This was the first year Amy and I cut down a tree for our house. Last year we moved in in early December, so we just bought a tree from a nursery on Sheridan. We knew we needed a skinny tree, but we didn't really consider how tall it could be...apparently we should have:

It was OK, though. I figured we could just cut the top off with the big scissor things that trim trees...only we don't have any of those, so we used kitchen scissors (we as in Amy...me+sharp objects/high places = disaster)

Beautiful, right?

Until we tried to put the angel on...we decided it just looks like she's praying over all of your presents:

Dear Ethyl

We've had some good times, we've had some bad times, and we've spent a lot of time with me sitting outside of you. But, you're old. And not safe. It's time to break up. I'll always hold a place for you in my heart, but you're being replaced. By this:

Amy and I went to the Ford place today to test drive some cars. I had narrowed it down to a few cars that I wanted, and of the ones I wanted the Escape was the one with the best lease deals. The CR-V, the car I really really wanted, isn't available for lease, apparently. And, really, the way I drive, no car will last longer than 3 years :)

So, we went to test drive. I woke up scared this morning. I was already thinking about driving a car that didn't belong to someone who has to love me unconditionally (or, at least love me.) I spent all day thinking about it. So I decided Amy could test drive it and tell me how she liked it. She didn't think that was such a good idea. But I made her pull out onto Southwestern Blvd. and into the Ambulatory Care Place, so I only had to take right hand turns in the un-paid-for-car that didn't belong to anyone who has to love me. It was still stressful. Because I had to park this car. But I did it, without hitting anything. Yay me!

Anyway, I went in and said yes, I want it, the cheapest one with 4WD and no I don't really care about a moon roof. But, those people at Ford...they can sell stuff.

I have a moon roof. I'm not sure how. Except it, apparently, is free. It was the satellite radio, (something that I'm already paying for, which is all hooked up in Ethyl,) that was the expensive part of that package. Don't ask me why they're packaged together, or how I ended up with said package, but, apparently, I did. Amy assures me it's OK, that she wants my Sirius anyway, so it all works out, even better actually because I get Sirius for free for 6 months in my new car now, so, whatever, but, I was confused.

Then, I wanted Pearl Black. I really liked the Pearl Black. Mostly because it's Pearl (which in my mind is white), but it's black (which in my mind is...uh...black.) I ended up with silver. I guess if you mix Pearl and Black together, you get silver, so it all works out, right? Side note here -- until very recently, I always thought that you decided on all of the stuff you wanted and they made your car, then you went and got it...I mean, that's why it took so long for you to pick it up, right? So, if I want pearl black and they don't have my package in pearl black, they just make it, right? No, apparently it doesn't work that way. I get silver, or I pay more. I got silver.

So, they asked if I had a car to trade in. I laughed (sorry Ethyl.) Kelley Blue Book said Ethyl was worth (being very, very generous...like, I lied and said she was in good condition) $800. I figured we'd get about $300, but, it'd be about a payment, so, great, right? The guy took it to get it appraised, came back and said, "it's worth more than I'd give you for it." Well, gee, thanks, I guess. Ethyl is worth $600 to Ford! Ridiculous! I should keep her! Or...not.

So after I got all of my packages worked out it was time to go to the credit woman. I was worried, honestly. I don't have a credit card. I don't have a mortgage. I pay a student loan, but that's it. I don't really have any credit. The last time I applied for any type of credit (a credit card) I wasn't approved because of a mortgage in 1992 or something, when I was 11. I was pretty sure Amy was going to have to co-sign. The credit woman was kind of amazed that I didn't have a credit card, but she took all of my information, took some blood, did a DNA test, checked my urine (ok, that may be a slight exaggeration...)...and I was approved almost immediately. Weird, huh?

The credit woman is also in charge of selling the warrenty-type packages. The first one she told us about I was like, "Uh, no, thanks." But then I listened to what she said. And to what Amy said. And it made sense. I mean, I need oil changes, right? Why not pay for them monthly? I'm sure there's other stuff in there too...like anything that goes wrong with the car other than if I run it into something...they fix it. And free windshield wipers and wiper fluid whenever I need it, and all of that stuff. So, I said OK. Then everything she said sounded good. Tire protection? Well, I have gotten a flat tire before. Road salt protection? Hey, I live in Buffalo! Acid rain protection? Of course! Haven't you seen An Inconvient Truth? Ok, so, I didn't actually get any of these packages (the crazy ones...I did get the wiper and fluid one...because I like clean windshields.) But I was tempted. Thank God for Amy...for so many reasons, but, today, for convincing me my new car won't melt in acid rain.

So, I leased it today. Well, I picked it out and test drove and whatnot today. I pick it up Monday. If, that is, I can find the title to Ethyl...

Miles

I had dinner with Esther and Mary last night at Esther and John's house. It was great, and we hadn't all hung out together, just the three of us, in a long time.

I got there before everyone else so I had some time to play with Miles (my mom was watching him until I got there, he wasn't there alone...)

The best part of my time with Miles? After dinner we cuddled up under a blanket and I gave him a bottle. He had maybe two sips before this:

Isn't he perfect?

Happy Halloween!

Well, almost. I (um, or Amy...)



















carved our pumpkin!

Happy Fall!

Amy's mom and stepdad grow pumpkins. Big pumpkins.

Julia got one too, but I didn't get pictures of her with it. Stay tuned for pictures of us carving it, though. She wants to use her tools.

When I was little I used to love to sleep on the couch in our living room. So much, that if I went out there in the middle of the night and someone was already on the couch, like Louis, I'd hold his eyes open until he woke up and then I'd tell him mom said he had to go back to bed. Then I'd steal the couch from him.

However, there was one thing I hated about the couch:

Yes, this creepy skull was always sitting above our TV on the bookshelf with all of my dads books and surgery movies. It was my dad's from school and most of the time I could forget that it was there. But at night when it dark and I was alone on the couch, I swear it would come alive and try to kill me.

Now? It doesn't bother me. In fact, it's sitting in my house. My dad let me borrow it to learn the bones of the head for my anatomy class. I have it sitting right above all of my movies. I haven't really thought about it, until last weekend when the DirectTV guy came to switch our dish receiver.

He walked in and looked at our TV and said, "Nice TV." I said, "Yeah, thanks."

Then he looked at the skull and said, "Uh, is that real?" I had forgotten it was there, and said, "Oh, that?" I tried to explain it without looking like a homocial maniac. "It was my dad's." I realize now that that doesn't really sound great. "I mean, it's not actually my dad...he got it in school. He's a doctor. And now I'm in school. So he let me use is."

I don't think he heard anything after "It was my dad's." He decided to do all the outside work first, and commented a few times on how close the houses were. I hope this doesn't hurt our chances of getting service if we need it at a later date...

Today was my first day of school. I think there was a pre-school that had a field trip to Canisius or something, 'cause there were a lot of really really young kids in my classes. And they all looked scared. And slightly hung-over.

Really, though, the freshman this year? Are little.

Mondays and Fridays are my short days. I only have 3 classes from 9:30 to 12:30. Tuesday I have class from 11:30 TO 8:45 with 2 half-hour breaks, Wednesday I have class from 9:30 to 12:30, then 2:30 to 5:30, and Thursday from 11:30 to 12:30, 1:00-2:30, and 6:00 to 8:45. It's going to be a busy semester.

Since today was pretty much the only day this week I'd have to get errands done, after class I stopped at Esther's house to play with Miles, then ran to the tailor to have some pants hemmed, and then to SuperCuts. I've needed a haircut for a long time, and right now, with 7 chapters to read and about 3 hours of calculus problems to do, seemed like a great time. While I was there a guy walked in to have his hair cut. He was basically bald, but had some hair around the sides and back of his head. He looked really familiar, but I couldn't place him, and I couldn't stare too long because the hair cutting woman kept moving my head to face away from him. The woman cutting my hair asked him his name and he said, "Steve." That's when I realized who he was:

I guess now that Cellino is back he can't afford more than $10 on a haircut...

For Christmas I want a car alarm...attached to a new car.

Last night I went to the Chocolate Bar. A place that, due to its owners and issues I have with them from when I was a pastry chef, I swore I would never go to. But, Leah is in town and she was there along with Esther, Gina, Julie (I think this is her blog...I stole the link from Leah's blog...), and Mary (who still needs a blog of her own.) So, I gave up my petty boycott and Amy and I drove down to Chippewa.

Before we left I joked, "let's take my car...maybe someone will steal it and I can get a new one."

We parked on Elmwood just south of Chippewa. There were lots of cars on the street and we've parked there before. It was well lit and fairly well populated - and not by scary people, either...by normal-looking people. When we were getting out of the car I grabbed the portable part of my Sirius radio for some reason. I normally don't, but I put it in my purse.

After one of the best cocoa puff milkshakes I've ever had (ok, the ONLY cocoa puff milkshake I've ever had, but, really, it was awesome), and some really great conversation, we left.

My front passenger-side window was smashed. The stereo was gone (with my new Plain White T's cd in it.) My iPod was gone. The full can of diet coke that I had to drink on the drive home was gone (well, at least emptied onto my backseat.) Amy scraped the glass off the front seat and I called my dad. We decided there was no point in reporting it...I've had this happen before and it just takes time - waiting for the police to show up, waiting for them to do paper work, etc - and there's not much they can do. Amy and I spent the drive home telling each other that it could have been worse. We could have been in the car, they could have taken my Sirius attachment instead of just pulling it off so it needed to be re-attached, and stealing the remote control for it (really...they took the remote control for it, but no other part.) They could have taken my cds (although, as Esther pointed out, no one likes Melissa Ethridge anymore now than they did last year when all my stuff, except my cds, was taken out of my car.) They could have taken the whole car. I could have not just put the new cd into the cd player, and they could have taken the cd Mike made me (the sister mix) that I had been listening to up until just the other day. There are a million and two ways it could have been worse. Sitting on the glass stuck in the seat for the few minutes it took to get home wasn't so bad.

I spent today getting the window replaced, getting a new stereo installed, and cleaning out the car. I found the full can of diet coke, so I don't know what was poured on the backseat. Most likely one of the other cans of diet coke in the car, but, I sprayed a lot of lysol in there...just in case it's not diet coke...

Catching Up

I've been so busy lately that I've missed blogging some really important things.

I missed Lou's birthday.

But we celebrated in NYC with dinner at Per Se with amazing food like oysters and caviar in tapioca, and wine from the year he was born (1983.) Definetly a Birthday Meal to remember. They did not, however, bring over all the waiters to clap and sing Happy Birthday to him when they brought out dessert. He did get a candle.

I also missed Dad's birthday.

I had a great post written in my head about how great it is to work with him, how much fun we had in NYC at our conference, ending with Happy Birthday, but, I never typed it out. I was having too much fun working with him instead. So, Happy Belated Birthday, Dad.

I didn't write about the ICAT conference in NYC that I went to. Dad and I were the only ones from the office to go. There were very few people there who weren't either doctors or sales reps of some sort. It was really cool to be there, at a conference, with Dad. I mean, we've gone to the Buffalo Convention, and to the one in San Deigo, but this time I got to go into the doctor lectures and sit with Dad, not he assistant lectures where they walk about taking impressions and sterilizing instruments. It was fun. And I learned so much.

And, I got to spend lots of time babysitting my nieces and nephew.

Despite how it looks in the pictures, we didn't actually spend the entire time we were with them on the couches...and I was reading to Julia right before that picture. Amy and Maeve? I think they were watching Jimmy Neutron.

Another Birthday!

Dear Maeve,

Happy Birthday Monkey!

This past year has been wonderful, watching you grow from a tiny little thing

to a beautiful little girl who can bring a smile to anyone's face, just by looking at them!

I hope this year is your best year yet!

Love,

Aunt Cecilia

Two Years!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JULIA,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Happy In The Nursery!*

Although Esther and John had alread known each other for a while, and I had already met him at least once, the first time I really remember him is when he got her tickets to see the Sabres play the Rangers...or maybe Phoenix...Or St. Louis. Wherever Gretzky was playing for at the time. Probably the Rangers. Anyway, I told her right then to marry him. I'm glad she listened to me.

Congratulations on six years of a wonderful marriage.

*Check Esther's for an explanation...

New Name

Hi! I changed around the 'Bus (in case you didn't notice...) I was feeling a little...un-PC. And you know I'm nothing if not PC. I'm not in love with this template. Or name. I've thought about a few others, but nothing really fits all of my personalities, so, if you have any ideas, or if you know how to get a tie dye background on this thing, Please let me know. Oh, and just because they're beautiful:

Not Mone...

It's Miles!!!

May 31, 2007 at 11:12 pm
8 lbs, 2 oz

Absolutely perfect.

I didn't know they liked American Idol so much...

Before Julia was born I was sure she was a boy. I couldn't imagine a girl since all we had had born lately were boys. But as it got closer and closer to the day she was born I had dreams that she was a girl.

With this baby (let's call him Jesus -- the latino version, not the Son of God version -- for now), I wasn't positive. But as the pregnancy went on I became pretty sure it was a boy. I've stuck with that, just because Esther's pregnancy has been different that her pregnancy with Julia. But lately I've been having dreams that Jesus is a girl.

Most of them are just John saying, "It's a girl!" But the other night I had a crazy dream. In real life I had gotten up to go to the bathroom and realized that I had left my phone in my pants pocket, so I must have been worried about that, because in my dream I was sitting on my bed with Mary. I heard my phone vibrate signaling that I had a message, so I reached over to my table to get it, but next to it were Mike, Lisa, and Mary's (sidenote: Mary needs a blog) phones. I couldn't get the text message from John (sidenote: has a blog, but never writes on it), to open on my phone so all I could see was the part that was flashing on my screen. It said, " She went in." So I picked up Mike's phone. I could see the messages he and John were sending back and forth, and then hear their conversations (weird, I know, since I had his phone), and I heard Mike say, "You took her to the hospital?"
John said, "Yeah, she had the baby. It's a girl." I had to ask Mike to ask about the name, size, etc. John said the name was Mone.
Mike said, "You mean Mona?"
John said, "No, Mone. M-O-N-E. Like Simone, after Simon from American Idol."

Then I woke up. I'm kinda hoping Jesus is a boy.

Chicago

I'm back from Chicago! Well, I've been back for about a week, but, I've been SO busy, that' I'm just updating now. And it's mostly going to be pictures.

We had a WONDERFUL time. The Cubs beat the White Soxs:

And we were there:

We spent a lot of time shopping, but I don't have any pictures of that. And we walked around the city, went to Navy Pier, but our camera battery was dead by then because before that we went to the aquarium. It was SO cool. I'm only going to post a few pictures because we have over 100, but we couldn't use our flash so a lot of them are only recongnizable by us...This is the REALLY BIG fish outside with his crazyman dancing partner.

This crab is much bigger than it looks like in the picture...it made me hungry.

Haha, the turtle were doin' it...we took a lot of pictures of that...

The dolphin show was amazing. It made me want to become a dolphin trainer. Until I remembered that they're swimming in all that dolphin poop and pee...

I think these frogs thought they were hiding...

There was a HUGE shark tank that was really cool, until I realized it was leaking...then I didn't like it so much.

There were a lot of other cool animals, too: