HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY HUSBAND (mr. parks)

we just got back from yet another wonderful time in our lives.  today is mr. parks’ official 30th birthday, and i think our celebration has been tough to top!  i decided to surprise him with a weekend in chicago – friends in town, a beautiful suite at the w and a spooky ghost tour/pub crawl (i know, the combination doesn’t seem to make much sense, but if you were there, you couldn’t imagine it any other way!).  i combined a few things that mr. parks loves, and in that case, it was ghost stories and pubs! 

it was tough keeping it (or TRYING to keep it) a surprise.  once he knew that he should consider himself occupied from friday, october 17 until sunday, october 19, i was ready to tell him at any point.  but somehow it managed to stay under wraps, and it was worth it!

there is nothing better than being able to fully embrace your birthday – whether you care about birthdays or not, it’s pretty great to have an entire day to celebrate yourself.  it could be any day, but it’s YOUR day and it matters!  i know i’m not a details person, and i probably messed a lot of stuff up during the whole planning and execution process, but it’s still one of my proudest and happiest accomplishments.  it’s pretty cool to throw your husband a surprise destination birthday party!

of course the down side of all of this is leaving the pups at home.  friday morning we were getting ready to leave (and, in other words, the pups needed to go to the kennel), mr. parks was cuddling with gus and looked at me with wide, brown, nearly-30-year-old eyes and asked, “why are you taking my son from me during my birthday?”  this is one of a million reasons why i love him.  

anyway, i am going to sign off for now – i think it’s about time to light candles (at this point we only get the actual numbers versus a candle for each year!) and eat some banana cream pie!  ok, so it’s a frozen pie that is defrosting as i write – but i bet it’s going to be pretty damn good, and we’re going to enjoy it more that any other banana cream pie ever!

happy birthday, my love!  everything works because of you!!

30 will be the best year yet!!!

So long…

I can’t believe it has been this long since we have posted anything, aside from pictures.  it scares me, actually, that time could pass like this in such a seemingly unconscious way.  how do you know when you’re really experiencing something?  it’s all so relative that it almost seems impossible to truly connect with anyone.  think about the experiences that you remember, and the ones that you anticipate – they’re different, but evoke equally strong emotions.  what does that mean?  our memories and our anticipated moments aren’t really that different – which then begs the question of what it means to really experience something.  a moment?  a conversation?  a feeling?

earlier tonight we watched a short little natgeo show about how brains function differently.  it followed the story of certain individuals who experienced some sort of brain injury, after which they were uncharacteristically artistic and/or creative.  it leads into the question of what it means to be a creative or artistic individual – of course it’s a unique talent, but is it something that we might one day mimic with brain manipulation?  what if we could invoke those kinds of changes while keeping the other daily motor and other functions intact?  that truly might be when robots end up taking over the world!  once we can combine “normal” functioning, at whatever level is deemed normal, with the exceptional abilities of a very few individuals, then we really might be robots.

but what are robots really?  actually, if you define a robot by a being that only acts rationally and dismisses conclusions that are not based on actual, observed data, then that robot is a far better being than any of us.  this definition of robot even includes humans – a very noble cause.

anyway, i haven’t blogged in a long time, as i said, and i want to get back into it.  all i know is that i’d like to memorialize my relationship/marriage/family life with christopher.  this is what counts to me!  it only gets better…!!!

Christmas, Wedding Update, and Happy Birthday Becca!

Christmas 2007 is over, but it was lots of fun! And it was Becca’s birthday, so Happy Birthday Becca, we wish we could celebrate with you! We spent Christmas Eve at Mrs. Parks’ family’s house, eating lots of yummy appetizers, playing games, and opening a lot of presents. Thanks for always going over the top, Mom, and truly turning our home into a Christmas extravaganza. Christmas Day was spent at Mr. Parks’ mom’s house, and his grandmother and step-grandfather were in town from Florida. We had dinner together and ate way too much (again!) and opened up more gifts! Unfortunately, we didn’t get to celebrate in person with Mr. Parks’ dad, stepmom and sister, but we’re planning to make the trip to the West Coast next Christmas. Mr. Parks and I exchanged some gifts (early – he can never keep a surprise!), and then I surprised him with a new media stand from West Elm for our living room. That was really fun!As for the wedding, I think we’ve found our honeymoon of choice…it’s in St. Lucia in the Caribbean. Mr. Parks has never been there before, and it makes a lot of sense to head down there after our Florida beach nuptials. Plus, St. Lucia is really mountainous and beautiful, with a rain forest and great snorkeling. Plus the obvious: beach and relaxing! I’ll have him post a link for those of you who might want to check out a gorgeous resort! As for other wedding stuff, I’ll be down in Marco Island from Saturday through Thursday. There will be lots of wedding appointments and we’ll hopefully finalize a few things. My main issue is choosing a bridesmaid dress. I worry so much about making everyone happy, but I guess I’ll just have to choose. So sorry in advance – I’ll try my best to make a good decision! Oh yeah – Mr. Parks and I have been in bed and sick for the past two days. We have bronchitis – a terribly disgusting cough and just generally feel bad. At least we’re suffering together, and both dogs have been snuggling with us. All in all, it’s not a bad way to spend a couple of days, even if we are sick!! Happy holidays everyone!!! See you next year!!! Oh yeah – Vegas in THREE weeks!!!

Pickle is in a Pickle.

Wow, this week has been a hard one…we just adopted an eight week old, two and a half pound schnoodle and we affectionately named her Pickle. However, upon bringing her home, she developed a nagging cough that we thought was some sort of kennel cough. So, like any loving parents, we took her to the vet and got her on some antibiotics, assuming it would work its course. Not the case.

The cough worsened, and we were up most of the night putting her in a steam bath and giving her cough suppressant. In the morning she was not improving, and we ended up taking her to the vet again. The prognosis was not good – they thought she was suffering from a bacterial infection in her lungs and that one of her lungs was partially collapsed. We rushed her to the famous OSU veterinarian hospital, and they put her in an oxygen tank to stabilize her until they could pinpoint what kind of infection she had. My thanks to the OSU Vet Hospital – they are extremely professional and understanding.

So, for now she is doing better – slow and steady wins the race, and she seems to be slowly pulling through. I have to say that i am extremely upset with Petland. They pretend these animals are exchangeable and take no interest in making sure they are healthy at the point of sale. They just want to sell them – bottom line. In any case, Pickle will most likely pull through but it sure was a scare. We will keep everyone posted on that…