8 YEARS AGO.........

On this very day, in 2002, Scott and I had one of the most beautiful, albeit awkward, conversations of our lives. The conversation took place in the basement of my parents house--my mom had a friend over (thus the reason for us talking in the basement), I was living in Cincy, and Scott was living in Oxford. I received a nervous call from Scott saying he wanted to talk to me before I went back to Cincy and could he come over.

For those of you who don't know, up to that point, Scott and I were friends. Just friends. We had been "just friends" for a couple of years, but recent events had taken place that needed to be discussed. A couple of outings (one in Indianapolis, the other in Oxford) had led us to some pretty cool (and surprising) lip-locking sessions.........scary for me, as I didn't want to lose my best friend over what could be a passing physical attraction.

I don't think I've ever had such a bad case of butterflies as I did while I waited for Scott to come over. I knew what we were going to talk about, and I thought perhaps my dear friend was on his way over to tell me that our kisses had been a mistake. My mom kept trying to reassure me, as she had that crazy mother's intuition that Scott liked me. She and my dad had been wanting the two of us to get together for awhile, so it is entirely possible that they were as nervous as their first-born.

After a lot of awkward pauses, foot-shuffling, and declarations from both of us about how we didn't want to ruin our relationship, we made a decision. We were going to date. Aye carumba!!! I was giddy and scared and totally freaking out.........but I will never forget Scott telling me that he thought I was fantastic (that used to be one of his favorite words, fantastic). I had no idea what would happen, but two weeks later, I was telling him that I loved him......wow.

And here we are now, still together, and to borrow the words of one of our favorite artists, "what a long strange trip it's been." We've had our ups and downs, as any couple does, and nobody knows how to get under my skin the way that Scott can. As bad as that sounds, it's pretty cool to be with someone who knows you almost better than you know yourself.

Who knew that an innocent kiss after a Pacer's game would be the stepping stone for the most significant and important journeys in my life?

Who knew that I would trade my plain last name for the 10-letter Polish last name that has more consonants than should be allowed?

Who knew that I would end up with somebody who not only cooks and cleans, but who also truly enjoys doing daddy duty and doesn't make me feel guilty for wanting time to myself?

Who knew we'd end up in Jersey of all places?

Who knew that we'd be blessed with two gorgeous little girls who fill our hearts with so much joy that we almost can't contain it?

We are so insanely lucky. I am so insanely lucky. I have everything I've ever wanted.

Thank you, Scott. Happy Anniversary, Hon.

Okay, the pics of NYC are coming, but I wanted to post again so my feeble brain doesn't forget certain things.

I had one of those incidents yesterday in which I just didn't know if I should laugh or cry (but I laughed, so it's all good). As most of you know, naptime is a sacred time in our house, especially during the week when it's just me and the girls. As I was running around the house during yesterday's nap, my level of annoyance was escalating because Kate and Julia were not sleeping. They were babbling and giggling and engaging in their "yah yah yah" wars--basically, doing anything but napping. Finally, at 3:15 (45 minutes early), I couldn't take it anymore and decided to go and get them.

Now, I'm generally pretty klutzy, so it didn't surprised me when I tripped and almost fell after walking into the nursery. What did surprise me was what I tripped over.

Julia.

Naked Julia.

Sitting on the floor in nothing but a diaper (thank God she kept that on as she had pooped). It took me several seconds to realize what was going on.

First thought: oh, it's just Julia. she's reading her books.

Second thought: oh, s-h-----t, it's Julia. she's not in her crib. SHE'S NOT IN HER CRIB YOU IDIOT, HOW DID SHE GET OUT!!!!

Third thought: oh, s-h--t, did I forget to put her in her crib? Is my mommy brain that bad? No, no, I definitely put her in her crib because she wanted me to cover her with her blankie.

I now know what it's like to be in a state of true shock. I really kind of did want to cry, but I looked down at her and she was beaming, absolutely beaming. Modest, she is not. As sweet as can be, she said, "hi, Mommy." I started to speak, and she looked at me and said, "no nigh-nigh." Really, Julia, no, really........you didn't nap? I never would have guessed!

Kate was just standing in her crib giggling and pointing to Julia, smiling and saying "dees, dees." Sidenote--Kate likes to call Julia "dees", which is her way of saying "this." I think Scott and I confused the poor girl as we used to always point to Julia and say "who is this, Kate, is this your sister?" Anyway........

So, I guess we need to maybe buy a crib tent? I don't want to. They're ugly. And expensive. I'm going to play the wait-and-see game, and if it happens again, I guess I'll give in.

In other news, the girls have had a great week--we went to Wee Play on Wednesday with Michelle and Jake (Kate's boyfriend), and we had a blast. I wish somebody would have told me about this place sooner--it rocks! It's basically a huge open room, all baby/toddler-proofed w/sandboxes, jungle gyms, pretend grocery stores, and mucho mucho toys--the girls were in hog heaven. They have a little dining area so you can feed your kids if need be, but even better than that--they sell coffee! And it's good coffee--there are like 10 flavors to pick from and they can do latte's and cappucino's!! So cool. The girls ran themselves ragged and just had so much fun. At one point, Kate came up and threw her arms around me, and I really think it was her way of saying "thanks, Mommy."

Okay, need to bust it out.

Heart hug.

Strayer and The City

As most of you know, my dear friend Strayer came out for a visit a couple of weekends ago. She's getting ready to move across the pond due to her husband's job, so it was especially nice to get some alone time (read: child-free) with her before she leaves. For those needing some background deets, Strayer (first name, Jennifer) and I met many moons ago when we were both working at Abercrombie & Fitch. I will never forget the blindingly green coat she was wearing the first time I saw her--or that I thought she was soooo not the type of person I would be friends with (I was fresh out of my college-hippiedom days and fighting the lure of the prepsters). Talk about a case of not judging a book by it's cover (or a person by their outerwear).......Strayer has been my girl for over 10 years now, and I cannot imagine my life without her. We spent our swinging single days together, gallavanting and prowling the bars of Cincinnati, and ironically enough, we both started dating our hubbys at around the same time. She's the kind of person that will always have your back, and me loves her a whole hell of a lot. We've had so many crazy adventures together, and even though geography has been keeping us apart the past few years, I know we'll be kicking it until we're old and covering our gray with cheapo bottles of Miss Clairol.

She flew in Friday night, we went out w/Scott, yadda yadda. Nothing too exciting--just headed to a local eatery followed by a short visit to a neighboring waterhole. The Jersey boys were out in full effect, and I'm sure Strayer must have felt like she definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore!

Saturday was the BIG day--our day in the city, with no duties or responsibilities, other than enjoying ourselves to the fullest. We barely made the train into Manhattan, and almost went into cardiac arrest sprinting to the station. It was quite a sight, especially since Stray was lugging around a 28lb. suitcase! We truly had one of those days where everything went perfectly--I had a feeling we would since we made the train--I'm a bit of a believer in "signs."

Upon arriving in the city, we headed straight for the TKTS booth to try and snag tix to Rent (which Strayer had never seen). It was really important for us to get tickets since the run is ending soon, so we were a bit worried. Not only did we get our coveted tickets, our seats ended up being on the freaking floor in the fifth row--score freaking score! There's nothing cooler than having rocking seats to a rocking show!

Prior to the show, we met up with Lori (one of Stray's good friends) and her sister Katie. We had a great lunch, and headed over to the theater.

But wait--I skipped something HUGE--our hotel! We went to our hotel before lunch--duh, that's where we met up w/Lori and Katie. We had originally hoped to stay at The W, but couldn't justify spending that kind of dough. We ended up getting a room at, drumroll please, The Best Western........silence, before you judge! Let me just tell you that hotel was seriously one of Manhattan's best kept secrets. Located in the southern most part of Midtown, it looks like a dive from the street. And, since we were only paying $125/night (split 3 ways), we did NOT have high expectations. The gods were smiling on us that day--the front desk dude upgraded us for no additional charge to a 2-bedroom apartment that was seriously bigger than the first floor of my house!! This place was fully loaded and cute as can be! We could have fit a football team in there, or at least their defensive line.........it was crazy.

So, we go see Rent, it was great, not as great as the first time I saw it, but still great. Tamyra Gray from American Idol played Mimi, so that was kind of cool (not that I knew who she was prior to the show starting). The best part of the whole thing was getting to meet some of the cast members after the show. Katie, who lives in the city, is a huge Broadway buff (with a scary obsession w/Xanadu, but that's another story!), and suggested that we not leave the theatre right away. Lo and behold, out walks "Mark" about 5 minutes after the show ends. Being the cheesy tourista that I am, I totally mauled him and we had our pics taken with him. We got to meet some other members of the cast and got more pictures, and it was just so much fun. I felt like I was famous!

It was getting late so off we went to the subway (gross).......it took us a few tries but we eventually made our way to Canal Street, for, what else? Everyone's favorite pastime--shopping for fake designer bags! There is something highly liberating about doing something that makes you feel like you're breaking the law, and it was quite the experience. I bought an adorable imi-Prada (and a matching one for my sis), and Strayer bought an imi-Gucci.

We pre-partied in our hotel room before dinner, and then cabbed it to this Mexican place whose name is escaping me. The food was good, as were the drinks, but I was already a bit, ahem, tipsy. Dinner seemed to go by really fast, but I could be wrong about that.

We found a great little bar by our hotel and spent the rest of our evening there. I'll have to google it or else email Strayer to see if she remembers the name--I know it's something with "pig" in the title. There was a band playing, and for once (keep in mind, I'm an old broad now), the music was not only good, it also was the perfect volume--we were still able to talk without shouting over one another. And, it wasn't crowded so we were able to sit and/or dance whenever we felt the need. We drank, we talked, we laughed, we drank and drank and drank, and danced.........it was a blast!

Our night ended around 3ish in the a.m., and we stumbled back to the hotel. The next day was brutal beyond belief........hangovers are harder to cope with when you're in your thirties. Strayer had to catch an early flight, and I really felt for her when she left--pretty annoying to have to navigate your way to a somewhat unfamiliar airport of virtually no sleep!

All in all, it was a fan-great-astic time and I hope Strayer feels that it was a suitable "sendoff"! I'll miss ya, Stray--but as long as you don't pull a Madonna, you'll always be my girl (sniff, sniff)!

I'll post pictures when I have more time--just wanted to get this down while I had a minute.

Heart hug.