Uninspired

I have no excuses for not keep up with my blog other than the fact that I have been totally uninspired to write. Nothing has been that interesting. Nothing new to report. I don't even have any new cute pictures! I love the blog and what it's done for me but I'll be honest - it's a chore to keep up sometimes!
The fam and I are headed up north for Labor Day weekend however. Maybe that will give me some material. In the meantime....uhhh....ooohhhh!!! I do have one interesting observation!

If Tina Fey and Mariska Hargitay had a baby......






she would be GOP vice presidental hopeful Sarah Palin! Isn't that an amazing resemblance?

Goofball (Part 2) - Try this one

Thanks to Mike for the advice! Let me know if this doesn't work!

Goofball.

THIS VIDEO SEEMS TO BE EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. PLEASE STAND BY WHILE CAT GETS SOMEONE SMARTER THAN HER TO FIGURE IT OUT.
I will repost!

Owen has taken a keen interest in our camcorder. Specifically, he loves to see himself on camera! Lately, when I've been taking video of him, I've been turning the screen around so he can see himself "performing" and OMG, what a goofball! He may be destined for the big screen someday. Maybe he'll be the next Peter Dinklage or Warwick Davis!

Englishman in Detroit...

Or English-people I should say! Clare and Andy Dungey decided to take a 3 week whirlwind tour of the US, Detroit was on their agenda! Anyone who has read their blog has been touched by their story. We felt their excitement over having a "little" baby and shared in their heartbreak when precious Theodore passed within hours of his birth.

It surreal to finally have met them! Clare and Andy were every bit as wonderful in person as they are on paper (or computer screen?). They even indulged us in the cultural differences between our 2 great nations. Marmite and cream tea vs. Oreo Pop Tarts & porch swings. The only thing I failed to get was all the gossip on Becks and Posh! Are they really as big in England as I hear they are? How trite of me! Holy crap! 6 hours with the Dungey's and I'm pulling a Madonna goes British makeover! Anyhoo... it just goes to show you how, minus all the perverts and pop up ads, the internet can be a wonderful place (right Blair?).

One of the more exciting parts of the day was that Dan was actually able to attend. Everyone met the man and not the myth. He looked particularly handsome that day too.

Back row: Sue Hollie Middle Row: Tonya, Cat, Clare, Andy
Front Row: Sponge Bob Squarepants the sippy cup

Future Hell's Angel

I wonder where Knoah learned this face?
Oh! That's where he learned it!
Owen's brother from another mother.
Kaela gets some sloppy doggie kisses
I'm pretty obsessed with Kaela. Could she be any cuter??
Will's quite the cutie pie too!
What the hell is this thing?
My mother came to see Andy and Clare too!
Forging international relationships
Bicycle built for two? The loves of my life
Owen had a great day meeting Clare and Andy. Cheerio good chaps!

Mama

America's Top Hospitals

This report from US News & World report came out mid July rating the top hospitals in the country. They had an overall ranking and then scored by specialty. Owen receives care at the Unversity of Michgan which was ranked 13 on the overall list. It was interesting to read where U of M stood as far as the categories that Owen will need concentrated care: orthopedics and neurology (they didn't rank genetics). In the neurology department, there are 5Michigan Hosptials ranked in the top 50 (and 4 of them are in Detroit!)

I thought you would be interested to see where your hospital ranks. Give me feedback!

Us News & World Report: America's Best Hospitals

Congrats Doug! / The Dress Mess

Congratulations to my buddy Doug who got married last weekend! Doug is one of my best friends from high school and we've managed to remain friends for the 12 years since high school. God! 12 years. That's almost painful to say. Almost as painful as it was to pluck the grey hairs out of my head this morning. I'm not really sure how long I've been grey. It's only been recently that I've been unable to afford quarterly dye jobs at the salon. On the bright side, I figured out what my natural color is! But I digress....

The wedding was a blast! Definitely one of the best I've been to since...well, my wedding (which, by the way, is an entire post in itself)! Ending up in a hotel room playing drinking games until 3 in the morning is a good night. Ending up in a hotel room playing drinking games until 3 in the morning with your friends that you haven't seen in a while - is a great night! Congratulations Doug and Heidi! You pulled off one hell of a party. Oh yeah...congrats on that whole lifelong spiritual binding thing too!

High School buddies
The gorgeous bride Heidi
The groom and my friend Doug
My gorgeous husband Dan
My other best friend from high school Matt.
Doug, Matt and I have taken this same picture a few times. One at each of our weddings and one at graduation. I can't find any of the other ones!

So we've established that the wedding was off the hook (isn't that what the kids are saying these days?). What we haven't talked about is the nightmare that preparing for the wedding became. Notice the dress I was wearing? Cute huh? It was the dress that almost wasn't (easy boys).

Since Owen was born, I've only been to a handful of events that have required dressing up and I've somehow managed to find an acceptable outfit for them all. For this wedding I had to buy a new dress. None of my pre-baby dresses fit appropriately. Notice I said " didn't fit appropriately" not "didn't fit". I was able to squeeze the dresses over my child-bearing hips and I was able to zip them up. The final result? Think Britney Spears meets Paula Abdul's wardrobe. It was all kinda bulgy and too tight, out of date and just plain inappropriate. It seemed like a no brainer to get a new dress.

Nobody told me, however, that there are no good dresses out there. Even worse, the ones, I would have settled for were not in my size! I went to my staple dress stores: Macy's, JC Penney's, Neimen Marcus (outlet, of course), Marshall's, Jones NY, Ann Taylor. Nothing. Then I venured beyond the safehouses to the Dress Barn, Burlington Coat Factory, TJ Max, New York and CO, Express, Sears, Liz Claiborne, Group USA...anwhere that I thought may sell a dress, I went to. I must have tried on over 100 dresses and was not tempted to buy one of them. Finally, as I'm walking through the mall in tears on the phone with my husband after a 5 hour shopping failure, I see...wait for it....Forever 21. If you are unfamiliar with the store, just revisit the title. Forever 21. Something I thought I wanted to be once, but now conjures images of strobe lights and Apple Pucker. Anyway, I thought "What the hell?". As a last ditch effort, I will see what's going on in the land of early 20's fashion. If you haven't guessed already, by god, I found a dress. From Forever 21. And it fit! I did make a mental note to tell everyone it was an Evan Picone but I suppose I just blew that huh?

OK, so I've got the dress handled the night before the event, now I just need - a tan. I used to go tanning year round before I worried about wrinkles and cancer. OK that's a lie. The only reason I stopped tanning is because I can't find the time anymore, otherwise, I'd be all over it (I look skinnier when I'm tan). Anyway, the day of the wedding, I decide to pick up a self tanner that seemed good. I get it home and realize that it's a lotion that builds a tan over a few days time.
"Oh crap!", I think, "I don't have a few days, I have a few hours!".
So I come up with an idea. I will just apply the lotion 3 times to achieve the tan I would have in 3 days! Brilliant right?! My body won't know the difference, the color will develop in a few hours and I'll bronzed and beautiful by the time they say their I do's. Uuummmm....That's not exactly what happened.
What happened was that over the course of the wedding I ended up 3 distincly different colors. To prove my point, please reference exhibit A


To make things worse. When color started to develop, so did the streaks and all the spots I missed. I had this orange crap all over my hands, and let me tell ya, it was like glue. I looked like a poor mans version of Donatella Versace.
If you are laughing hysterically at me right now, don't worry, I'm not offended. I find it kind of funny myself. There is no real point to this story other than to humiliate myself so enjoy my suffering!