High School Musical!!

Here are some pictures from today! Enjoy!

Here the girls are in the van:

Ella and I on the subway:

We made it (and just in the nick of time!):

Ella being funny before the show:

The girls right after the show:

We had a blast! We saw the girl that played Gabrielle outside right after the show but none of the girls wanted a picture (??). We saw her again walking by as we ate dinner at Mickey D's. Chloe used the mens restroom for the first time and I almost used the opportunity to snap a pic with Sue in front of the urinals (I have a great picture of a few of us at Women Of Faith in the men's room in front of the urinals (well them...I was the smart one taking the picture!), so it brought back memories...!!). Chloe also managed to fall asleep right before the end, but we didn't think at the time to get a picture of that. Well, that and I didn't want my camera confiscated. I really liked how some things were different. I have to admit, though, that Ms. Darbus's New York accent was getting on my nerves.

I guess now I need to do a 2nd Random Fact of the Day (I'm really not that interesting and am running out of things to say....): I tested postive for TB (teberculousis) when I was 2 and was on a special medication for it for a year. That does not mean I have it, but am a carrier, so I need to be careful. I'm also never allowed another TB prick test. I need to get chest X-Rays.

Valentine Gala

We had a good time last night at the Gala. I do not like to dance, and this felt a lot like a wedding reception to me, but it was still worth going. It was very cool to see everyone dressed up and our auditorium transformed as well. They couldn't cover up our roller-coaster, though! Here are some pictures of us learning to Tango, courtesy of Stephanie:

And here we are at the table:

Ready to have a blast today at HSM!! Look for pictures coming soon!!

Random Fact of the Day:

I love to read and once won a "Book-It" contest in Middle School. It ran for six weeks and the goal was to read 6 books (one per week). I read 52. Seriously. On the rare occasion that I would get in trouble at home, my books would be taken away (not TV, or phone or anything like that....).

New Favorite Sandwich

My grandmom and I went to lunch today at Panera after her chemo treatment. I was "Panera-ed" out there for awhile, but willingly went (free lunch is always a plus!). I ended up trying something new and now can't wait for my next Panera opportunity! I had the Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich. YUM. And while I was there, Jen S., I passed the Sleepy's and thought of you!!

While we were out we stopped by Boscov's to find me a shawl (and maybe a dress?) to wear to our church's Valentine's Gala tonight. I was planning on wearing pants but then got talked out of it by (ready for this?!?) my husband (of all people!). So, I found a dress that would work, but was having issues with the zipper. I wasn't going to get it until I inquired about the price. It rang up $17.50. Then she gave me 10% for the zipper PLUS they were having a 20% off sale. How could I say no? I cannot wear it tonight, but now I have one that I can wear for something else. And black dresses are always good to have around. So, I have one here at home that will work that I wore to a summer wedding. The material is season-friendly so I should be able to get away with it. Ironically enough, the shawl/wrap I bought was $20.00, more than the dress! Now all I need is to have my seamstress-extrodinairre friend fix the dress for me!

Alright, Ella is asking to cuddle and I cannot say no. Have a great weekend! We are going in to DC tomorrow to see High School Musical Live with Danielle and Sue and their daughters. We can't wait!!

Random Fact of the Day: I love to burn candles but can't stand floral scents. I much prefer the "baking" ones.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, today is the big day. I have to say, that Jon confessed last night he had forgotten about the big V-day again this year. A few years ago he had forgotten about it and made up for it by getting me a President's Day card. That card was homemade, due to the fact that no stores carry President's Day cards (much to Jon's dismay...). This year he was safe; however, because we had decided a few days ago that we wouldn't do anything for the big day this year.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you an unforgettable Valentine's Day 12 years ago. It was the day Jon proposed to me. Four months after our first date and about one month after we had come back from the Bahama's. Yep. He had given me a ring while we were gone but had told me there was something he had to do before he could actually propose. While that may sound warning bells in some ears I was not overly concerned, more perplexed. So, I found out later that he had really wanted to do things the old-fashioned way and ask my dad for his permission. He wasn't able to do that before we had left for the trip (he was in the hospital) and so no proposal was made there. I already had a ring, so he got creative to propose and had a necklace with a locket around the neck of a cute stuffed bunny I had seen and hinted to him I liked (you know, because the stores have Easter stuff out before V-day is even here!). The locket looked like this:

Inside it had a small piece of paper that said: "Be My Wife." Very cool! He still, to this day, doesn't think I give him enough credit for this proposal.

We had the locket put in a frame with our Wedding Invitation:

And for kicks, here's a picture of us on our wedding day:

Have a great day, everyone!!

Random fact of the day: One of my biggest (and I have many!) pet peeves is the mis-use of the words: they're, there and their. Ugh.......

**Sigh** I knew it would happen someday....

I am now the offical owner of a big girl. I don't quite know what happened. One day she was cutting teeth and the next, she was loosing them....

She managed to lose hers nine months before Coby lost his (yes, I'm neurotic like that and actually looked back and did the math!). Coby was almost 6 and ready to start 1st grade when he lost his first. She hasn't even started Kindergarten yet! She is very excited because tomorrow she can go buy a new Webkinz. Here at our house the toothfairy brings $5 for the first tooth. So she'll have that and put that with some V-day money she has received. Very cool.

In other news, I took my grandmom down to the hospital today for a round of chemo. It was her long day and my girlfriend Stacey watched the kids for me so I didn't have to drag them along. I actually got quite a bit done while I waited. I had brought the laptop and entered in all my appetizers (I'm trying to get all of my recipes on the computer), wrote a whole step routine to a fun Doobie Brothers Song, read the chapers I needed for my Bible Study and read some in another book. All in all, productive! The kids had a good time also, so it was win-win. I came home in this yucky weather to see that my new toy:

had been delivered with no plastic protection. I was so mad! It seems alright, though. I'm tempted to call the delivery company and let them know what happened so it doesn't happen to anyone else. I can't wait to get started on this! I have soooo many pictures I need to scan in from before we went digital and it's going to take awhile but it will be so worth it! So, be looking for Coby's baby pictures soon!! This thing is also a copier, which is also going to come in handy. And, speaking of Coby, here is a cute shot of him in the tub the other night:

He's getting too big, also. I guess it happens.

Alright, enough for now. I need to go watch my DVR'ed American Idol! Oh, speaking of, I've decided the two songs I'm singing for the local contest I posted about a few days ago. I'll just be recording it on our equipment in the basement. We'll see how that goes......

I'm also going to try to remember to post a random fact about me at the end of every entry. You know, so you can get to know me a little better. So, random piece of info for today is:

I do not have any armpit hair.

(Is that too TMI for the first one? Are you jealous now?!?!)

My Dad

So, Jon and I were going through some old files the other day and I came across a paper that my mom had written for me. It is a list detaling everything my dad had gone through (medically) in his life. I thought I would share it with you. Let me give you a little background. My dad was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when he was ten years old. He had been living in Morocco at the time (he was a brat) and it is thought he contracted it through a virus. Most of his issues stemmed from the diabetes, although he took meticulous care of himself. You will see throughout his adult life he was diagnosed with two types of cancer as well as other medical issues. He finally gave up in June 2000, one month before his first grandchild (Coby) was born. Here is his story. It starts in 1983, when I was six years old:

1983 - Lazer Treatments on Both Eyes / GBMC
1985 - Declared Legally Blind and starts Vocational Rehabilitation
1989 - 1st Kidney Transplant / U of MD
1992 - Diagnosed with Throat Cancer. Had his tonsils removed / GBMC
1992 - Raditation Therapy for cancer / GBMC
1992 - Radical Neck Dissection / GBMC
1993 - Cataract Surgery / CCGH
1994 - Broken foot / Union Memorial
1995 - Lost Transplanted Kidney to rejection (it was from his mom)
1995 - Placed on top of the list for kidney/pancreas transplant
1995 - Began Dialysis / Frederick MH
1995 - Double Transplant -Kidney and Pancreas - U of MD
1995 - A few days after surgery suffered a heart attack
1995 - Tracheotomy (Larynogohracheoplasty with complete supraglattic closure) / U of MD
After this surgery he could no longer talk and used a Electrolarynx with an oral adaptor to speak. Plus, because of the radiation from having the throat cancer he was left with no saliva glands. He had to carry water everywhere he went.
1995 - Triple Bypass Open Heart Surgery / U of MD
1995 - Large Foot Ulcer
(1995 was the year I graduated from high school)
1996 - Below-the-knee (BTK) Amputation of left leg / U of MD
1996 - Re-opened his throat (partial). One of the first to have this done! / U of MD
1996 - Another surgery to open throat completely - Failed
1996 - Reclosed the throat
1996 - Large Foot Ulcers - right foot
1996 - Angioplasty to right foot / U of MD
1996 - Repeated Angioplasty
1997 - Toe Amputation on right foot / U of MD
1997 - Retina repair to eyes / Union Memorial
1998 - Another infected toe (he only has fou left at this point)
1999 - Spiral Leg Fracture
1999 - Sugery to repair leg and hip / CCGH
1999 - Collapsed Lung - Diagnosed with Lung Cancer