Mary got her hair cut the other day. I like it and think she looks really good. She hates it. Louis is taking advantage of this fact, as well as the fact that he just got a digital camera for his birthday.

Last night Amy and I went over to the house for dinner and after we ate we went with Mary and Steve to Kone King for ice cream. When we got back Louis had done this:


















That's a picture of Mary on 4 pieces of 8 X 11 1/2 paper...I laughed so hard I almost had sprinkles come out my nose.

For Katie

Katie,

Maeve and I had a little talk.

She understands that you have to work but she misses you and is a little sad that her godmother lives far far away.

And was only happy when I told her you'd see her next week!

Happy Birthday, Dad

Last night we celebrated Dad's birthday. No lobster this time, just the mussles, smoked salmon, and some of the best steaks I've ever had, then we had some amazing chocolate hazelnut cake (which I came out of retirement to make.)

Since we were all there we took the chance to have my aunt take a quick family picture (I don't have any of the whole family, since I was busy being in the picture, but here are a few of the Mike and Esther's families:)



















We also managed to get a few good ones of Grandma, Mimi, and their great-grandchildren:



















Then Julia had had enough formal pictures and just wanted to walk, like the big kid she is:

no talent

I hate to admit it, but last night I watched "America's Got Talent." And, uh, apparently America DOES NOT have talent. At least not that part of America. The best part? Bobby Badfingers:

And the only way I could watch him was by pretending he was really Ben Stiller and eventually the movie would get funny...

P.S. I'd advise you not to do a yahoo search for "bobby badfingers"...

Sweet Baby James

In 1998 my aunt and uncle had my youngest cousin. It took a few days, but they named him James. They asked me to be his godmother.

I was a senior in high school that year, so we lived in the same town. It was pretty easy for me to spoil him by just driving (well, having someone drive me) down the street. Then I moved to Toronto for college. I didn't get to see James as often, but I started writing him letters and mailing him stuff as a way to spoil him and make sure I was always his favorite. Nothing big, just stickers and stuff like that. He started sending letters back to me. This continued through my four years of college and the year I was in NYC, and even now that I'm back in Buffalo, I still get letters from James.

I've saved every single one of them.

I've been packing all my stuff so I can move on Sunday. Amy's been helping me, and making me throw out all the things I've saved and don't really need (expired coupons, birthday cards I bought and never used, notes I wrote myself, etc.) I've also been finding all of James' letters.

The earliest ones are just scribbles, with the actual letter written by his mom or brother or sister. Then they move onto stick figures with his name (some of the letters witten backwards). I found one that had Lucky Charms marshmallows taped to it. I LOVE Lucky Charms marshmallows. Lately they have real messages written in them, by James, in real sentences. And he's started to send me little presents. I have 2 shrinky-dink hearts, a shrinky-dink 4 leaf clover, and a macaroni necklace on the rearview mirror of my car, all sent to me by James.

So, I may not be the best godmother, in the strictest sense of the word. I haven't actually paid any attention to James' spiritual life since, well, the day he was baptized. But somehow I ended up with the best godson ever.

Friday Night

Friday night we had a Birthday/Bon Voyage/Welcome Baby party at mom and dads. What better way to celebrate Louis being born 23 years ago, Mimi being here even though now she has to go home, and Baby Maeve being almost a week old than lobster, champagne, and fire?

Julia wasn't too sure how she felt about the lobsters, but she did love playing with Nana's butter churn.

Mimi held baby Maeve while we got dinner ready...

And then we burned stuff.

Now is not the time...really.

Since Maeve was born something has been in the back of my mind, nagging me. I've been able to push it away, block it out...until last night. I stopped by to drop off some groceries and Maeve had just eatten. Lisa held her out to me and she was so small and squishy (Maeve, not Lisa) and she smelled so good. I wasn't planning on holding Maeve, I was just going to drop of the groceries and leave so Mike and Lisa could have some time with their baby, so I wasn't prepared and I hadn't really protected myself against the nag in the back of my mind...it came right up to the front and it's been there since. I want a baby.

Now, I know I don't REALLY want a baby. I mean, I like to sleep. And I don't really like to clean up poop. And I'm in school. And I have about 13 3/4 years of school left. And I have a hard time remembering to bathe myself every day. And I live in the ghetto. Where I don't like to let my dog outside alone. Unless, of course, the boys from my block are outside to watch him. But I don't think I could just be like, "Hey, Joey, can you make sure the baby doesn't crawl out of the backyard under the fence while I go inside to write in my blog and watch my stories on TV?" And I've heard Leah and Esther and Lisa talking and childbirth? Not so beautiful. You have to be really ready for that.

So, no, I don't think I really want a baby right now. I'm going to blame this craziness baby-wanting on the fact that all the parents I know (my parents, Leah and Scott, Esther and John, and now Mike and Lisa) who I've actually spent time with close up, make it seem so easy. If they weren't all such good parents, I wouldn't want a baby. I think I'll go be an aunt for a while, since I have the cutest nieces and nephews ever.

Poker, anyone?

We all went over to Maeve's house last night. The girls (read: Mary) made dinner for Lisa and the boys were going to keep Mike up all night playing poker. Dinner was great (Mary makes this great pasta dish that I can never make as good as she does...), and the boys did eventually get to the poker...

















First they had some important lessons for Baby Maeve, though...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOU!

Shortly after 4...

It's shortly after 4 and definitely time for a Maeve fix. She's home (with her parents...at least they were all home when I left...I'm assuming they wouldn't leave her home alone yet) and was eating like a champ when I left. I didn't have my camera with me, since I was planning on going to class, where I did not need a camera, and somehow ended up at Mike and Lisa's house, where I could use a camera, but Mary took pictures and I'll post them as soon as I get some. Until then, here are some more of her in the hospital:

Baby's Daddy

I went back to the hospital last night to bring Mike and Lisa some sushi. When I and put the newest pictures of Maeve on my computer, I started looking at pictures of Julia. Maybe they do kinda look alike...
















This is Julia.

















This is Maeve. I think, looking at them side by side, Maeve looks more like Mike (as opposed to Esther or John, which is probably a good thing...) This makes me realize, OH MY GOD...MIKEY HAS A BABY! I think he's going to be a great daddy.

Toby graduated from Puppy Obedience on Thursday. I'm so proud of him. And Amy...she had to take him every week while I was in school.

I saw Maeve again this morning. She's so beautiful. Her Papa couldn't be happier than when he's holding her.

And she, of course, missed him terribly when he left.

Maeve

When Julia was born I sat in the waiting room for hours and hours with the entire family, well, waiting for John to come out and say, "It's a girl."

I've been looking forward to the same thing with Mike since I found out Lisa was pregnant in November.

Friday night I cashed in my birthday present and got a room at the Sutton Place in Toronto and an amazing meal at Canoe. In the middle of dinner something made me check my phone (which was silenced.) Esther had called. Amy, jokingly, said, "I hope it isn't Lisa in labor, 'cause I'm too drunk to drive us back to Buffalo" I said it couldn't be about that because the baby wasn't due until the 16th, and they PROMISED us not to have it while we were in Toronto.

Meet Maeve Katherine Garvey, born July 8th around 3:30 am, while I was fast asleep in the Sutton Place.



She's TINY (5 lb 12 oz, 19") but absolutely perfect. I'm on my way to visit her now. I'll post more pics tonight.

Very Big Weekend

I woke up slightly hung over this morning. Why? Because yesterday was my last day of work. I thought I'd be happy about that. It turns out I was a little sad. I liked working with my dad. I liked my job as an assistant and I liked most of the people I worked with. I really enjoyed getting to spend so much time with my dad, though. I loved surgeries in the morning when the patient was sedated and we could talk about whatever. Dinner the night before, hockey, baseball, Baby Julia...I'm going to miss that. But, I'll be back over Christmas break.

So, five years ago I woke up very hung over on this day, too. Why then? Because of John. When Esther met John, well, I wasn't there. In fact, I don't really remember much about John until he took her to a Sabres game against whatever team Gretzky was playing for at the time and got seats RIGHT BEHIND THE VISITORS BENCH. I think that when I decided either she needed to marry him or I would. I think everything worked out well. Five years ago yesterday they got married. From what I remember the wedding was great.

John has yet to get me that close to Wayne Gretzky, but he did have a part in making me an aunt. One year ago today!

And she's still just as beautiful:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIA!

YAY for baby toys

This past weekend we all went to Mike and Lisa's house to help set up the nursery. It's SO CUTE. Dark green and light green stripes, Alphabet Soup bedding from Pottery Barn Baby, and furniture from Lisa's family. Julia's favorite part? The toys...

Annie, Summer, and Chuck

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE!!! And happy summer everyone else!

I was walking across the UB campus today (North). You know the grassy area between Capen and Talbert Halls and the Hochstetter parking lot? I've walked across it to get to and from class at least 3 times a week since January. So I've gotten to know the woodchuck that lives there (at least I think it's a woodchuck...I'm pretty sure it isn't a beaver because I saw Chronicles of Narnia recently and now I know that beavers live under water and can stand up on 2 legs and walk and talk and would help me escape evils like physics and pre-calc...these animals don't do any of that, so they must be woodchucks.) Occationally I won't be paying attention to where I'm walking and I'll almost step right on him (let's call him Chuck) before he runs away. It's kinda scary. So, last night I was walking to my car when Chuck, or at least I thought it was Chuck, saw me and went running to his hole. Then I saw 5 little furballs follow him, and I realized that Chuck was actually Chuck's wife, Chuckette, and the real Chuck was over on the other side of the lawn eatting grass. He didn't run away, but Chuckette had to save her 5 little babies from me. They ran right into a rabbit while trying to escape to their hole, though...I didn't know UB North was such a wildlife preserve. It's crazy. Tonight while walking to my car I almost stepped on Chuck again (I know it was Chuck because Chuckette had already run off with the babies.) It scares me a little bit that he doesn't move away from me. Can woodchucks have rabies? Should I park in another parking lot and stay away from him? If I get bit by a rabid woodchuck on my way to class do I get out of class that night? Do you think that's a valid excuse to get out of taking an exam? Hm...

Wheel Chair for Sale

I was at my parents house today for Father's Day (HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, Dad!) We were all hanging out watching Julia try to walk when I noticed some crayons and a coloring book in one of the baskets under the coffee table. So, I started coloring. My first picture was beautiful, of course. It was of a little angel surrounded by flowers (it was a Precious Moment's coloring book, so every picture was of an angel.) When I flipped the page to color the next picture, I was horrified...the saddest picture in the whole entire world was on the next page!


So of course I colored it. But, really...what's sadder than a handicapped child that's died? AND WHY WOULD YOU PUT A PICTURE OF IT IN A COLORING BOOK???
But am I an amazing colorer or what?

Parking and Dave

So yesterday I was driving home from class. It was around 9:30 and I was STARVING. I hadn't eatten anything since the soup and sandwhich I had for lunch at noon. I cannot go for 9 and a half hours without eating, especially when I'm going through sympathy pregnancy (I think my baby belly has gotten bigger than Lisa's...) So, I pulled onto my street and remembered that I didn't have to get up for work today, so I had to park on the right side of the street. This always confuses me. As someone who has always had a driveway, I HATE HATE HATE! the switching sides of the street thing. I hate the parking on the street thing, but I'm getting better at that. So I read the first sign that I saw that said I couldn't park between 9am and 4 pm Mon., Tues., and Wed. Well, I have no idea what day of the week it is most days, let alone what day of the week the next day will be. So I had to stop, in the middle of the street, and figure it out. Then I did. Tomorrow (today) will be Wednesday, so I had to park on the left side of the street. I try not to park on the left side of the street. For one thing, my house is on the right side of the street. For another, I find it difficult enough to parallel park on the right side, the side I learned to park on. Why torture myself by parking on the left? So I drove up slowly looking for a spot on the left. There weren't any. But I had passed one before I figured out which side I was supposed to be one. Since I'm on a one way street, I had to go ALL THE WAY AROUND THE BLOCK and then PARK ON THE LEFT SIDE! And, tomorrow I have to park on the right side. So I have to move my car at 4. Or whenever I get home. From the Dave Matthew's Band Concert, which is why I'm not working today. Or tomorrow.

I LURVE the Dave Matthew's Band Concert. It's my favorite day of the summer. The first one I went to I went with Esther (which I can say about every band I've ever seen, almost.) That was, by far, the best concert I've ever ever been to. Concerts with Esther in general are always the best. But I've had some good times at the Dave concerts without her, too. After one Dave concert I had to go get drug tested (for my very important job at Target. I passed, but I was a little worried I wouldn't, just from being there.) Last year one of my friends got mad at the line of traffic in front of us when we were leaving and tried to throw her gatorade bottle at the car ahead of us...through my windshield. Luckily she missed (from the front seat) and hit the dashboard. The bottle flew back and hit her in the forehead. I couldn't stop laughing at her. The best part was when she called me from work the next morning and said, "My head is killing me. And not like a hangover hurt, like I got hit." I had to tell her the whole story. She's not that bright.

I saw Annie yesterday and SWORE I'd update more often. So, HI ANNIE!! I'm updating. Unfortunately, I have nothing to write about. Maybe tomorrow will be more exciting.

Do you know what a Meerkat is?

A few weeks ago I had a bunch of days off for some reason. Dad must have been working in the hospital or something. Anyway, I spent them with Julia. One day we went to the zoo. Esther told me that she liked the meerkats, so I should take her into the reptile house to see them. Now, if it were up to me, I'd stay out of the reptile house. I understand snakes are an important part of the earth's ecosystem, but I also think that they're slithery and gross and scary and I like them to stay where they belong...in the rainforests of Africa, far far away from me. But, Julia likes the meerkats, so we went into the reptile house. We had been having a good day up until then. We saw the bears being fed, the otters swam right up to the window she as pushed up against, we watched the sea lions for a long time...it was great. And she laughed and clapped and everyone who passed us loved her (of course.) As soon as we walked into the reptile house, though, she started laughing and pointing at all the cages. The closer we got to the meerkats the louder she laughed. When we finally got to where she could see them, she screamed at the top of her lungs and pointed and then clapped and screamed some more. She really did love them. I pushed her right up against the glass and she pointed out every meerkat that poked its little head out of the ground. We stayed there for over 15 minutes, and I felt bad when we had to leave, but Julia just waved.

Animal Planet has a new show on now. Meerkat Manor. Every time I see the commercial for it, I think of Julia and want to laugh and clap and point...but I don't think it would be as cute if I did it...