another friend i'll meet in heaven...

is it ok to tell God that i'm sick of going to funerals? and that i'm sick of going to funerals for friends my own age...in their 20's. robbie was one of the most incredible people to know, laugh with, and count as a friend. in high school he was part of my dad's small group at church and quickly became close friends with dana, dating for a while, then remaining good friends. the time and soul and heart my dad pours into the guys he mentored in small group can not be described in words. he counts them as his own children. another father to many. loves them like his own. robbie was one of his best buddies. 2-3 years ago robbie was diagnosed with a brain tumor in the frontal lobe. fortunate enough, they were able to operate to remove it a few months before dana's wedding. he was still able to attend her wedding and party like the best, celebrating dana and steve. virtually given a clean bill of health, he was required to go back for scans every few months. in May 2010 we got the devestating news that things were not good. they had detected 2-3 additional tumors in the oscipital lobe. unoperable. cancerous. fast growing. aggressive. all the words you don't want to hear. no. this could not be true. he was so full of life and loved living it. he had just traveled to Japan as well as went sky diving. he was the perfect friend to countless others. the laugh of the party. center of attention with a personality that drew you in. his courageous fight lasted until August 22, 2010 when the Lord called him home. finally without suffering, no more pain. and now we're left with the memories and laughter i can still hear in my head...until we meet again one day. what a joy to know with faith, we will rejoice again together.

we miss you everyday robbie. your incredible spirit and excitement for life will remain in us all. and your smile engraved in our hearts.

as dana said last week, she could not get this song out of her head...

"i went sky diving

i went rocky mountain climbing

i went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fu man chu

and i loved deeper

and i spoke sweeter

and i gave forgiveness i'd been denying

and he said someday i hope you get the chance

to live like you were dying..."

dana's Sweet 16 party

my dad's small group at Camp Brainerd, senior retreat

(robbie is in the middle, black dress shirt)

from dana's scrapbook. one of her homecoming dances. photos with big sis.

Lake Wallenpaupack. boating with friends for the day.

another page from dana's scrapbook. there are too many to post them all!

The Three Wives Club - of the Mainline

Bravo! will host a new series this fall entitled The Three Wives Club - of the Mainline. it features three best friends who happened to be named Adriana, Rachelle, and Becky - and they all share one husband. figuratively speaking, people! this idea came to the network after quite a routine was formed this past winter throughout persistant snow storms dumping a few feet at a time, burying any modes of transportation. alas, they resorted to their good 'ol feet. on this particular episode, Rachelle and Adriana get dressed as if they're about to hike the Swiss Alps to prepare for their mile long journey across Wayne, PA. complete with back packs and ski masks if the wind became too much to bare. have no fear though, because within those back packs are precious cargo. that's right, 2-3 bottles of red wine. and to keep them safe in the journey from clanging around, they are each inserted into a large tube sock. (see photo) upon arrival at destination Home #2, Becky's couch... they began their normal routine of eating a few entire boxes of Cheez Its gourmet flavors, ghirardelli double chocolate brownies, and red wine. (story about that combination and mass consumption coming in later entry.)

and so the story continued like this repeatedly throughout Winter 2010. now each night they resumed their same position on the couch watching Real Housewives, Teen Mom, Bachelorette, Kardashians, etc. Becky's husband, Mitch came home one night to see them in these same familiar positions, when he announced "oh look, my three wives!" ...and so the plot was born. where cameras will now follow their escapades around Wayne... Lulu Lemon... Wine & Spirits... Osaka... TJMaxx... Christopher's... Great American Pub... Spamps... the pool... coaching athletics... babysitting our 3 children... etc.

these three women may or may not parallel my life...

(as in, an exact replica.)

Caught without Clothes

this entry is not what you think it is. i had clothes on at all times, thank you.

as many of my readers know, i moved home with my parents in February to save money to buy a house. my social life is still in the Wayne, PA area. this causes me to often spend the night at friends' houses in which case i need to prepare and pack a bag for sometimes days at a time. i've become quite the expert of living out of my car. my trunk generally doubles as a closet.

one particular thursday, i had planned whole heartedly to go home that night and was not planning to stay anywhere closer to work. therefore, i did not pack anything. not one single solitude piece of clothing. other than what was on my body. which happened to be a business skirt and dress shirt, and heels. later that evening after work, we had a happy hour event planned at one of our VP's house. i was having just such a good time, that i decided i could go to the bar after the party for "just one drink" before heading home. well we ended up chit chatting until midnight when i finally made the realization it was probably best to stay at my friend/coworker's house megan. thankfully we're about the same size and she offered me a shirt to wear the next day. ...with the same skirt and heels. fashion arrest #1. duplicate outfit the next day.

now it's friday and i had plans to visit my best friend andrea in the city. with only the clothes on my back, and a borrowed shirt. clearly this would not suffice for being a city socialite later in the evening. i quickly emailed andrea informing her we needed to go shopping to get me an outfit upon my arrival. there were no objections. i found a cute little dress at Express ...to wear with the same heels i've now worn for 3 days. stole some of andrea's jewelry. literally, i'm not giving it back. and a clutch purse and called it a night.

now, walking to my car to drive home saturday morning is where it gets comical. i had nothing to sleep in as well. so andrea gave me a pair of gray shorts. ok, fine. and a bright red tank top that said "Little Miss Naughty"... wonderful. i was REALLY hoping to wear this to walk to my car WITH high heels on. which is exactly what i had to do. i think the construction workers at 11th and Locust enjoyed my Saturday morning outfit. i wanted to scream to the world "this is NOT the walk of shame! i slept at a girlfriend's house, i swear!!"

lesson learned: there is now a bag of clothes in my trunk permanently as my "emergency outfit". it is not the most fashion forward outfit, so i'm hoping to not have to ever resort to wearing it. but just in case i'm caught without clothes again...

where have i been?!

it has been brought to my attention by one of my faithful followers, that i have not posted in quite sometime. wow, it is true. my apologies for keeping you all waiting on the latest and greatest of my life.

...i've been doing ME lately. living and loving summer to the absolute fullest. hitting the gym hard. making some good life chages. getting rid of shitty people in my life which is a rewarding feeling. and just feeling grateful for all that i am blessed with that is GREAT in my life. God is so good. <3

recent observation this week: went into a beer distributor at lunch to buy a case of beer for a friend who was working on my car. there were 3 people in line in front of me. do you think ANY of them were there to buy alcohol? no. they were busy scratching off lottery tickets. are you serious?! i stood there waiting in line for 5 minutes while old ladies decided what numbers they wanted to pick and kept scratching. finally the man behind the counter looked at me with a "how can i help you?" look... i simply said "i'm actually here to just buy a case of beer..." shocking, i know.

tomorrow is my brother-in-law's sister's wedding. did you follow that? dana's husband's sister. dana's sister-in-law. etc. haha. the whole family is invited to an elegant garden wedding with reception on the lawn of the Cornwell estate. aside a resort worthy in ground swimming pool. that is an important thing to note as it will be 96 degrees tomorrow with high humidity. i have secret plans to stuff a bikini in my clutch purse. not kidding. oh, cake is being served? i'll be in the pool, thank you.

i promise to not lapse on entries for this long in the future. i know you missed me :)

Golf?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Preparing for Vaca

this could be one of the hardest tasks for a perfectionist and overpacker like myself. i spend the preceeding week making list after list of what to not forget. i begin creating piles of things to bring in my room and the surrounding hallway at home. i mentally prepare what luggage i will use and what will need to go in what bag.

just how many bikinis is too many for 6 days of Florida vacation? not sure the answer there. i tend to bring one for each day.

last night i stock piled my reading selection with my new favorite blogger. Jennsylvania. thanks to my dear friend, rach who introduced me to this phenomenon. i read one chapter last night and couldn't put it down. good thing i bought her first THREE books. i've been known to go through a book a day in peak sunning hours. then there is the question of how many magazines to bring. Fitness, Vogue, Us Weekly... the possibilities are endless really. i hope there isn't a weight limit for my carry on. i may need a crane to operate carrying it. at least i'm flying Southwest where bags fly free! even if one bag IS filled with strictly beach attire.

then there is the 6 page lists of tasks at work that i must tie up loose ends on before i'm able to even leave the office. i was warned by a friend to only check my email once a day while on vacation or i'll go nuts. probably a good tip. when i return to my desk at the office after a week, then i'll be able to deal with the stress of returning FROM vacation to the piles that have collected electronically and physically. always a good time.

but well worth it.

ready or not - sunshine here i come! (in 7 days)

the Flood

so i generally carry a bottle of spring water everywhere i go. hence my last blog entry. i often carry it around in my purse. no big deal. i have huge purses.

last night we had the grand idea to go to Christopher's - our favorite neighborhood spot in Wayne - after our cheerleading meeting to discuss some "cheer business". the girls had to vote on captains for next year at our meeting and i had all the slips of paper in my purse. upon arriving at Christopher's, i went to retrieve the papers out of my purse and wondered why they were wet. (now, it WAS raining outside pretty hard. but they were inside my purse.)

well, it was because the next great FLOOD had occurred INSIDE my purse. i was carrying around the contents of an entire FULL water bottle sloshing around with all my accessories. iPod, digital camera, iPhone, checkbook, planner which is my life of social calendar events, make up. EVERYTHING was in an inch of water. good thing the leather purse really retained that water and didn't leak anything, just let it all absorb inside my electronics! ughhhhh.

these things just don't happen to me! haha. so i continued emptying the contents of my purse all over our table and blotting incessantly with paper towels. wringing out my iPod socks. throwing away disintegrated tissues. what fun.

surprisingly - everything WORKS today!! so happy for hair dryers at rachel's house :)

lesson learned - don't tote water bottles in your large hand bag.