Macs, Erin, Lisa. . . and a job offer?!

Been a while, eh?

My life goes on crazy turns sometimes. (Don't all of ours?) Unbelievably enough, I'm without my new laptop now. It's definitely not me, but something that was wrong before I even received the new computer. On start-up, it takes 5 minutes to load, whereas it should take 20 seconds or around there. It shouldn't take that long. So I took it in to the mac people and they weren't sure what was wrong either, so they sent it into Apple. It was suppose to arrive back for me to pick up this afternoon, but I got a call today in which the guy said "I have bad news, it got lost in transit and we won't have it now till Monday". I think he was surprised of my reaction because I said "that's okay, I'll be in there Monday. I'm just glad you know where it is." I think he expected me to yell at him or something. (It wasn't his fault and really, I was glad it was okay and not lost-lost.) So all week, my laptop has been away. Mac just doesn't appear to like me.

But Mac not liking me is a good thing this week because it's forced me to do other things. Like not blog and not read others' blogs but get myself ready for my big wedding this weekend in Chicago. In Chicago! I haven't had a wedding in Chicago since Johanna's wedding, and I think that's been 2 or 3 years. Jo? This one is at a Frank Lloyd Wright church. A photographer's DREAM. I mean, just look at this place! Just amazing fabulous FAMOUS architecture. Breathtaking. I look forward to the moment of walking into it for the first time. If you have an appreciation for architecture and history, you'll understand my feelings.


(Frank himself!)


We aren't leaving for the wedding until tomorrow morning. Then we're staying up there Saturday night coming back Sunday evening where we'll be meeting ERIN and her hubby, JER, at MY HOUSE! They're visiting us for two days before their drive out east to an outdoor Christian concert. I cannot wait to see my dear Erin again. I can't even explain how neat this is to be able to see her twice in a year's time. I feel very very lucky. :c)

And then when they are on their merry way, we are going to get yet another visitor. Well, visitors, plural! My friends, Lisa and Matt (another graphic designer who will have his mac with him and he and I will talk geeky computer like we tend to do!), along with their 3 children, are coming to stay with us Thursday night. They will be starting their journey from their home in Richmond, Virginia, to good ol' Illinois. They're staying over here till they're off again to a family gathering in Minnesota. Last time I saw them, Maegan was a year old? (Noah, too.) And now they have two more babies, Wils and Mia, whom I've never met and cannot wait to meet these two precious little people. (And we have Maia!) Long story short, I met Lisa 8 years ago on a pregnancy support board (the same place I met Alexis, actually!). It's really neat how God has brought the most amazing people into my life through the Internet. I am quite thankful for the Internet being invented in my lifetime just for those reasons alone. (Corny stuff, but all very true.)

In the meantime, I've been personally struggling a little with something that has been thrown out of left field at me.

Almost a week ago I was asked if I would be interested in teaching art. Yes, TEACHING. At Noah's school. At one point in my life I actually wanted to become a teacher. An art teacher, to be exact. My life, from the beginning, has revolved around art. I remember my favorite gift ever when I was like 8, being a small suitcase filled with child artist's dream --- pens, paper, paint, paint brushes, everything. I can still remember opening it. In college I changed my major to teaching for a day. And then realized that my introverted part of me couldn't handle being in front of people, even kids. So I changed back to graphic art. Now, after having shot zillions of photographs in front of zillions of people, not caring who was looking at me, I tend to wonder if I could actually do it now? I think when you have a passion for something, being introverted or not, it doesn't seem to matter anymore. I love children and love art. But that doesn't mean I can TEACH children. It's a completely different thing. And that is what is holding me back.

I don't have a teaching certificate, but in the private school you don't have to have one. I also would only be teaching 2 or 3 days (I would set my own schedule), for a total of 8 hours all week. I'd be teaching grades kindergarten through 8th grade. The plus to it all is that it's 8 hours and that I can make my own schedule (I could do it all in one day if I wanted or split it into 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 days). And, the classes are extremely small. My largest class would be kindergarten which is 10-15 kids (depending on how many sign up this fall). My smallest would be 8th grade which is about 3 or 4 kids. PERFECT for me.

What's not perfect for me is that I'm not sure what I would do with Maia. I know they would allow me to bring her with me. She loves art, too, so I know I could keep her busy. I don't think she would interrupt what I was doing. If she did, I am sure I could find a place to take her. My friend, Lindsay, already said she could watch her (she is a stay-at-home mom).

The other not-so-perfect thing is the fact, again, that I don't have a teaching certificate, and while that doesn't matter to the principal (he is the one who asked me), it does to me. I don't know how to teach. I don't know curriculum. I wouldn't know where to even begin. And that scares me. I have a lot of sources. My grandmother was a teacher and I kept ALL of her art teaching books when she passed away. I have never even looked at them, but I kept them for whatever reason. (Maybe for this???) And my sister-in-law is a teacher, my dear friend, Katie, is a teacher, my sister-in-law's sister-in-law, Missy, is a teacher, my friend, Leann, is a teacher, and I have a friend who actually is an art teacher at a high school near here. I have so many sources. But again, it would me teaching, not them, and the thought overwhelms me a bit.

The other problem is time. While it's only 8 hours a week, I still have to have time to focus on those 8 hours outside of class. Do I really want to focus on teaching my classes or my photography? Deep down, I want to say photography. That is my passion. I think the absolute hardest thing in all this for me is that 4 of the other teachers have found out about this and are really encouraging me to do it. They think I'm a "perfect fit". They say I'll love it. One even told me that she thinks I'm being called by God because she knows my background, she knows how I have all these teaching books at home, etc. and I came around right at the perfect time of them needing an art teacher. That makes it hard. It's a lot of pressure when they all are so excited but when I just am not sure I can be excited with them.

The day after I was asked this, I read this piece of scripture in a devotional book I read:

"Measure yourself by the amount of faith that God has given you . . . God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best."

-- Romans 12:3, 6-8, CEV

That scripture spoke volumes to me; that I'm probably doing something right by following my passion. But I'm not sure about teaching.

Then I read this, too.

"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

-- John Wooden

It's hard and I have to think and pray about it a lot more. Pray for me, please, too, if you remember to.

Another stroll through a meme in May . . .

Weird Facts About Myself The Rules:

Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird, random, facts, habits or goals about yourself. At the end, choose 6 people to be tagged, list their names & why you tagged them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment saying “You’re it!” & to go read your blog. You cannot tag the person that tagged you, so since you’re not allowed to tag me back; let me know when you are done so I can go read YOUR weird/random/odd facts, habits and goals.



For me, I'm going through my photostream at flickr. Let's see what i come up with...



Some people think this is weird, but to photographers it's "the bomb". It's called bokeh and it's what you get when you shoot with your lens' aperture wide open. See that blur in the foreground and the background of the focused flowers? Yeah, that's bokeh and it's something cool to try to achieve which will result in "oohs" and "ahhs" from your photography friends (like me). :c) There are tons of "groups" at flickr just to showcase your "bokeh" photos. I'm one who has gotten addicted to it.

And here's another example of beautiful bokeh:





I loooove these green tea frapps from Starbucks. I tend to get these more than (frozen or iced) coffee on most days in the summer. And the color I'm in love with. For some odd reason funky colors of green have really grown on me lately. Isn't it snazzy? (This photo is from my photo shoots in Chicago when Jo and I took a break in air conditioning with some yummy chillers.)

This isn't so much weird, or maybe it is? But here are my necessities when going on long shoots (weddings included).



D200
cell phone
glasses
water
and Starbucks (usually it's coffee or sometimes something cold. Just has to have caffeine.)
and, a cool place to sit down and rest my tired feet for a bit before more shooting :c)

I take chances a lot with my camera.



That's me and that's me during a shoot in Chicago in WATER. You kinda have to take some chances when you want the perfect photo otherwise you miss perfect opportunities. This is about the only realm of my life where I take chances, but that's okay. :c)



I can't find anything weird to say about this one. (hehe) This is just a favorite picture of when my dear friend Jen and her daughter, Addy, came to visit us. I miss her.



Even with all the problems we had in this house and the money we spent and lost on it, I still really miss it.



If you've never been to Chicago, you should go. And make sure you see "the bean" in Millennium Park. This is the bean, well part of it, and our reflection in it. A couple hours later we would have gotten our picture taken with zillions of other faces in it, too. It's quite popular. What makes this weird is, I don't like how dirty it is! Usually (I believe) it is cleaned once or twice a day and obviously it hadn't been cleaned yet!

These pictures make me laugh. Again, not weird. I just need something to fill this spot and these two pictures are two of my favorites from May. Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Bob the Builder:




And, this isn't weird, either, but then again, maybe it is because it excites me. But remember my contest to win the free canvas? Well, my winner, Candi, she asked if she could buy one a bit larger. So I said YES! and gave her a canvas in a 20x24 (I think it was) at my cost --- so she walked away with an awesome deal-a-roo! She got the canvas up and here it is!

If you hop on over to her blog, you will see the before and after of the space where she put it. Isn't it awesome?! I'm so happy for her that she won because it really turned out so great and it just makes me smile seeing it up in her home. Congrats again, Candi :c) (I also gained a friend in all this! Cool, eh?!)



This is my new favorite shirt. I may be weird, but I love it. Hmmmmm...wonder why?


Okay, there we have. My list of 10 weird things (they aren't so much facts, but at least I played!). I am not tagging anyone. But please feel free to do it -- it's fun! (Thanks, AJ!)

Foto Friday ~ "Ready, Set, Jump!"

Saturday in Chicago (recap of the day)

As I proof zillions of pictures, I must take a break to share some of my favorites.

Saturday in Chicago, Johanna met me at the apartment at 8:30 a.m. We took a taxi to Millennium Park where we met our first family at 9:00. It went awesome despite the no clouds and very hard morning light. It's hard to complain about beautiful weather, but for perfect-o photos, you really need some overcast. Ah well, at least we had the sunny warm day. It all went perfectly regardless because that's where the sun filter came in that Jo got to hold. (After an incident, the "demon filter", as we ended up calling it.)

At 10:30 the 2nd family arrived. At 12:30 our 3rd family arrived with lunch for us. (Thank you again, Katie and David!) We sat and had a picnic with them and then I shot 'em at 1:00. At 3:00 was my final family. When Johanna and I were finished, my hubby and kids, along with Johanna's hubby, Jason, came out to meet us at Millennium Park. If you have never been to Millennium Park and you have a chance to go to Chicago, you must go there. It's just a really phenomenal place no matter what season.

After walking all over the shoreline of Chicago, Grant Park and Millennium Park for 8 hours, Johanna and I were pretty tuckered out. We thought playing in the fountains at the park would be a great ending to our day. (We both worked so very hard. She was the best assistant in the world and we had just a really wonderful time working together. Oh and we were red. Very red. We totally forgot that we'd be in harsh sun all day long, therefore, we forgot the sunscreen. Our bodies reaped our mistake!)

Jason, Neil and the kids arrived. The kids with their swimsuits on, and the big boys just looking their always cute selves. The kids (Noah and Maia) weren't hesitant at all to join in all the fun. They did and it was just the cutest thing for this mommy to see. Here's some pictures from our evening.

Thank you again, dear Johanna. Love you!

Here's the beautiful view we saw part of the day:

Our cutie boys:


Jason and Johanna still dry in this picture. You can see the whole series from dry to soggy wet at my flickr site. They're cute pictures that you must see :)


And after:




The kids try out the water, and as you can see on their faces, loved it.

We never have family pictures. Jo shot it, and I love it, despite the fact that I think Maia has to pee :c)


I love this one, too. Jo also shot it. Way to go, girlfriend!

This is also a favorite because of the kids' expressions and their reflections in the water. This one merits being printed! (Jo again!)


After playing in the water, we went with Jas and Jo to their house in Lincoln Square area (still the city of Chicago . . . just a "neighborhood" that is super cute and trendy). Then we walked to dinner at The Daily (in Lincoln Square)


and had the opp to shoot some cute pictures there and eat some rockin' food. I love my Jo:



Our feet which were dressed alike (unplanned). I don't even hesitate to take shots like this with Jo because we are identical in how we think so taking odd pictures like this one comes au naturale to us.


As does this one:

Yes, it's a tot to go along with my ketchup :c) Only you all would understand :c)

The kids were SO hungry because by the time we ate it was like 8:00 or something. Noah was so patient. SO patient. I love how (most of the time) this virtue sticks with him.
I love his freckle. His little signature birth mark :c)

And to end . . . Maia and a tomato. I think I've mentioned before that this is her favorite food. She'd eat it at every single meal if I had them on hand all of the time. Watch out if you have one on your plate because you'll have no choice but to give it to her.


Many more posts to come about Chicago (as I get through proofing all the sessions) along with my wedding over the weekend. Which, thankfully ended up GREAT! The weather was perfect and I haven't had such a great time at a reception in a LONG time.

Oh, and I have some exciting news to share tomorrow. Stay tuned! :c)

Rainbow in Millenium + Good Friends = Hope

While downloading pictures from last weekend, I came across this one of my dear friend, Johanna and her husband, Jas. Jason did NOT want to do this picture, but once he was in the water, I think he was really thankful we (Jo and I) forced him to. I love this picture because of the rainbow and because of the expressions on their faces. It couldn't have turned out any more perfectly. What a fun day, and a great ending to hours of shooting in Chicago. It was a dream for me, and having Jo there with me made it even that much better. We had a blast. So today, as I leave for my wedding and it's STILL raining after having rained all night long, this picture gives me hope that even when you're wet, you can still get a good capture :c)

Back and with my mac

Absolutely cheesy title I know :c)

The new 'puter was suppose to be delivered on Friday after we had already left for Chicago. I called UPS and tracked down the package so they held onto the computer and (thankfully) delivered it on Monday instead. Good thing because I wasn't going to be home but also because severe weather went through Friday night.

The pretty silver Mac was opened late last evening. It's now up and running and I'm loving it. It's funny how just a couple years makes a world of difference in the upgrades on a system. Even the keys work remarkably better and they are quieter, too, which helps for those nights I'm typing in bed while Neil is sleeping. (hehe)

Now hopefully this time I don't run this one to it's death in just a few small years. Wish me luck. (I obviously need it.)

Chicago (and my time with Johanna) was absolutely wonderful. More to come once I get back into the swing of everything. Another wedding on Saturday, just 4 days away, and in the meantime I have 5 family sessions to proof and 3 wedding albums to do.

Serenity now, serenity now.

Proofing done! Chicago here I come!

This time of year is so busy for me. Wedding after wedding, shoot after shoot. It's never-ending. I love actually going out and photographing and I love coming home and post-processing on my computer, but I really don't like the time it takes me to post-process. Man oh man oh man. So while I have been down one computer and online a ton less, I'm still attached to my other computer as I proof away. I pushed myself incredibly hard this week finishing up 2 weddings. One I proofed over 1,000 photos (yes, that many), and the other, being just a reception, I proofed about 500. I figured I spent about 50 hours thus far this week post-processing. I've learned this week that I am not charging enough for the time I put in to my work. ((sigh)) At least I enjoy it. Now if I could only figure out how to balance that time between home/kids and work. (As I work I always am thinking "how do those other women do it?". I wish they would tell me.)

The good news is that tomorrow morning we're packing the kids in the car and heading to Chicago for a long weekend. Saturday, my beloved Johanna, is assisting me in photographing 6 shoots. All downtown Chicago!! How incredible it that?! I'm very much looking forward to this experience. It's something I have always wanted to do, and now unbelievably I am! The day is suppose to be gorgeously perfect and I think (no, I know) Jo and I are going to have an amazing time.

The rest of the time I am spending it solely with my family. Neil and the kids will be with me. We have no plans. We like to go places without plans and do everything spur-of-the-moment. That's a true vacation, when there is no thought processing involved!, for us. We've talked about the Chicago Children' Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo again, we don't know. But it's Chicago, and where we stay each time we're up there, we're within walking distance to everything. So we have the Windy City right at our fingers :c)

So with that said, I'll see you all Tuesday! We are coming home late Monday. Hope you have a great weekend. Think of me Saturday and send me energized thoughts as I have a feeling come lunch I will be exhausted. I'm shooting till 7:00. Yeah, I'll be tired.This is where I'm shooting. And maybe here where Buckingham Fountain resides. (Katie, yes we would LOVE lunch!! Thank you for the offer -- incredibly thoughtful.)

Here's a peak into the last two weddings. More, as always, can be seen at my other blog or flickr.








p.s. I haven't received my new laptop yet. I'm thinking if I don't, it's actually probably a good thing. It means I won't have a computer to take with me and I can't work on anything photo-wise no matter what. What will I do with my time after the kids go to bed? Talk to hubby? Read a book? Watch Joel on The Soup? Watch the Ferris Wheel turn with it's beautiful lights at Navy Pier from the balcony? All sounds heavenly. ((happy sigh))

And I forgot I had this one. Myself in action doing that photo up there. (Wanting to draw an arrow right now to that picture.) Heather shot it. She's so funny. It's kinda fun, though, to see what I look like. One thing I learned by seeing this picture is that I won't be wearing that dress again. It looks like a Moo Moo. Ha :c)

The best birthday = O-P-R-A-H

I rolled out of bed at 2:55, having set my alarm for 3:00. I felt like I slept 10 hours because I was ready to go! (I had only slept 2.) Guess what time I arrived at Harpo Studios? 4:30 a.m. Not kidding. I really don't think I have ever purposely woken up at that time to do anything quite like this.

Long story short, the doors opened for us at 7-ish and we went through coat check and security check (mega security check, too) and then ate breakfast (given to us by Harpo Studios themselves). Even though we waited and waited, it wasn't a boring wait. It was the kind of wait where you just sit there looking at all the other people, seeing what they wore to the show, watching their enthusiasm, just really taking every bit of it in. And then about 8:30 they actually let us into the studio itself. Talk about amazing to set foot onto the Oprah set. It's just not explainable. Maybe I'm crazy, but it was just a dream come true for me.

So, being that I was literally the FIRST PERSON IN LINE, I thought I would get a front row seat. And while my name was called really early, we didn't get as grand of a seat as I had hoped, but really, anywhere in the studio is a good seat. It only sits 300 people and it's really not that big at all. (I did beg and plead saying it was my birthday and that just didn't get my anywhere. Boo.)

About 10 minutes before the start of the LIVE show, Oprah comes out. It was, as silly as this sounds, a surreal experience. I have loved and watched this woman on TV since I was 10. Like many of us, I just love and respect her so much. I hardly ever miss a show. Those who are closest to me know how much I adore this woman, so seeing her walk out made me light on my feet. It was actually Oprah that I was seeing with my own eyes and who was standing (at times) just a few inches away from me. It just didn't seem real!

She was beautiful. She wore a beautiful black and white striped skirt, which after seeing it on tv, it made her look larger than she was. And her shoes were gorgeous which were about 4 inch heels and she later told us that when Jessica Seinfeld was on her show, as a "thank you" she sent Oprah 21 pairs of heels. (Oh my goodness!!)

And then there was her hair and makeup. Her hair was just amazing. I am sure almost all it is a weave, but it's the most gorgeous weave ever. I just couldn't believe how beautiful that woman was and how magnificently she carried herself and how kind she was to everyone. She really really loved us and in between segments she would talk to the audience and at the end she took more time to talk to us and she whole-heartedly told us how thankful she was for us coming to Chicago to see her and how she wouldn't have been here for so many years without us (I mean, me . . . Val, hehe. You know, she was speaking directly to me that whole time). It was so incredibly fun and surreal.

Simon Cowell was the main guest and if you don't know who that is, watch American Idol, and you won't miss him. He comes across as a total arrogant jerk but he is really a man with a huge huge heart. I have always liked him and now I like him even more. One thing I really noticed about him was that during commercial breaks crew members would come up to him and pour him a new glass of water or powder buff his face and each time he genuinely thanked them by looking them in the eyes and saying "thank you very much". He doesn't have to do that, but he does. And it's a small gesture, but it's admirable, and one that I think says a lot about him.

If you saw the show, you saw that Simon was on to debut his newest prodigy, Leona Lewis. She is an absolute beauty from Great Britain whose voice sounds like a mix of Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. She is phenomenal. And she is the sweetest. I think she and I would make really great friends :c) It was neat being one of the first to see her sing live on TV. And we got a copy of her CD, which was to be released today. Kinda cool. (At least we got something!) You can hear her beautiful song "Bleeding Love" ----> here. You must hear it. I have played it about 10 times already today. It's beautiful and it's even better in person.

Jamie Oliver was also on the show as well (what a CUTIE!) as well as the latest one kicked off of Oprah's new show, Carlana, from the Big Give. Simon also stuck around for the whole show, writing a check to a family in need for over $160,000 to pay off their mortgage so they can concentrate on the bills for their daughter's cancer treatments. We were all in tears.

Simon talked about how he never use to "give" anything and now that he is doing it, it's changing his life. It's molding him and changing him. Which warms my heart. I know how experiences, no matter how tough they are or easy they are, can change your life forever. Like for me, my 3 years of infertility and losing 3 babies . . . that changed my life forever and really has made me see life differently. Each of us are woken up in different ways, and learning to give (some of his 44 million dollars) has been Simon's wake-up and change.

Oh and I can't forget to mention the ventriloquist from America's Got Talent, Terry Fator. He and his band were on and it was just fantastic. Oprah loved him so much she asked them to come back later and perform again for her! (Which we got to see!)

What an amazing show it was. I loved seeing all the crew working behind the scenes and what Oprah and the guests did during commercials or while a clip was playing. I loved seeing how the show itself was decorated. I loved watching the 9 cameramen do their jobs. I loved watching the one photographer who shot all the still pictures and kept thinking to myself how I would absolutely love to have that job wondering how you go about getting that job. I'd move to Chicago in a heart beat to be The Oprah Show's photographer if she was looking for someone cool like myself. My favorite teacher from 3rd grade, Mrs. Sleeth, would be super proud of me is I were to get that job! :c)

We were surprised later with the opportunity to stay for a taping of an upcoming show with Kirstie Alley and Jamie Oliver (again) with a lunch given to us by the show, but we had to leave because Neil had to fly out of Indy at 8 that night. But at least I got to be a part of one show, and that one show was truly amazing and probably the best birthday gift I have ever ever had.

Happy Birthday to me ~ the Chicago way

I am actually going to post this entry without pictures because . . . well, because I'm just drained and super lazy this evening now that I'm home and back settled into reality of mommy hood in small town, USA. I. am. pooped.

So Chicago. Oh how I love that city.

There have been so many memorable moments in my life ranging from my first tractor ride at the age of 6 months to hanging out at my favorite bar in college, Tres Hombres, to of course, the birth of my children (even though I had a 31-hour labor with Maia). That said, some of the great memories of my life continue to be amazingly wonderful with this weekend ranking up there with the best. Not only because I got away on my birthday but because I have people in my life who really love me . . . a lot.

Before we even left on Friday I had received a dozen cards in the mail, 2 wonderfully sweet packages (Alexis and Patty!) and flowers (Natalie)! I took pictures of all, but like I said, I am l-a-z-y and t-i-r-e-d. But if you really need to know, hehe, the flowers are gorgeous (orange gerbera daisies with modern flair!), my package from Alexis was filled with goodies picked especially for me that I love and my package from Patty included the same Val-ness. So I left small town, USA feeling very loved. Thank you, friends!

I really didn't do too much but shop, but heck, what's wrong with that?! I got a dress for Heather's wedding, (which is gor-geous!) and I bought myself an outfit (which I wore to the greatest talk show on earth) with the nice little treat Neil's mom sent me to Chicago with in my wallet (thank you, Pat!!). And I hit some great deals at a store I had never heard of called Loehmann's which I could have spent hours upon hours in (and almost did). Do you all know of this store? It's so much like a TJ Maxx but ten hundred times better! And of course I hit the big 4-floor Borders on Michigan Avenue in search for a new copy of my favorite childhood book, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." and the Sassy book I talked about a little while back. I couldn't find the Sassy one, darn it. I have to special order it. Eh.

So get this! We got up on Saturday in search for a Starbucks when we began seeing dozens of people in green and then dozens upon dozens more. It didn't phase us except that they apparently cared enough to celebrate this Irish holiday and they were quite festive doing it. However, then we find ourselves suddenly in the middle of the St. Patrick's Day parade and the dyeing of the Chicago River. Seriously, I'm not kidding. We were in total oblivion but when we figured it out, it was really awesome to be caught in the middle of it.

What made my actual birthday day was seeing my dear friend, Katie, her husband, David, and their daughter, Rachel, whom I hadn't met yet and she is a year and a half old. I feel really bad about that. Like really bad. But thankfully Katie is such a forgiving friend and loves me truly. So I got to meet the little peach, and oh my goodness is she ever a peach! I feel so blessed to have finally had this opportunity. What great parents they are. And what a great birthday dinner it was to share with them.

The most exciting part, which I know some of you are dying to hear, is that today I did get to see a live taping of the Oprah Winfrey show. And it was . . . oh my goodness . . . spectacular. Did anyone see it?! Simon Cowell was on it which couldn't have made it any better of a show, and I'll happily tell all about it tomorrow because like I said already, I am pooped to the max. Getting up at 2:50 a.m. just for Oprah will do that to you. :c)

Bringing in my birthday Oprah-fied.

Well, I am not feeling all too spiffy with my headache (I had a nurse friend email me and she thinks I have a sinus infection!!) and I have a TON to do work-wise and me-wise before we leave for Chicago tomorrow evening for my birthday getaway!

I don't think I'm going to have time to do my last post before I leave, so I'm going to extend the Val Quiz event until next Wednesday the 19th. The last post will take place probably on Monday evening or Tuesday. Please stay tuned!

Phew! That's a lot of weight taken off my shoulders! Thanks for letting me extend this but it really is only to your advantage, right?!

So yeah, it's my birthday on Sunday. I turn 3-2. As each year passes, I'm having a harder and harder time dealing with it. I know 32 is young, but I just do NOT feel so young anymore. I felt good at 30 still. Lately I've just felt "eh". Maybe it's because of the 31 hours of labor I was in with Maia or the fact that I expend so much energy trying to make my tongue curl in a "U" like both my husband and son can do -- both of whom like to rub it in! :c)

I may get a rejuvenation for life on Monday. Guess where we're going, guess where we're going!? OPRAH! Yes, to see a taping of OPRAH!

And who is going to be on Oprah? Simon Cowell from American Idol!!! Ohmygoodness you just can't get it any better than this!! American Idol is one of my very favorite shows! Hubby and I cannot miss a single episode of it -- ever! (Did you see it last night? I'm sooooo glad David H. is gone!)

I've been trying to get tickets for Oprah for YEARS! So it's a great birthday present. Maybe the BEST birthday present ever. Neil decided he doesn't have to get me anything else even though it is a FREE gift that I, myself, took the time to get! :c) Oprah always talks about how being in her 50's is the best time of her life. Hopefully she'll make me feel not so bad about being in my 30's :c) I can't WAIT.

Have a great weekend, friends! I'm really looking forward to my time away in the Windy City! Thanks for attending my party all week -- I've had the greatest time!

*** update *** before we leave tomorrow, I'm going to the doctor for my headache. After specifically reading about sinus infections, I definitely think this is what it is and I need medications asap. I have to be up to par for Ms. Winfrey!