Oops.

I have neglected this yet again. I blame it on my job putting me in front of a computer all day... I just don't feel like sitting on the computer when I get home! Oh well...

What's new? Well, let me tell you...

• My older brother Chris got engaged
• My younger brother Sean started dating someone
• My parents sold their house
• My parents are moving to Ohio
• Chris' job has gotten quite stressful, but he's doing a great job with a huge project right now
• My job is more enjoyable in the IT realm as I continue to learn more "IT" things and "make IT look good" ... as my supervisor keeps telling me.
• We didn't sign up for Apple Cider Century this year and I'm regretting it. I'm already checking the website daily to see when I can sign up for next year's... Since we're not setting aside any vacation money, I was thinking that could be my birthday present...for Chris and I to go. That then takes away getting tickets to Wicked in Kalamazoo (I've never seen it)...so...not sure. I'm definitely doing the ACC next year though. Wicked may or may not happen.
• We're going to sell the LeSabre and go down to one car. That's really all we need. I can walk or bike to work, plus Chris has his motorcycle. Once winter hits, he'll most likely be driving the plow truck anyways, so if I want to drive to work, I can take the Jetta.
• I read "Hunger Games" ... the next book, "Catching Fire" is on the hold shelf at the library. Must get soon... I enjoyed the book, I'm thinking the trilogy is very closely entwined and you can't read one without the others... The first one kind of leaves you hanging, wondering what's next.
• Chris started another wine batch. We might have messed it up. Hopefully it turns out okay...
• I want a pet. But not until student loans are paid...
• RIOT (our middle school youth group) starts very soon. I should get some lesson plans together...
• Pumpkin Patch is coming up soon... I need to try and make a t-shirt design so I can get those ordered.
• Pumpkin Stew party will be at our house, not my parents house, for the first time... I'm ready to start planning, Chris said it's too early since it's over a month away. *sigh*

So there's a quick little hit list of my life. Not too exciting, but good enough for me!

Connecticut

Here's just a few pics of our time in Connecticut. Most of the time was spent with family, so there's not a lot ot share unless you know all the relatives. :)


Chris' parents having lunch with us at a Friendly's.

Chris at Friendly's.

Chris driving. We did this a lot.

Most of the group after the funeral at the luncheon.

Drive to Connecticut

As some of you know, Chris' aunt Gail (his mom's sister) passed away last week. She lived in Connecticut. Chris and I planned on going to the funeral, so we packed up my dad's car (better for traveling than the cars we own), drove to the farm to get Chris' dad (his mom has been in CT with her sister for the past 3 weeks) and headed out early Sunday morning.

Chris and I planned to leave the farm at 6am. At 6:15am...we had been ready for 15 minutes... Our third passenger was still in bed... Oh well. We hit the road at 7am.

I tend to get motion sickness, so I prepared for the trip by taking Bonine. It's a "less-drowsy" formula than Dramamine. I am one who tends to fall asleep in cars. Growing up we would drive to Pennsylvania to visit my relatives and my natural defense against car sickness was sleeping during the trip. Now that I'm an adult, it's still a natural habit that I can't seem to break - I just get drowsy in cars. That paired with my body's inability to cope with drugs (normal Tylenol knocks me out for crying out loud), I was VERY groggy the whole trip. I took a turn to drive and couldn't figure out why I was so tired. As we neared the end of our 17 hour drive it dawned on me that the Bonine was a "LESS" drowsy formula, not a "NON" drowsy formula. So...I won't be able to take that on the return trip, because I'll need to be able to help Chris with the driving, since it will be just the two of us on the way back (Chris' mom and dad will take his mom's car home).

Luckily I have several other methods to avoid car sickness. We'll see how well they work. It involves those old pressure-point wristband things and ginger snaps. Ginger is good for nausea, so I'll see if the ginger snaps help me out in this.

Anyway, we made it safe and sound to Old Saybrook, CT late Sunday night. About 12:30am. That's better than I expected, given one traffic jam, a late start and plenty of food/bathroom stops. Definitely doable in one day. But I may just feel that way since I slept through most of the trip.

Yesterday we slept a lot due to the exhaustion of the trip (and I still had the less-drowsy Bonine in my system). We had lunch in a little pub downtown and then spent the rest of the evening with family. Gail had a husband Peter (from England), a daughter Sharon (a little older than Chris and I) and a son Kevin (a little younger than Chris and I). Kevin is recently engaged to Liz.

So we hung out with them. This was my first time meeting Kevin and Liz. I think I meet Peter at our wedding 3 years ago. Sharon I've met a couple of times in Michigan and in Florida (where she used to work).

Today's plan is to go to the town of Avon. Apparently it's quite a cute town with cute stores and such. Chris and I have been ready to go and awake for the past few hours. We have yet to see his parents. It may be a quick drive there (er...1 hr drive), eat lunch and then head back, because we'll need time to get ready for visitation tonight.

So that is my update so far. Hopefully everyone back home is holding down the fort okay with the responsibilities we left behind for the week!

Prodigal: An Animation

iPod Blogging

I'm at my parents' house, doing laundry. Didn't stop home to grab the laptop... So I've been bored between loads, so I've been checking facebook on my iPod, downloading apps and all around wearing down my battery. Last few moments are being spent making this post and then I'll have to go and find some other form of entertainment...