4th of July

I'm a bit behind on my photos and just downloaded the pictures from the 4th of July.  On the card was a great family photo and I just had to share because we have so few photos of us together where everyone is looking at the camera.  Enjoy!

Moving and a bicycle

This summer is going by in a flash!  We have been having a lot of fun, but have also been quite busy planning for our move.  It seems that we are getting closer to having everything settled - our move date into the house we are renting and a renter for our house.  I'll be happy when we are moved and settled in and life can go back to it's normal hectic way!

We've been packing up the house bit by bit and trying to get rid of items we won't use.  Surprisingly, we use most of the things we have in our house.  On the plus side that means that we have been doing a fairly good job of managing our "stuff" over the years, on the minus side it means that we are pretty much average when it comes to amount of "stuff" we have.  I always wanted to be one of those minimalist people but I guess that will have to wait - maybe I can achieve that when the girls are off to college, but I doubt I'll ever be able to live like that.  The really good thing is that we are no where close to the people I see on the tv series Hoarding:  Buried Alive!  Watching that show helps me put our possessions in perspective ;-)

I'm probably be offline until we are all settled in the new place next month.  I'm sure I'll have a great update on Emma's great bike riding skills :-)  She received her Freedom Concepts Discovery bicycle from The Variety Club last week!  We are BEYOND thrilled that Emma received this gift and hope to put a lot of mileage on it very soon.  Unfortunately, she can't ride it until we receive the spacers for the pedals (her feet are a bit too short to reach both pedals) that should come in about a week.  While we wait we are planning all the great places for a bike ride.  Can't wait to get it up and running.  Thanks so much Variety!!!!!!

Random musing

It's been two years since I worked in at office and some days I miss it.  There is just something about pulling together with a team, launching a new product, tracking sales, creating marketing materials, writing journal articles, traveling the world that made my work fulfilling.  But there were other parts of it that I don't miss like the crazy hours, travel away from my family, executive decisions that seemed to change like the wind.  

These days I find that I'm a different person than I was when I worked in an office.  My life perspective has changed and I am living a more balanced life.  I was missing a lot of the "play" part of life when I was working in my Marketing position.  And while I do sometimes miss working in an office, it is usually fleeting.  I know that my next job will have a different focus ad, while I'm not sure what that focus is just yet, I am confident that I will know it when I find it. 

I can't imagine not having the last two years with the girls.  We spend our days laughing a lot, playing together and with friends, enjoying trips to museums, parks and local events.  We are happy together, know how to have fun, and anyone who is around us can tell that we are enjoying this one life we are given!  My two children are very different in abilities but that doesn't stop us from living our normal life.  Actually, I often think that we have more fun than a family with children of similar abilities.  It is so fulfilling knowing that I am making a difference in the life of my children while realizing they have refocused my life for the better.  

Today I am doing some packing for our move.  I came across a paper from graduate school that made me think about my office/home life today that led to this post.  My marketing professor had us each write down how we perceive our fellow students.  We went through 19 months of school as a class together and knew each other well.  The professor then compiled all the responses for each individual and presented us with our own sheet of how other perceive us.  There are no names attached to the comments and they are all positive.  I find it comforting that so many of the comments are similar, which means that I am pretty consistent in my interactions with others.  It's a great gift this professor gave us.  I'm glad I found it since I do think about it every now and then.  I'll have to make sure I put it somewhere it won't be lost in the move.  

Wordless Wednesday

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! 

Oh, how I love this holiday!  As I see it, there are two fabulous things about this holiday:  1.)  it's our faithful pup Finnegan's birthday and 2.)  it's located smack dab in the middle of the summer!

Because of these two things we are so lucky to be able to wrap up lots of fun into one day for the celebration of our nation's independence!

Today we had a lazy morning together making Finnegan all kinds of goodies for breakfast for her birthday.  Afterwards Chris and the girls took her to the park for a long walk (while I pulled together the dish we are bringing to the party later tonight).  She certainly deserves it :-)  I can't imagine finding a dog that is a better fit for our family.  And the love between Finnegan and Emma!  Well, it's really something to see.  I can't imagine our life without her and am so happy we've had an amazing 9 years together and we look forward to many more!

Finnegan caught lounging on our couch - she is NOT allowed on the couch and sneaks up there sometimes in the middle of the night

Tonight we are going to celebrate with some great friends for their annual 4th of July barbeque.  There will be a water slide, a kiddie pool, children running all about, great food and drinks, the children messy from eating popsicles and watermelon, and a rest on the lawn to watch the firework display.  We have been friends since our first children were born and it's so much fun watching them grow up together!  Each year just gets better!


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In other news, this weekend Emma's new jogging stroller was delivered.  We're so excited about how this stroller is already making things like walks in the park easier.  We do need a liner to help position her better but that is on back-order and we are putting it to good use while we wait for it to arrive.  Emma loves it.  Julia loves it.  Chris and I think we will get lots of use out of this stroller and are really excited to have it.

CMV Legislation

There is some FANTASTIC news on the CMV awareness front.  The grassroots effort to raise awareness of CMV for everyone - and especially women of childbearing age - was in the national spotlight!

On June 23, 2011 the United States Senate unanimously passed Senate Resolution #215.  To say that a lot of hard work went into this is an understatement and I'd love to thank the ladies of StopCMV.org and everyone else who made this happen.  I'd also like to thank Sen. Barbara Mikulski [D-MD] for sponsoring and Lisa Murkowski [R-AK] for co-sponsoring this resolution all our members of our 112th Congress who took the time to understand the effects of CMV, ask questions, read the citations and pass the resolution.

Senate Resolution #215 calls attention to CMV in a more public way and specifically calls out two actions:

1.)  Designates the month of June as National Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Awareness Month in order to raise awareness to the dangers of CMV and reduce the occurrence of congenital CMV infection; and

2.)  Recommends that more effort be taken to counsel women of childbearing age of the effect this virus can have on their children.

The hope of so many families effected by CMV is that we can raise awareness on CMV so that others can prevent CMV from changing their lives.  Having S. Res. 215 takes us one step closer to that reality!