Let me Explain. No, there’s not time. Let me sum up.

I’ve been a bit busy lately.  Here’s what I’ve been up to the past 8 or 9 days.

Went to see an AWESOME high school production of Footloose.  My friend was playing in the “orchestra” (if that’s what you call it.)  Cheesy.  High School.  Great costumes.   Can’t beat it with a stick.

Baby shower for Kristi.  Aren’t they cute?

Kristi and Lindsey

Celebrated Kari’s 30th bday (a week early) with a surprise party at J2.  Check out these kids.   Cuteness abounds in my circle.

Beau and Macie mini-bowling

NKOTB, part deux.  This time, we did it up limo-style:

Limo girls in Larry’s shed

shots at the pink house

We had 9th row seats

The “Kids” Wore Illinois shirts for the encore

Ran the FULL 5K for the first time.   Good thing, ‘cuz it’s Saturday. I’m READY TO RUN!

Wrote two stories for my class that I actually like.  They’re about Italian circus performers, naturally ;)

Met threebabies for the first time:  Clennon’s son Neil and Jacelyn’s twins Jacob and Dylan. I even held and fed Dylan, which is quite a feat for me because I’m not much of a baby person–and he was only 4 years old!

Took Roxie to get her shots.  And then to the Emergency Vet for the allergic reaction to her shots.   Her face swelled up like Will Smith in Hitch. It’s funny now, but I was too worked up at the time to snap a pic.  Damn!

Helped celebrate the birthdays of Scott and Kari

Caught about half of The Princess Bride, thus the title of this post.

And then everyday stuff like work and chores and running… I’m kinda worn out, but I cannot WAIT until Saturday.   Don’t worry–there will certainly be a 5K update very soon!!

2008: The Year in Review, Part 1

I was without internet for a little over a week, so I’m a bit behind on my blogging.  But I didn’t want 2008 to go un-documented, so here is part 1 of my month-by-month account of my life’s activities.   Luckily, I have this handy little blog to help me remember what I did!!

January started with New Year’s eve in Tuscola.

Then it was Cops & Robbers Bunco at Kim’s

And a wine tasting at my house:

February, of course, is my birthday month, what more do you need??

March–  I started blogging, albeit covertly.

We had Bunco at Tonyas:

I went to Vegas with my family:

And Cooper Philip Pollard was born:

April– I got a new car, saw a baby left alone in a car seat; and Backyard Tire Fire at Highdive; there was an earthquake and Lost came back on the air after a much-too-long writers strike.

I also went to New Orleans for work (yes, there are better pix of this trip, but I’ll just post this one to spare the, uh, innocent!!)

May--  We celebrated Lisa’s birthday with a happy hour, I went to  Atlanta for work, and took in a stray dog.

My dog had surgery:

I saw Chicago in Peoria with Jen:

And went to St. Louis to celebrate Jeff’s 30th birthday:

June- Can you believe the only thing on my calendar is that I started boot camp? I’m sure there were other things going on, but I didn’t write it down.

So, there you have it– the first 6 months of 2008 as told through photos and blog posts.  I’m sure there are plenty of things that I’m missing, but those are some of the high points.

Stay tuned for part 2 and a New Year’s Resolution post.  Then, it will be back to your regularly scheduled programming :)

Foto Friday-ish: Happy Birthday Dad & Kim

 

I realized I didn’t do a Foto Friday post this week.  Therefore, you get two fotos for the price of one!

 

Kim turned the big 3-0 on Tuesday, but she doesn't look a DAY over 27! This is the two of us on my 29th/32nd bday

 

 

My dad turned 66 on Wednesday. This was taken ~25 years ago at my aunt's wedding.

Foto Friday: Happy Birthday Granny/ie

This weekend is my Grannie Rich’s 90th birthday party, and my Granny Marge celebrates her 77th birthday the following Sunday. They are both exceptionally strong, loving women and I’m proud to be able to celebrate with them!

 

The Richs: Grannie, Me, Kelli (sister), Pam (sister-in-law), Ashley (niece)

 

Mom, Me, Granny Marge

Foto Friday: Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom’s birthday is this weekend.  For her 50th (a few years ago–I won’t say how many), we threw her a surprise birthday party at Hubers.

We told her we were going to go out for dinner.  My brother and Jo were in one car and Mom and I were in another.  Mom kept getting annoyed with Ryan because he wasn’t going the right way.  We stopped at Hubers to have “a drink” and voila–there were all Mom’s friends, family and co-workers.   She was legitimately surprised and everyone had a good time.

I can’t find a good picture of the Surprise! moment, but here is my mom with all of her sisters– they look nothing alike, do they?  LOL.

The Bialeschki Girls: Shelly, Penny, Donna, Linda, Sandy

On another memorable birthday, I took Mom out to dinner and told her I had a suprise for her.  I told her that her gift was a clue as to her “big” surprise.  As she pulled the leash and harness from the dog-themed gift bag, she began to get a little worried.   I told her she’d have to wait until she got home to see the real surprise.  She had told me she didn’t want a dog, but I knew she did.

When she got home, I told her to close her eyes.  I took her into the spare room where she found…   RYAN!  With a brand new COMPUTER!  We made her think she was getting a dog just to freak her out.  It was great!

Happy Birthday, DK!