Too old to babysit?

I spent the weekend at someone's house watching their two kids while they were in Florida. Getting paid to "babysit" a 12 year old and a 16 year old is about as silly as getting paid to dog sit (that is what neighbors are for). As effortless as it was to spend the weekend with these kids and get paid $200 for it, I can't help but think that I am just to old to babysit. I am very aware of what a snot I sound like right now, however I always says yes when people ask me to babysit, always. I am not sure if it is because I have a heart of gold, I just love money or that I have nothing else to really do (most likely a combination of all 3) but either way I always say yes. I also always regret saying yes the day before I have to babysit. I don't like yelling, I am not very good at playing with my imagination at a pg level, and germs seriously make me sick to my stomach. Conclusion: I am going to be a great mom. It is not that I hate kids, but it is way different babysitting another person's kids then your own or even your own family. People have weird food habits, weird shows they like to watch, weird house rules, annoying animals and a whole lot of other things that you can't really comment on but in fact have to make sure they stay intact while their parents are gone. I am sure plenty of people use to say all the same things about me. In fact, I attacked my babysitter with a pencil once so I was one of those psycho kids that people had to babysit. For real, it only happened once. Basically, no matter how good the money is, how easy the kids are or even the amount of good food people have I never think its worth it. After having the most painless babysitting job of the weekend I have concluded I am just to old to babysit. I am cashing out of the babysitting gig until desperate times call for desperate measures or at least until February 7th because the next two weekends I have babysitting jobs lined up.

What kind of year? A Year to Run a Half Marathon

This weekend I ran my first half marathon. I landed in Phoenix on Friday morning and had two days to relax until the big race on Sunday morning. So of course, being that Friday is the only night we have to go out we decided that we should take full advantage of it. After party crashing a party that my brothers friends were hosting we decided to try out the lifestyle of ASU. If you ever go to Tempe, Arizona spend at least 30 minutes as "The Big Bang: Dueling Piano Bar." It was by far the coolest thing that Tempe has to offer. ASU definitely has a bad rep (At least what I have heard) however, it was a lot more fun then I imagined. By 1 that morning I was ready to go home and go to bed. After getting into a cab it became very clear that me and Chris did not have a clue of where we are going and the cab driver decided to completely take advantage of that. Our 40 dollar half hour cab ride ended in a 70 dollar hour cab ride. I am going to have to take full responsibility for this scam because as soon as I got into the cab the comfortable leather seats and the hardness of the window pillow called to me and I curled up and fell asleep, leaving Chris with little help of direction.

Waking up bright and early Saturday was not fun but my first expo was quite the experience and really helped me get "pumped" for the big race. Biggest bonus of the day was the matching ninja sweat protector headbands that both me and my brother bought to protect the seat from our eyes. Honestly, we looked sweet. Due to our lack of sleep from the night before we were sent to bed by 10 pm by Dr. J with no complaints, to be honest, I am pretty sure I skipped.

As soon as my alarm went off on Sunday morning I immediately regretting signing up in the first place. We arrived an hour before which gave me plenty of time to freak out. As the time flew by we go in line at corral number 17. With 26,000 runners we still had to wait another 30 minutes till we got to actually cross the the starting line. When we finally got up to the front and finished shouting at Senator John McCain, who was waving at his elbows God bless him, the count down started and we were off. To my complete surprise we were able to fully complete the half marathon in 2:27 and were able to run the whole thing which was a miracle to say the least. Running across the finishing line was by far the coolest thing that I have ever accomplished. Even though you are basically dying you feel completely energized and that you can do anything.

Since my first marathon I am on a runners kick and am going to attempt to try become a much better and more serious runner. I also realized that physically and mentally you are probably capable of way more then you think. 2010: A Year For Trying New Things.

What kind of year?

This weekend I tried my first lobster. It was delicious, however I am a true believer that almost anything you are suppose to dip in butter is going to be amazing. One of the best parts of eating the lobster was that while eating it I felt like a princess. It could be that I am under the impression that Lobster is a special meal that is not served on a regular basis considering I have never even had it. It could also be because of being waited on by the host and hostess as if I was royalty, the wine was consistently flowing and I think at one point my bread was buttered for me. After eating my first lobster I tried my first cannoli, and no, I don't live in a box. I can say with complete serious that I now understand what "melts in your mouth" means. While trying my first lobster Bridget declared that 2010 was the year for trying new things. Hats off to Bridget, what a splendid idea. So it has been declared that 2010 is the year for trying new things and now I must decide what to try. The list that I have thus far includes:

1. Skydiving

2. Riding on a motorcycle

3. Brussels sprouts (Bridget's suggestions)

5. Learning to play poker

6. Duck

7. Manhattans (The only thing my Grandma drinks)

8. Taking a photography class

I know, I know, I could easily try all of these things this weekend however these items are only a short number of what I am hoping to try in 2010. Just a rough sketch. I am hoping to be blessed with a number of new opportunities to experience however I believe a lot of them will be presented spur of the moment. Much thanks to Bridget for the inspiration to begin the new years off with a bang. I am looking forward to a number of weekends up at Marquette sitting around playing poker, eating brussels sprouts and drinking manhattans?

Is it possible to have too much holiday??

I have always looked forward to the Christmas season. Mainly because all my siblings come home and the older we have gotten the less we see each other. Also, like many others, I look forward to the food, drinks, and presents galore! I still get excited on Christmas Eve, I love squinting my eyes when looking at the Christmas tree (you know what I am talking about), I never diet during the season and I spend most of the time in my pajamas. Now that this holiday season has officially come to end and I have time to reflect I have concluded.....this year there was way to much holiday! I know it has to be because Thanksgiving was so late this year and there was only a month later till Christmas. I also know that I had multiple celebrations with my family because of this and because of celebrating my Grandpa's 80th birthday in the middle of Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am not ungrateful at all! I am also not disappointed that I saw my family so much what I am tired of is eating drinking, staying up so late, laying around all day and the winter weather. I think after this month of eating and drinking I need a major detox!! In spite of being incredible bloated and exhausted there were a number of holiday memories....

1. My parents still won't let their kids use the downstairs shower because its for "guest" and therefore all five adult kids had to share one bathroom.

2. The temperature dropping to single digits and soon as New Years Eve came about (Literally on January 31st).

3. The annual Christmas Brunch with the phlock, woo woo.

4. Running into people from high school and wishing I hadn't.

5. My cousin Kevin calling me a couple times in a row and repeating everything he said the first time he called me. (That was not sarcastic, actually awesome)

6. Watching old season for lost in preparation for the last season premiering in February!!

7. Spending much needed time with good family and Friends and being able to appreciate all of my blessings!!

Happy New Year!!

A Special Memory

When I first heard that we were going to surprise my Grandpa on his 80th birthday by showing up at Catholic Mass with him I expressed my strong disliking of the idea. I did not understand how we were going to surprise him and I thought he probably wouldn't get it either. You can not show up to a Catholic Mass and shout surprise at him! Isn't that the point of the surprise party? It turns out I couldn't have been more wrong. Most of the time, we are all too stubborn and close minded to put our own beliefs and understandings to the side and allow someone else to share theirs. I didn't think how special it was for my Grandpa to have all 9 of his children and his multitude of grandchildren at mass with him. Today, most of us don't have the spiritual up bringing or connection that so many of our Grandparents do. I think that for many mass or any spiritual ceremony can have an image of boring, conservative and cultish. However, for those of us lucky enough to have true faith and deep spirituality we find mass as a perfect place to connect with those who mean the most to us. Whether or not you believe in all the same things, by going to mass you are both sharing in a want and need to have trust in the world and the hope to live peacefully. After mass we headed to a family gathering back at my uncle's house and during our off tune rendition of "Happy Birthday" I saw my Grandpa trying to avoid showing us he was crying. I know he wasn't crying from the song (at least not tears of joy) and I don't believe he was crying from the party. I think my Grandfather was crying because of the immense amount of faith he has and the beautiful life he has lived for 80 years because of it. I think that what might have meant the most to him that day was all of us going to mass and living in his faith with him. My Grandfather lives his life through his faith and while so many might find it "dated" you have to wonder what the world would be like if more of my generation were to live a life of faith.

Reveling in the Rebel

After much searching, discussion and a numerous amount 0f advice I have purchased my first camera. When my Canon Rebel showed up I was ecstatic however my enjoyment quickly turned to frustration and anger when I noticed that every picture I took showed up blurry on the LCD screen. I immediately thought I had a defective camera and knew I was going to have to send it back! I decided to head over to Best Buy to purchase a must have memory card to see if that would fix the problem and to hopefully have a hottie from the "geek squad" help me out or ask me out, I wasn't picky about the order. After a 12 year old employee couldn't figure out why my pictures were blurry he went to get the "expert" on the Rebel camera to come take a look. When the "expert" showed up it took a quick two seconds for him to realize that I hadn't actual put my lens on all the way and that was why my pictures were turning out blurry. Ah the adventures of my camera and I begin!

First shots with my new camera.

. My parent's gorg christmas tree. You can't see it but my mom has a gigantic sign on the front that says "BELIEVE." Inspirational.

My dog hate my new camera. Every time I take it out she runs away. Great.

Vegetable People

While eating the most delicious apple today I thought to myself, fruit is so good! Look at how gorgeous it is! After my apple I then switched to a bag of carrots and I thought to myself, blah.

I personally see no competition between the two. Fruit is a hands down winner. When presented with steamed green beans or a juicy piece of pineapple who actually reaches for the beans? There are people in the world who think that vegetables are better then fruits. I know this because I use to date one of them and now I realize that should have been my first clue. There has to be something wrong with you if you choose vegetables over fruits. Of course there are delicious vegetables. Asparagus is always great, corn on the cob can hit the spot and potatoes are always a win. However, has anyone ever noticed that vegetables are really only good when you change them by adding something else to make them have a little flava. You rarely eat vegetables raw like you do fruit (keep in mind I said rarely, not never). Fruit always keeps it natural and real much like my gorgeous head of hair (woo woo).