how lame am i?

i'm totally looking forward to the new 90210 show and full intend to watch the first episode next week. that and my nkotb tickets have probably branded me as a loser for the rest of my life...

pictures from manda's wedding....

i stole all of these pictures from amanda's facebook profile to share with all of you...

amanda's photos

and we took these pictures ourselves...

my photos

enjoy!

i bowled my first 500 series! and i'm not happy about it!

so i've been trying to hit a 500 series for about 2 years or so. everytime i bowl the really well the first two games - i do the math to deterimine what i need in the third game to get a 500 series - and then i end up totally tanking.

so tonight i bowled my very first 500 series. i didn't even think about it until the ninth frame of the last game when i was sitting there with a 184 game. final series was a 531.

i should be totally ecstatic, right? last season i achieved my first 200 game and i had two goals left - a 500 series and a clean game. and now i've hit the 500.

i'm not happy about it because tonight was the first night of bowling and you are supposed to bowl really bad the first night so you start off the season with a lower average and a higher handycap and you can work upwards. but i did it all wrong cause i finished up last season with a 137 average. i'm starting off this season with a 177 average. that's leaves a 33 pin handycap verses the 77 pin handycap i ended with last season.

not to mention living up to the 177 i'm starting with is going to be really tough....

that lazy ass neighbor...

so you all remember that lazy ass neighbor who leaves her car in front of our house for days at a time when there's room in front of her own? well check out these pictures.

first - her house is on the left. that is her car behind the red blazer.



notice the space available in front of her house.



and notice the space behind her car.



now look again and notice the amount of space between her car and the blazer - which belongs to the nephew of the lady who used to live in the house it's parked directly in front of.

i rest my case.

the bestest matron of honor speech ever!

when i gave my toast at amanda's wedding - i did it from memory and didn't have a word written down. i had been drafting it in my head for a year and i kept it very guarded because i wanted everyone to experience the speech for the first time at the same time.

now that it's over - i wrote it out for postarity's sake so that amanda can have it for later. so here it is!

are you ready for this? she said "no". i told amanda a year ago that i knew exactly what i wanted to say at this moment and i think she's been really frightened ever since.

i met amanda 13 years ago when her family moved to st. louis. she and i spent almost every saturday and sunday for two years working together at subway slinging sandwhiches. even though there was about 3 years difference between us in age, we quickly developed this crazy bond that to this day can't be put into words. easiest to say that she could make me giggle like no one else in the world. it would only take one word and there were giggles.

(macarena, mayo, cologne, bzzz - at this point amanda threw out the word macarena as an example and it was the only word mentioned at this point in the actual speech - but you get the picture. this is also where i cut the line about how as the youngest of three children, i had quickly adopted her as the little sister i always wanted and never had - the one who was fun but didn't take my toys. reason it was cut is long and not worth going into right now. i had told amanda before the wedding that that line had been in the original draft but cut for certain reasons and she understood - again - long story.)

so you can imagine that having become so attached to amanda, i was pretty disappointed when i found out she would be moving to carrol, iowa for a year. i knew i was powerless to stop it and the idea of throwing myself in front of the moving van and begging her parents to make me her legal guardian wasn't going to work. so i decided i was going to make sure amanda always knew she would have a reason to come back to st. louis - and i decided i was going to throw her a party. it was going to be a surprise and i planned it literally under her nose with her standing two feet away. the plans were all going well until about 2 days before the party when during what turned out to be her last shift at subway, in classic amanda fashion, she was attacked by the lid from a tin can of olives. long story short, she ended up with about a hundred stitches in her leg, unable to walk, and completely unable to pack - which was great for me, but kinda stunk for her parents.

the first thing i said when i heard this was "i can't believe she did that."

second thing was "yeah. yeah, i can believe she did that."

third thing was "and just what am i going to do now??"

so after a brief panic moment, i rearranged some things and made some phone calls. i made sure her mom was still on board - i knew the hardest part was going to be getting her out of the house. and at the time i was pregnant with my now 10 1/2 year old daughter so i did what any crazy, pregnant best friend would do. i called her and i said "amanda, i need you. i have a doctor's appointment. no one can go with me. i think they're going to do an ultrasound and i can't do that alone. i need you to go with me - i'll push you in a wheelchair if i have to."

i had her hook. line. sinker. and she was super shocked when her mom actually LET HER GO.

so i picked her up and fibbed to her about how i forgot something at my house. then i fibbed again about why i had to park in back of my house where i never parked. and when she walked into my back yard and saw a half dozen of her closest friends - none of which she still talks to other than me, i might add - she was really surprised.

now i share this story with you today because i learned two very important things about amanda that day.

1. she is SO gullible.

and

2. no matter what was going on in her own life or where she was, if i needed her, she would be there for me and she would always be my best friend. and i'm happy to say that she has been a part of every happy and every sad moment i have had ever since.

i was really honored five years ago when she stood next to me on my wedding day - or attempted to stand anyway - and i'm really proud of your performance today. and i was even more honored to be able to stand next to her today.

on that day five years ago, amanda publicly informed my husband that he got a two-for-one package deal when he married me. she would always be there for him as well. so chris, i say to you today - you're stuck with me. it's too late. there's no going back. and if you see jeff later, i'm sure he can give you a few pointers on how to cope with it.

in all seriousness though, i want you two to know that there really aren't words to express just how happy i am for you today and i want to wish you both the best as i see you happy together today, happy together tomorrow, and happy together for the rest of your lives.

*toast toast toast - applause cause i totally rock and the best man tells me that he's glad he got to go first and not follow that which made amanda respond with "don't fell bad - she was an english major - she loves this stuff!"*

and now after spending almost every waking hour together for four straight days - she's been in myrtle beach since monday and i haven't talked to her since sunday and MAN IS IT KILLING ME!

totally m.i.a.

i know i've been missing in action for a month and all. and i've probably lost all my readers.

things have just been crazy.

since returning from pittsburgh, i've been working from home/bread co. our new office location still isn't ready for occupation so we're the foudnation without a home.

and my bestest friend amanda got married this weekend. i was matron of honor. i've been doing a lot to help her with last minute wedding stuff. i drove up to iowa last wednesday to be her brain for the three days before the wedding. drove her everywhere. helped her decorate her cake. let her use my hotel room as a wedding holding tank until we could give things to the hotel for the reception. it was a good time. and i gave the most awsome toast. the best man said he was glad he didn't have to follow that. that education as an english major paid off.

now she's all married.

i have no clue where my summer went. yes i do. it went to detroit. then to iowa. then to pittsburgh. then to iowa. and now nina starts school the day after tomorrow.

not sure who all i've told - but nina is going to a new school this year. she was picked in a lottery for a charter school. she's pretty excited. it will be a new start. new friends. new opportunities for her education.

anyway. i'm sorry i've been m.i.a. it's just been too crazy. i'm hoping to return to a normal schedule soon so things will seem more normal.

and i'll try to annoy you all with my babbling again...