Parents!

My parents and sister came to visit this weekend! It's been forever, so I was really excited to see them. Not as excited, however, as Riesling was to see her cousin Pippi!Those two have such a ball together. Ries has a playmate, Pippi gets to run free outside (no leash!), and they both smile ear to ear the entire visit. They both slept very well after Pippi went home.

The people had fun too! My sister came down Wednesday night. Nate and I took her to look at Goucher, then grabbed dinner nearby. It's so fun hanging out with my sister, with no one else around. She's so great! I wasn't really around Thursday, as I was at work and my last day of class for the semester (!!!), so my sister hung out with Nate and Ries.

On Friday, my sister came into work with me for the morning. I don't think she was too bored... We went out to lunch with our cousin and my sister's best friend. They both go to GWU! I left my sister with her friend after lunch. She was staying in the city overnight.

But Nate and I were not left alone. My parents drove down from MA that day! The four of us went out for a fantastic dinner at Cinghiale. We all had absolutely delectable food, and highly recommend the place. Nate and I already want to go back! Yummm... We walked around the Inner Harbor for a bit after dinner to try and burn off some calories. I know I was full, and the beautiful evening air was very refreshing!

On Saturday, the four of us made our way into DC. I took everyone to see the Library of Congress. With all there is to see in DC, LOC is often overlooked. However, it is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city - with a very impressive collection! Nate particularly enjoyed all the maps. I for one am a fan of the gorgeous architecture and frescoes!

We picked my sister up at GWU, and headed back up to Baltimore for the O's game. It was a terrible game with the O's losing (of course) right up until the 9th inning. In a last ditch attempt, the O's actually looked pretty good. They really came back, and I thought they might win it! Might is the operative word. And of course they lost, but at least we had fun!

I'm always sad to see my parents leave for home, but it was great having them here just the same. And, they'll be back down again soon for my brother's graduation! Stayed tuned for that adventure (5/17), I'm expecting some complicated weekend plans...

Better Off Dead

Nate had a great weekend! He flew up to Worcester, MA for two Grateful Dead concerts. Two! Back to back! Now, Nate's not the hugest Dead Head or anything, so he was mainly there to see his friends. I'm still hearing about some of the stories and adventures from the weekend. Let's just say, they all had a grate time.

I, on the other hand, would have rather spent my weekend any other way than I did. I was home alone, with three dogs and a 20-page paper to write. I also had big plans for some gardening and house cleaning, but whatever. I started off really well on Saturday. I got some good writing in, and decided to take a break in the garden. That's where it fell apart. I dropped a rock on my pinky and just lost it. After a few hours of self-pity, I decided to check my email. And that's when I found the computer completely frozen in shut-down mode. I'm not sure why the computer decided to turn itself off, all I know is that when I turned it back on my paper was GONE. Erased. Missing.

I freaked out some more. And then spent the rest of the weekend (no more garden breaks) on the paper. I have never been so happy for a Monday!

Ries ate the Easter Bunny

Well... Ries didn't exactly eat the Easter Bunny, but she sure did eat a lot of kibbles!

I've always felt that Easter was a holiday of excess. We deprive ourselves of sweets, soda, red meat - you name it! - for forty straight days. Then gorge ourselves the moment we are sure that Christ has risen, and the Easter Bunny has filled our baskets with treats. Do forgive my sacrilegious sarcasm. Even with all my funny feelings about religion and the church, I believe Easter to be the holiest of days.

There is something wonderful about Easter. The flowers are blooming. Little girls don pretty pink dresses. And Reese's comes out with egg-shaped peanut butter cups. Oh yeah, and we remember that our sins were forgiven by one cool guy.

But back to the excess. While Nate and I filled our hungry tummies with ham and pirogies, Ries decided to partake in the festivities. Somehow she got into a bag of kibbles and ate who knows how much. I knew something was up when I tried to feed her dinner and she turned her nose up at it. My dog - my Riesling - turn down food?! Impossible. That girl never says no to a little smackeral of anything. Well, my suspicions of binging were proven on the car ride home. I turned around to make faces at the dog - and saw the pile. A pile of puke. On the seat of my car. Riesling, upset and confused, turned to me for comfort. I wanted to give her hugs, but she started to look like she was gonna puke - ON ME - again. I threw her head the other direction, and yup. She puked. This was the most pleasant car ride I've ever been on. I keep hoping that Ries will learn from her mistake, but she's back to eating everything she can get!

Happy Easter to all. Let's raise our peanut butter cups to a beautiful spring, and dreams of sugary excess next year.

C'est la Vie

It's the end of the road for our Wildcats. It was a good run, and we're proud. How many other teams can say they made it to the Final Four? Three. That's right. Only three other teams share that claim to fame! March Madness is over for me. I really don't care who wins the Championship this evening. I'm sure Nate will watch. I'm also sure I won't.

We had some other big adventures this weekend. Nate and I finally tackled the English Ivy that had mutated itself into a monstrous force along the back fence. We pulled and pulled till we could pull no more. The fence looks great! Unfortunately, the yard next to the fence is now covered by a 10 foot long pile of dead ivy. Anyone have a chipper we can borrow? There's no way we are bagging all that...

Riesling had her own adventure.

She drew up all the courage she has in her little body, and met some cows. It was a very scary and trying experience, but she is glad she did it. Those cows were just so intriguing to her. She had been thinking about getting closer to them the whole time we were in PA for the Big Game. She finally sucked it up, grabbed Dad, and went across the street. Boy were those cows big! And very curious! Ries had planned on talking to one, maybe two cows. But before she knew it, there were 20 cows at the fence, all vying to see her. It was a little scary when the big cow licked her head, but Dad and I just thought it was pay back for all the times she licks us! Even though Ries was a little spooked by her sudden popularity, she had fun just the same.

Final Four!!!!

There was rejoicing, there were hugs, there were tears, there were phone calls, there was more rejoicing...

That's right. Villanova beat their rivals, Pittsburgh, by TWO points in the last 5/10 of a second! What a nail biter! What a shot! We're going to be talking about this one for years folks. In fact, Nate compared the joy he is feeling right now to how he felt on our wedding day.

As the celebration went on into the wee hours of the night, and then into the early hours of morn, I felt myself rejoicing in my own way. I was celebrating my decision to stay home last night! I may have missed the game, but I also got to bed at a reasonable hour. Ahh, I do love bed...

Cuteness!

Look what my mom found in her yard! Georgie is a baby snapping turtle. She made lots of new friends before she went back to the yard.

The Rest of the Story

Remember how excited I was to have updated the kitchen hardware? Well, I had just finished putting all my tools back in the garage, and was trying to close the finicky garage door... when the top panel of the door broke off! And completely stopped the remaining door parts from moving up or down!

Nate had to whack the hanging bit of the top panel off with a hammer. Then we both crawled under the tiny space below the door to finish un-stucking the door. I guess a new garage door is moving to the top of our house to-do list. And so much for my feeling of accomplishment for the weekend!

NCAA Goodness

All Nate's dreams came true this weekend. He and his dad got to see Villanova win their first two rounds in the NCAA Tournament! The Wildcats are off to Boston for the Sweet Sixteen, and Nate couldn't be happier. Does anyone have any extra tickets to the next round up in Boston? I think Nate might give his right arm to see the Villanova play in the Sweet Sixteeen!

And don't worry about me - I had my own fun! My dear friend visited for a sleepover (Wii-over!) Friday night. We played some old school Super Mario Bros. till our eyes hurt. And Saturday, I had fun playing "handy-woman" around the house. After some tribulations, I finally replaced all of the drawer pulls and cabinet knobs in the kitchen! Of course, I thought this would be a quick and easy project... and was wrong. I wound up breaking out the drill and everything. But I am so happy with the results! The new style is much more to my taste. The picture below shows the old knob on the left, and the new knob on the right.

March Madness

Well, Friday isn't even half over yet and it's already been a great weekend for us. Villanova made it to the second round of the NCAA Championship after an exciting game. While Nova was favored to win, they gave us a scare by finishing the first half down by 14 points. Even better, they beat AU 80-67! What a win!

Nate was lucky enough to be at the game last night. Can you imagine his excitement? He'll be at the game tomorrow too, so let's hope Nate is Villanova's lucky charm!

Babies!

We spent this past weekend in Johnstown, PA. Nate's cousin is having a baby, and we were there to shower her with cute little baby things! Seriously, how cute is that little shoe? Jordans for babies! And to make the shower authentic, the hostesses 6-month-old was there to celebrate too. Isn't Nate so cute with her?After the shower, we went up Johnstown's famous incline - supposedly the steepest in the world. There's a restaurant at the top, and a great view! It was so much fun to go out with Nate's family, and so great to see the mom-to-be. We can't wait to meet her little boy!