Mom

My Mom passed away on April 8, 2009. She was surrounded by her four daughters, each of us holding her hands, her husband, her sister, and her closest friends. It's the worst thing that's ever happened in my life, and I miss her so much I can't even explain it. I'm not sure if I will want to write more about it here or not, but I found this poem that I wanted to share.

OUR MOTHER

IF WE COULD HAVE A LIFETIME WISH
ONE DREAM THAT WOULD COME TRUE
WE WOULD PRAY TO GOD WITH ALL OUR HEARTS
FOR YESTERDAY AND YOU.
A THOUSAND WORDS CAN’T BRING YOU BACK
WE KNOW BECAUSE WE’VE TRIED.
AND NEITHER WILL A MILLION TEARS
WE KNOW BECAUSE WE’VE CRIED.
YOU LEFT BEHIND OUR BROKEN HEARTS
AND HAPPY MEMORIES TOO.
BUT WE NEVER WANTED MEMORIES
WE WANTED ONLY YOU.
SO QUIETLY TODAY
YOUR MEMORY WE TREASURE
THINKING OF YOU ALWAYS
AND LOVING YOU FOREVER.

Hard Times

OK, this is a really hard post to write. My Mom is still battling her cancer, and things are not going well right now.

Internet, all prayers for my Mom are appreciated.

6 months old!

I can hardly believe that Brody is 6 months old already! I got to babysit him last night for a while - he was a little fussy butt for most of the night - but you wouldn't know it from these pics (and we had fun anyway... I even got him to laugh!). How can you resist this little guy?

Superbowl XLIII

What a game! It was so exciting -- from Harrison's mad dash to a touchdown, to Fitzgerald's touchdown that we thought would be the end, to the football swooshing through Santonio's hands, and finally his game winning catch. We were on the edge of our seats for much of the game and had a blast watching the action at Wes and Danielle's house. Everyone had black & gold fever and was sporting their Steelers gear (although I was the only one without a jersey on because I had worn my Steelers hoodie for the AFC championship when they won - so of course I had to wear it again!). Even Zoe had on her little number 86 jersey.



We broke out the 3D glasses, checked out all of the new commercials, feasted on pepperoni rolls, chicken wings, and buffalo chicken dip... and had a great time overall. The girls even found some time to get in a few rounds of Pounce before kickoff.


At the end of the night, Paul and I watched some of the coverage on the news after the game and it was crazy to see how many people were out crowding the streets of Oakland! What a night. I know that Holmes had the game winning catch - but my vote for MVP went to Big Ben.

Ski trip

Last Saturday a bunch of us headed up to Seven Springs for a day of skiing. It was actually a beautiful day for it - and I was so layered with clothing that I honestly didn't even feel the cold. I had been skiing once before in my life, although that attempt really doesn't count seeing as how I pretty much tumbled down the mountain once and then gave up. So I was pretty much a total beginner and so was Paul.

Well, Paul took to skiing like he usually takes to new things like this - quickly and easily. By the end of the day he was zipping around like it was nothing - easily keeping up with Nick, Joe, and Kim who all had more experience. It took me a little longer to catch on. Kim was awesome and stayed with me the whole time as I snow plowed down the mountain at snail speed for the first couple of trips. I think this was a mistake overall because my muscles got really tired from the constant strain. I had a couple of falls (one of which involved a pretty decent split) but didn't really get hurt too badly.

I took a break halfway through and hung out with Ryan for a while in the lodge (he insisted that he would ski under no circumstances, LOL). When I tackled the slopes with everyone again later, I did much better. Paul convinced me that going faster was actually going to make it easier - and it did. We had also met up with Beth and Jason who were staying at the resort for the weekend, and they were really encouraging to me too, which helped. I was exhausted by the end of the day (and came away with only sore muscles and a strained Achilles tendon) but I thought it was well worth it. I'd love to go again.