Thanksgiving in Kansas City Recap in Pictures

Wednesday…

 

The drive to Kansas City from St. Louis wasn’t very fun. There was lots of rain and fog and grossness. It wasn’t light for very much of the drive, which didn’t help either.

Candy helps the trip go by a bit easier.

   

In Kansas City, we saw our first Christmas lights! :)

Thursday…

My mom’s best friend had sent my brother and I these pictures of my Dad, framed and ready to join us at Thanksgiving. Isn’t that sweet?

We really needed to have Dad there at dinner with us. Even if he didn’t have a place setting, he was there. We did have a sort of sad moment (well, there were lots, but still)… we ate dinner at my aunt’s assisted living facility in a private dining room for just our family. We walked in and there were ten places set for just the nine of us. I said I thought the waiters couldn’t count and then Mom realized that she had counted Dad in the number she had given to the chef. That wasn’t exactly fun and I felt awful for dwelling on the mistake.

We went around the table in Dad’s family tradition and said what we were thankful for this year. And then I gave a toast and we remembered Dad. Lots of tears, but we got through it!

 

Mom picked up these cute napkin rings at Kohl’s to go with the provided napkins. It added some nice color to the table!

Brother and Husband.

I only have one cousin on my mother’s side and that’s him with his new wife! :)

 

Grandma (mom’s mom) and her husband. Aren’t they adorable!

My view of the table. :)

Friday…

   

We didn’t get up before dawn… we were at the stores by 7:30 am and missed a bunch of the sales. :( But we weren’t looking for presents for other people but stuff for us, so not a big deal!

Wait, doesn’t everyone open Christmas presents at Thanksgiving? Well, our family does! We want to exchange presents while everyone is in town, and see the either elated or confused looks when they realize what their present is.

Apparently Husband had the camera at this point. Don’t look at the hair. It was an early morning without a style due to Black Friday shopping!

 

See: confused look about the present.

My cousin and his mom, my mom’s sister.

Husband got some neat old sports books from my aunt that she had found in a thrift store. She does such a great job finding gems like that!

Me and Grandma. :) That’s her new scarf that I gave her for Christmas.

I have no idea what Mom is doing here. But I really like her shirt!

 

Oh boys, I was so jealous when I saw the suit she got from her sister! I want one of those! So cute. :)

Saturday…

2010 Border War, baby!

 

Missouri vs Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium – it’s a tradition three years in the making.

I love the bands performances! They are just amazing.

Cousins. :) This picture reminds me of another one we took, about a year ago…

Same shirt even. I didn’t realize that until I was at the game. Dad must have been smiling in his Mizzou cap to see the Tigers win.

I flew home on Sunday and did laundry. All in all, a good holiday weekend.

A Feeling of Relief…

I’ve done it.

I’ve resigned from the Board. The theatre that I’ve been a part of since The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and through Noises Off and then joining the Board and working on publicity, I’ve severed the ties completely.

I worked as an usher on Sunday for the last night of the show. And that was good. But it was my last public act as a member of the Board.

I never quite understood what a nervous breakdown was. Last Thursday, I almost had one. Work has become VERY hectic and lots has been heaped on my plate. I know, I know I should be grateful that I have a job at all. Seriously. I do love my work. There’s just a LOT of it.

I spent two.hours on the phone with my mom, SOBBING. I was so overwhelmed with everything going on in my life right now! She was so worried about me that she suggested I take something out of my crazy schedule.

It was so hard, but the Board had to go. I don’t want to half-ass something. I want to be all or nothing. There wasn’t enough time in my schedule to publicize the theatre in the way I really wanted to – and that bummed me out so much.

As much as it hurt to send in my resignation, I did it, and immediately felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders.

When I was at the show this weekend, a good friend of mine who is also involved with the theatre mentioned that she was thinking of taking over the publicity. She has since decided to do so, which I’m grateful for. She’s going to be great and I’m not worried about who is going to take care of the theatre.

Because I want it to do well. It’s one of my passions and I love theatre that is well done. And this theatre? They do really good shows! They deserve someone who can commit fully to publicizing and getting more butts in the seats. That’s what it is all about – getting the art to more people and changing lives with that art.

Today, I’m so sad that I’m no longer associated with a theatre and that there are no auditions in the near future. I’ve told myself it is a sabbatical from theatre. With all that has happened in the past five months and what is coming up in the next few, I need some time away from things. I know I will go back. I will audition again. I will trod the boards again.

Just not right now. Not yet.

Last Friday Night in Pictures

I love seeing vanity license plates. This one was in front of me on the way home from work that night. It’s GODIOU2. I loved it and had to get a picture of it!

That’s right. It’s a chocolate covered banana martini. The bartender at SubZero is my new best friend.

The martini quickly disappeared… only to be joined by another that took its place. ;)  

The main event – spring rolls and tuna tempura [I think]. YUM.

I love going out with the law school kids. :)

Glad my 101 list encourages me to do so at least once a month.

What I’m Loving Wednesday

[one]

My DVR. Seriously, coming home and knowing that I’ll have something fun to watch [I mean, rot my brain] is just really nice. But it’s gotten so bad that I have NO idea what shows are on when. It’s a really nice surprise to find a certain show on any given night.

[two]

My job. Not so much the minutia of the job, but the fact that I have a job. I’m exhausted at the end of the day but I know I’m making a difference.

At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

[three]

Pumpkin Spice lattes. ‘Nuff said.

[four]

Harry Potter is opening this weekend. My husband has promised that he will take me. A date, during finals prep for both law school and MBA? I’ll take it!

[five]

Family – I get to have a whole mess of it in the next few weeks. This weekend, we have Thanksgiving with Hubs’ family, and then another Thanksgiving with my mom’s family in Kansas City. Back home for a few days, and then Christmas with different members of Hubs’ family, and then Christmas in London and New Year’s in Paris with Mom, brother and Husband.

It’s nice to be distracted with all of this hubbub coming up, given that it’s the first real holiday without Dad. So that’s a nice one to end on – distraction. :)

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

Not with my husband, thank god.

With my insurance agent.

We’ve been going through rounds and rounds of quoting and re-quoting the insurance rates, because things keep changing. What with the new Ion and removing the old Saturn Coupe and possibly adding my brother on to the policy so he can drive the Coupe until he graduates from undergraduate, blah blah blah.

It’s just been a ball of fun with minimums and driving records and liability and not being able to insure cars if you don’t own them because you don’t have an “insurable interest.” I’m just trying to be legal here, and man, is it hard.

It would be so much easier to just drive without insurance! [which we won’t do, OF COURSE]

There are just lots of oddities about the situation, so I understand that it’s confusing. But multiple phone calls and emails to my agent has made me more confused than before we started on this little journey.

If you email someone with three specific questions in bullet point format, don’t you expect a return email with those answers in similar fashion?

My agent didn’t get that memo apparently.

I love the company we’re with – and they give us a GREAT rate without a 21-year-old driver added to the three cars – so I’d like to stay with them. But I just need an agent who helps me understand the policies that I’m purchasing.

So, how do I break up with my insurance agent?

Source

My godson is FOUR. How in the world did that happen?

Four years ago yesterday, I told my boss I had to come into the office a bit later than usual – my godson was being born that morning. She understood, of course!

 

This was my godson at my wedding – too cute for words! He was six months old. :)

Now my Moose is four. FOUR. Doesn’t that make me old?

He smiles for my pictures.

He has a girlfriend… sort of.

He gives me hugs when I ask him.

He’s past the crazy tantrums of toddlers and is really looking like a KID.  He’s gonna get married before we know it.

So for his fourth birthday, his parents set up his birthday party at a train store.

What a fun party! We had pizza and cupcakes and of course, there was a pinata.

A hug from Nina made it a complete birthday. :)

Happy fourth birthday, Moose! :)

Semi-Silent Sundays

Five months ago today, my dad died. I was uploading pictures from my wedding to Facebook last night [I know, it’s three years late] and came across this shot. I forgot I had it. Doesn’t he just look so happy that his only daughter is getting married to her soulmate?

I thought so. :)

So on a semi-silent Sunday, I thought it was only fitting to show his picture and let him know that I’m still missing him terribly.

Overwhelmed…

… and not in a good way.

The past few months, I’ve been adding more and more to my proverbial plate.  Emotionally, I’ve been running on empty since Dad died. Work has been crazy, even though many of my events have come and gone. It looks like we might be adding even more events, so that stress is starting to make itself known.

That combined with the Boards I sit on and the things I do for those Boards makes my days very very very busy.

So we are at a crossroads. Something has to give. Or I will continue to stress myself out and not sleep very well and probably have some kind of breakdown, whether I like it or not. My mother is rather worried about me actually. And when Mom is worried, that makes me worried, because the situation is serious. And I guess she sees more into the reality of what’s going on more than I do. That’s why I tell her these things – so she can tell me what really is going on.

Tonight on the phone sobbing about the situation [did I mention I just might be PMSing? That’s always a helpful addition], she helped me make a decision. I’ve written the letter and the draft is sitting in my folder, waiting for Husband to come home and review it before I launch it. I don’t want to burn bridges but it’s come time to step back from certain things so I can maintain my sanity.  I’m very conflicted and torn but it has to be done.

But there is something that makes up for the craziness and will help me get through the next few weeks… and that is vacations.

In 36 days, I’ll be boarding a plane for Europe… Yay for Christmas with family in England and New Year’s in Paris with Mom, Brother and Husband. Yay. :)

And in many more days, I’ll be boarding a plane for the House of the Mouse.

Husband and I booked a trip for Food and Wine 2011. YAY. Words cannot describe how happy that makes me. :) :) :)

It makes up for having to take a step back, because I can enjoy those times so much more.

Source

What I Wore Wednesday

Lindsey at the Pleated Poppy has this great link-up to focus attention on getting dressed and feeling cute about what you wear! Her pictures are obviously much better than my iPhone pics but I felt so good about my outfit choices this week that I thought I’d try linking up. Let’s see if I can remember where everything came from!

Thursday

 

I love this orange shirt with flowers and sparkles on it. It looks great by itself or with a jacket. I found it at Goodwill for $4. :) The brown corduroy skirt is Old Navy and the brown suede boots are Payless, I think, from years ago.

Friday

 

Today was a sad day. I had a memorial service for the college friend who passed away last month. Oh boy, that was tough. 500 people in a beautiful church saying wonderful things about a man who no one would ever see again. But, we had the yin and yang because after work, I coordinated a wedding rehearsal for M’s sister. So that was good!

This outfit is a black skirt I’ve had forever and a black sweater that I recently picked up at a garage sale for $3. Paired with tights (it was absolutely FREEZING that day!) and my audition heels.

Saturday – Wedding Day!

  

This was such a fun day. :)

These are my black work pants that are so comfy but don’t have pockets. Why don’t more women’s pants have pockets? This needs to be corrected. Paired with this wonderful Tahari jacket from TJ Maxx and a teal silk shirt from the Limited a few weeks ago for my birthday.

The bride told me that I was wearing my power suit for the wedding! The jacket doesn’t exactly match the pants, but it works. :)

Sunday – I totally forgot to take a picture.

Imagine me in jeans a long-sleeve blue shirt. Done.

Monday

 

Long-sleeve black shirt from Target (I think) and a polka dot skirt from Ann Taylor Loft. Black pumps that I thought were comfortable and definitely were NOT by 3 pm. Bad choice. Someone remind me of that the next time I need black shoes to wear with an outfit.

Tuesday

 

These are my old standbys – brown slacks from Kohl’s (maybe?) that I also have in grey and black. LOVE. So comfy and no need for a belt. Paired with a cream shirt that was another Goodwill find. The thing you can’t really see in this picture is the shoes – cream loafer heels that I got at a clothing swap. So much more comfortable without stockings, so I love that it was warm enough this week to do it!

Wednesday

 

In addition to a work meeting outside of the office this morning, plus a Happy Hour at my alma mater, today was a good day to get dressed up. My brown dress is from Kohl’s and you can’t tell from the picture but it has a great boatneck with beads and shell details. That was a gift from my in-laws over the summer. The blue cardigan is from Ann Taylor and the brown kitten heels are Mossimo.

Funny story about those shoes – my Grandma was going to wear them to the wedding that I crashed back in October, but they hurt her feet. She said she wouldn’t wear them and would I like them? They fit, so yes, please! I find it odd that my grandma and I have the same taste in shoes, but whatever. Don’t judge.

And thanks Sonya for the idea to participate!