March for Babies

I am walking in the annual March for Babies, part of the March for Dimes, on April 27. I believe in this cause because the money that is raised is used to:

- support all-important research offering preventions and solutions for babies born too soon or with birth defects

- educate women on things they can do to increase their chances of having a healthy baby

- provide comfort and information to families with a newborn in intensive care

- push for newborn screening and health insurance for all pregnant women and children

I want all babies to be born healthy and feel that raising money for them by participating in this walk is a way I can do a small part to help towards this goal. It is especially important to me as many people near and dear to me are beginning families and I want each of them to have a healthy, happy baby.

If you'd like to support me in my walk, please donate through this link. Thanks to generous donations, I am nearly halfway to my $400 goal! I've added a widget to the side of my blog to track my donations.

Project Complete

We finally finished our decorating project, and it looks great! Earlier in the fall, we had the kitchen and living room painted, got curtains made for the living room and over Christmas we put stuff up on the walls in both rooms (thank you Hobby Lobby 50% off sale!). The only thing we were missing was curtains for the windows in the dining area of our kitchen. After a lot of searching, I found some I liked online. We ordered the curtains (and some for our bedroom), and bought a curtain rod. Yesterday we tackled the task of putting up the curtain rod and the curtains. With a great deal of help from my dear hubby we were able to get the curtain rod put up, and hung the curtains. I'm always anxious putting holes into the walls, afraid that we won't be able to finish the project because we run into something we hadn't expected (studs in unexpected places, etc.) or it won't end up looking as good as I envision it, but with the right tools - drill, screwdrivers, anchor screws, a level, a step stool, a chair, and some patience - we were able to do it, and now have the kitchen and living room just how we want them.

We'll have many other projects in the house - already on my list is to find a curtain rod long enough for the bedroom windows. For now, it feels very good to look around and have this project finished and love the results.

The vegetarians did it

We're already two weeks into 2010, how did that happen? Its been a busy month so far.

Last weekend I went to Gabriel's first birthday party and had a great time! There was lots of food, gifts and such a cute robot theme! It was a joint birthday party with his daddy, which meant TWO birthday cakes, yum! Given the choice, I always choose chocolate so had a piece of Jay's chocolate cherry cake, so good...I need to find out how the recipe, such a good combination of flavors. Unfortunately, Gabriel gave us all an unexpected gift - a stomach bug. It didn't hit me until a couple of days later, so I didn't realize I'd picked it up from him until I posted on facebook that I was feeling better and others from the party commented about also getting sick. Its not the first time we've picked something up from kids around us and I'm sure it won't be the last. Kevin's entire family got sick from our nephew before we got married, we called it "Kaden's revenge" it was so bad.

This weekend we went to the wedding reception for a former coworker. We didn't attend the ceremony, but went to the reception in the evening. Yang and his new bride looked so happy and she is a beautiful bride! I love weddings, seeing how happy the couple looks and everyone coming together to celebrate with them. The place felt like a rooftop terrace, but it was actually inside -- some of the hotel rooms were overlooking the reception. Note: If you stay at the Marriott in the Galleria area ask for a room AWAY from this area if you aren't attending the party, otherwise you'll be up half the night listening to the music. We were able to sit with another former coworker and her hubby, along with several of their college friends. It was good to catch up with her and meet her hubby I've heard so much about. Our new phrase from the evening: the vegetarians did it. There was a mix-up in the kitchen and our fish dishes were served to some people who'd requested vegetarian dishes (not very strict vegetarians, I guess) and so there were none prepared for us. Once they realized the mistake (and we sat for a while with no food), they served us the next course while they prepared more fish for us. I was so afraid there were going to say they'd give us the vegetarian dishes. They may be good, but Kevin would want no part of it, and honestly after looking at the menu in front of us, I wouldn't either. We're working on getting more vegetables in our diet, but he's still a meat and potatos guy. We got the fish, and it was worth the wait....seabass (drool)....

If anyone has suggestions on things to see or places to eat in Charlotte, NC please let me know. I'll be there soon for work and have never been, and love trying new places.