Updates

Since it is the summer, there is honestly not enough "crappy" to do Happies and Crappies anymore, which is frankly AWESOME. So it will just be updates. Cat A few weeks ago my friend's mom dropped a tiny kitten by our house for me. It was on it's way to the SPCA and I agreed to take him. I mean, could you say no to this face?? The first week or so was very similar to having a newborn baby with round the clock bottle feeding, trying to get him to use the bathroom (for those of you who have never handraised a kitten, I will spare you the details of what needs to be done to make that happen), cleaning him, etc. It actually did sort of numb the loud pounding of my biological clock. I guess that puts me on step closer to becoming a crazy cat lady. Anyways, we named him Cody and when I asked Isaac what his middle name should be he said "Pablo" which was about the last thing I imagined him saying. So Cody Pablo it is. We have gotten him using the litter box and eating solid foods (with occasional bottles). He is very playful and fun, so that has been awesome. Jenny has been an awesome help making sure he is fed and played with a helping with catsitting. Thanks Jen! P.S. Do you like the new bathroom paint you can see behind Jenny? Present Demanding Rudeness So a few of you wanted to know how I handled the gift demander. Initially I just responded with a brief e-mail reminding him that I had told the bride at the wedding that I had forgotten the present and that I would try to mail it soon. He responded a few hours later thanking me with excessive emoticons and saying they were just "concerned" because over a dozen people attended their wedding and didn't send gifts. So I am guessing I wasn't the only person to get the "GIVE US A GIFT NOW" e-mail. Anyways, I had already bought and wrapped the present and I did enjoy myself at their wedding so I figured I would send it. Then I began to stew on it longer (and a million people who had heard the story came out of the wordwork to tell me how appaulled they were by the whole thing) and I decided that the behaviorist in me could not reinforce such poor social skills with a present and a polite e-mail. So I sent another e-mail. Which read roughly as follows:

• Incidently, it is still considered "okay" ettiquette-wise to send a present up to three months after the wedding. . E-mailing people asking for presents comes off as really demanding and rude. Then I inserted this link which I thought summed up my feelings quite nicely. He never responded.

Isaac's New School

I finally settled on one after numerous tours of all the area preschools. He started Monday. So far, so good.

What We've Been Up To

The camera has been on the fritz (of course) but I have been trying to fill up the time before I start school again with as much funness as possible. Within the past week or so we some fun days with grandma at Dutch Wonderland, Chocolate World, and Zoo America and we've had so much fun!!! Isaac is back in school now three days a week but the fun is still going to continue full throttle for the rest of the summer.

How is life for you?

Oh my goodness

Picked these little babies up on the Candy World tour today in Hershey (the sweetest place on earth) and they are AMAZING!

Pretty cool

Family History Presented to President Barack Obama by Church President Thomas S. Monson WASHINGTON 20 July 2009 President Barack Obama was presented with five large leather-bound volumes today by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that detail his family history going back multiple generations covering hundreds of years. The presentation was made by Church President Thomas S. Monson and Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. They were accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who is also a member of the Church. President Monson said: “President Obama’s heritage is rich with examples of leadership, sacrifice and service. We were very pleased to research his family history and are honored to present it to him today.” Elder Oaks, who oversees the Church’s family history program, said, “The Church has great resources and experience in genealogy work, and we are proud to have researched such a unique and impressive family history.” “I thank President Monson and Elder Oaks for sharing our religion’s tradition of genealogical research with the president and his family,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “I am also glad that President Obama and Elder Oaks had an opportunity to discuss their shared passion of the law. Recognizing the president and first lady's deep regard for family, I am honored that our church can have any part in documenting their family history.” The Church has also presented personal histories to other U.S. presidents, including Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. President Obama's Statement

Look-- I'm making something from scratch!

Okay, so everyone knows that I have had a goal to become more "domestic" now that I am in my own place, etc. So I pretty much forced my good friend Becky to come over and teach me how to make something from scratch. She is an amazing baker and a wonderfully patient teacher.

A tip I learned from Becky -- put a little bit of Pam spray in the measuring cup before the shortening so it slides out easily.

My helper. Another tip Becky gave me was to use bread flour instead of all purpose flour. She also said to tap on the bread. If it makes a hollow sound it is done.

The teacher and the student.

The best part.

Look at how yummy. Inside contains the "perfect swirl" of cinnamon and raisens.

So delicious.... Thanks again Becky!

My 100th post!

I figured I should post an update, since I haven't done a true one in a while. Since school let out I have been teaching summer school for six weeks which was easy breezey and great money. Now I'm chilling until August 25th. Good deal. I've been having lots of fun this summer. My sister has been home from Italy and is staying with us for most of the summer which is AWESOME!

We've been back and forth from my parents in Lancaster quite a bit. We've done bowling, a picnic in the park, mini-golf and swimming. We also went there for the 4th of July and stuffed out faces at Shady Maple first.

I attended Dan and Amanda's wedding and busted a move on the dance floor. (For the record, everyone was dancing as enthusiastically as I was, it was just not captured in this picture).

I also took a trip to New York to pick up my sister from the airport. We toured the UN, saw 9 to 5 on Broadway, and ran around seeing the sights. It was a fun couple of days. We got a great deal at hotels.com at a hotel right near Times Square.

We also did a fun July 5th trip to the beach with a group of 15 friends.

Sitting like that caused my shins to become horribly sunburned. They are still peeling.

Isaac also spent a week in Florida with his dad. They did a zoo, Disney and Busch Gardens. I will post pictures of that later. More updates and pictures to come. I love the summer!!!

Dear arrogantly self absorbed bride and groom, Although I don't know either of you very well, I was honored to have been invited to your wedding. It was lovely and I enjoyed myself very much. I recognize that you probably spent a small fortune on the lavish affair, and for me personally to attend/have a sit down meal/etc., so again I was surprised but pleased to have been invited. Since you opted to have your wedding more than an hour away from your hometown where 90% of your guests live and since you opted to make the start time 5:00 on a Friday afternoon I left my house in a bit of a rush and completely forgot to bring along the present that I purchased for you off of your registery. An honest mistake and complete accident. As I said, I had purchased the present ahead of time and had every intention of bringing it along. Since then it has been sitting on my dining room table for approximately three weeks. My bad. There were several occasions when I had planned to be out towards your house and drop it off but for whatever reason wasn't able to. I supposed at this point a trip to the post office is in order and had planned to go tomorrow. In spite of all of this I was taken aback to recieve an e-mail from you, Mr. Groomsman, telling me that you were "a little confused" as to why you don't have a present from me with links for your not ONE, not TWO, but THREE registeries. It was also helpful of you to remind me that I could also send you a gift card so you could purchase what you "need". I am sure you are having a hard time living without the 900 above ground swimming pool, or the flat panel TV or the 400 dollar wii game package on your registry. I will totally take ownership for buying the cheapest thing I could find on your registery-- Taboo the board game. There is absolutely no way I am buying you a digital camera or GPS just because you two decided to tie the knot Although I was certainly not in the right in my delay at mailing your present, your e-mail demanding is it is RUDE and TACKY. Sincerely, Lisa Stephenson

Signs he has been here....

This arrangement of golf clubs, cannisters, lawn chairs etc. is his bug catcher...