Worth a thousand words.....or more

Look at that face......well, all of the faces really.  Of course Mom's is the best though.  Sheer joy.  Pure nervousness.  Out loud laughter.  True Sharon. 
Followed by the very typical looks on her daughters faces.....Marla joining in on the laughter and smiles.....Heather looking out at the crowd to make sure everything is ok and that everyone is enjoying the moment as much as she is....and Dany laughing at all of us because not only is he joyful too, but he thinks its funny when we all crack up.  And of course, Dr. Bietz, who is enjoying every moment of his heartfelt and very sincere homily.
Then there's Jim, with that adoring look on his face.  Adoration for my mother like I have never seen before.  Love and happiness that is long deserved for both.

My Mom says it's 3 months tomorrow.......time goes by so fast. It's like we were just there. I'm not very good at keeping exact track of things like this, but for her, it must make her heart skip every moment of every day because she is finally living after a very long 10 years......maybe more. 

I have a lot of things to blog about right now, but I thought this deserved the spot more than the rest.  It's a big deal.

XO

RHONDA!!!!!

We used to say that all the time.....me and the girls......it was kind of the equivalent of "JEEZ" or a big sigh....something like that.  A sign of frustration or aggravation.  How we came up with "Rhonda", I'll never know but when I use it now, in front of people who have no clue, it really just doesn't have the same affect.  They just don't get it.  I miss being able to say it in front of the people that DO get it.

So here I sit on a typical Friday afternoon in the freezing-ass office, praying no one comes to me with some gigantic last minute project that they need done in 4.5 minutes, or that Snorty Snorterson (yes, that's what we call him) walks by me, again, snorting and hacking as he does, or that SD doesn't come ask me "how the lists are looking" for the ninety-fifth time.  So instead of watching that painfully slow clock tick on and on, I decided I'd practice my blogging. 

In honor of my birthday week, my Mombo has been doing a bang-up job scanning in some really old photos of me as a little girl.....scanners are a fantastic thing.  It's been SO fun getting to see all these old pix that I haven't seen in years and years.  Here are a couple of my favorites.

My beloved "Mum" 

Look at that HAIR!!

This one brings tears to my eyes



Well, I just looked at the clock again and its only 2:03pm.  5:00pm is never going to come.  I just know it.

Oh!!!  On another sidebar, on People and US Weekly this week, Brittney Spears was totally carrying MY SAME BAG!!!!!  The one from Anthro!!!  Of course she looked like a total moron, but at least she has good taste in bags :)

XO

A birthday to remember

Oct. 4, 197......what year was that again??  I'm sorry, I didn't hear you?? 
Yeah.....so anyway......a milestone bday is now behind me.  But, I made it a good day.  A good weekend actually......and I plan to just continue that goodness all week.  Why not, right??  Right! 

Relaxation, good food, good company, beautiful fall weather, treasured pictures, loads and loads of fantastic FB messages and text messages from so many special people in my life.  I am truly blessed and so very lucky to have so many fabulous friends and family in my life.  Although the number DOES bother me quite a bit, I did my very best to not focus on that and just focus on all the good stuff and have a great time. 

For the last few years I have been trying to do something for my bday's that is new and different for me.....maybe even a little scary, because my adventuresome side is quite lacking.  There are still things I definitely WILL NOT try, but there are a few on the list I'm willing to attempt.  For this big bday, I went for the hot air balloon.  Had never done it and the thought didn't freak me out too badly, so I went for it and it was MORE than worth it.  Here are some of the good shots I got on my 2800 foot ride in the sky, along with a few others from a dinner with friends the night before.

Dinner at Ocean Prime

630am out at the launch field - this is our basket laying on it's side

It's alot of work getting these babies up & running

Turn your head to the right to see this properly.....can't figure out how to rotate my pix yet on the blog

Unbelievably peaceful and quiet

Extremely thankful to be safely on the ground

The 2x4 didn't even stand a chance

 Our landing was much, much rougher than they could have anticipated and was quite exciting, but nerve racking too.  When you notice that your balloon pilot is stressing out, I guarantee it'll make you stressed too.....but overall, he did a great job and got us down perfectly safe.  Ripped the skin off one of my knuckles in the process, but hey, better than falling out of the basket :) 

Here's to staying in the basket for my ____th year ;)

XO

Oh it's on now.....

Look at that!  I can blog from my phone by text message!!!!  Pretty slick if I do say so myself. 
This should prove to be quite fun.

Testing mobile blogging

Thristy Thursday

At least that's what they call it when it's baseball night on Thursdays at the Suns stadium.....

But today is just another Thursday in the office for me...and it's awfully dreary outside. Which is fine because I'd rather the weather just get all its dreary'ness out of the way so my birthday weekend is not gross and rainy.  And hey, look at me, blogging again....2nd time in a row!  So far, so good.  Let's try out this picture deal and see what we come up with......
                                          Some recent fun times in the Dirty Rock

                                                    and the Windy City

Birthday fun in Orlando with Erika

And here's a new bag I want: http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=19108026&parentid=QUICKSHOP&navAction=jump

Really exciting huh?  HA!

XO

Unacceptable

Apparently, its unacceptable to not have a blog of some sort these days.  So, I'm back to trying to blog.  Promising myself that I'll do better because I'm pretty sure I should like it and I'd really get in to it if I'd just do it.  I think I just don't do it because I know I'd never be even half as great as my favorite blogger friend....Stephanie Says......that's right!  It's very true.  I think she should teach a blog writing class actually.  Or just write the damn book already.

Anyway.  I'm basically just doing a test run post because I just prettied up my page. 

It's also quite unacceptable to not get your coffee in until 1030am.  It was just that kind of morning.

But something I found even more unacceptable later today was that the restaurant I'm about to be at in the next half hour has decided to nix my very favorite appetizer from the menu.  Unacceptable.  And I plan to inform them of that fact as soon as I get there.  Herbed Ricotta and Fig Compote with grilled peasant bread, if you were wondering. 

Taverna, here I come. 

XO

Trying

So, apparently I’m not very good at keeping up with this blog stuff but I can’t stand to not be cool like every other blogger friend I have, so I’ll keep trying. Maybe I can give up a little of my Facebook obsession to put a little more effort in to the blog. J We’ll see…….no promises!

I made it through my fourth tax season….GAG! But, my beloved FL warmth is back and summer is well on its way…..best time of the year!! I have high hopes of doing some fun things this summer, but no solid plans yet. Maybe a little trip to TX to see Rosie, or maybe another trip to the Dirty Rock once the new Wasemiller member arrives, and there’s always a trip back home to Chatt…….but I could have my ultimate way, I’d leave for Fiji today and stay as long as I want!! Before I can do all that though, I have a couple weddings to get through that I am planning. one is May 23 and the other is June 7. Wish me luck!

I’ve been doing some singing with friends of mine who have a band, The Impediments, and as of yesterday I am officially on YouTube now!! ha! Check it out……..(bottom 2 links)
http://obrothers.food.officelive.com/Video.aspx

Below are a few new photos from recent times……as you’ll see, I’ve become quite fond of a new little hairdo I like to call “The Hawk” J Enjoy and hope all is well with everyone! XO!







Cornaire & me on St. Patty's Day


Emily (who is marrying the guy above), me & Jennifer - St Patty's

Stephy & me in the Dirty Rock in March - had a fantastic time, but for some strange reason this was the one & only picture we took the whole time.

The bday girl, Heidi Reiner

A continuation of Heidi's b-day night......Erika & me at Ember

Erika, Tim & Heidi Reiner in Orlando at Ceviche for Heidi's b-day