ketchup

My daughters are really into dipping their food. The love for dip all started with Delaney while we were on vacation. She discovered that she liked bacon dipped in butter, and I discovered that if I gave her something to dip her food in, she ate more food. Certainly I do not offer up butter as a dipping option, but she does really enjoy salad dressing, mustard, ketchup, etc. Recently, both girls have decided that ketchup is a food (and not a dip), a food that should be eaten prior to dinner. The other night while eating hotdogs for dinner (a small step up from bacon dipped in butter), both of my daughters were filling their little forks and mouths with ketchup, and ketchup alone. Both Carl and I tried to explain that the point of having the ketchup on their plate was for dipping hotdogs, but neither was interested in dipping that way. Oh well...at least they were eating, right?

For more entertaining Delaney and Alison dipping stories, talk to Ciruc. She had a great time having her "dip" eaten by Laney at Padonia Station last week. Oh and Ciruc, it was a wonderful weekend hanging with you. I look forward to many more weekends like it....this move is going to be AWESOME!!!!!

Rookie Camp

The past few days Brian, Natalie and I have been at Goucher College enrolled in what can only be described as a "Rookie Camp" for new admissions counselors. Nowhere in any of the brochures did it indicate that the sessions were geared towards those new to the profession. Some of the topics could have been interesting had the participants been given the opportunity to participate in the conversation, but it was mostly lecture. In fact, the session supposedly focused on getting the campus community involved in recruitment efforts was one of the few that actually encouraged conversation and the sharing of ideas.

I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to be thrilled about PCACAC. I really wanted to want to get involved. I think today I may send an email to find out how I might get involved in the future..potentially helping to make this a useful event for newbies and some of the older folks.

The move

Since we've lived in our home, a hideous fake marble green bar has lived in our basement. I hate it! Early Saturday afternoon, the bar met its demise when I broke it down with a sledge hammer. With the bar gone, I had motivation to iron all of our placemats, clean up the backroom of the basement (past the point of recognition to those who have been in it recently), clean the fridge, and do all of the dishes. Now I really can't wait for the sewing table!

Cirucci moved to Baltimore on Saturday. Since Carl was fishing all day, the girls and I went over in the afternoon to help with some unpacking. The girlies loved the new kitten, Bella and practiced their gentle petting with her. The apartment looks great! I can't believe all of the furniture fit....they didn't even need to use my idea of the stu-dining room. I look forward to spending quality time there. I'm also psyched to have a wing buddy.

Sunday morning, Carl joined us in a visit to the new apartment. We brought Ciruc part one of her Baltimore survival kit: a map, Baltimore magazine, and of course, Bergers cookies! Afterwards, we headed off to the Disney store where, lucky for us, they were having a huge sale! We purchased 6 pairs of pjs for 18 bucks. Can't beat that!!!

Sunday afternoon we finished up the organization in the basement (Carl has a dump trip planned for next weekend), and headed to my moms to water her plants. We had grilled corn on the cob and some of the rockfish Carl caught for dinner...mmmmm! Oh- and we had some of the most disgusting wine I've ever had, we will not be buying that bottle again.

house-y stuff

Brian moved out last night, and Chrissy moves down tomorrow..woohoo. And no offense to Brian, but I'm thrilled to have the extra room back! Carl and I installed the gate at the top of the stairs last night, and we are ready to start using the "Eloise room" as the girls playroom. They played in there a little last night (no toys are in it yet as we're putting the finishing touches on baby-proofing today) and absolutely loved it.
All of this moving has gotten me in the mood to organize our home. Last night I pulled out all of the old clothes from the girlies closets and got them out. Some of the clothes are going to church, some of them will be going to the consignments shop, and some of the gender neutral stuff will be headed to Dan and Mindy's (if they want to keep it for when they have kids). The next order of business will be the back part of the basement. It is filled with the hideous bar, old computers, old paint, etc. Next weekend, Carl is taking all of this stuff to the dump, and the room will be used as we had originally anticipated: half workshop/tool storage for Carl, half sewing space for me. We are buying one of Brian and Chrissy's dining room tables, and that will become my craft table! I'm pretty excited since I have projects that I have been waiting to do since last October! Hopefully we will have space to organize the laundry process as well (not that it looks all that bad now). And finally, the storage shelves will be full of our seasonal stuff in an organized, easy to find, fashion. I'm such a dork.
Ok. That's all for now. I actually have quite a lot that I need to take care of today at work...off to read some letters!

Dinner last night

Auntie Becky came over yesterday to watch Delaney and Alison. I was sooo excited when she decided to stay for dinner. We made a "cobb" salad and it was delish. The girls sat at the table with us and had salad too and I loved it. Since Carl is never home, its usually just the girls and I (sometimes Brian), and it was so wonderful to have a girlfriend to be chatting with. It sounds really stupid, but I was soo excited to have my daughters join in. I really feel like they are growing into little girls now and I want them to feel like they can trust and turn to my close friends if they ever need anything. I remember how wonderful I felt when I was little and hung out with my mom and her best friend Ruth Ann. I'm looking forward to sharing the same girl time with my girls!

the library

So my girlies are not big communicators. They are only 19 months old, but they don't say a ton of words. They understand everything..."Delaney, go get mommy a diaper" generally results in my having a diaper, but about all I hear is "momma, dog, cat, fall, ball, etc". My daughters speak in an alien twin language to one another all day long, but no english. My plan to get them to talk: bring them to social events with children their age. Eventually they will have to say something! So on Saturday, off we went to the library for childrens reading and play time. The librarian read books about travel and encouraged singing and dancing and Alie was right on board with everything. She wanted to be part of the group and was an excellent scarf dancer. My Laney was a bit more shy and tenative, clinging to Carl and I as she began to participate. Success was made at the end during playtime when both of my daughters started to play with others. There were no attempts to communicate, but perhaps reaching out is the first step... Plus, it was nice family outing and the girls sat still for storytime, something they have difficulties with at home. Count us in on storytime at the library!

The rest of the weekend was filled with the usual weekend chores: grocery shopping, cleaning, mowing the lawn, etc. Dan and Mindy did stop by for a bit on Saturday, and it was nice to catch up. We need to get together for dinner soon!

90210

Since Carl works late, the girls go to bed around 7, and I dropped my summer classes, I have lots of time on my hands. When I watched the last episode of 90210 a few weeks ago, I decided that since Soap net would be starting from the beginning again, I would watch the whole series from start to finish. I loved "9-0" in college (it was up there with Dawson's and Friends) and I love to get wrapped up in fictional worlds.

The first episodes were terrible. I suprised the show stayed on the air. But as the first season winds down, finally the characters (other then Brenda and Brandon) are developed. My favorite character: Dylan McKay. He's pretty cute, even in his early 90s style. Of course his hair could use some work, and he's really skinny, but who can resist a hot surfer from CA? I have always loved Dylan (the later episodes come to mind), but I love the way that he loves Brenda. He seems so sweet, sensitive, and caring...it kind of reminds me of the end of the show and his relationship with Kelly. I'm currently crushing on a tv star from 15 years ago...ha!

mmm...school

Since taking the summer off from classes, I have been thinking a lot about my degree choice. Human Resource Development....how did I arrive at that decision? I think because I wanted my masters to help my career, and with my lovely situation of planning my life around my husband's crappy job, it seemed like the most "do-able" option for me. There's one problem, I don't really ever see myself using it. Sure, its good to have a masters, but I'm not sure if HR is my thing. The program is interesting, but the career options within the field don't necessarily appeal to me. I have decided to pursue another degree!

I have decided on school counseling. I think that is a perfect fit for me. I would be working with students in a school setting, but I wouldn't have to be teaching necessarily. I have to take some pre-reqs to get into the program (I never even took intro to psych at the 'burg), and the GREs, so this will be quite a process. I will finish the HRD program while I'm working on the psych courses, and I'm excited about the new prospect. Hopefully in about 5 years (maybe a little less) I will hold 2 masters degrees, and finally have my future planned. I will have to go to college park for the program, so hopefully Carl will find a new job soon! Anyone have any job hookups ;)?

Quite a long time

So its been quite a long time since I've posted...

This weekend was a busy weekend. Wen and Greg came up on Friday night to join Carl, Brian, Cirucci and I at the Carbon Leaf/ Pat McGee Band concert at Wolf Trap. The concert was pretty great. Cirucci and I drank a bit too much wine, but we survived. Next concert at Wolf Trap might have to be a beer event. Carbon Leaf really didn't look like I had imagined them to look...Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (I think they were called) opened and they were great too. Pat played a lot of his older stuff, which was good, but strange since I'm pretty sure it was a cd release concert. Funniest part of the night: dinner at sevs! Favorite memory: belting "Haven't Seen For a While" with the girls.

Saturday morning was spent lying on the couch in the living room watching tv, chatting, and eating bagels. After the shower rotation (got to love 6 adults in one house with only one bathroom!), we broke up into groups...divide and conquer method, to get everything accomplished before c-stock. Brian tried to convince Greg that the i-phone was the way to go (Bri, I still think you have a promising career as a marketing manager at apple) while Ciruc and I logged some Delaney and Alison time lounging on a bench at the mall. After visiting the grocery store, we returned home for some much needed pizza and motz sticks before C-stock (a new annual tradition) began.

C-stock brought some great people, great food, and lots of fun. Although it wasn't quite the rager I had imagined, I really enjoyed myself (I think Michael and Carl might have enjoyed the party the most ;) ) We played a little beruit, enjoyed hotdogs, turkey burgers, deviled eggs, jalapeno poppers, crab dip, pasta salad, brie, cranberry cookies and ice cream sandwiches. Sunday morning the group enjoyed Greg's wonderful pancakes and oj before everyone started to hit the road. My time with Greg and Wen was too short, and I'm already thinking about homecoming weekend in October. We're already thinking maybe Williamsburg for birthday weekend in November. Next time we all get together, I'm thinking minimal or no pre set plans, maybe that will slow down the time we have!

I am looking forward to the 21st when Cirucci becomes a Maryland resident, and more excitingly lives only 10 minutes from me. We have already made plans for her 1st 24 hours and I'm thinking of making a list of things that I haven't done in a while that I would love to share with her.

One final note: Happy Birthday Wen! I love you :)