bugsii

This morning Julie took me out for my Christmas present, an outing with my sister (that would be Julie)!  First, we went to watch a Central basketball game, then we went out to lunch for some Japanese food, and then we went shopping.  We both ended up with some jeans from Ann Taylor and some smelly stuff from Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Good sales, good times!  Thanks, Julie!

Julie making good use of her chopsticks.

This evening, Dan and I headed up to Medina to visit Todd and Marcy.  They made us spaghetti and meatballs and we had a great time touring the new house, talking, exchanging gifts, and Dan and Todd even got to play some rock band together (they were a good duo).  Getting to hang out with Marcy always makes me wish that we still lived ten minutes away from each other and had 6th period together every day.  Oh, how times change.  Thanks, Marcy!

All grown up!

First thing this morning, I met with my teacher friends for breakfast.  We got there at 9:30 and didn’t leave until 12:30!  At that point, I was ready for lunch!  We just talked and talked and caught up.  It was so nice.  We could have easily stayed for three more hours.  I think I might be a bit horse.  That was a lot of talking. 

Heritage chicks, past and present.

Wow, that’s some terrible lighting, but it’s all I have.  My apologies.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent playing some Wii with Katie and Cole, eating dinner with the whole family and then playing some more Wii and reading part of The China Study.  It was a fun day and I’m pretty tired.

Today’s my big sister’s birthday and at work someone asked her if she was still in her twenties and she said, “Yeah, I’m 20-15.”  Good one, Grandma!  She got some new running clothes and modeled them for my blog (see picture below).  The first picture was ASTRONOMICALLY funnier than this one, but she would have killed me if I had posted it because she had this hilarious face that looked sorta like, well, you know when you pause the TV and you just so happen to pause it when someone is talking, and their mouth is all twisted and one eye is closed and you go, I can’t believe there is a moment in time when my face looks like that!  Yeah, it was like that.  Hilarious.  Sorry I can’t post it here, but it will forever be on my iPhone for when I need to remember not to take life too seriously (like, for example, every day this week).  Here’s the funny, but significantly less funny picture:

Practice Run

So since today is Julie’s birthday, Dan and I left Columbus right when I was done with work and minutes after Dan had stepped off of an airplane.  We headed straight for Canton and the Central/Aquinas game (big small Catholic school rivalry).  We got to see my niece, Katie, perform as head majorette.  Here she is after the half time show (sorry about the lighting):

We are definitely related.

Then, the craziest thing happened.  I ran into my best friend from grade school, Jina with a J!  I haven’t seen Jina since I was 15 years old.  We were the craziest little pair that made up radio shows and disgusting songs about toe jam, watched Willow, Children of the Corn and Drop Dead Fred until we knew all of the lines, and nicknamed each other Ding-a-ling (Jina) and Ling Ding (me).  So, she sees me and I barely recognize her and we scream and start talking so fast I pretty much forget it’s 2009.  I was transported back to 1994 when we sat in the back of my dad’s station wagon and waved to strangers just to see their discomfort.  Ah, those were the days.  Crazy and carefree.  I need to wave to strangers more often.  She pulls me over to see her dad (who I always thought was the greatest) and she says, “Dad, guess who?” and he looks for a second and goes, “Ling Ding?!”  Ha.  Yep, that’s me.

Oh no, not gladiolas!

Yesterday, from where I sat, as the matron of honor, was perfect.  The ceremony was wonderful (even though I stepped on the train).  Running around Canton between the ceremony and the reception to take quintessential Canton pictures was amazing (even in the cold).  And the reception was SO MUCH FUN (no parenthetical needed).

Here, I want to share the speech I gave for Marcy.  It took me months to write and it felt good to deliver it to Marcy on her special day.

MOH Speech

First, I just want to thank Marcy’s family for this beautiful event.  As, I’m sure Todd has come to find out, Marcy’s family is wonderful and welcoming and, well, honestly, it makes me a little jealous sometimes.  Barb and Marty have always welcomed me as their second daughter.  Barb, who Marcy and I lovingly call super mom, who always has a coupon for everything and knows the fastest way to get between any two points in the state of Ohio.  And, Marty, well… what can I say Marty?  I love to joke with you and you always make me laugh.  Marcy has certainly been blessed.

When Marcy and I first met, we were gangly, sweet 15-year-old girls with braces and big smiles.  We met in Art class where we chatted and laughed and created terrible works of art that horrified Mrs. Zaler. We were different, but complemented one another well.  Where Marcy was punctual, I was late; where Marcy remembered, I forgot; where Marcy was socially appropriate, I was… not.  Despite my carelessness though, Marcy loved me for me and opened my eyes to how to be a loyal friend.  She sent me cards on my birthday, she remembered to call me when I took my driver’s test, she humored me and my goofy stories and crazy ideas.  Thankfully, Todd didn’t need quite as much work.

Over our high school years, we flung secret notes to each other in study hall, we developed a secret code to name our crushes, we had a secret party when Barb and Marty went on vacation.  In short, we had adventures.   My favorite story from high school, though, was when Marcy was going on her first date, with Mike Dentler.  And, when Mike came to pick Marcy up, there I was.  And when Marcy sat in the front seat, I sat in the back.  And when Mike brought Marcy over to hang out in his basement, there I sat.  Three peas in a pod we were.  And, don’t worry Todd, I made sure nothing happened.

But, then we grew up and went off to college and began to have new friends, new lives.  We had more adventures, most that involved the state of Texas, but Canton and Central, though always in our hearts, were left behind.  Sadly, I didn’t get to ride in the backseat on Marcy and Todd’s first date, but when I met him for the first time, I was impressed.  He was nice and cute and so… normal.  I don’t know how else to explain it, but Todd just felt like a guy I had known forever and when Marcy told me the story of how he arranged to surprise her with gifts before her first marathon, I was sold.  I knew he was the one.

As some of you know, I am a married woman, hence the matronly title of matron of honor.  And since I possess this esteemed title, I feel that I should give the bride and groom some advice.  Todd, you may know this already, but Marcy does not take any crap.  She is an efficient machine, just like her mom, so when in doubt, step aside. Also Todd (this one is for you too) don’t leave your whiskers all over the sink in the bathroom.  Ew, I hate that.  Oh, and drive her everywhere, and keep surprising her.  Do it because she deserves it, but also because one of Marcy’s best traits is that she is fiercely loyal and you can be sure that she will never leave your side.  And Marcy, this one’s for you… just let him make a few decisions.  Just a few.  That’s it.  But, it’s hard to do, trust me.  And then, don’t remind him when he inevitably makes the wrong decision.  That’s hard too.

But seriously, my wish for you both, and I wish this with all my heart, is that you love each other joyfully and unconditionally and that you never stop having fun… and that you make beautiful babies, sometime around the time that Dan and I start to make babies.  I love you Mrs. Thornicroft!  Here’s to the happy couple!

Today, Dan and I headed up to Canton for my best friend, Marcy’s wedding.  We had the rehearsal at 6pm at SJA (St. Joan of Arc, to all you non-Canton, non-parochial schoolers).  All was smooth.  Then, the rehearsal dinner was at the 356th Fighter Group, a cool restaurant right next to the Akron/Canton airport where you can watch planes take off and land as you eat.  Dinner was good and then Marcy and Todd gave a little speech for each person as they handed out gifts.  Needless to say, by the end we were all a little blubbery.  This is my favorite photo of the night because this is Marcy in mid-story.  This is such a Marcy face.

I love you Marc!

There are more pictures under the piictures tab!  Looking forward to a beautiful wedding tomorrow!

Bride to be

Today was Marcy’s bridal shower at her Aunt Kathy’s house.  It was a super cute brunch followed by presents.  I was in charge of writing down the gifts, which is a job I like as it involves making lists.  Todd stopped by toward the end and he and Marcy played a cute game where they sat back to back, with one of their own shoes and one of their fiance/e’s shoes in each hand.  Then, Aunt Kathy would ask a question like, who is going to mow the lawn (Todd) or who is going to do the cooking (Todd) and who is more of a planner (Marcy) and they would raise the correct person’s shoe and then we’d laugh at how predictable some questions were and how they differed on others.  It was a very nice shower and a very nice weekend in Canton.

Marcy’s family has a little reunion every year at their family cabin.  They call it The Laub because the family name is Laubacher.  This year, Dan and I were invited since we are in town for Marcy’s bridal shower tomorrow.  The cabin is somewhere past East Canton and it’s about the cutest place I have ever seen.  It’s a piece of land with a small cabin with a big kitchen, a small lake with several docks, a garden, a basketball court, a volleyball net, a baseball field, and a path up through the woods behind that I heard had an old zip line.  It’s like every kid’s paradise.  Oh, and of course there was an outdoor covered picnic area too where the adults hung out for most of the time.  Lots of people were fishing, but mostly everyone just sat around catching up.  When I talked to Marcy’s mom about this place, she said that her dad and her uncle bought the property in 1952 and she used to go there every Sunday with the family.  Here’s a picture under the picnic area:

Todd, Marcy, family friend Mark, and Aunt Laurie

And here is a funny picture of Marcy and I talking by the lake.  I swear we did not know Dan was taking this picture.  We actually talk with our hands like that.

funny version

And here’s the nice version of that picture:

nice version

We had so much fun!

Oh blog, how I missed you.  I don’t remember the last time I went this long without blogging.  See, this weekend was my best friend, Marcy’s, bachelorette party.  I brought my laptop so that I could blog each evening, but the weekend was so jam-packed that I didn’t have one single solitary chance until now (and I’m home now).  It was actually more than just a bachelorette party, so much more that I had to give it an acronym.  BPS stands for Bachelorette Party and Shower, but I really like to call it Marcy’s Bachelorette Party and Shower Weekend Extravaganza!  And little did my innocent mind know that BPS not only stands for Bachelorette Party and Shower, but also Broken Penis Syndrome.  I don’t know how this came up, but I looked it up on my phone, and it is true.  Ironic?

Anyway, the majority of us got into town on Friday night.  I picked Marcy up from her newly closed-on house and we went to the hotel.  Then, Aubrey showed up from Canton and we sat around and chatted for awhile.  Then, Natalie, Lindsay and Courtney M. showed up from Cincy and we ordered some pizza and resumed girl talk.  A little later, we decided to go out for some minor dancing (as opposed to major dancing that was to take place on Saturday).  So, we went to Cadillac Ranch which was decidedly not busy and made the bride-to-be ride the bull.  I’ll spare Marcy the video footage, but here we all are:

Cadillac Ranch

We went to bed early that night and then got up for an awesome continental breakfast on the concierge level.  I had no idea what concierge level meant until not-too-long-ago, but man, I wish I had known sooner.  The concierge level is the fancy level and they have their own lounge with a better contintental breakfast and free internet and stuff.  The only reason we got to be on this level was because of Marcy’s place of employment (they get a discount).  Oh, and we were also on the 23rd floor, which was cool because we had a great view of the lake and the Rock Hall, Science Center and the Browns stadium.

After breakfast, we went to Crocker Park and did a bit of shopping.  It was more girly fun and we all walked away with at least one bag.

Marcy's new beach hat!

Before shopping, Aubrey, Natalie and I had decorated one of the rooms for Marcy’s lingerie shower.  It was like a Victoria’s Secret threw up all over the room… and I loved it.

Pink, pink, pink!

Check out the cool cake my friend, Molly, made! (to the right)

The shower was so much fun (Courtney Z. and Lauren joined us), but I have to decline posting the pictures.  We, of course, played hilarious bachelorette games that involved a certain male body part.  I’ll let your mind wander, but let’s just say, my cheeks were killing me when it was over because I was laughing so hard.

After the shower, we all took turns showering and getting ready for our night on the town.  Here’s Marcy with all her Bride-to-be gear, looking cute and sassy.

Bride-to-be

Oh, and we all loved this sign in the hotel lobby.  Apparently a lot of baseball players stay here (there were fans lined up outside on our way out on Sunday).  Of course, we liked to pretend that it was meant for us.

Fans can be so intrusive.

For dinner, we went to a wine bar called D’Vine and got a bunch of small plates and wine “flights,” which were cool little samples of four different types of wines.  It was a great girly place and the food was delicious. Marcy said there was not a thing she didn’t like!

Out to eat

After dinner, we went headed out on the town, all dressed in black and looking a little like a bachelorette mafia.  We did a little dancing, laughed a lot, and called it a night at a decently early hour.  I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend!

The bachelorette mafia

Today is my best friend, Marcy’s birthday!  And so begins the only ten days of the year when she is older than me (at least numerically speaking).  How does it feel to be 28, Marc (soft c)?  You make me feel so young and vibrant!  Haha, that never gets old (no pun intended).  Speaking of old… I decided to scrounge around and come up with an old picture of us.  This is one of my favorites.  Our high school graduation picture from Central Catholic with the storied principal, Fr. Kaylor.

Time flies

Speaking of Central Catholic… our TEN year reunion is coming up this year and it just so happens to fall on a Saturday when I will be on vacation.  I’m bummed.  Hope you have a nice day, Marcy!

Most of the day yesterday, I worked on finals.  It went a little slower than I thought it would (as it usually does), but I’m sure facebook and other distractions had nothing to do with it.  I did get a paper done and almst finished reading a crop of articles I found related to blogs, but I still have a lot to do.  Here’s a picture of my planner for the week.

Yikes

I know you can’t really read it, but those are all of the things I had to do each day and I crossed them off as I went.  I have to admit that a few things that I didn’t get done kept being moved from day to day, but I’m only human. 

After all that work, my friend Nicole invited us out to a place called Brothers in the Arena District.  Even though it’s pretty close, we’d never hung out in the Arena District, so it was fun.  We played cornhole, sat by their fire pit and watched this crazy guy dance like, well, crazy.

Ben schooling us in cornhole... the North Market is in the background.