40 Memories

Friday is my 40th Birthday... Whoa!

I'm commemorating my 40th by posting the first 40 memories of my 40 years that come to mind... in no particular order.  Three people besides me will read at most 5 of these items.  

1) Picking out my dog Abbey (12 years ago) 

2) Picking out my dog Sunny (30 years ago probably)

3) My messy bedroom as a kid (not that it is much neater now)

4) The table made out of a door my dad made for me (thanks Dad!)

5) Playing softball as a kid on the Kittens (dark blue - how is that number 5 on my list?  Same four bases! Sheesh!)

6) Playing at the neighborhood park with my sis and friends (Murphy Park - back in my day they could flood the field in winter and it would stay ice for us to skate on)

7) My Apple 2c computer and dot matrix printer (didn't help me proofread papers sadly)

8) Living in University of Illinois dorm with bestie Carolyn!  

9) Late night pizza orders (gee why do they call it Freshman 15?)

10) Spring Break in Panama City with Hinchey, CC, and Gibson 

11) Spring Break in Park City with Radovich, Cindy, Melanie, Rachel, Jill and dear lord I can't remember everyone that went!

12) Long weekend in Vegas with Carolyn, CC, and Gibson (Was Katie there?)

13) Seeing the Allman Brothers! (Twice, one of the times we ran out of gas coming home... that sucked)

14) Seeing Paul McCartney (8/2014 in Missoula, MT-- what's with me and the Beatles)

15) Getting married at the Brookfield Zoo (6/25/2005 remember it actually cooled off and was a lovely evening.  yep approaching 10 yrs)

16) 3 week honeymoon in Italy! (the next summer)

17) Mini-moon in Chicago for 3 days (thanks B for booking the room for us!) 

18) Moving/driving to Seattle (7/2005 - packed to the gills with dog and treasures in Silver Ford Escape)

19) Meeting C at Fiesta Cafe (too bad we didn't start dating for 2 more years, 4/1997)

20) ZEKE! (3/2009, wait I'm a mom!  That's crazy talk.. ps this could be a whole separate list like so many of these)

21) My first day as a high school math teacher (8/1999, holy shit!)

22) My last day teaching at Hinsdale Central High School (Talk about emotional!) (6/2005)

23) Coaching volleyball and the thrill of winning a game (and the crush of losing a game) (99-02)

24) Watching Z work so hard to try and crawl forward to get the remote (09/2009)

25) The first time I heard Z telling a story and realizing he has a lot of my personality 

26) Making a pizza with C at Pizza Hut (probably 7/1997, pitter patter went my little heart)

27) Being a Snowball Leader in high school (true story)

28) Going to the Nutcracker with B (we think 3 times)

29) Tennis lessons with B as kids (Why did we fight? Also, Project SAM drama camp "Free to be You and Me!")

30) Long weekend in New Orleans with C (I'm going to guess 12/2002 but really no clue)

31) Road trip with B to Houston, New Orleans, Beale Street (06/1994 ish or was it when B got her MS in 96?)

32) Road trip with C for Kat and Ed's wedding then Katie and Tom's wedding (Summer 2003 I think, I should know this -- too much fun)

33) 10 days in Brazil with Dad and B (Summer 98)

34) Summer in Virginia Beach with Grandma Sherwin and Grandpa E (Summer 1984 I think)

35) Z's first day of Kindergarten (9/2014)

36) First learning to ski (Kathy! Winter 1992 with Kat's sister Sophie)

37) First meeting the PEPs gang... our kids (and us) will all grow up together (05/2009)

38) Buying our first house and brand new car together (condo 2002, house 2009, car 2014)

39) Seeing a bear in the wild (which for me seems to be every time I go for a hike, first time was summer 2004)

40) Being home after school but Z is over at a friend's house playing (09/2014)

Thanks!  I love having this little space in the world to call my own.  :)  This list is just the tip of the iceberg.  I'll share 45 more in 5 years ha! Amazing the memories I have and terrifying the memories I can't conjure up.  Naturally, I have lots of sad memories too but didn't want to come off sounding like a Super Bowl ad. 

The kid's funny!

This weekend Z and I went to the local toy store to get birthday presents for two of his buddies.  In the store they had one of these indoor pogo stick toys out for kids to try.  He hopped around the entire store the whole time we were there.  This is one of those cutesy shops where they wrap the gifts for you.  So dreamy!  Ok I'm going to stand here and let my kid destroy your store while you wrap my presents... Thanks... yes you have a nice day too :)  Fortunately, the pogo stick thingy kept him from destroying the store this time.

Shout out to Snapdoodle Toy Store
http://www.snapdoodletoys.com/

Toy online
https://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/international_playthings/kidoozie_hop_squeak_pogo_jumper.cfm

Z is a crazy kid.  I've met kids that are mellow and ease into activities, they admit when they are tired, they settle in with a toy for hours on end.  Not Z.  He's high energy with two modes: crazy and asleep.  That's it.  Unless the TV is on.

So naturally we bought this awesome toy!  He's boinging all over the house and having a blast.  Bubbe comes over to watch him Saturday night.  Thanks Bubbe!  Z is bouncing every which way and says, "Bubbe, you want to try it?  It has a 250 lb weight limit so you can."  She quickly replies no thanks.  He says, "well, how much do you weigh"  Pause.  I say, "Z it is an unwritten rule that we don't ask women what they weigh.  It isn't nice. You can ask men what they weigh.  Men don't mind telling you."  He bounces a couple times and replies, "Ok, I'll ask Daddy what Bubbe weighs!"  and bounces off.  The kid's funny!

Happy 2015

Picture an old cheesy movie where you cut to a clock and watch the hands spin and spin and spin... 2.5 years later.

Happy 2015!  Just wanted to pop in and drop a quick update.

Z-man is in Kindergarten and pretty much the best kid ever... except when he's a little stinker.  :)
C has a new gig this school year as a part-time principal and part-time teacher in an alternative school.  Good experience but quite challenging at times to say the least.
I'm still a db developer.  My team has gone through lots of changes but we're all trying our best to roll with it.

Our dog Abbey is 12 and seems to be slowing down in that oh shit I've got an old dog, when did this happen kind of way.

We went gluten free in 2014 (or was it 2013). C was on a real hard cider kick for a good long while.  Then slowly but surely we got back on the wheat train and C back on the IPA.

My dad was diagnosed with a slow growing leukemia called CLL Jan 2014.  He had months and months of treatment and is now in remission!  Lots of family and friend support there. Cancer is a bitch and a half.

We OD'd on pizza making.  Just couldn't gear up to make pizza.  Let's be real our oven sucks.  It barely gets to 450 degrees.  So we took a LONG break.  Now a days we are in a happy medium.  Some Sunday mornings or Sat nights I'll make a batch of dough.  Then Sunday afternoon I'll bake up the sausage and grate the cheese and we'll invite Mom, Dad, or some friends over.  Or just make pizza for us.  No biggie. No fan fare.  We use store bought pizza sauce.  (Lucini Pizza Sauce is the best!!!)  Z will top his own pizza but C stretches out the dough for him.

I hope you are all doing well!!!