Baby!

Clark Joseph Garvey was born yesterday evening. He's perfect. I'll post pictures as soon as I get some quality time with him and take them :)

Summer!

Maeve graduated from Pre-K last week. Julia graduates from Kindergarten tomorrow. While both of those things make me feel like time is going too fast, they also mean:

SUMMER IS HERE!

I've always loved summer - probably because I've been a student for the past 25 years and summer meant no school. However, in the past few years I've realized that, in Buffalo, summer is short, and every warm, sunny moment must be soaked up and used wisely.

In order to maximize my summer fun, I've made a list of all the things I want to do this summer.

My Summer To-Do List (in no particular order):

1. Walk the break wall. I've wanted to do this for years, and I'm determined to do it this summer.
2. Go to the Drive-In. There are a million movies I want to see (Judy Moody, Mr. Popper's Penguins, X-Men, Green Lantern, Cars 2, Kung-Fu Panda 2)
3. Go Camping. Somewhere near real bathrooms, because I can't pee in the woods.
4. Get Married.
5. Have a wedding.
6. Go to the zoo. I haven't been all year.
7. Go to the aquarium. I haven't been since I was about 8.
8. Get a new niece or nephew.
9. Spend an entire day in my backyard playing with the dogs, sitting in the sun, drinking beer.
10. Go to a Bisons game. Preferably a Friday one, for the fireworks.
11. Shakespeare in the Park.
12. Walk somewhere to get ice cream. Soft vanilla with rainbow sprinkles.
13. Ride my bike. Maybe to get ice cream.
14. Italian Fest, Taste of Buffalo, Grease-pole festival.
15. Eat at the Hatch and walk along the water.
16. Eat at restaurants I've never been to.
17. Sit on patio's and have dinner/drinks.
18. Go to the Navy Boats.
19. Thursday in the Square.
20. Wash my car - inside and out.

What am I missing?

Mike posted a Fantasy Baby league for their new baby. I have my guesses:

1. Gender.

I guess boy.

2. Date of Birth.

I'll say June 15. No reason, it's just the first date that came to mind.

3. Time of birth.

I'm gonna say 11:09. PM.

4. Weight at Birth?

7 lbs 1 oz.

5. First drink Lisa asks for after labor?

If it were me it'd be a diet coke. But I'm guessing she'll want something more grown up...champagne?

6. First thing you realize you forgot to pack?

It won't be anything like your DS or your phone or iPad. Let's guess your toothbrush.

7. Length of time after birth before you name the baby.

Well, you have a lot to live up to with Addie's middle name. However, I think there's a limit to how long they will let you call your baby "Baby Boy Garvey" before they make you write that on the birth certificate (it does have a nice ring to it...) Let's say you'll decide first name within an hour, middle name in 2 days.

Good Buddy

Amy and I got married in Canada yesterday. It was fast - we were in Canada for about 20 minutes, total. We went to a little place called Two Hearts Chapel and stood in front of a white curtain while we repeated the vows given to us by the woman who worked there. After the "wedding" we went to my parents house where the whole family came and we had an awesome steak dinner. And some of us (me, really) had a lot of alcohol.

A little background - when I get drunk I like to shower. I'll sit in the shower until the hot water runs out, then wait a bit before I get back in to sit under the water some more. I feel like maybe I'm getting rehydrated by osmosis, but really it just feels good.

So last night I got into the shower in the basement of my parents house and sat under the hot water. It started getting colder so I picked up a bottle of shampoo that was next to me on the ground and used it to hit the handle over and make the water hotter. I did this a few times before I got out. Then I went back to bed.

A couple hours later I woke up and decided to shower again. This time I knew I should actually use soap and shampoo and get clean, so after a few minutes of sitting I picked up the bottle of shampoo. It said oatmeal and aloe shampoo & conditioner, which sounded nice. I poured a big handful and soaped up my hair. As I was washing my hair I looked at the bottle of shampoo, called Good Buddy, and thought, "that's an odd name," but continued lathering it into my hair. Then I rinsed and picked up the bottle to use it to push the handle over for more hot water when I said, in smaller print, something about a shiny coat...

I washed my hair with dog shampoo.

Because I couldn't figure out that a shampoo called "good buddy" is for dogs. And to make it worse, this is what it looked like:

Yep, a fire hydrant.

But at least my hair is nice and shiny.

Thankful

Someone I know posted in their facebook status one thing that were thankful for that started with each letter of the alphabet. I thought I'd try.

Air.

Blogs.

Computers.

Dad.

E-mail.

Friends/family.

Godchildren.

House (the one I live in, not the doctor on TV)

Iphone.

Jacuzzi's.

Karats.

Love.

Mom.

Nieces and Nephews.

Oogenesis.

Padlocks.

Quadratic equation.

RNA

Siblings.

TV.

Underwear.

Vaccinations.

Water.

X-rays.

Yahoo.

Zoo.

New Blog

It's been over a year since I've updated, but lately there's been something pulling me back to my blog. I'm not sure why, since I wasn't really great with updating it before I completely stopped, but I think I'm gonna start writing again. Of course, it could be due to exams and the fact that I haven't wanted to study, but my last exam is in 4 hours, and after that I'll have plenty of time to update and not worry about school work.

I've also been thinking that maybe it's time for a new blog...I mean, so much has happened in the past year...like...um...well, stuff. So do I start a new blog, or do I just restart this one and pretend that it's new? I think that's what I'll end up doing. I do love the Middle Child.

School is done early this year. I'm excited about that, especially since I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping and all my inside decorations are up, so all I have to do for the next few weeks is to enjoy Christmas. And I plan on enjoying it a lot. Tonight I'm going to start wrapping presents, which I actually enjoy, although I'm not great at it (compared to some people in the family, who probably should have been born as elves because they're SO good at wrapping presents...) Next week I'm helping Julia make gingerbread houses and then helping her class decorate them. I've been looking forward to that for weeks. And then there's the actual Christmas holiday. So far my plans have changed daily, but right now I'm thinking mom and dad's on the 24th, Esther and John's for brunch on the 25th, dinner at mom and dad's on the 25th, then I'll stay over and get up early on the 26th so dad and I can start the big family Christmas dinner.

Election Stuff

Sunday I was studying and heard the dogs go crazy. That normally means one of a few things -either there's someone at the door, there's someone breaking in, or nothing at all. In this case someone had rung our doorbell. Amy was downstairs so I let her get it. A little while later I went downstairs and she said that 2 ten-year-old girls had come to the door and asked if she was going to vote. She said yes, so they threw a piece of paper at her and said, "Good, here's a free flyer!" then ran away. Here's their flyer:

This morning on WYRK the stupid morning guys were talking about who they were voting for and why (McCain because they like guns and don't like abortion...they actually said this, and then said that taxes and national security have been issues since the Boston Tea Party and we should stop worrying about them and focus on the real issues...), and then said that according to their pole on their website, McCain was ahead 70-something percent to 20-something percent. Um, you think? Who the hell do they think listens to them, therefore votes on their website? It makes me happy that Obama has 20-something percent on their website! Of course, I, too, was listening to them...again...this morning.

Political Rant

Ok, so, I listen to the country station every morning while I get ready for school. And it's the only station that's programmed in my kitchen, so unless I have a movie on, I listen to it while I cook or do dishes or whatever. Normally it's not too bad, but, near election time it drives me INSANE. Seriously. The morning guys are SO...ignorant. And stupid. And pushing their points on the public.

Now, I know some democrats who are stupid and ignorant and don't know what they're talking about, and try to push their points on people even by lying about the "other side." And I know some republicans who are pretty smart and can argue their points pretty well (even if they're wrong.)

Here's my issue with the morning guys from WYRK. They complain, incessantly, that Obama is a socialist and wants to give money away to everyone by raising taxes (which, by the way, I don't think is true...I do believe that being a Christian means you should want to help people, even if it means giving them money you may have when they need it...and pro-life shouldn't end once the baby is born, but that's a whole 'nother post.) They talk about how everyone should have to work for their money, and that's the American Dream - hard work to get rich. Fine.

This morning, they announced that Exxon Mobil made something crazy like $14.3 billion in the last 3 months. Now, if you're going to follow their "work hard get rich" ranting, then you should be happy for them, right? Maybe jealous, but happy. NO! THEY WEREN'T! They complained about price gouging and how everyone should be profiting from the sale of any oil, be it oil from American soil or not. SERIOUSLY?!?!? So, they want Exxon to be...say...taxed, maybe? And that money could be...uh...spread around to those who didn't make as much, and need money to eat and live? Hm...what a great idea...too bad no one's ever thought of that before...

C is for...

So, I'm a "non-traditional student." That's what Canisius calls me. Because of this I get my grades sent to me occationally throughout the semester so everyone can be assured that I'm not failing. They do this for Freshman and athletes, too. Anyway, I got my progress report on Monday. I'M PASSING PHYSICS! Seriously. And not with a D. I have NEVER been so happy with a C in my whole life.

Happy Fall!

I was so looking forward to school 'cause I figured I'd have all this extra time while I was "studying" in the library when I could update my blog. It turns out that in order to pass physics, organic chemistry, and cell bio you need to use at least 30 hours a day studying. Now, I'm not good at physics, but, I'm pretty sure that there are only 24 hours in a day, therefore studying for 30 hours would be breaking some sort of law of physics.

Anyway, I did get to see Addie and Maeve last week for an hour or so. How cute are they?

Summer Time

I think in the week since I decided not to take classes this summer I've seen more of my family than I did the entire last semester. It's been great.

My plan for the rest of the summer? I'll be the pool with Miles and Julia.

And...done

So, summer classes? suck. And I've always thought it's better to quit while you can get a W than follow through and get an F, so, I'm done with physics. I have to go get all the paperwork done (have the prof sign the withdrawl forms and whatnot) tomorrow, but, since I'm not there right now, and don't plan on going back, I'm pretending it's all over.

I am so very happy with this decision to not go to physics anymore this summer. Addie supports my decision whole-heartedly, which is good. Family support is always important.

I'm already really enjoying my new summer freedom...I spent the weekend at Keuka Lake, which looked like this:

And now I plan on spending the rest of my summer with my family and catching up on blogs I haven't read since April.

Physics has started.

 

You know what's worse than taking physics?  Taking physics during the summer.  And you know what's worse than taking physics during the summer?  Taking physics during the summer at 8:30 am, four days a week. 

 

Dora has the right idea....

But, I got some great birthday presents to get me through the next 10 weeks. This is what Mike, Lisa, Maeve, and Addie got me:

That's enough sunflower seeds to get me through at least the first semester! 

And you know what goes great with sunflower seeds? Slushies.

Hours

LOOK! an update!

I have a week off coming up. In exactly 171 hours I'll start my last exam of the semester, and then I have 10 days off. That's 240 hours. Well, probably 9 days, (216 hours), because there's a final paper that I keep saying I'll start soon but haven't so I'll probably do it after my last exam, but, my last exam will be over in less that 174 hours. That doesn't sound like so long, does it? Well, it is, if you're talking about going without sleep.

I have stories to post...I'm sure I do. Addie was baptized, good TV is back on (and my DVR is loving it,) Amy's birthday is tomorrow and mine is in 12 days (288 hours!), but due to that lack of sleep thing that accompanies the end of the semester for anyone who hasn't yet been accepted to the grad school of their choice, I can't remember anything (which, really, is not a good way to take an exam...)

So, I'm off to study for my first final, which is in 4 hours. I finally figured out the first problem on the practice test I've been working on for the past 24 hours, so, there's some hope I'll do OK.

Niagara Falls

It was cold in Buffalo today. It was even colder in Niagara Falls.

I know, because I was there. Yes, really.

All that stuff that looks like rocks? It's ice and snow.

Not only was I there, I went through Cave of the Winds. Well, through the part that was open and not covered with tons of ice. Really, just the gorge. Still, freezing. But I was allowed, because my heart and lungs are healthy.

I was not, however, allowed to climb over the railings.

Good thing that sign is there.

Awooka

People who find The Middle Child through keyword search normally find it by searching some version of "golf leafs golf" and coming up with this.  Occationally I get homing hippogriffs or Free Rice (which was mentioned in quite a few posts...)  Today someone in Switzerland found my blog by searching "Awooka." 

Addie, you're famous!

Oh, Coldstone, How I Love Thee

When I was living in NYC I had friends all over the city.  Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Brooklyn, Astoria, Roosevelt Island, West Village...most of us went to school together between SoHo and Chinatown.  We'd leave school around 3 and scatter around the city to our various (unpaid) internships before we went back to our homes.  On weekends we'd try to find a central location to meet for drinks, food, a movie, or some other way to spend our money together, but the best place we found?  Was Coldstone in Time Square.  It was easy for all of us to get there, the ice cream was cheaper than drinks, there was no hangover the next morning (although the slushy brain freeze could be vicious), and most importantly the ice cream was amazing. 

When I left NYC, I was very sad to be leaving for many reasons (the roommate I was leaving, fresh direct, my friends, ect,) but I was REALLY sad to be leaving Coldstone.  I promised I'd be back soon.  When I got back to Buffalo I found out there was a Coldstone being built here!  It was a miracle! 

Tonight the Buffalo Coldstone sponsored the Boys and Girls club.  We went to support Mary.   And get ice cream.  It was wonderful.  And it made me happy to be alive.  Really.  What could be better than sharing Coldstone ice cream with Julia?

***

***Ok, yeah, the picture?  She's not eating ice cream.  But I didn't take pictures tonight...I was too...well, busy eating my ice cream.  But Julia did have chocolate ice cream, and her smile was at least this big.

Break

It's Spring Break!  Well, it's almost over.  Today's the last day.  Most of the week has been great, spent like this:

 

Today, hopefully, will be no different.

 

Nana is SO funny!

Summer of '84

In the summer of 1984 my Dad graduated from dental school and the family moved from Jackson, MS to Buffalo.


The Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles


Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space.


Vanessa Williams became the first African American to be crowned Miss America, and was de-crowned when nude pictures of her showed up in "Penthouse."


The Space Shuttle Discover took off for its maiden voyage.

And my brothers only had one shirt between them: