let's see where i stand

(I'm betting whoever created this list didn't think there'd be anyone who's seen less than 85 of these movies!)
SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. Copy this list, go to your own facebook account or blog or website, paste this as a note. Then, mark X's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.
() Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total so far: 6

(x) The Princess Bride
( ) Anchorman
(x ) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( x) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
() The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 11

(x) Scream
() Scream 2
() Scream 3
() Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
() Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 14

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
() Little Black Book
(x) The Village
( ) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far:20

(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
() Signs
(x) The Grinch
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
() I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 22

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
() Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
() KingPin
(x ) Never Been Kissed
(x ) Meet The Parents
() Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG
Total so far: 26

(x ) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
() Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
() Halloween
() The Ring
() The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far: 29

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x ) Practical Magic
(x ) Chicago
() Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
() Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
() The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 31

() The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
() Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x ) Sixteen Candles
(x ) Remember the Titans
() Coach Carter
() The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
() Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 34

( ) Bad Boys
() Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean’s Thirteen
() Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x ) Bourne Supremecy
(x) Bourne Ultimatum
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
() Predator II
() The Fog
(x) Ice Age
() Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
Total so far: 40

() Independence Day
( ) Cujo
(x ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
() Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
() War of the Worlds
() Rush Hour
() Rush Hour 2
() Rush Hour 3
() Rush Hour 4
Total so far: 43

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
(x ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
() Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x ) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
( ) The Terminator
( ) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 48

( ) X-Men
() X-2
( ) X-3
( ) Spider-Man
( ) Spider-Man 2
() Spider-Man 3
() Sky High
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
() Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x ) Freaky Friday
() Jason Goes To Hell
() Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
() The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
() Shrek 3
Total so far: 54

( ) Swimfan
(x ) Miracle on 34th street
(x ) Old School
(x) The Notebook
() K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
() Ice Castles
() Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 59

() Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
() Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
() Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
() Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
() Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
() Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull
Total so far: 60


() Baseketball
() Hostel
(x) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
() American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 62

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
() Night Watch
(x ) Monsters Inc
(x) Titanic
( ) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 64

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
() Hulk
() The Incredible Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x ) Hook
() Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
() Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
() 28 days later
() 28 Weeks Later
( ) Orgazmo
() Phantasm
() Waterworld
Total so far: 65

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
() Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
() Kung Fu Panda
() The Express
() Igor
(x) Toy Story 1
(x) Toy Story 2
(x) Dumbo
(x) Peter Pan
() Power Rangers: The Movie
() the Hills Have Eyes
( ) City of Embers
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
() Army of Darkness
Total so far: 71

() Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
() Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
() Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
() Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
() Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
() Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
() Star Wars: The Clone Wars
() The Game Plan
(x) The Holiday
() The Dark Knight
() Batman Forever
() Batman Begins
() Batman and Robin
() Batman
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
() The Mummy
() The Mummy Returns
() The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
() Wall-e
()Wanted
() Virgin Territory
(x) Untraceable
() Transformers
() The Kingdom
Total so far: 73

(x) The Matrix
() The Matrix Revolutions
() Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
() Evil Dead 2
() Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
() Hannibal
Total: 75

looks like i do have a life (though i think the combination of horror movies and comic book type flicks on this list helped keep my number down.

Beautiful Aila

Last night I got to meet Aila!!

And for those of you who weren't able to be there,

here's a sneak preview of the beautifully perfect, beautifully pink little girl

that I got to snuggle up to for a little while.

According to her Mama she was a perfect angel all day... except for a simultaneous pooping, peeing and spitting up incident that gave Kris a run for her money for a few minutes.

Mostly she ate, and slept... that's tough enough for a newborn.

Can't you tell?

I think this is when she was hungry. She really didn't cry for the 3+ hours I was there.She looks so much like Willy its uncanny. I'm not sure how much it comes across in the photos, but if you put me in a time warp and I didn't know where I was or when... I could have sworn I was holding Willy as a newborn. Aila has a very similar mouth and she even moves it very much like he does... its amazing! and she's got her brother's eyes too.

though instead of willy's dark hair, she has a light blonde/red mixture

its gorgeous

will be interesting to see if that changes or not

her tiny toes just kill me

sooo sooo pink

and perfect

ankles so small her ID bracelet was falling off

she's got her mom's long thin legs

you'd expect an almost 9 lb baby to be a roly-poly bundle of joy...

well aila's got the joy thing down

but she's not chubby

she's long and thin

except for those cute cheeks

And here's her proud Mama! Looking gorgeous as ever!

And her Daddy. Who just can't get enough.

How sweet is this?

Of course the absolute sweetest part of the day was seeing Willy with his new baby sister.

He met her for the first time on Monday, just a few hours after she was born and I'm told he was already smitten with her then!

Matt, Terri and Will arrived about an hour after I did yesterday and the first thing Willy wanted to do, after giving his Mama a kiss- was to hold the baby.

"Baeby! Baeby!" he'd say, and put his arms out ready to cradle her.

A kiss for Aila...

the first of millions more from her big brother

{this girl has nothing to worry about. i'm pretty sure willy's already got her back.
mess with aila and you're messing with willy}

look how proud he is!

already a pro at this! {with a little help from Nanny}


a little play time for will, hiding under matt's hat
"where's willy?"
apparently i'm not the only one who thinks Aila's little piggies are just the cutest
my Mom was holding Aila when Willy sat next to them, unwraps her blanket to see her piggies
and then this:
he was such a good boy at the hospital.
getting some presents from Auntie Diane and Auntie Jen helped
but he especially liked his Tonka Toys- a present from Aila

Took a few of the "traditional" shots to show you how big she is.

This is Aila with her baby book (~8x10)

Next to a Pepsi bottle {which Willy was in the process of taking away}

By now Kris, Matt, Willy & Aila should be settled in at home.

A family of four.

Love you all!

Comments Please!

Ok, I know a bunch of you read this blog on a regular basis.
How do I know that? Because when I see you I hear:

"Oh, I love that post about…" or
"I loved the photos you posted with so & so doing blah blah blah" or
"You haven't posted anything all week, what's going on?" or
"Great workout this week! I love watching to see your updates about the walk…"

So you're here. You're lurking. And I love that!

But, I'd love it more if you'd leave a quick comment when you read something that interests you.

Instructions:
All you have to do is click on the comments. A new window pops up. Type something in the box & sign your name… then click on Anonymous.

You don't have to sign in or sign up for anything. It's really easy. I actually tried it myself the other day after a couple people have said that they don't comment because they don't have a blogger account. Well you don't need one. No more excuses kids.

So send me some lovin' if you read something you like- or if you read something you don't. I'm up for a healthy debate. Bring it on :)

Most of all, thanks for reading! I started this blog mostly for me… so that I have a record of all these great memories, since (let's face it) at the age of 28 my memory is already seriously failing… it helps me with my journaling for my scrapbooks… and all of that good stuff. But I also blog because I get so many positive comments about people who check in here daily to see what's going on. The more comments I get, the more motivated I am to take some time to write.

So thank you.
Please comment.
Continue to check in.
Love you all!

she's beautiful

Krissy and Matt sent this to me from their phone. It's small but you can tell she's gorgeous!

And for those of you who are wondering... Aila is a Scottish name meaning "from the strong place." So true. And what a wonderful way to start. From a strong place.

Love you Aila! Goodnight sweetheart.

and its....

a Girl!!

Aila Grace was born today!!

8 pounds 12 ounces

19 inches long

3:36pm

Krissy called me around noon to say that they were heading to the hospital. Her contractions started in the morning but were 6-7 minutes apart... but then before she knew it, they were 2 minutes apart and they were scrambling to get to the hospital.

She called to let me know that the baby was coming- but also that she'd forgotten the camera. She wanted to know if I had mine with me. Of course I had brought my camera this morning- but I left it in my car thinking the baby wouldn't possibly coming today. Figures!

I called Mom to see if she had hers with her. If anyone besides me would, it's her. But she didn't However, she had a camera at work she could borrow and bring to them. She called Matt and he said that he'd call her when he was able to come down and get the camera.

As it turns out- he couldn't get away... the baby was coming quickly. So Mom picked me up from the train and we drove over there, camera in hand, hoping to make it in time.

I raced into the lobby and asked for them. Told them I didn't need to visit, but I had to give them the camera. They said they'd send someone down.... so I waited for a few-- and in walks Matt! I was shocked. I was expecting a nurse or a housekeeper.

He was glowing and in shock.

"She's HERE!" he shrieked!

"SHE?!" I asked

"Aila Grace! She's here already!"

We hugged and he held on tight. Shaking. Crying a little {which is more than ok and super manly if you've just witnessed your baby's first few minutes of life}. So so so happy.

He told me how big she was... Said that the cord was wrapped around her neck for a little bit but that she was ok. She got pink right away :) All was well with Krissy too :)

I hear she's got some red hair too! I can't wait to see!!

I ran around and bought all the organic pink cotton frilly clothes I could find! Buying pink is a lot more fun when you weren't sure if you were going to get to buy pink or blue. As much as I wished they'd found out the gender, I must say it was kinda fun not knowing for sure (though I will remind people like Dan who thought it was a little boy) that I knew from the beginning my Godchild was going to be a girl!

I can't wait to meet her tomorrow!

Krissy's In Labor!!!

Baby should be coming soon! Think good thoughts! :)

note: pictures from Friday 4/17 in the park. haven't had time to post the whole series yet, but i'm glad we got these photos while we had the chance!

in PA safe and sound but...

what a mess so far.
i'm not usually the pessimist but this has just been nuts
think the universe was trying to tell me to stay put this weekend
and i didn't listen

started out ok.
picked up my car from Quirk
{needed an alignment}
although i waited an extra 20 minutes for the guy
to pick me up at the train because he was
waiting at the bus side not the
"drop off pick up area"
tell me that's not counter intuitive!

i use my typed out directions to get me over the Tappan Zee
because no GPS i've heard of yet
will allow you to go that way
{regardless of picking "fastest time"
or "shortest distance" or "avoid traffic"}
but i get over the bridge
very little traffic at that point
and let the GPS take over
because it always gets me there the best way

not this time.
my reluctance to purchase one of these evil little tools
means that i borrowed matt & krissy's in a pinch
{instead of mom and dad's}
well this one took me some crazy way through Rt 1 in Jersey
which is very much like Route 1 in Saugus
lights every hundred yards
ridiculous
trying to make the best of it and enjoy the night
riding on battery a bit, which makes me happy

finally i get off that stretch and onto 95 South
where i can actually cruise a little bit
i get a guy behind me, right on my tail
so i know i'm going about 80
will likely pull over to the right lane in a second when it clears up
when i come around a corner
and there's the Statie
he put on his lights as soon as the other guy and i passed
sure enough he eventually pulls out and pulls me over
{not the other guy though, which was annoying}

i played my part the best i could
but going 81 in a 55-- i was getting a ticket
i now owe the State of PA $181.50
lovely

so then i'm pissed and dejected.
i put the car on cruise control at 59 mph and just let it ride
i'd talked to christine before that and she agreed that the route
it was trying to take me was ludicrous
but at that point i did care
well i should have, because it took freakin forever
i hit red light after red light and it would add 5 minutes to my ETA
nice.

so thanks again matt for letting me borrow your GPS (and mom & dad too since i've used theirs a million times) but i think i might just be going back to mapquest. its nice not to have to plan ahead but at least then you can verify the directions with someone who knows what they're talking about. technology is not always the answer- we sometimes forget that.

but i arrived safe and sound
so glad to see christine
and get some sloppy kisses from lola {the dog}
relaxed, watched some tv
then took a nice, hot shower
got into my pjs and was ready to call it a night.

when my phone rings.
one of the vendors working on the unit
where we're installing ceiling lifts and computers next week
he must be pocket dialing. he wouldn't call me on purpose at 10:49pm.
but he was calling on purpose
they had an accident
popped a sprinkler head
water was flooding patient rooms
1-2 inches worth
a real mess

then apparently some disgruntled family member
heard "pipe bomb" not "pipe burst"
and instead of asking the hospital what was going on- called the local news!!!!!!
annoying. i don't think it aired, thankfully.. but geez

so this is what i'm working with here.
i'm hoping that all the nonsense is behind me now and we've got only FUN
ahead for the next 36 hours
but we'll see
cross your fingers for me
it might help ;)

Blogging via phone

I learned today how to post by phone. Simply sending an email that will appear here! Very fun!


I think this will come in handy during the 3Day! I can keep you all posted on my progress!


For now I am getting off the train after dinner with Jessica at Border Cafe. I am hoping to hit the library before it closes. Wish me luck.


Good night!

Friday Photo Finish 4-17-09

Posting this late again! Sorry. I forget that some of you actually do follow this... and then someone mentions it (like my good friend Jessica did on Saturday) and I realize I should motivate to actually post things on time.. so with that, I am going to try to go back today and catch up!

Anyways- another decent week. I am really loving walking outside! And the "official training program" starts the week of May 3rd! That will be here soon!!

Easter 2009

aster 2009 was Riley's first Easter

and she was looking gorgeous in her new Easter dress

and matching bow this was her Easter basket from Grammy & Pepere

a bathing suit

some snacks

a little bunny friend

and some other goodies

look at those cheeks!

playing with Grammy!

we tried, in vain, to get some nice family shots

riley's still in the 'making the weird face' phase

so i guess that will be theme of this year's Easter photos

and the scrapbook pages that will inevitably follow

this shot, however, i LOVE

what a sweet family

all so amused and adoring of eachother

riley with mom, dad, grammy and pepere

as bubba would say "better hope her face doesn't freeze like that"

"i love my auntie jen"

{can't you tell?!}

jeff, melissa and riley headed out soon after to go to the Circus

meanwhile the rest of us geared up for the annual Easter Egg Hunt

care of Aunt Milly

we've been doing this as long as I can remember and its a wonderful Natale famile tradition

Aunt Milly inserts 4 hershey kisses and a crisp new $5 bill in each plastic Easter egg

they are hidden in the backyard at Debbie's house

and all the "kids" are unleashed to find their eggs

{we each get 4}

no one is quite sure who gets to participate and why

what qualifies you as "too old" or "ineligible?"

is it marriage? is it age? a combo of the two?

no one knows

but my older cousin nicole and her husband eligible this year, as was i... so along with the "younger kids" we headed out for the hunt. this year it was a backyard and garage search.

we all crept around

searching for our four

lisa and chris

me

Pat & Erin

Colleen, Pat & Joe

what I don't have pictures of is the ridiculousness that occurred in MY search for the eggs

i found none of them on my own.

{yes, you read that right}

i needed help finding each of them

one in paper towel packaging

one in a basket on a high shelf in the garage

one under a bucket

one on the inside of a ladder

the last of which i don't feel too badly about

almost everyone was searching at that point

and still no one could find it

apparently 28 is too old to do well at at egg-hunting

but similarly 50 something is probably too old for egg-hiding...

because an hour later those who hid the eggs couldn't remember where they put them

next year i'm recruiting riley to help me

i need some young eyes

and that youthful eagerness to be the first to find the eggs,

which, let's face it, are easier to find when you're more aggressive because you find

the ones within view ;)

here's this year's crowd gathered around Aunt Milly

after the egg hunt we squeezed in a celebration for the April Birthdays

Jack, Kara and Susan

Happy Birthday!!!

Riley's 1st Birthday Party

Riley's 1st Birthday Party was quite the event!

Lots of friends and family gathered at Jeff & Melissa's to celebrate

on Saturday April 11th.

Though it is technically spring, it was still really cold

so we enjoyed the festivities inside.

Here's Riley in her 1st birthday dress that Grammy bought her, though you can't see the detail on the dress here because her custom bib is on top. It has Riley's name and the date of her first birthday on there. Doesn't she look beautiful?!

Grammy & Pepere with the Birthday Girl
Grammy's Girl

Auntie Jen

Mom & Dad

This was a special present from Grammy, a charm bracelet she had especially made that can be added onto each year. This year's charm was a cupcake with a "1."

Riley is one sweet girl, but her smile is most aptly described as illusive! It was so hard to capture the great mood she was in, but here are a few that show how much fun she was having being the center of attention.

There you can see the dress :)

And the cutest party hat ever!

These two crack me up. Melissa was blowing bubbles for the "kids" on the mat.

This is the "Riley Face" right now. I swear she was having fun, but ever since her Daddy taught her this face it seems to keep reappearing.

This is great! All the kids having a ball {yes, even Jeff, as you can tell}

Though I think Oisin might be the most mature of the bunch because he seems to think they're all looking pretty darn foolish ;)
Riley & Oisin ----Sharing

This is just one of MANY MANY kisses between the kids on Saturday.

It was quite the kissing-fest, to be honest. Almost all of which was open-mouthed and sloppy.

Not sure Willy was quite expecting so much saliva, but I think he got used to it.

Then there was an interesting dynamic when Willy and Oisin would alternatively get jealous when Riley was after the other. This could get dramatic in another 16 years or so...

Willy & Riley



Then it was time for presents. Riley got so many nice gifts, and had quite a good time opening them. This is a picture of her opening her gift from me.

Reading one of her new books.

And what's a birthday without a cake? Or two!

Happy Birthday TO YOU!

We even got Grammy (Riley's Great-Grammy) on speakerphone (while she was at the pool in Florida) to sing with us!!

What IS this thing?!

Hmm.. guess I'll try it.

I don't think she really enjoyed the cake at all... but that's ok. Daddy will eat anything...

And Oisin was at the ready to catch ANYTHING Riley might drop.

He did manage a few bites.

And then the day started winding down... Riley and Willy sat with Auntie Krissy and Auntie Megg to read some of Riley's new books.

After an afternoon of fun and games, I headed out with Krissy and Willy (sending Dan home to recuperate from all the fun) and helped them run some errands before we hit the second party of the day, this one in honor of birthday boy Dave Dauphinee! We had a great time hanging out with friends and watching BU win the hockey championship before stumbling home exhausted around 11p :)

Thanks for a great weekend everyone!