Five on Friday

Back to Blogging: Yes, it is Saturday. I’m already off to a late start! I am starting to blog again to share with those who I can’t talk to everyday and my grandparents out in California who may find some of this amusing. Also, I have a bit of a bet with a friend that is lighting a fire under my butt to write. Thanks to Bridget for letting me steal her Ten on Tuesday blog concept. I told her 10 was way too many for my lackluster life. Maybe with a few crazy dogs in our house now, I will be able to come up with more to say.

Phone diving: Speaking of the dogs, I came home from a walk with the pups on Thursday to find my new Droid Pro swimming at the bottom of the dogs’ water bowl upstairs. I am typically very conscious in the morning, and definitely do not remember tossing into the bowl myself. When it happened, and which of the two hounds did it remains a mystery. After staring at it with my jaw hanging for a few seconds, I frantically rescued it and threw it in a coffee mug with some Arborio rice…the only kind I had in the cabinet (note to self: keep instant rice on hand for this particular instance). It seemed to work, as the rice was wet and clumpy…so I tried to turn DP back on. There were bright sporadic lights coming from the flash light and the screen was blinking…I disassembled it, took out everything I could and buried it back in the mug. It then was thrown in the front seat of the car, as I had to leave for a meeting downtown, not before grabbing the trusty old Blackberry Curve and the car charger on the way out.

Separation anxiety: I really didn’t realize how much of my life is spent on that phone. Couldn’t call, couldn’t check the calendar or email, didn’t have the settling feeling of calling in the case of an emergency…I may have suffered a minor panic attack. Made it downtown, through a meeting and back, but the worst was yet to come.

Verizon Brainless: Wasted 40 minutes of my life talking to the most worthless excuse for an employee at the Verizon store, attempting to reconnect the Blackberry to the exchange server. Grant (waiting for me outside) said I “didn’t look too happy.” This is an understatement. My frustration level has not hit that high for quite some time. I told Brainless I was wasting my time after he starting writing “tech support 1-800- “ on a post-it note. I wonder how many times a day he does that. I walked out and discovered on the way home that the phone must have automatically restored the connection to the server. Makes me wonder how that man is still employed.

Ovo: I finally got the last part of my Christmas gift, when Grant and I went under the bug top in the United Center parking lot to see Cirque du Soleil’s Ovo. It was amazing, as evidence by the fact that I thought intermission was the conclusion. We both had a good laugh at my confusion as we waited for the amazing second half to commence. I would, of course, recommend this show to anyone. Cirque du Soleil has truly created shows that amaze and captivate without overcomplicating entertainment. Simply amazing.

Eat Korean: Are you counting? This is 6…I made myself come up with one more for being late. We spent last night with a good friend and his girlfriend at his parents’ house for a traditional Korean meal. It was the first time I have experienced this form of dining, in which dishes are kept in the center of the table, not passed. There must have been 20 different dishes to try…I could try to remember their Korean names, but it would be entirely inaccurate. Seaweed, raw veggies, marinated chicken, pork and beef, dumplings, sauces, noodles…so yummy! Chris and Se Young, thank you!!

Just Pictures

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the last few months...enjoy!

NUMBERS

All about the numbers these days. Deadlines, timelines, bottom lines, financial analysts on every media outlet…

…but here are some numbers to be happy about and proud of!!!


Ash turned 1 on April 16th…

Grant and I celebrated our 4th anniversary on April 23rd…

Celebrated Mom’s 50th on May 2nd…

Went to the zoo with the family to celebrate my Mom’s 29th Mother’s Day…

…and met little Miss Maddy Mac on May 10th when she was 1 day old…Awww!

Trying to get things in order at work and home to prepare for our trip to Europe…we leave in 9 days!!!! One countdown I couldn't be more excited about.

Easter Weekend

Another action-packed weekend for the Ondo's! Saturday morning I painted in the room of my new cousin-to-be...Here are some pics. I can't wait to see it finished with all of the cute furniture and bedding!

I went in to work after that....met Grant for a nice dinner, then I searched creation (or Algonquin, more specifically) for Easter candy. Note to self: do not procrasitinate Easter candy buying. The ONLY Reeses egg I could find was a GIANT one that cost $5. According to Grant, it didn't have the right chocolate to peanut butter ratio as the normal sized ones. After returning with the sub-standard candy, we stuffed it into eggs, made up baskets for the god-children and went to bed. Grant did a HUGE amount of housework while I was gone. He is amazing. Thanks, baby!

Easter morning we listened to a wonderful message from Dave at church and then drove up to the Ondo's for lunch. Grant and I hid eggs at his parents' house for the kids. Here are a few shots~

Grandma wearing Sarah's hat!
This reminds me of our family taking photos when all of the kids were little!
Grant and the boys in their new gear~

Hope you all enjoyed Easter with your families!!

Longest Blog Update Ever

Hi, everyone!

We spent this weekend (the time I wasn't working Saturday, or spending at our Past Basket Open House/Party Saturday night) cleaning. Grant was home for the weekend...he is off again to Tampa tomorrow morning, but just for the day....

The desk that we amazingly both liked and ordered in February finally came in last week. Grant picked it up yesterday and we assembled it, the return piece and the file cabinet last night. We emptied out the office that has been a crap retention place since we moved in two years ago. We decided that the only items to return to the office would have to warrant a need or necessity in the office. It felt like the TLC show where they help clean you out. Currently, the office looks great, but the family room still needs a lot of help. Here is a pic of the office emptied into the family room, and after shots of the office.
I also have been working on the craft room for a few weeks. To anyone who saw it before....its a big change from the madness. I FEEL better just walking in there.
Grant and I watched the Chicago River being dyed green before the St. Patty's Day Parade from the top of the Hancock building....it was so fun!

This is us window washing the Hancock Building....

......and down by the river.

We also hosted the Marek family December, February and March birthday party. Nine birthdays total....it felt like Christmas opening gifts. Here is a pic of Aunt Donna in front of the cute cupcakes I made. (I really did make these.) Emma helped the March birthdays sing....her birthday isn't for a few months, but she just wanted to help blow out the can-dows. :)

Lastly....this is one of the kitchens I have been working on! It's almost done, but it still needs the bead board that is going on the backsplash, the beautiful walnut floors uncovered and final touch up~The hardware has since gone on, and the slab of limestone is now up over the range.

Seriously

I drove past a Catholic church today with a giant sign in the front promoting their upcoming......evangelistic event? What did the sign say, you ask?

St. Joan of Arc's VEGAS Night!

Hmmm.... don't know what exactly to say about that one....just thought I would share.

What do you say?

So I am at Meijer yesterday picking up a few things. I am standing in the check out line with my few items minding my own business. I then feel a little bump on my back side... Without really thinking, I take a little step forward thinking that whoever it is behind me accidentally got too close with their cart.
I feel the nudge again. At this point I can't step forward any more without invading the personal space of the woman paying in front of me.
I look behind me and there is this little old woman, not much taller than the cart, frantically unloading the cart....like it's a race or something. Here I am laughing to myself, with the cart still on my backside. What do you say?
I move forward to pay....and so does the little old woman. The cart is once again attaches itself to me. I look at her again. She is clueless. I then decide that I like the cart there. It gave me a huge laugh as I was leaving the store, and made me blog about it!