Joy of Love: My Nieces Part Uno

Girls, Please stop growing up so quickly. It's making me sad. I love you both very, very much, Aunt Melly I'll write more about these cuties a little later, but somedays when I see new pictures of them it just kills me.

Cool, Cool, Cool Tricks and Hey Louie

Seriously, the cuteness that is going on with my child right now is some days overwhelming. She cracks me up, every single day! The mimicking is just too awesome... Example #1: She loves Yo Gabba Gabba. I was kinda of hoping she wouldn't for the mere fact that I find the characters to be a bit on the creepy side and how do they come up with these names, I mean Fuffa...really? However after watching a few episodes (ok every single one, multiple times who am I kidding) they do teach some really great and simple lessons. She got a DVD for Christmas and we moved our old TV and DVD player to her playroom as to avoid putting it in the basement and it collect dust instead. She loves it. She can turn on the TV, the DVD player and play the DVD without any assistance from us. Not my proudest parenting moment, but still amazing to me nonetheless (she turned 15 months last week). Well throughout the show they have kids come on to show their cool tricks - spoon on nose type stuff, etc. Now she is mimicking the voice over - cool, cool, cool tricks! Example #2: Mia loves her dogs. Lucy is definitely becoming the favorite and more so because she is much more tolerant of a toddler than Jeff who is our eldest "child." She calls her Louie/Lulu and has for quite some time. Both Mark and I call her that amongst a million other things, some of which we do not say during "Mia Awake Time." A few weeks back she started saying Hey Louie every time she would walk by or sit next to Lucy. Well now she is saying it to everyone. She was waving and calling everyone Louie last Sunday on our way to our cousins. Hey Louie, Hey Louie (picture the little chubby arm and hand stretched out and waving back and forth). Hilarious!

A Sign of the Apocalypse

My cell phone is not working. Starting last Sunday, my battery started dying much quicker than normal. By much quicker, I mean by 10:30 am Sunday morning it was telling me to Connect to Charger....wha????? I usually only have to charge my phone at night. It's been this way since I got my phone in the fall. I love my phone, but I am very frustrated with it right now. Shame on it for not understanding my feelings and acting out like it is. The touch screen is not always working, it's freezing up and will automatically turn itself off on occasion. Fun right? No. Not. Fun! I feel like my world is coming to an end and crashing all around me. That is how serious I am about my phone. After posting on FB and requesting suggestions from other EVO users, talking with our company Sprint rep (who is also one of my tenants and right across the hall and no help by the way) and talking once with tech support, my phone is still this same this very Thursday as it was on Sunday. I have an appointment at one of the retail locations close to my office this morning. Please, please, please phone Gods fix my phone. I can't live without this phone. Seriously, I can't. Update: After 30 minutes at the Sprint store, I think the problem has been determined. The area where my charge actually plugs into my phone was showing signs that it had been wet (the green, icky color on the metal). They handed it over to a tech who checked on my battery and other things and would be attempting to clean the so called wet affected area. As I was sitting and waiting (mind you trying to figure out how to spend the next 20 minutes without my phone, what do I do with my hands) I was thinking to myself how did my phone get wet. It has not been around water, ever...then I realized I had a one year old child who loves her Mommy's cell phone and who chews on it all.the.time. I try to say no, but it's too much of a battle at the end of the day (pick and choose, bad Mom, whatever). That's it! It was Mia! Anywhooooo, it appears to be back in business, but we shall see. I've been back to the office for about 2 hours and still have more than 1/2 my battery. The End (please, please phone Gods and thank you for helping me today).

What Time Is It?

It's not even 10:00 am and I feel like I have been up for an entire day. My day started with a 7:00 am breakfast meeting which meant I had to be out the door no later than 6:15 am. Not only did I have to be out the door, but it's was a networking/forecast function which means a lot of people were there which means Melissa has to step it up a bit in the hair and clothes department for the day. I curled my hair and everything!!! :) I'm feeling pretty good right now. I've had two cups of coffee, a glass of apple juice and now I'm working on a Diet Pepsi. I'm pretty sure this will be me once I have my afternoon crash. Luckily I have a venue tour for a Committee I am on, so I get to head out at 1:30 today and have an active, out of the office afternoon. Otherwise, I'm not sure I would make it. It's only Wednesday too. Phew...this week is wearing me out! And next week I have lunch meetings three of the five days (at this time, hopefully nothing more gets added to that). Did I mention it was 5 below this morning and we are supposed to have a whopping high of 20 today? Awesome. Positive news though on the weather front - it's supposed to be near 50 on Sunday! Yippee!!

Joy of Love: Cousins

Mark and I are very blessed to have a very close relationship with his cousin Dawn, her partner Lori and their children Justin and Avery. What a great family they are! Since I have gone back to work, after my maternity leave, Dawn has taken extra special care of our little girl. With the exception of the past month or so because of the weather, etc. Mia has been over at her house at least once a week since last January. And Ms. Mia loves all four of them! She is so excited to see each and every one of them each time she goes to visit. They take her to do all sorts of fun things and specifically request her when Lori will take off work for a special day. I love that they love her as much as they do!

It had been quite a while since we had seen them, but we finally got together last Sunday for the Super Bowl. On the way over, I was talking to Mia about where we were going. For a while now she has been calling Lori, Loooooooo, but on the way there she said Lowi instead. It's so cute to hear her say the names of the people in her family. As soon as we walked in the door, Mia went straight to Dawn. She hasn't grasped the concept of her name just yet, but she loves her Aunt Dawny nonetheless.

Dawn - what a wonderful person she is! She is so caring and has a very deep compassion for her family. She is a phenomenal mother and takes very good care of her children. Without hesitation she would do anything for me, Mark or Mia. She's just that warm. Dawn is one of the best cooks. She took very good care of us when we first brought Mia home and she still cooks us food every once in a while. It's such a blessing not to have to cook when I get home from work. She is similar to me in some ways, we both love to decorate (she actually gets to do it), we both love to chit chat, we both try to keep the peace (although I was challenged with this late last year), we both have ADD, we both love wine and we both love to laugh. I truly feel that Dawn was placed in my life for a very specific reason. She's a protector and Mark and I have really needed that lately.

Lori - I haven't really gotten to know Lori that well until this past year. Lori is a techy just like me and she loves movies and football, just like Mark. She is just an all around awesome person. There is no drama with Lori, which I really appreciate. Most recently, I have realized she is also a great person to go to for advice and direction. What a great Bubby she is! Her kids adore her and I love the fact that every time I am over there I see her hug one of her kids at least one time. I wish all families embraced their children as much as Dawn and Lori do. My family did and it's an amazing feeling to feel that loved. Oh my gosh and how cute are Lori (excuse me, Lowi) and Mia!!! Did I mention she likes wine too?

Photo courtesy of Lori S.

Justin - J Dawg - What a cool kid! I have been with Mark almost 10 years now and when I first met Justin he was just a little kid and now he's a teenager. His deep voice catches me off guard sometimes, but it's mostly just because I just don't want him to be that old. Justin is very independent, but it's completely understandable. He is the sole boy in the family. All the other kids are girls! Poor guy! I don't talk with him a lot, but when I do he almost always makes me laugh. Example from the end of the Super Bowl:

Justin (running into the theater room): "Who won?" Melissa: "The Packers" Justin: "crap" Mia loves Justin. As soon as she seems him, she gets so excited and runs right up to him. I think she did that at least 3 or 4 times on Sunday. Avery - or shall I say Miss Avery - what a girly girl she is and I love it! What I love best about this kid is her creativity. She is always making something or drawing something and she loves to share her works of art. She most recently made a scarf for Mia, but she also did all the banners for their Super Bowl party. I think she will be a pastry chef or a chef in some manner some day. Avery has always taken very special care of Mia. It's very cute! She loves to hug her and give her kisses. I had my first Just Dance (Wii game) experience with Avery on Sunday. What a great workout and so much fun! I kept up pretty well and she told me I wasn't old! Bonus! Thanks guys for being so great to me, to Mark and most importantly to our little Meemers. I appreciate you for all that you are and all that you do. I'm looking forward to many, many more memories.

Joy of Love: My Sisters

This month, after some inspiration from another blogger/photographer Elizabeth Hall, I am going to focus on the people I love. It's the month of Valentine's Day so why not share the love all month. Today, I choose my sisters. I have two and I'm the middle one. I've always been the glue of the three of us. I aim to please and just want everyone to be happy. We've had our moments. Some of us were tormented by another more than others growing up (not mentioning any names...) and some of us had more ballet skirts than others (again, not mentioning any names...) but at the end of the day there is a special bond between sisters regardless of any conflicts that come along the way. What fun would it be if we were exactly the same anyway? It's hard to figure out where to begin with these two. There is an eight year difference between the two of them and they are as unsimilar as they are similar. We have shared so many wonderful memories and traditions together. I hope that my child(ren) are just as lucky to have an amazing childhood like we did. We are all who we are because of our wonderful parents. We share a love of many things - holidays, movies (the quotes and laugh attacks being some of the best parts) and family time to name a few. My sisters are both amazing in their own way and I am so very, very blessed to have them both and am forever grateful for all of the wonderful experiences and memories I have shared with both of them. Lindsay (Linner, Linny, Luda): The youngest. God love her for being the youngest, the princess, the one who got away with more - ha! She's artistic and has little fear. She's beautiful. She's searching for her place in this world. She's young and eager. She's a phenomenal dancer, choreographer and photographer (http://www.lksphotography.net/). Luckily, I am blessed that she documented much of Mia's first year through her brilliant photography. She's a visionary. She's focused. She's a wife and a great cook. She's my best friend and she's always up for a good time. She loves to throw parties and comes up with really fun themes (it's too bad I miss most of them). I envy her artistic traits. I missed the boat on that some how. I have my moments, but Linny has a strong visual sense that I do not. Whether it be in her dance, her photos or her food, she always finds a way to make it all come together just perfect. Unfortunately we don't get to see each other as much as I would like, but hopefully that will change in time (with children most likely, ahem, no pressure). Shannon (Shanny, Janet): The oldest. God love her for having to set the precedent for the rest of us. She's crafty and a phenomenal cook. Again, not sure how I missed the boat on the cooking thing. Seriously. She makes some of the best meals and some of the most creative cakes and other culinary concoctions. She has a great style both in her decorating and her personality. You walk into her house and you feel like you stepped into Pottery Barn. She's a business woman (www.liasophia.com/shannonwheeler) and a mom (of two awesome girls)...and a wife. She's busy. She's my best friend. She's a good sounding board for a lot of my venting sessions. She's strong. She's fun. She loves wine just as much as me! She lives by me, which is a super bonus, but I still don't see her as much as I would like. To both of my sisters: You are wonderful and amazing and I probably have never told you how much you are appreciated. I am lucky to have you. Thank you for who you are and thank you for helping me be the person that I am today. With that I will be forever grateful. I look forward to all of the many, many more memories to come. With Love, Melly A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.-- Isadora James

Up

Wow! I can't believe I actually did it. It only took me 32 years, but I finally went up in the Gateway Arch. It's a national monument, in a city where I have lived almost my entire life and not once have I been up to the top - 630 feet.

Here are a few reasons why I had not taken part in this particular journey:

1. I am my father's daughter. We are both not a fan of confined spaces.

2. I am claustrophobic. Refer back to #1.

3. I have a fear of heights. I may have a bit of a control problem. I don't like to be off the ground. In my car I'm ok, but planes, etc. make me a nervous wreck.

4. The Arch lost electricity just a few years ago and people were stuck for hours. That thought is paralyzing to me.

5. I had a pretty good idea that this would make me feel like I couldn't breath and that the trip up, however long it may be, would make me feel like I was suffocating. Mind you the trip up is only 4 minutes and down is only 3.

6. I was unaware of the actual size of the pod, capsule, whatever you want to call it, but the visuals I had created in my head were not helping.

Here are the reasons why I decided to put on my big girl pants and do it:

1. Family Fun Time!

2. I only have one chance on this earth to do the things I want. I should probably take advantage of my own city a little more.

3. I'm 32...enough with the wimpy stuff.

4. I have a daughter and wanted to share it with her and document it so she can look back on it when she is older. Even more so, by testing my fears she will hopefully be fearless (I may be setting myself up for a diffcult teenage age, but oh well, live and learn).

5. My hubby hadn't been since he was a kid and he didn't recall much of it and he was on board to go up again.

6. What's the worst that can happen right? (I can say this now of course)

I am so glad I did this. The pod/capsule/thingy had a window to see out as we went up and down and this helped me immensely. The view from the top was pretty extraordinary and worth all of the anxiety it caused me leading up to the moment the doors closed and we started our journey to the top. It was the only time I would ever see a view of the city in this way. It was a great memory and I can now check this off my list.