Happy Halloween!

I love this picture! Craig took it! I'm particularly proud of my little pumpkin in the middle!

I love my white pumpkin. Craig did a great job on the other two, as well.

Alex isn't confused, he just refused to smile for the camera.

Shadow didn't feel so good last night. She ate 16 granola bars while we were at work. Seriously. Her tummy was a little bit upset. I think the lady at the vet is still laughing. Thank goodness she didn't get really sick from it!

Tonight is our neighborhood trick-or-treat. We're looking forward to it. I will post pictures of Alex in his costume (hopefully) tomorrow. Happy Halloween!

Book Love

I love to read. I learned how to read at age 4, and have read pretty much anything I can get my hands on ever since. Several weeks ago, Amber posted a list of the top 100 books selected by "The Big Read." "The Big Read" is a National Endowment for the Arts program designed to encourage community reading initiatives. Of their top 100 books, they estimate the average adult has read only six. Now, having majored in English, I have a distinct advantage with this list. I had fun going over it, and adding new books to my "to read" list over on Goodreads.

Here’s what you are supposed to do:

*Look at the list and bold those you have read.
*Italicize those you intend to read.
*Star the books you LOVE.



*1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

*3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6. The Bible

7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

*10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

*11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14. Complete Works of Shakespeare

15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20. Middlemarch - George Eliot

21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

*22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

*29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

*34. Emma - Jane Austen

35. Persuasion - Jane Austen

36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

*37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

41. Animal Farm - George Orwell

*42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

*44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

*46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50. Atonement - Ian McEwan

51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52. Dune - Frank Herbert

53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

*54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt

*64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

*68. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding

69. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72. Dracula - Bram Stoker

*73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75. Ulysses - James Joyce

76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78. Germinal - Emile Zola

79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80. Possession - AS Byatt

*81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

*87. Charlotte's Web - EB White

88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

*92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94. Watership Down - Richard Adams

95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

*98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare

*99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

*100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo



So, how many have you read?

Amen, Father Joe!

At church this weekend, I was excited to see that it was Father Joe who had mass. Father Joe retired over a year ago because of serious health problems. (At one point, both of our priests were on sick leave. One was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer; Father Joe nearly died from a combination of an asthma attack and diabetes.) He’s my favorite priest at my parish. He’s spunky. He’s got this great, gravelly voice that makes you laugh but also makes you think. No matter how tired I am or how much Alex is distracting me, I always get something out of his sermons. He also usually tells some sort of funny story at the beginning of mass, as well.

This past Sunday, Father Joe said something that made me want to stand up and applaud. He started off talking about how politics and religion can’t mix. It’s okay to support one candidate or the other because of your religious convictions, but you should check your campaign materials at the door. Because the Church is a house of God. And God and Jesus don’t care who you’re going to vote for. He said priests are not allowed to divulge their political leanings because it’s inappropriate (you know, separation of church and state). And if it’s inappropriate for a priest to publicly support one candidate, he thinks it’s inappropriate for God’s children to show their political colors in church. So he asked everyone to remove any campaign buttons from their jackets or blouses and put them away while they were in church. Because in church, there should be one focus.

Election time is very exciting for me as a journalist. Well, it used to be anyway. Being out of the news game has been particularly hard for me this year. I love to watch how the political process unfolds. From the lame, completely scripted and rehearsed debates, to the impassioned speeches of candidates. I love driving down my street and seeing one neighbor with a McCain sign and then next house down with an Obama sign. Freedom of speech ROCKS! And I love that we, the people, get to elect our leaders. I mean, democracy is awesome!

But many of you also know that for me, politics is intensely personal. I don’t like discussing politics. I don’t like the media being bashed for doing its job. (And for those of you confused, there is a huge difference between JOURNALISTS who report the news and COMMENTATORS who blather on and are clearly partisan. If you need me to explain the difference, I’ll put it in another post.) I do my best to keep my political opinions to myself. I don’t often broach the subject, because I don’t want to have to say who I support. It’s my business and no one else’s.

I almost hesitate to post this, because I know some of my friends enjoy discussing politics. They put their politics right out there for everyone to see. I admire you for that, just as I hope you admire me for feeling just as strong that I keep my political leanings to myself.

So to hear Father Joe up there telling everyone to leave politics at the door did my heart some good. I wanted to jump up and shout “Amen, Father Joe!” Because he’s right on. I realize that a lot of political issues are influenced by religion. I have no problem with that. Support who you want to support and do so with conviction and passion. Just remember, I don’t want talk about it.

Pay It Forward Giveaway

So I just discovered a great new blog. Meaghan left a comment on my site, I checked hers out, and now I'm hooked. She's having a giveaway... go check it out! She's giving away a pound of gourmet coffee from her new online coffee shop. YUM! The girl is a cervical cancer survivor with an amazing story. I can't wait to get caught up on her blog.

Weddings are so much fun!

I love a good wedding. I had a blast at my own wedding, and I've been in five weddings to date. I still have a few friends to marry off, so I look forward to many more weddings. Last weekend Craig and I had the honor of going back to our neck of the woods in Illinois to see our friends Lacey and Pat tie the knot. Lacey grew up Toulon, IL, not too far from my hometown, Galesburg. We worked together at the TV station here and have become running buddies. Craig and Pat work together at their TV station. Pat and Lacey live in the same apartment complex Craig and I did when we got married. They are both Bears fans. The parallels are almost scary. So we headed to beautiful Wildlife Prairie Park on a gorgeous fall afternoon for the ceremony. The weather was perfect... 73 degrees and sunny. The fall colors framed the background perfectly. The pavillion they were married in overlooked a field where buffalo currently roam. (for real!) The reception was held in Peoria at the Gateway Building... at the foot of the I-74 bridge overlooking the Illinois River. It was really fun.It was also fun to see my friends from up here hanging out in the area near where I grew up. (Pictured are Steph, Me, Lacey, Amy, and Diane.) Worlds collided and we had a blast! So congrats, Patrick and Lacey! I'm sure you guys will have a wonderful life together! And if the parallels continue, 8 years from now you'll be at someone's wedding and end up with a picture like this:

Birthday Flashback

I can't believe it, but I let Craig's birthday pass without acknowledging it on the blog here. His birthday was earlier this month, so for the next 9 months, he'll be older than me. Hee hee. His birthday fell in the middle of the week, so we didn't do a huge celebration. But I ordered up some really good pizza (it wasn't Happy Joes, but still good). I baked a German Chocolate Cake, which wasn't ready for eating until after 9 p.m. but that didn't stop us from eating it. His present was a poster-sized photo print taken by a friend of his (we bought it a couple months back at a benefit). It was a great day!

Craig is a great dad and a wonderful husband. He's the perfect compliment to my quirkiness. He's patient when I'm impatient. He jokes when I'm crabby. He always finds a way to cheer me up when I'm down. He sits through chick flicks and pretends to be impressed when I act like I know a lot about baseball. So a belated Happy Birthday to a fantastic guy! Love You!

No More Stitches

Alex got his stitches out yesterday afternoon. Didn't even flinch when the doctor snipped the little threads. Didn't whimper when those little threads were yanked out. What a trooper!

I'm starting to feel a little under the weather. My throat is sore, my sinuses are filled, then they drain. Then they fill, then they drain. Repeat ad nauseum. I'm a little achey. I'm fighting it though. Loading up on fruits and vitamin C. Sipping some herbal tea as I type. Going to get some good sleep the rest of the week. I can't be sick. We have a wedding that I'm looking forward to this weekend! My friend Lacey is getting hitched... and her wedding is going to be fabulous! So cold, BE GONE!

SITS Blogathon

So I'm a SITS girl. If you don't know what that means, I invite you to check out The Secret Is In The Sauce. It's a community of bloggers who understand the importance of support in the form of comments and exposing readers to new bloggers. Monday through Friday a blogger is featured. The members of this site then flood that blogger with comment love. I've discovered some really great bloggers this way, made some new friends, and even dragged some old friends along for the ride. I was the featured blogger back in August, and it was so much fun. I got a bunch of new readers. I was commenting like crazy (I've slacked off a bit, admittedly) but it was a great opportunity. If you're new to blogging, I highly recommend connecting with this site so you can boost your readership and discover other bloggers you might never have found otherwise!

As part of the blogathon, I'm supposed to list 5 blogs I've discovered thanks to SITS... so here goes. And this was HARD because I've found some great ones.

1. American in Norway - Tressa's hilarious... and she knows my neck of the woods (Illinois). Plus her kids are cute and she posts pictures of Norway. Where else in my life would I be able to be friends with someone who is actually living in Norway?

2. Ritch in Love- Katie just has such a unique perspective. She's still got that newlywed glow, she's a step mom, she's really funny. She tells a good story. She's full of faith and hope. I just love reading her blog.

3. The Perlman Update- Again... I enjoy this blog for a number of reasons. It's a family from the U.S. living in India. Their life is nothing like mine, but I love following their journey. It's fascinating. My best friend's family is originally from India, so sometimes Jill will post something that reminds me of my friend and her family.

4. And Baby Will Make 4- Melisa is just so darn cute! She commented on my blog, I commented on her blog, we've been blog buddies ever since. She's expecting her first baby and is documenting the whole thing, from breaking the news to family to the latest doctors appointments. It's a very readable blog.

5. The Musings of a Mom- Therese is a friend in real life... and if you read her blog it's a good insight as to her true thoughts. She's authentic, honest, fun, a great mom, spiritual, political... she's a little bit of everything all rolled into one. I'm so proud of her for putting her real thoughts and feelings out there for everyone to see.

Okay... I had to add one more...

SIDNEY and I share the same name, though off by just one letter and she has an awesome blog. She is one amazing gal.

There are so many other great blogs I've connected to thanks to SITS I actually feel bad limiting it to five. But seriously, check out this site.
Heather and Tiffany do a really great job with it. They have created an incredibly fun community, you'll meet some great people and find some really great blogs.

The Joy of Boys

Thursday afternoon I got a call at my office. "Sydney, it's Miss Jessica. Alex fell off the playground equipment and cut his head pretty bad. We've stopped the bleeding, but he'll probably need stitches."

So I flew out the door and made it from Downtown Milwaukee to the Northwest Side in about 17 minutes flat. I got there, and my little guy wasn't even crying anymore. He was just very clingy, which was fine by me! So I got him strapped into the car seat and headed to the pediatrician's office. They put some numbing gel on it, waited 30 minutes, cleaned it out, and stitched him up. There are four stitches that will come out next Tuesday. I held his hands while he was getting the stitches. He was such a trooper! He didn't even flinch with the first two... but it was taking a long time, the office was warm, and they put a surgical drape over his face so he could see me so the last two he got a little weepy.

We took him home and made his favorite dinner... chicken nuggets. And he got frozen custard for a treat. It was quite an exciting evening... one I hope we don't have to repeat anytime soon!

No More Pull-ups!

For two weeks now, Alex has been wearing underpants at home and at school. He had a dry week at school, and the teachers requested that we send underwear and extra pants to school so they could do a test-run in underpants. It has been a huge success! After two days with accidents, he is now telling us when he has to go potty. We're not dry at night yet, but he's even had to wake up to go potty a couple of times in the evening (thankfully before Craig and I have gone to bed). So it's going really well. It's like someone flicked a switch and now Alex understands that he needs to go to the bathroom to go potty. Although periodically he still wants a fresh pair of underpants after he goes to the bathroom, even if he hasn't had an accident.

So far, the Cars underpants are his favorites, with Bob the Builder a close second. It's been about 2 weeks since I've had to purchase Pull-ups, so Alex is doing his part to help streamline the family budget! Hooray!

Remodeling Update

I posted back in June about our bathroom remodel, and our attempt to DIY. Well, it's about 99% done. It's been at about 90% for months I just haven't gotten around to posting pictures.
If you want to see the before pictures, click here. I also charted the progression, if you click on the Home Improvement tag you can see those.

Here are some pictures of the nearly finished project:

It hard to see, but the color on the walls is a dark navy blue. I like the blue and white MUCH better than the pink and cream. Huge improvement right there. All we have left is some trim work, crown moulding, hanging the valence, and some paint touch-ups.

Out With the Old, In With the New

We got the RAV 4, here it is... let the car payments begin! I love it! It drives really well. The extra cargo space is nice... as I'm sure we'll find out on our next trip home. We'll be heading back for a wedding in a couple of weeks, so that will be a true test. (Dog + Kid + luggage=lots of stuff)

I keep forgetting to take CDs to put into it. I've been so accustomed to *not* having a CD player, that CDs are usually the furthest thing from my mind when I head out someplace. It also has an MP3 port, we just have to get a cable. Well worth the $5 or so it will cost. The only downside? Alex keeps calling it a van... oh well!

Farewell, Old Blue!

I said goodbye to yet another trusted friend recently: my 2000 Grand Am.

We finally decided to go with the RAV4 (that will be another post) and so the time came to say goodbye to the newest car I had ever owned. We got the Grand Am in 2001. Craig and I had been married a little over a year at that point, I was driving a ’91 Beretta and Craig was driving a LeBaron that looked like it had been through the war. We needed to upgrade in a serious way, so we finally settled on the Grand Am. We were so excited! It had automatic locks and power windows, a sunroof, a CD player. Between the two of us, it was the nicest car we had ever owned. In fact when we drove to the dealership to finally pick it up, I made Craig drive it home because I was afraid I would get into an accident.

That car saw us through a lot. Countless trips to and from Illinois to visit our parents, countless trips to Indiana to visit my sister and brother-in-law and their kids and my grandma, a few trips to Minneapolis for job interviews for both of us. (Thank goodness none of those ever panned out. I really like Milwaukee!) It was part of the move to our first house. I drove it to Baraboo when I found Shadow online at a private animal rescue’s website. It was the car we drove to the hospital when I went into labor, and was the car that we brought Alex home from the hospital in. It’s shuttled me back and forth to work at two different jobs. We took our first family vacation to St. Louis in that car. It made several trips to Des Moines to visit my brother. I think it’s more than served its purpose, and served it well.

But sadly, the car started to show it’s age. I was in an accident with it about 3 years ago, an accident that left the car’s front end pretty banged up. We of course got it repaired, but things started going wrong. Indicator lights came on for no reason… the “service engine soon” light was on intermittently for about the last year. Every time we take it to get checked, they say nothing’s wrong. The CD player doesn’t work, and the back-light on the clock went out… so the only way you can tell the time is if direct sunlight hits the LED display just right. There are a few dings and scratches on the bumper. And as Alex get’s bigger and we start thinking about the possibility of expanding the family, we realize we will need more room.

And so, we’re got a RAV4. This is great news, but I can’t help feeling a little bit nostalgic. So, I will miss my first, newest car. I will miss driving with the sunroof open, especially downtown after dark. There’s nothing like looking up through the sunroof at night and seeing those tall, tall buildings and lights. I will miss feeling Alex kick the back of my seat while driving, and even while a passenger. And I’m looking forward to all the great new memories we’ll make with the new car.