Saturday, December 13, 2008

Buh Bye, See you!

This morning Aine was playing in the living room. She grabs her purse, walks to the front door, turns back and says "Buh bye, See you!" And tried to leave.

Hmmm ... she's caught on pretty quickly for 18 months.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Birthday Excursion

For my birthday we decided to go to the Georgia Aquarium. It was so much fun. Aine absolutely loved it. Of course, she had just as much fun pushing her stroller around as she did looking at the fish. She fell in love with Nico, the Beluga whale. We ended up going home with a stuffed one. Thankfully, it was one of the smaller ones. She was fascinated by the spider crabs and the jelly fish. The manta rays were SO cool. I even got to pet one! Not one of the big ones, but that was fine by me. I was a little disappointed that the river otters were sleeping -- they're so playful -- and that the penquin exhibit is closed until the new construction is complete. Penquins are my FAVORITE! It was a great day. I highly recommend going at 9 a.m., too, when the place is all but empty.



Later that night, Josh took me to Aspens in Marietta for my birthday dinner. We had yummy calamari & salad. I had chicken, he had steak. Then I got tiramisu for dessert! YUM! The man at the table next to us was celebrating his birthday as well, but he was turning 90 so he had a few years on me.

Well Whatdaya Know!


Apparently Mattel got wind of what an AMAZING child I have & decided to create a doll in her likeness. LOL! Or rather, discovered what I discovered when Josh introduced me to the name Aine -- the history of Aine, the Faery Queen. The Goddness of Love. So yes, Aine WILL be getting her first Barbie for Christmas, though I doubt she'll have any clue. I just think it'll be neat for her to have something bearing her name. Goodness knows it'll be one of the few things ... unless, of course, she moves to Ireland!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

True Love!


I was leaving for work this morning & Aine came running over to give me a kiss goodbye. It was nice and sloppy as always. She always makes the "Mmmmm" sounds when she gives kisses. Hysterical! She threw her arms around my neck too. Then she said "Ah lurge ooo" which, if you speak Aine-nese, translates too "I love you." I could've died!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Home for the Holidays!

Is anybody else over the drama the inevitably surrounds the holidays? I swear, the past few years have made me want to skip the holidays and go straight to January 2. Nothing can be easy when it comes to planning a get together. Nobody can be pleasant. Nobody can be the bigger person. Everybody seems to hold grudges & doesn't understand that God forbid I'd want to be with MY family.

Maybe that's a bad thing to say, but even though I'm married I don't feel like my husband's family is my family. I mean, there are some members of his family that I feel that I've gotten to know well enough & I consider them family. But we've only been married for 2.5 years & just because we are family because we share a family name doesn't mean that I'm going to instantenously feel that bond. Honestly, I don't think a lot of these people understand what it means to be part of a family.

But I digress! What I want to talk about is where I AM spending Christmas. I'm so excited to say that we are going to see my family in Michigan! Josh has never been to Michigan before (& neither has Aine, for that matter). We are hoping to check out a hockey game while we are there & meet up with a friend of mine who lives outside Toronto. Most of the family will be there -- my grandma, my aunts and uncles, my cousins -- including my newest cousin who will be coming home from Guatemala sometime in the next few weeks! Unfortunately, my sister, her husband & step-son won't be with us. Wish us good traveling weather!

My Love Affair with Butch Walker


My love affair with Butch Walker began 10 long years ago. We've had our good times and bad. We've been through the days of Marvelous 3 & then going solo. Then there were the SAPPS (don't ask, but let's just say they were the obnoxious girls at the shows). He gave me more jaded love ballads than one girl needs but damn can that man write a song! If he is nothing else, he is honest.

If it weren't for Butch, I wouldn't know my husband. How's that for music touching your life? If I never heard his music I never would've met my "sistahs." It was through one of my "sistahs" that I started listening to another band. And it was through that band that I met Josh. Josh & I even danced to one of Butch's songs as our first song at our wedding. The song was Don't Move in case you're wondering.
I was really excited to get his newest album today (it came out last week). Sycamore Meadows is a blend of the classic Butch I fell in love with & the newer Butch I'm learning to love.

Monday, October 27, 2008

The Whole Famn Damily!



Last weekend Josh & I took Aine up to my parents' house on Sunday for the day. My sister, her husband, his son, and my parents' best friends were all there as well. It was a great day! We found out that my parents best friends are going to be moving down to TN (they live in Wisconsin, just across the river from Minneapolis/St. Paul)! The picture of Josh & Aine was taking on the porch of the house they are wanting to buy. Check out that view!! I am so excited for them & my parents. The 4 of them haven't lived in the same town since 1981. Hopefully they'll been able to put up with each other. Seriously, though, I can't imagine how excited they all much be. It's an amazing thing that they've been able to stay friends through an age before cell phones (free long distance), internet, etc. Most of that time they lived in Minnesota and we lived in Tennessee. At most, we'd see them for a few days in the summer up at Spruce Point. If we were lucky. They sure have earned this time together!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Role Models

The topic of role models came up today & I think of all the people in the headlines today who kids look up to. Honestly it makes me really sad. People like Jennifer Lopez and Julia Roberts and Brangelina ... these "pretty people" ... do they really warrant the title of "role model"? I'm not saying that they aren't good, respectable people. I'm not implying that they don't do good deeds. I certainly think that Brad & Angelina could do a lot more good if they used their wealth to start an organization to assist average & low income families adopt children rather than try to adopt all these kids themselves. But I digress.

I started thinking about the kinds of people, the kinds of women I want Aine to look to as role models. My grandmothers, for instance. My maternal grandmother was the youngest of 4. She grew up in Chicago. My great-grandfather was a painter (John Adams Spelman) and the family didn't have a lot of money. Still she went to Beloit College. Writing this I realize that I know less about my grandmother than I realized. I don't know if she has a Masters or not. I think that she does. In any event, she became a librarian and worked her way up to librarian (I think she was a Head Librarian) at the Kalamazoo Public Library. My paternal grandmother also went to college, though she choose to be a stay-at-home mom after marrying my grandfather.

I look at contemporary women like Hillary Clinton (who I don't always agree with but whom I can respect), Christiane Amanpour, Maya Angelou, Jane Goodall, there are so many I cannot think of as I sitting here writing this that it actually makes me sad. My mind jumps to all the standard Hollywood types, that while good at the jobs of letting us escape in entertainment for those few short hours, aren't exactly changing the world.

I may need to think about this. One think I know for certain, I want my daughter to be strong and independent. I want her to walk with confidence and THINK with confidence. I want her to believe in herself and others. I want her to have respect for her ideas as well as the ideas of others. I want her to always remember that while you don't have to agree with someone, but you should always be respectful in that disagreement ... even if they aren't. I want her to always remember that I believe in her, even if she can't or won't. I want her to know that it is ok to fail as long as you tried your best. At the end of the day, it isn't about how you look or what you wear or what kind of car you have. Things are things. They don't make you a good person.

And I definitely hope my daughter never ever thinks a porn star is a good role model. Sheesh!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

On the Town

The past two weekends we have hit the Cobb County Food & Arts Festival and the Cobb County Family Fun Fest. Both were fun! We were really excited about the food tasting at the Food & Arts Fest, but most of the vendors didn't get the concept of food tasting. Oh well! The gelato was to die for though! So was the temperature. It was hot! We did manage to convince Matt, Jenn, Conner, Maeve, Mark and Theresa to go with us. I'm not sure if they were glad they went or not! I think Maeve was as she found her long sought after Vera Bradley bag.

It was just the 3 of us at the Family Fun Fest. Unfortunately, Aine was still a little too young for most of the activities (we took her last year too), but we still had a fun time! The weather was great and she had fun watching people and running around the Marietta Square.


COBB CO. FOOD & ARTS FESTIVAL





COBB CO. FAMILY FUN FEST


Thursday, October 9, 2008

At the end of the day



Some of you know & some of you don't, but I work in the financial industry. Lately, I dread coming to work. Frankly, it sucks. Other than enjoying lunches with my co-workers there is nothing positive that happens during my days anymore. Angry clients, angry financial advisors. It gets old. Now some people choose to take that home with them. And maybe somedays it makes it as far as the sitter's door ... but I have to tell you, when I see Aine waving at me through the door or she runs to show me her new "discovery" for that day none of the rest matters anymore. I don't want her mood to be tempered by mine. I love that her laughter, her smile has the ability to change my perspective. To make me realize that while things are hard, I need to be thankful for all that I do have. God I love her!!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Ah, my Irish lass!

Josh got out his Irish tin whistle last night & Aine decided that she wanted to play it. After she figured out that she how to get it to make noise, we couldn't get her to put the thing down. We had the best time with this!

Friday, September 26, 2008

I Support Barack Obama


I'm not writing this because I'm wanting to open up some forum for debate on the topic. I am just stating for the record that I support Obama. It is refreshing to listen to an intelligent person CORRECTLY use "big" words. You do what you want, but I'm voting for Barack Obama.

Thoughtful Expression


I just want to direct everyone to http://www.thoughtfulexpression.etsy.com/ -- Aine's sitter, Lisa Anderson, designs her jewerly and a portion of her sales goes toward the fight against cancer. Her designs are amazing & you can read all about the groups she supports on her site. Check it out!

I Miss Donna


Donna left for Dallas yesterday. I got a text from her around 4:30 p.m. eastern time that she'd made it to Texas. I'm so excited for her (and a bit jealous; I am so ready to be out of Atlanta), but I miss her! Hopefully I'll be able to go out to Dallas next spring & visit. This is an old picture of the 2 of us (from 2005, I think). We look GOOD! LOL!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Aine Catherine Marais

Aine is my daughter. Aine is not pronounced like "pain." It is "AWN-ya." Her name is Gaelic. I wouldn't name my daughter "ain" because that's just ugly. I mean, seriously?? I know it is unusual but you've adjusted to Sean being pronounced Shawn so I figure you will get used to it. Catherine is for my grandmother, as it is her middle name. Plus I think it is pretty. Marais is for Grand Marais, MN. See previous blog and how I feel about Grand Marais.

Spruce Point

Thankfully we were able to go up to Spruce Point again this summer. For those of you who don't know, our family cabin (dubbed Spruce Point) is located outside of Grand Marais, MN on the North Shore of Lake Superior. It is by far my favorite place on Earth. At least, of all the places I've been thus far. We spent a wonderful 7 days with my parents, my grandmother (G-G), my mom's cousin Jack, his girlfriend (Francesca) and her daughter, Guila. We had a fun day trip to have playdate with friends from Babyzone (or BZ), my mommy message board.





Inaugural Blog


Where oh where to begin? I decided today to start this blog since we have family & friends spread across this country and others. I figured if I'm interested in keeping up with what they are doing, maybe they are interested in what we are doing. Or, more importantly, what Aine is doing!! Right now, she is sleeping. She will be 16 months old and Saturday & the time has flown by. As of today she can identify her nose and her ears. The other day I caught her looking at her reflection in the trash can & sticking out her tongue. The giggling was contagious! She is a drama queen, just like her mama!