Lack of creativity, obviously

So, I lifted this survey, or whatever you wanna call it, off of Facebook. Thought I would throw it in the blog since I haven't written anything here in a while. Erin tells me she is having AbsolutRachel withdrawals, so something had to be done :)

USING ONLY ONE WORD
(I really hope you guys appreciate how hard it's gonna be for me to answer ANYTHING in one word.)

Where is your cell phone?
Pocket

Your significant other?
Tall

Your hair?
Black

Your mother?
Chocolate

Your father?
Willerwoller

Your favorite thing?
People

Your dream last night?
none

Your favorite drink?
carbonation

Your dream/goal?
bliss

What room are you in?
Living room (That was impossible answer in one word. Not fair!)

Your hobby?
dogs

Your fear?
misery

Where do you want to be in 6 Yrs?
home

Where were you last night?
home

Something that you aren't?
easy

Muffins?
no

Wish list item?
baby

Last thing you did?
play

What are you wearing?
overalls

TV?
TruTV

Pastime:
relaxing

Your pets?
love

Friends?
best

Your Life?
marvelous

Your mood?
exhausted

Missing someone?
always

Smoking?
sure

Your car?
new

Something you're not wearing?
socks

Your favorite store?
CharlotteRusse (sorry, had to make that one word :) )

Your favorite color
pink

When is the last time you cried?
recently

Where do you go to over and over?
Executive (now that's embarrassing, but another 'thing that I am not' is dishonest)

Five people who email me regularly?
(So now they are giving me permission to break the "one word" rule? What the hell.) spam, Verizon, Blogger, Progressive, Richard. (in that order)

My favorite place to eat?
Schlotsky's

Favorite place I'd like to be at right now?
OuterBanks

Because I think I may have promised Abi I would post this

Old, worn out photo from Prom, junior year, 1998. Why didn't someone feed me

Just fine

If this song doesn't make you wanna get up and shake-it, you may need to adjust your Prozac dosage. :)

Thanks for re-introducing me to this song, Gina, and sorry about the pic. I just had to :) Look at the time on the clock!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ETfNxDVlpQ

I Love Being My Brother's Sister

I was about ten years old when my brother, Joe, was born. There is an oddly wonderful, very-difficult-to-describe, different-than-normal sibling experience when you are old enough to remember every milestone in your younger siblings life. You wouldn't know the feeling if you haven't been there, and I am sure there is an equally indescribable feeling that comes from being the younger sibling when there is such a huge age gap. It's something no more special than any other sibling experience, but it is pretty unique.

I'll share a story, so you can get a little bit of a better feel for what I am talking about here. When Joe was about seven years old, he told me that he wanted a brother or sister. My response was "who do you think I am?".

"No, I mean like a real one. One that goes to the same school as me and wants to play with the same stuff."

"If you had a 'real' brother or sister, they probably wouldn't be old enough to take you to the movies, or make pancakes better than mom, and mom wouldn't trust you guys to just wonder off in the woods any place you please."

"Good point."

I'd say we both knew that our age gap was unusual, yet pretty cool. I know I have always been happy with it. Most people don't remember when their brother was born. I do. Vividly. It snowed that day. Do you remember your brothers first day of school? I do. I was so happy that he got the same kindergarten teacher I had ten years prior. And when he learned to walk, when he got old enough to ride in the front seat, when he was first trusted to cook something without burning the house down, I was there. I remember seeing the following absolutely precious keepsake as it was being made.



Today I got to make another really cool memory. And I have a feeling this one is gonna stick too. I took Joe to get his learner's permit today. I'll be the first to admit that the thought of Joe being able to drive has always terrified me. Not because I expected that he would be a bad driver, but because there are SO many other bad drivers, and his world would be open to so many more unimaginable dangers than it previously had been. But as I sat in the waiting room of the DMV while he took the test, I was thrilled and nervous and excited for Joe, not me. Sitting there wondering if he passed the test was getting to me, and finally I got up and took a peek into the office, where I saw Joe sitting in front of the camera. HE PASSED!!

I was so happy for him! I immediately went into "that's my little brother!!!" mode. I noticed the guy at the front desk was distracted, so I took the chance to mosey straight past him into the office. I was like the obnoxious mom at the school play. The one who creeps up to the very edge of the stage to get a perfect picture. Yes, I took his picture at the DMV, and as you can see, he was clearly expressing his desire not to have me flashing pics with my pinkberry.



Yep. I have many pictures with this look on Joe's face. The look that says, "Rachel, people aren't allowed to come up on the stage and take pictures!". I have embarrassed myself, and Joe, (well, mom and dad too) many a'time by making a total ass out of myself to get a shot of a milestone. Why would I act any different at a government run agency when Joe is legally an adult? This poor child has and always will have the burden of his sister following him with a camera. I cherish the memories too much not to capture them. Embarrassment, rules and regulations, even risk of arrest, would be unlikely to stop me. One day I will be all old, and the memories may start to fade, but at least I will have them well documented, in case I need to jog my memory a bit. Sorry, Joe, but I do it out of love:)

Here is another picture for you, just for shits and giggles.



Congratulations Joe. I love you and I am so proud of you. You are growing up, but you'll always be my "little brother". :)

This makes my heart all warm and smiley

I apologize for the fact that I am not sharp enough to figure out how to steal a video from YouTube and post it on the blog. You'll just have to deal with good ol' fashion links.

I found this video the other day and I love it. It's a group of Marines having a little fun at work in Iraq. These men are someones kids, husbands, brothers, etc. They are in some really sucky conditions over there, to say the least, and making a huge sacrifice for us. (Thank you!) Still, they manage to keep their sense of humor and wit in tact, which makes me feel silly for letting anything get me bent out of shape. It truly is heartwarming. I hope that the guys in this video are still safe, wherever they may be now. Most of all, I hope they are home.

See if you can guess which one is my fave :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX5ZVC1YY1k

Celebrations

The past few weeks have been scattered with a lot of celebrations and not a lot of blog posts. Forgive me as I try to catch up :)

We'll start with Memorial Day.


The Memorial Day celebration at Heather and John's
house (thanks for hosting us, guys!!)was really a celebration
of many, many things. Here, Kasey listens patiently as Connie
reads the list of things that we were celebrating (in no particular order).

• Memorial Day
• Connie's Birthday
• Kasey's birthday (early)
• My birthday (late)
• Mother's Day (late)
• Heather getting the breathalyzer taken out of her car
• Kasey successfully completing his DUI classes
• Me, Connie, Heather and Erin all getting new cars
• The death of Matt's cancer

We'll use just about any excuse to fire up the grill :)


Matt's cancer free gift :)


Erin and me. Had to get a picture together
while she still has her hair dark :p


Random Memorial Day ducks in our front yard

Dad's birthday was right after Memorial Day, and we did celebrate, but believe it or not, I didn't get any pictures!! So here is a nice retro shot of dad for you to enjoy.


Dear ol' dad, 1975. Happy Birthday again, daddy. Love you :)

Saturday was Waylon's Birthday. My fur baby is 4!! I can't believe it. Seems like the past four years have flown past. Who knew what a ride I was in for when I brought this dog into my home? He has been a wonderful companion, despite his quirks and less-than-perfect behavior. Marley has nothing on this dog. Seriously. Regardless, I love him to pieces.

Yes, I throw birthday parties for my dog :)


This is NOT how I envisioned the cake in my head, but this
IS how it turned out in reality. I'm gonna have to become
less creative or better skilled at cake decorating (mom, help me!!)
before I have a real child. A human 4 year old would be
ridiculed through high school after their friends saw this cake.
Waylon's friends didn't seem to mind.


My baby brother is not a baby anymore :(
He has grown up into a great guy though,
nice enough to humor me by coming to my
dog's birthday party :)



Waylon is thinking "Want cake NOW!!" Elena is patiently
waiting for us to stop singing, so she can make a wish for
Waylon and blow out the candle.


Look close enough and you can see an entire cupcake in
his mouth. (Spare me the comments about how unhealthy
this is, please. You only turn 4 once.)


Waylon's buddy Winnie.

And finally, here are some pics of the weenie roast at Matt's parent's house today. No specific reason to celebrate but it is not that often that we are able to get so many members of the clan together at once. And if you think about it, there is a lot to celebrate in that neck of the woods. Several cancer survivors, a new grandbaby for Ellen (Elizabeth and Andrew's son, James, who would have been more appropriately named "Absolutely Adorable"), John's birthday was last week and it's almost time for the younguns to be free from school for the summer.


We hadn't seen Katie in ages :)


So peaceful


Evidently it's damn near impossible for me
to do a blog post with this many pictures without
including a gratuitous self-portrait of myself
with Matt. I just love him so :)


Should we really allow this kid to have a stick
with not one, but two, sharp, metal prongs on
the end? Eh, why not?

I promise, one of these days I am gonna get off my lazy ass and actually write a blog entry instead of just flooding you guys with pics. Maybe. :p