Weihnachten 2005

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas.

New Year's Eve was spent at my Aunt Nancy's where the whole family (excluding The Hoffman's and Amanda) gathered together and ate dinner and enjoyed each others company. My Uncle Dave cooke a turkey and ham...his cooking is so good! I enjoyed watching my Mom and Dad drink wine. I called them around 9:30 pm to make sure they got home ok (haha)...my brother said my Dad was weaving in and out of traffic.

Jakob was so excited to open his presents....he wanted to play with each one as they were opened.

This year there was a special surprise for him...Santa came to our house with a bag full of presents from the North Pole.

(My Father dressed up!). At first he was like "Oh my God!" and then he was scared...he ran and layed on the couch with Todd and opened his presents that way. We were able to get a few pictures of him smiling with "Santa". The whole rest of the day that was all he talked about.

Maaaaine

PreTravel Humor:

Brown shitty car...#8 racing...scarry hair and eyes. "I don't see my balance...there's no balance printed on the ATM slip! Do you know Betty? Does she work here? She is my bank manager! Is someone going to maintain the machine?!". And the poor people at Dunkin Donuts.

*YOU HAVE STINKY BREAF*

So travels brought us to a very cold Boston. My son enjoyed RUNNING time at the Childrens Museum (all that could be smelled was kiddies farts!) and yelling at the "eagles" to go away; funny picture taken of Todd carrying a purse.
Nacho was interested in checking out the Tea Party....but our parking lot attendant looked stoned and "only worked here" and couldn't point us in the right direction....maybe next time.
After driving around the city for 10 hrs. we found a parking spot and were off to the Market! Dinner was good...I tried a steamer for the first time....ickkk! I would have to say that DG had the hottest bathroom I have ever been in.

*I WANT MY JORGE* *CARRY ME*

Let's check out Urban Outfitters....cool things...little pricey...management SUCKS. Beep Beep Beep....I go as I enter the store and where I am asked "Are you wearing Gap or Old Navy?" upon entering. I am thinking to myself "I don't fucking know?!". Heehee everything is all good UNTIL I LEAVE THE STORE. Beep Beep Beep. Angry manager comes running..."You have set off our security system! Take off all your stuff! Are you wearing Gap or Old Navy?!" Fifty million questions/statements. Moments of embarassment, confusion. Calgon take me away! *FLASH*...Christmas card photo taken, "No pictures are allowed in the store!" yells angry manager! Aaaahhh BOSTON.

"Lets' go to Maine!" says Todd. An hour and a half later, and me only playing 2 complete songs on the iPod, and encountering many a unhappy toll booth operators (that are now numb to people and have no communication skills and say things like "Thank")...we make it to Freeport.

A lot of cool stores have been added since Todd and I have last visited. First thing to "in Maine" for Jorge and Nacho is Abercrombie (most stores were closed, or in the process of closing where as LL Bean is open 24 hrs.). Yeah...stupid Mainers...."couldn't even say the store was closed, could you?!". Checked out LLB store #1...yeah you should've checked out the Mexican from Maine...classic!.

*COLD* *VERY COLD* *NEED TO BUY GLOBS* *FAR FROM HOME* *HOW DID WE GET TO MAINE*

Todd in search of ANOTHER coat. Jake RUNNING, visiting the fish pond ("What does the sign say?"), and wanting to ride the "elewator". Mexicans in search of boots...no boots....boots. Me in search of anything (well, UGG boots)..

*RIDE HOME LONG* *SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS FUNNY* *JENN TIRED* *NACHO AND JORGE SLEEPING* *TODD CLEARING THROAT...*

Aahhh home! JAKE @ 1:30 a.m.: "Where are my friends, I miss my friends!"
"We went to Maaaaaine, we were in Maaaaaine"

NYC

After many years of wanting to go back to the city, I finally made arrangements to go yesterday and have some well deserved fun.

After going to bed late the night before, 6 am came pretty fast. Breakfast was had by most at DD...I settled for my usual TURBO. Caught the train in Milford and off we were.
Subway passes in hand, we headed to Times Square to purchase tickets to see RENT that afternoon. The wait was long and cold, but went by fairly quickly (if that makes any sense!). We were entertained by lots of diverse people...Pigeon Joe....Jamaican XMAS tunes. Tickets were 25%ff the normal price of $100; 4 were purchased (I was treated!) and off we were to explore.

Edgar: "I need to go to the ATM"
Nacho Admirer #1: Lady in her 40's

A wrong subway was taken to try and get to the MET, so we headed to grab lunch at Pax (I had an awesome slice of veggie pizza!) and people watch (dude looks like a girl!). Did I mention it was cold! We saw one of the guys from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" taping a segment.
We arrived at the Nederlander Theatre for the 2 o'clock show. The theatre was not as big as I thought it was, but it had a good vibe going. The show was amazing! It has been one of the longest running shows on Broadway. The cast included Frenchie Davis from American Idol. The singing was great! I would definetly go back for another experience.
http://www.siteforrent.com/intro.html

After the performance, we headed to Chevy's on 42 ST for dinner (Shaggy and Mamacita!). After packing away most of my dinner, chili con queso and a Tecate, my belly was more than satisfied.

Nacho Admirer #2: 3 toothed black lady in her 60's "What time you got suga?"

Next stop on the non-agenda was Rockafellar Center. We saw the tree and the swavorski star- too bad they aren't lighting the tree until next week. It was cool to see people skating on the rink. We decided to go to "The Top of the Rock". Tickets weren't bad at all ($14). We headed to the top of the center and took in amazing views of the city at night...it was so peaceful....a good time for reflection. The Empire States building done up in red/green lights is breathtaking. Heading to the next level up was also a good time. The attraction stays open until 12 a.m. and you can go for as long as you like.
http://www.rockefellercenter.com/home.html

Last on our list of things was FAO Schwarz. Holy toys! In the time we were there, we saw a lot, but not nearly all they had to offer....doll making station..make your own Hot Wheel.
We found the life size piano that was in the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks...it was cool! You could purchase it for a mere $250,000. The other toys weren't too badly priced; I picked up some wooden toys and a bamboo toy set for Jakob.
http://www.fao.com/home.jsp

Finally making it back to Grand Central Station we had time before our 10:22 train back to CT. We enjoyed some good old Star Bucks and a good dose of people watching (chinese girl posing against the glass of the map!).

Nacho Admirer #3: 14 year old

The plan was to "go pee!" befor the ride home, but that didn't happen. We were so involved in the people watching that we made the train with like 2 minutes to spare. There were not many empty seats and some were left standing. I decided to stand with the guys as I have a thing about sitting next to people I don't know. Nacho and Jorge performed well on "the pole".

The quite ride home back to my house was a nice time to reflect on the fun day I had in the city with good friends. The feeling of being in the city was good....not too many people...not crazy hustle in bustle...and the feeling of Christmas in the air.

Thanksgiving Melee

Thanksgiving with the Schreier's kicked off Wednesday night with having the guys over for pizza, beer, and making cookies!

We had a good time! We made sugar cookies (each one perfectly made and decorated by Jorge), 2 chocolate cream pies (Nacho), an apple pie (Jorge). Edgar, Todd, and Jakob played video games. Much beer was polished off and festivities quieted down around 1:30 a.m. Little Hasselhoff managed to stay up til the end too!
Because Thanksgiving with Brian fell through, we decided to have Thanksgiving at our house and invite the guys over.

This was our first time cooking the turkey in the turkey fryer I bought like 2 years ago. It came out awesome! This was the first holiday that Todd and I have had to prepare everything ourselves as my family usually comes over for dinner. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash, rolls, corn, beans, onions/gravy, green stuff, cranberry sauce, olives, and 18-20 lbs. of turkey! We were all finished eating and Jorge was still piling the turkey on his plate. Because we were all still pretty full, dessert wasn't a huge hit. The movies of choice this year were "Saw" and "Lampoons Christmas Vacation". Nacho, Jake, and I headed out for DD...a search for a sprinkled donut for Jake....and a very quick trip to Walmart where I bought Polar Express and a Thomas the Tank Engine game for Jake's VTECH system.

The day of thanks ended around 8 p.m. Jakob cried when he heard that they were leaving...he cried at the door while he was waving goodbye....and he cried for like 30 minutes after they left..."I miss them so much!"
He has a blast with them and they are all really good with him.
Friday was spent relaxing and cleaning up. My Mom stopped over and decided that she was going to have Jakob overnight.

My plans for Saturday are to head to NYC. Todd was asked if he wanted to go and he showed no interest. There was a spark of interest on Friday morning, but I wanted to go and have a good time and hear NO COMPLAINING about ANYTHING.

Ehhhh

Ok...I decided to dye my hair. I got sick of the "growing out red/showing brown" so I went back to black...with blue tint....really blue tint. Just in time for Halloween I suppose.

Went to Coopers last night for drinks in celebration of Anne "moving on" from "hell". It was a good time.

After my iPod not "feeling well" (yes there is an icon that means it is sad!) for 3 weeks, we brought it to Best Buy and now it has to besent out for repair. Another 2 weeks without it! Jakob is bummed because I have songs loaded on it for him. He yelled at everyone in the store "Momma's iPod is broked!".

I saw an article in the paper the other day of a bank robbery that took place in Norwich about a block or two from where my bro works. There was an actual picture of the dude- looked just like my brother!! I called to ask my Mom where he was!! The picture in todays paper didn't really look like him though. Imagine that?!

Cornea Transplant Update

October 21, 2005 will mark my one year anniversary! I had a follow up appointment today and Dr. Shah says everything still looks great. Of the transplants he has done in the last year, my eye has healed the best and has the best vision. Before my surgery, my vision was 20/-400 with it now being between 20/30 & 20/40. He will begin to take out my sutures in 6 weeks, starting with 3 on the right side of my cornea as they are kind of tight.

I do experience eye head aches (if you have allergies or have had one, you know what I am talking about) when I am really tired....

Potty Update

Today marks 1 week in the "potty teaching phase". It is working out well. Jakob is up to trying to go every hour...he gets all excited and can't wait to put a sticker on his chart! We had a bad day Saturday....and going poo is posing a challenge (he has only gone on the potty 2 times). He picked out Buzz Lightyear pull ups and was all proud.

Thomas the Train at Essex

Jakob will be so excited that we are going to Essex to ride Thomas the Train 11/12/05. He is so fascinated with trains. The train ride is approx. 30 minutes long and he will get to meet Sir Topham Hat. It is going to be hard not telling him now...but if we did, he would ask everyday and all day "Are you ready to go?!" . We have invited along Missy, Joe, Lucas, my parents, Nana, brother and his family.

Kennebunkport- Columbus Day Weekend

We're going on vacation!!!!

I would prefer VT for the fall, but.......Maine and the ocean will do just fine.

After searching many a places to stay....I was looking for a room on the ocean- all were not to my liking!....I found a place on a cove. We are taking along my Mom so she can "tend" to Jakob at night. My Dad decided that he will not take the weekend off of work, so we will go alone and have a great time. The only scheduled activity is a trolley ride (Jake LOVES trains!).

No More Diapers?

Since yesterday Jakob has gone to the bathroom on his "Royal Potty"a minimun of 4 times a day. He was doing this dance and my Mom asked if he wanted to use the potty and he said "Sure!". Now he is obsessed!

I never thought it would happen! Everytime we would ask he would yell "no potty!" and he would scream if we tried to put him on it.

Got tickets to go see Def Leppard 10/17/05 at Foxwoods! My 10 year old Godson is into 80's rock now, so a bunch of us are going to see them (Bryan Adams opens). I went to see them in 1993 at the Sub Base and they put on an awesome show (I was 3 "people rows" from the stage).

All Around the Kitchen

Jakob: "Momma, you see all the trappic wights? They all have pretty colors. Do you smell yellow? I smell green. You green Momma? Ok, you green

For you parents fortunate to listen to Laurie Berkner and Dan Zanes play on Noggin:
Jakob: "Mommy, I want a cocktadoo"

Joe and Lucas Baptism

Jakob's Favorite Color

Aaawww cheese, my favorite color!

-Sir Jakob Lyndan

I'm Fired

Jakob fired me tonight while I was changing his diaper

House Warming

Had a blast....
After about 20 rounds of beer pong, Todd was trying to make an attempt to show his "chi chi de hombres"....; started Brians tractor in the garage and mumbled something about the movie "Can't Buy Me Love"; AND was feeling quite ill exactly 5 times from Thompson to Griswold.

Redneck Gala

Invited Jorge and Nacho to the picnic. People think the rednecks are in the south, but I am here to tell you that they are in Brooklyn!

Jakob finally got to meet them; he looked at me kind of funny when I introduced him to Nacho, like "Momma, don't we eat nacho's for snack?"

Mexican Embassy

The party was hard last night..pint of tequila was not enough and stupid me moved on to vodka tonics...worse hang over of my life.

Yes, He's 32

I know, it is hard to believe that Todd is 32 today. Poor guy has more gray hair than both of my parents combined

Where Jakob thinks you live

Jakob is starting to learn where different family members live and work.

When asked where our different family members live, he at first said "blueberries". I then told him the city and he tried to repeat the word:

Nana lives in Putam (Putnam)
Grammy & Grampy live in Cornfield (Plainfield)
Uncle Scotty lives in Washville (Nashville)
Uncle Kev lives in Moofup (Moosup)
Uncle Kevin lives in Denber (Denver)
Jakob said he lives "here" in Jewett Siwy Siwy
Great Gram lives in Woostop (Woodstock)
Pop-pi (Bob) lives in Montana
Aunt Elly lives in Cawforne (California)
Aunt Robin lives in Rafi (Killingly)
Aunt Nancy lives in New Wondin (New London)
Grama Poppie lives in Newpork (Newport)
Catherine goes to school in Bostin
Scotty J lives in Foltown (Voluntown)
James and Tanda live in Eeeyhoooo (Idaho)

I asked him where Matchu Pitchu was and he remembered that it was "Faaaar awaaay in the clouds."

He knows that Mommy works at Spirol and Daddy drives a BIG TRUCK. Grampy works at EB aka "Chocwat Boat" in Jewett Siwy Siwy; both Nana and Grammy work in Putam; Aunt Robin and Nancy work at the Casano

I asked him to say a few more things and he said" Ok, ok, no more!"

Jakob Stories

I came down stairs Saturday morning after getting dressed to be met by Jakob in the livingroom saying "I made a corn field in the kitchen Mommy!". All I could think of was what now?! I walked in the kitchen to find mexi-corn all over the floor. He had opened a container from the frig and dumped it on the floor.

Today Jakob was laying with Todd on the couch when Todd passed some smelly gas. Jakob yells "We need to get out of here...get a rope!".

He says his yellow chips (Lays baked; orange ones are Doritos) are scrumptious.

Cornea Transplant Update

My eye is almost completey healed!

My vision is 20/60 (it had stayed 20/150 since the day after surgery; with the "pin hole" it is 20/50!

The doctor has reduced my Pred Forte (anti-rejection/steriod antibiotic) drops from 4 times per day to 3. He has also moved my monthly appointments to every 6 weeks.