited - again for different reasons and yes, it is another talking animal movie. Half way through J.T. is so tired I decide to put him to bed. He gets in the shower and I come up with a great excuse for why there was a spiderman bucket in my bag today.

When J.T. is in his PJs and going to bed, I bring him the spiderman bucket. I explain the Easter Bunny was not aware until just today that he would not be at his parents house. Therefore, I had to help him out by getting said bucket so he has somewhere to put the goodies - like a Christmas stocking. J.T. seems to buy the idea and we put the bucket by his doorway. Now Aunt Debbie needs to quietly as possible get it back tonight... maybe not such a great idea if J.T. is a light sleeper =P

J.T. Arrives

Wednesday, April 8th & Thursday April 9th


Two pretty unexciting days. Thursday was a bit more exciting because I went over to my friend Kristen's house to help her with her wedding invitations. She lives under the illusion I have nice hand writing =) I wouldn't say it's great but it's better than most. I was able to help her complete most of the invitations but I wrote kind of slanted on some... I was upset about it but Kristen took it in stride. She's a very laid-back bride - wish I could say I was the same during my wedding!


Thursday night after Kristen's house Mike was working late and I watched an Independent Film called "Once." It was kind of interesting. It was about two people living in Dublin, Ireland who randomly meet and decide to make an album together. I thought it would be a romance movie but it turned out to be something different. I still enjoyed it though. Independent films are always a toss up.


Friday, April 10th


Today we were very excited to travel to Indiana to pick up my nephew J.T. for a weekend with us. We picked him up around noon and returned to Michigan for a busy afternoon. First we made a stop at McDonalds for lunch. After eating J.T. played around in the McDonald's playground for a while before it got boring. There weren't any other kids in the building which was very odd so I think playing alone wasn't fun. Obviously Mike and I are too busy to play in the playground with him so we had to leave early.


After getting back to Kalamazoo we made a quick stop at home before taking off to watch "Monster's vs. Aliens" in 3D. It was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Not to say I expected it to be terrible but there weren't a lot of choices at the theater this weekend and J.T. had zero interest in Hannah Montana. "That's a girl's movie!" I believe was his exact expression =) However, it ended up turning out well because J.T. said he never watched a movie in 3D before and the show was a lot funnier than Mike and I expected.


After the movie we made a quick stop to the grocery store and picked up a pizza for dinner. J.T. was super patient with us while we shopped and ran a few errands. At home we ate pizza and watched the end of "Star Wars" the cartoon version. Currently Mike and J.T are watching "Underdog." It's the best of both worlds - J.T. likes the show because it's geared toward kids and Mike is loving it because it has talking animals (those who know Mike understand his strange love of talking animals like Babe, that cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch, etc).


Pretty soon we're going to get ready for bed. We have a very full day tomorrow starting off with an Easter Egg Hunt at 10. Mike and I are not completely old yet... 10 a.m. seems ridiculously early for such events. That means we need to be dressed, fed and out the door by 9:30... on a Saturday!