News Items 8/29/2009

1. Oasis breaks up. (Noel predictably cites "violent and verbal intimidation" from his brother, Liam.) They were one of my favorite bands circa 1995-2002. I could take or leave their stuff 2003 and after. At least I got to see them at Blossom back in 2001.

2. Two winning tickets sold for yesterday's $333 million Mega Millions drawing. I'm guessing I won't find out Monday morning that one of those winning tickets was from my office pool (unless our admin flew to NY or CA to make the purchases.)

3. Dave & Mindy get Blackberries. Mobile updates to The Ross Experience to follow? Stay tuned.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Where , oh where, did all my company go? Talk about a quiet week compared to last week!! Last weekend began with a great dinner at Mary Lou's followed by some outdoor relaxing. Edwin and the girls enjoyed Uncle Dave tossing them up into the air.... while worrying Grandma Ross. Bad boy! Saturday was the A.I. concert in Pittsburgh. I always love these events b/c you get to experience 10 different artists and their respective styles. Adam was definitely the one who put on a show. I didn't care for the high pitched , Munchkin land voice he was using. His Mad World was my second fave of the night. My first was Anoop's , My Prerogative. OF COURSE!! I love Anoop. I even called Matt on the phone and held it up for him to hear. :)

The rest of the week was pretty relaxed, thank goodness. I had to work at 7 am this week so I am all out of sorts. I depend on my sleep and even an hour earlier screws me up. Today , Meredith was so kind to sleep into 6:30am. Cut me a break! She usually sleeps until 8 am.

Madeline found out her 4 year old class Preschool teacher today. Madeline was tentative to let go of my hand as we saw all these new faces in the room. There are at least 5 kids from her class last year so she ran up to them when she saw them. Meredith was playing with everybody ... obviously will be our social butterfly. She even gave a kiss and hug to the teacher. HA! As we left the teacher handed Madeline a bag with candy and a bowl full of stuff in it. When we unpacked it , the little bowl included a paperclip, piece of yarn, washer, bolt, piece of a straw, cotton ball, fastener, toothpick, and a magnet. Ok, so either it is what will the magnet stick to activity, or fill the bowl with water and see what will sink or float. Any thoughts?

I was outside with the girls and decided to tape them washing their "car". I am thinking that I could somehow incorporate this enjoyment into working for our cars. Maybe even Dave and Mindy might hire them for their car's FIRST CAR WASH EVER!!. HAHA .

Matt went for a bike ride the other day and was telling us about the animals he had seen. He saw an alive rabbit and a dead rabbit. This spurred an a conversation about why it died etc. Matt said it wasn't dead ,and Meredith says," daddy teasing me!!! " He also saw a ground hog, some cats, birds, etc. Madeline really serious says, "did you see a BOBCAT?". We laughed.

Going for a walk...

Edwin's New Chair

Grandma Ross got Edwin this new chair...as you can see - HE LOVES IT!!!

Thanks Grandma Ross!!!

summer vacation

**NOTE: I know I've probably missed some things...but here are my summer vacation notes!**


Our summer vacation started when Dave got home from work on Friday, Aug 14th. My good friend Krista watched Edwin for us so that we could join our friend Regina for her 30th Birthday Party. It was fun to get dressed up and enjoy our first night of vacation out on the town!

Saturday we organized the house - and now that we are back home I'm thankful that we did. It is always so nice to come back to a clean/organized house after a long vacation.

Sunday we left for Canfield. As usual, Grandpa Randy kept Sedona for us...THANK YOU!!! So, we made our first stop 35 minutes after we got started. Edwin got a snack, quick diaper change and then it was back in the car. Our next stop was for lunch - our favorite stop - GOASIS. Dave got offered a wad of money from a man (in his early 20s) complimenting our beautiful baby - WIERD!!! Matt & Melinda hosted a Mueller picnic. It was wonderful to see the family and Edwin was excited to showoff his walking abilities. He had so much fun playing, especially with Jimmy (1st cousin once removed, in case you wondered?)

Monday night was another cookout. We are so thankful that Matt & Melinda have such a great party house and are open to hosting so much! We always have so much fun. Since Melinda posted pics from the party of the kids - I'll show you how most nights ended...



Edwin loves taking walks and the girls loved pushing him around the driveway. Of course, most of the walks ended with tickle bugs attacking him, but I think he LOVED every minute!

Tuesday we had a playdate with Judi Hanna and a few of her grandkids. Edwin loved following the big kids around! I attended a Weight Watchers meeting with Matt. I'm so proud of him and how much he's accomplished. I was thankful that I lost 2 lbs because I would've been embarrased to gain at his meeting...just kidding...it is all about rooting for each other and supporting every up and down - literally. I know this sounds a little cheesy, but it is the truth. I feel really lucky to have such supportive family and friends as I progress through my weight loss journey. Continued congrats and much more success to Matt!!! Afterward, we all went to dinner...although our dinner plans didn't work for Drake's Landing - we went to Steamers...and it was wonderful! Edwin LOVED his spaghetti and meatballs...thanks to Grandma Ross for a wonderful dinner!

Wednesday Dave and I left for Toronto...for my longest trip away from Edwin - 2 nights/3 days. I knew Edwin was in the best of hands with Grandma Ross, so that made it easier! Thanks to Uncle Matt for watching Edwin and feeding him (despite choking fears HAHAHAHA) on Wednesday until Grandma got home! We stopped at Niagara Falls on the way to Toronto. I felt like we were on a cheesy honeymoon or something. What an amazing sight...



Then...on to Toronto. We arrived, checked into our hotel and made our way to the CN Tower for dinner and sights. Dinner was sooooo good and the view from the 360 rotating restaurant were BEAUTIFUL!!! This picture doesn't do it justice!!!

After dinner we checked out the observation areas and the glass floor...again the picture doesn't do it justice...SCARY!!!

After dinner we went to a Blue Jays baseball game. Although the Jays lost, I had a good time. As usual I kept score (until I got completely bored in the 8th inning). They also had a superfan who kept things interesting with the constant "wave" starting and dancing...check out the video! I also didn't realize that the Cincinnati Reds had traded Edwin Encarnacion to the Jays...so it was nice to see him again...and think about Edwin!!! :>)

On Thursday we did a lot of walking and window shopping. At one point we realized how HOT our hotel room was - 81 degrees...and we had the air conditioner set at 65...so something was obviously wrong. After several calls to the service desk, a man came to "fix" the problem. He brought us a fan and bunched our curtains up into a ball over the AC unit. Dave complained and we got a complimentary buffet breakfast for Friday morning. I would still be mad, but on Friday morning after breakfast we were waiting for the elevator and other people were telling us about their hot rooms...oh well....Thursday night we went to Second City - a sketch comedy show and it was a lot of fun. Afterward we went to Wayne Gretzky's bar. Of course we had a local hockey player as our bartender - CLASSIC!!!

Friday, we got our "FREE" breakfast and headed home...after a long wait in the customs line, the actual questioning by border patrol was painless and we were on our way home...Grandma Ross prepared dinner for us all on Friday night - YUM YUM YUM...I think Edwin had a great time staying with Grandma Ross and hopefully there will be many more grandma getaways in our future!!! :>)

Saturday we had a lunch playdate with the Kemble Family and then Grandma Ross, Melinda and I headed to American Idol. Of course, I was cheering for Adam - what a show that guy puts on...obviously LOVES the spotlight! Conrad ended us taking us to and from the concert - THANK GOD!!! When we came out of the arena, we were so turned around...and to think we didn't even have anything to drink!!! Of course, none of us remembered to bring our cameras...oh well.

Today we all met at the usual - Bob Evans - for breakfast. Edwin slept an entire 1 hour on the way home - which made for an interesting trip! Thankfully, we didn't have to stop and pick up the dog...Grandpa Randy brought her down to Newport and joined us for dinner...

This was a great summer vacation. Nice to be home...but even nicer to think about how loved we are...we have such a great family! and so many great friends...we are blessed!

North of the Border

We spent a couple days in Toronto this past week, and I'm sure Mindy will post a few pics and/or comments. But for now I'll leave you with this Ross Experience Infographic. It charts the strength of the U.S. dollar (the blue line) vs. the Canadian dollar (the $ on x-axis) since we've been talking about visiting Toronto (almost 7 years now, yikes!).

A - The strength of the US$ back in October '02, which hovered around 1.56-1.59 CAN$ over the course of the month.

B - The strength of the US$ on the 2 days we spent in Toronto (8/19-8/20), which was worth 1.10 & 1.09 CAN$ on those 2 days, respectively.

Needless to say, our timing wasn't stellar as far as US$ purchasing power is concerned.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Last Friday night, our next door neighbors had a campout in their backyard. We went over for a s'more on their fire pit. YUM!! And then began the action-packed Sunday through Wednesday! Sunday celebrated the arrival of Dave, Mindy, and Edwin to Canfield. All the Mueller crew came to have a picnic to visit. It just so happened to be a miserably hot and humid day. Aunt Mindy brought water balloons to play and I had squirt guns, a baby pool, and spray bottles. Madeline's highlight was driving people around in her car... it was like the never ending parade:) Even Edwin got a chance to ride!

Monday's picnic reunited high school friends at our home. Justin/Gia Reed, Leanna/Dave Kemble , Karen Thomas, Cindy and Tyler Reed came over to hang out for dinner bringing their kidlets with them. We tried to get group shots of everyone to save the event, but you know how that goes! The kids really enjoyed playing with each other.

Tuesday Judi Hanna and her grandchildren came for a lunch/playdate with Matt ,the girls, Dave, Mindy, and Edwin. I missed out on this event, some of us still had to work. HAHA! Apparently, Madeline was excited about playing with Caroline and was thrilled that their names both ended in "line". We ended the night with a fantastic dinner from Steamers. We had our whole corner dedicated to ourselves with the best waiter we have had in years!!

Wednesday, Matt had the honor of babysitting the girls and Edwin as Dave and Mindy traveled to Toronto. He eased his way through that event as Edwin slept a lot of the time :) Grandma came home from her class and relieved Matt from his duties ! Matt was nervous with Edwin's whole handful of chicken nuggets at once eating trick. Edwin was mad that Uncle Matt only gave him one bite at a time . Edwin had to deal since we are so choke-aphobic.

Thursday, Grandma was brave enough to invite Madeline and Meredith for a sleepover with Edwin. We took her up on the offer for what should have been a great night without kids! The sleepover went well, thank goodness. The girls love doing that sort of thing! Our dinner at Drake's Landing, however, is what soured the evening. We arrived to find a front row parking spot. Great!! Walk in to find no wait, Great!! Oh wait, there isn't any host either... Hmm. A girl shouts to the host, he takes our name and we wait for 5 minutes. This is quick. Very nice restaurant. I am impressed. Get to our booth, also nice. Then about 15 minutes elapse, still no waitress. A waiter notices that we are sitting there staring at anyone walking by and orders our drinks at the bar. A minute later a server brings 2 plates of ribs to our table. We look at her shaking our heads , NO!!, saying while tapping the menu , "we haven't even ordered yet!" 15 minutes later DUD (this is how we will refer to our waitress) arrives with our drinks. Hello!! Matt looks at me and says that we are doomed for the night. She says, "would you like to start out with some Ahi tuna bites for an appetizer?" We say 'yes'. She seems shocked, but she offered. 15 minutes later we are done with our drinks and still no bites. Haven't seen DUD at all. She said she'd go get the tuna. She returns with our drinks, no tuna. Wait some more, then DUD gets the tuna. Keeps threatening to bring a salad. Still nothing. Oh she has come back, with... bread?!? We want our salads you moron. So we push the bread aside to wait for the salad. 15 + minutes go by, and DUD gives Matt his salad and is handing me mine. I notice that our food has now arrived with the server. I put my hand up to DUD and said , "You can keep that!". Matt has hit his breaking point now. "You can have this pointless salad back! This has been terrible service since we walked in the door. ". They offer to box up the salad. Why? Forget it. The food was wonderful. No complaints there. So everyone runs away. Really? Finally a manager comes over. We told him everything that had happened. He takes 40% off. We are pissed. He asks, "is there anything else we can do for you? ". I say, "make sure our waitress comes back". Manager begins to laugh and says, "that's not funny!". WOW. Glad that evening was done.

Tomorrow is AMERICAN IDOL in PITTSBURGH!!!

WEEK IN REVIEW

It was a strange and irritating week. Friday landed us in Antone's That's Italian (fairly new branch of Antone's) for dinner. Problem #1-- no hostess, few waitresses b/c a mystery fair was going on somewhere. Problem #2-- service couldn't be any slower, refer back to problem #1. Problem #3-- not enough silverware, so we sent Madeline to another table to steal some, Problem #4-- after halfway through Matt's meal, he realizes that the chicken breast is completely raw in the middle. Problem #5-- the waitress leaves the raw chicken plate on the table for the rest of the meal. Problem #6-- no manager comes to apologize , but didn't charge Matt for his meal. Problem #7-- I was up all night nauseated and sick, and Matt thought he would throw up. Solution to problems 1-7 is never go there again.

Saturday took us to Avon Lake to visit our high school friends. The girls had a blast playing with Emily (Kathy's daughter) while the adults played Trivial Pursuit. The night at the hotel, however, was another thing. When all the lights were out, there was a blinking, bright light on the fire alarm. Drove me nuts personally. Then an orange light was blinking in the bathroom coming from the hair dryer. AND THEN.. every time the people above us used water, it sounded like I was being beamed up to the mother ship. Matt shot up the first time he heard it to tell me to turn the alarm off. We were sleepy.

On the way home from there, Madeline asked for a gorilla bar. We pretty much had no idea what she meant. Then finally we figured it out, a GRANOLA bar. HA!

Tuesday was Matt's Weight Watchers meeting which the girls and I waited in the car/shopped for the 45 mins. I bought a cheap (emphasize cheap) box of play food cans. I get home to find that a photo of corn was actually baked beans and that ham was actually HUM spelled out in bold letters. Anyways, the best part of that night for ME, was when Matt opened the car door of the minivan sitting in front of WW. Too bad it wasn't OURS!! He scared the shit out of some lady in the van!! It was hilarious :) He was actually getting in when she screamed. HAHAHA.

Today we spent hours at the swim club which tired the girls out tremendously. Here is how grumpy Meredith gets...These are some photos that I love of the girls playing dressup. They really do look similar don't they?

Vacation

Company policy states I must take off 5 consecutive business days at least once per year. This year I'm taking off 8/17-8/21.

Here's the breakdown:

Friday night, 8/14 - out to celebrate Regina's 30th birthday

Saturday, 8/15 - to Urban Active for my only shot a gym session all vacation, later packing

Sunday, 8/16 - drive to Canfield, cookout w/ the fam

Monday, 8/17 - hang out w/ M&Ms during the day, catch-up w/ Reed clan in the evening

Tuesday, 8/18 - to Peaberry's for a long overdue budget planning session

Wednesday, 8/19 - drive to Toronto (Edwin stays w/ Grandma), Jays/Sox in the evening

Thursday, 8/20 - unplanned day in Toronto...any ideas?

Friday, 8/21 - drive back to Canfield to see Edwin's smiling face, no plans at night...want to hang out?

Saturday, 8/22 - hang out w/ Kembles during the day, ladies to Pittsburgh at night for AI, guys on kid duty

Sunday, 8/23 - drive back to Newport after what I assume will be breakfast at Bob Evans

Priorities of the time off:

1. spend quality time w/ family & friends

2. keep up w/ healthy eating + some form of exercise

3. read 2 books: Create You're Own Economy & The Black Swan

4. update budget

5. not use PowerPoint

14-Months...

Today we went for a playdate with Eloise...she is 11-months old and is already walking - WOW!!! She didn't know what to think of Edwin, but he loved chasing her around the house and trying to hug her...too cute!!!

Today Edwin is 14-months old...he is getting bigger and FASTER...another reason I "need" a new SLR camera - all of my pictures are blurry because he moves too fast for my camera...

Bengals Training Camp

Today Edwin experienced Bengals Training Camp with Grandpa Randy, Donny and me. It was a hot day in Georgetown, KY. I know that some of our readers are Steelers fans and don't worry...if we lived closer to Steeler Training Camp, I'm sure Dave and Edwin would be attending that too!!!

Getting ready to go...This is the outfit Grandpa Randy got Edwin when he was born...it finally fits and this was the pefect occasion to wear it!

Sunscreen really makes my hair look cute!


At training camp.


Carson Palmer #9


Chad Ochocinco #85


Chris Henry #15


Watching practice with Donny.


Ready for some signatures with Grandpa Randy.


Rey Maualuga #58

I got a ton of signatures including Chris Henry, Marvin Lewis, Rey Maualuga, Jordan Palmer, and Leon Hall.

After training camp, we met up with Dave and went to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner.

Everything was good until Edwin's "Fast Eddie Hands" knocked over Dave's beer...nothing better than a baby that smells like beer. Luckily, our waitress loved Edwin and felt bad because he started crying after he spilt the beer...she brought Dave a new beer and he stayed to finish it while I took Edwin home for a late bath and bed.

What a fun day!!!

What's Going On?

So, Dave reminded me no less than a dozen times yesterday that I owe a blogpost...but about what? So, I'm just going to give a brief update on what's going.

We traveled to Piqua, OH (about 1-1/2 hrs north) for Gabe and Brad's Baby Shower on Saturday, August 1st. It was such a fun cookout and we are thrilled that they are having a boy - naming him JACK. He is due in September. Gabe looks great and it was nice to introduce Edwin to them for the first time! Edwin couldn't wait for the cake...he LOVES cake and since his birthday has gotten much better at making a mess while eating it!



We all went to my cousin Taylor's birthday party on Sunday, August 2nd. She had a princess themed party and it was a lot of fun. I helped paint and add jewels/stickers to their tiny fingernails. My sister came and helped with makeup. There were so many fun activities for them to do...Chrissy did a great job planning. I helped each girl make a special bracelet to wear home...too fun!!! Edwin hung out with the Dave, Grandma Nikki, Great Grandma Shirley and the boys most of the day...he loved being around the older kids and he REALLY LOVES Cody and Taylor. We all had a great time at the party.

This past Thursday I met up with a girlfriend at Ault Park. This is the first time I've taken Edwin to a park since he started really walking...and it was so much fun. He was walking everywhere. They have a great play area for "little people" and he loved it. He was climbing up the slide, driving the school bus, walking across the bridge, climbing through the tunnel, throwing his ball everywhere, swinging, and flirting with every girl/woman around! He is going to be quite the charmer...he has no fear and isn't shy at all...he can talk to anyone - sounds like someone I know...what a ham!!!

Dave and I enjoyed another Friday night "off" last week. Grandma Nikki kept Edwin for us and we headed with some friends to the Goetta Fest. Before going to the festival, we got dinner at AOI (a Japenese restaruant at the Levee)...so none of us were hungry for the goetta...but it was fabulous people watching! I did get an opportunity to meet the owner of Glier's Goetta (who was riding around on a segway) and thank him for creating a LOWFAT goetta (1 point per sliced patty using Weight Watchers), which I haven't yet tried...but have heard great things about!!!

We are gearing up for several things:

1. BENGALS TRAINING CAMP - Edwin and I are going with Grandpa Randy to checkout the Bengals and hopefully meet some of our favorite players tomorrow. Hoping I get some good photos.

2. Champagne & Birthday Cake - we are joining our friend Regina to help her celebrate her 30t on Friday night. Thanks to my girlfriend Krista for watching Edwin sleep, we are going out for a late night on the town...leaving around 8:30pm...what??? CRAZY!!! I know!

3. Our vacation...we leave on Sunday to go to Grandma Ross' for the week. While we are there, she is going to keep Edwin for 2 nights (my longest time away from my little man), so Dave and I can visit Toronto. We can't wait to see the girls (better known as my M&Ms)...I think the kids will really have a good time now that Edwin is mobile!!! I hope Grandma Ross takes the appropriate steps to babyproof her beautiful home - Edwin is a little monster!!! and his cute little face makes him impossible to discipline!!!