Back to 100%

Hello, friends.  Not much time, quick post here.  I'm finally feeling 100%, yay.  I do not like feeling all icky!  I am a very busy girl and I cannot be slowed down by sickness, I do not have time!

No... I did NOT go to the big, fat fancy State Dinner at the White House last night.  I had leftover sloppy joes with this guy instead:

And, you know what? There's no place I'd rather be.  I snapped this picture with my phone, that's why it's all ghetto.  Michael looked so great all business-like yesterday because he had a job interview.  It was so nice to be able to meet up in the city and commute home together!

Even though I didn't go to the State Dinner President Obama hosted last night for the Indian Prime Minister, I did go to their news conference earlier in the day, and I'm happy to report I was closer than I've ever been to the POTUS (about 10 feet away) and I'm pretty sure we made direct eye contact... twice.  It was one of those days where I had to pinch myself to make sure I'm really living this life.. and getting paid for it.  Seriously.  I have the best job, ever!  Thank you, Lord.

 

Ugh... I have a voice mail.  I hate voice mail and fax machines.  Seriously, they're so 90s!  Can we please move into the 2010s....?

Okay - I'm off to the White House to watch the President pardon the turkey.  I hear his name is Courage.  I don't know why, but that's just kind of funny.  I'm not sure if I'll have time to post about that later - if I don't, y'all have a Happy Thanksgiving!  We're road tripping down to see my family INCLUDING MY LITTLE BROTHER, CHRIS, I can't wait to see everyone!!!
 
 
 

Mish Mash

I spent all weekend feeling like crap.  Fever, exhaustion, the whole deal.  I had to push through it, though, because the laundry didn't understand it was supposed to wash itself and the house didn't understand it was supposed to clean itself and the food didn't understand it was supposed to cook itself.

It took me like 4 hours to clean my two bedroom apartment, but I did it.  And I made a grocery store run.  And I made Chicken & Dumplings.  And I made my first bread... homemade Pumpkin Bread! 

This isn't a good pic... trust me, it was yummy. Ask hubs and everyone in my newsroom.
 

And I managed to get my husband up, dressed (pretty much, I won't lie, he spent two days in jammies being "supportive" :)), cleaned and fed.  And we made it to church and small group.  Thankfully I had some back rubs and help around the house and my favorite dog walker pitching in.  And we ate out for two meals on Sunday.

Remember how I was all bragging about my gorgeous mop boy?  After that post, Brokaw ate Michael's glove (I lost the other one like a year and a half ago on our way to a Kenny Chesney concert) which he uses to hold the mop.  I was like OH, GREAT, now I have to mop!! Hahaha... Yep, did that too.  Anyways... M ordered new gloves and they are even better than the old ones he had!! Yay.  You know, I grew up in a Family Business family, so I have to give a shout out to the woman who makes these gloves!  They are awesome, they look nice, work really well for pushing M's wheelchair, and here's to hoping that mop can slide under there in between his hand and the glove!! :)  I really hope my mop boy is back in action soon!

Now, for  Food Waste Friday (which was more like Sunday around our house, but whatev).  I've been wanting to actually take a picture of my food waste for months, but if you know me, you know how quick I am to put something in the trash can so I had to be quick with the camera.

 It's mashed sweet potatoes.  I had no idea that one sweet potato can apparently feed a village.

Today, I'll finally get to be back over at the White House, I've missed my basement dwelling days, but now that the Prez is back from Asia, I'm back in business! And, with any luck, my computer will be working, double yay!

Now, for a little more randomness...

If you love Puggles and you are open to the idea that there is another Puggle out there who is as cute (and way smarter) than Brokaw, check out this blog.

And if you want to see a great interview with some advice about how to handle your husband, which oddly feels like it's peeking into my own life, watch this.

Gratitude

I just looked at my desk calendar at work, which is this really cheesy "Christian" desk calendar that I bought back in like 1997 when I used to shop at "Christian" book stores... I appreciate it's nice Bible verses and what not on a daily basis, though, even if it is ridiculously cheesy.

Like today.. the quote is from Max Lucado.  Did you forget he exsisted? Me too.

But this is nice:

"Gratitude.  More aware of what you have than what you don't."

Oh, I like it.  I am so quick to be jealous of what others have, etc. I have to really guard against it.  It comes so naturally to me, I've been like that since I was a kid.  You'd think I was a middle child or something :)  I really am so thankful for where I am, what I have and who I get to spend life with... even though sometimes I get distracted, or lose perspective.

What a perfect reminder for this week, going into ThanksG!

Oh, Hi. Saturday morning! You still exist?

Waaaay back in my single days, you know, like 2 months ago... I used to LOVE my Saturday mornings.  You remember, that's when some of my best blogs would be churned out.  After sleeping for like 12 hours, I'd get up way before the rest of the world, brew a fresh cup of coffee, have some nice snuggle time with the pets, and clean my house.  Oh, it was the best!

My blissful, quiet, alone time Saturday mornings have seriously been far and few between since getting married.  I realized not long into this thing how important my "alone time" was.  But, it's just so darned difficult to carve out when there are responsibilities all over the place, you know?

But right now, RIGHT NOW... I am here.  And I'm having a classic Saturday morning.  I made a fresh pot of coffee, just the way I like it, super strong.  I poured it into my big red coffee mug, put whipped cream and caramel sauce on top, got my favorite blanket (shout out Ann, your college comforter!), a couple of cookbooks, obviously, my laptop, and I'm snuggled up with Katy Kitty on my lap as I type this by the light of an awesome smelling Yankee candle.  Brokaw and Princess are sleeping.  So is Michael,  or, he may just be laying there giving me "my time."  Either way, I'm soaking this up!

It's still rainy and dreary outside and that just makes me want to read and write and drink coffee.  I think I have about half an hour.  So, bye!  I'm thinking about trying to bake some bread today.  Do you think I can do it?  I'm oh so inspired all the time by the pics on The Frugal Girl's blog, but I've always been intimidated... Deep breath....

We'll see if there's time later today after we run errands.  Thank God we already cleaned the house! I love waking up to an already clean house on Saturday morning.  It's like a head start.  Nothing like a head start.

Really? Now I'm rambling... let me get back to doing nothing.  Hope you all have relaxing weekends!

Eat Your Hearts Out

To all of my friends whose husbands do nothing to help you out around the house... Read it and weep!  Show this to your man, then make him get off his duff and pitch in.  'Cause if my man can do it.....

Look at my Michael hard at work!  This boy knows his way around a mop and a mop bucket.  (note Brokaw "supervising," more like pondering the next place he will pee/poop to destroy said clean floors)  Thankfully! And no, I am not a quadriplegic slave driver!  He actually said while beginning to mop last night that he either "likes" or "loves" mopping! Wouldn't want to botch the quote... This is such a huge help to me around the house.  You have no idea.  Mopping 1100 something square feet of living space you share with three pets is a JOB!  Thank you, Babe!  Tell all your friends who this gets in trouble they need to step it up anyway!

In Other News around our house...  Brokaw is *pretty much* sleeping in his own bed!  It's been about two weeks of "go to your spot" (he's also tied up with a leash in a way that he couldn't possibly jump in our bed, but we won't dwell on that) and Mr. Puggles is getting the hang of things.

Sorry about the crazy flash eyes.  And the fact that it looks like my dog has crack nails.

Of course, Princess Perfection didn't require any begging to snuggle up in her "dog bed" at all.

That's all from me for the week.  My brain hurts! Not from my not-even-on-a-fifth-grade-level blog posts, but from writing stories at work about Afghanistan policy,stem cell research and minutae of the health care bills.  Oooouuch.  I'm so ready to sit on the couch and watch something like The Food Network or College Football... you know, something you don't have to think about.  If you are looking to have some sort of intellectually stimulating conversation this weekend, don't call me!  I'm fried.

Cheers!
 
 

 

Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Veterans Day! And thank you to all of you who have served, are serving, and will serve in the future.  I'm so thankful for the sacrifices that have been made so that I can happily live and work and worship and blog and breathe in and out in safety.

Chris, my prayers are with you each and every single day.  FYI, little bro is in Ranger school in Georgia right now and he is WILLING and ABLE to accept care packages!  If you want to send him something, e-mail me!

In Other News... M's b-day was a success!  I successfully, athough reluctantly and stressfully, completed his dinner wish of Navy Beans with Ham Hock.  Or is that A Ham Hock? Or Ham Hocks? I have no idea.  I hadn't ever heard of such a thing until the other day when he requested it.  Southern boy.  If it's not on the Food Network, or my dad didn't make it when I was growing up, I do not know of it. 

Thankfully, we made it through making dinner without any divorce papers being filed.  And, we'll have yummy leftovers tonight!

After that, it was majorly huge hot fudge sundaes, also at Hubs' request.  That, I had no problem with :)  Actually, I couldn't finish mine, but it was the size of my head.

 

Happy Birthday to the Hubs

This year, for the first time, I got to stroll down the birthday card aisle and look in the "Husband" section.  It felt so strange! 

Not that there's a chance that there's a card that exsists that could possibly put into words how glad I am that Michael Ritter was born 33 years ago today.

He's my husband, my best friend, my hero, my lover, my partner, my comforter, my dog walker, my laundry folder, my inspiration, my reason... I could go on and on and on.... and apparently Hallmark doesn't even have a section that's labled all of those things. As if!

I love this man with all that's in me.  I love him even more than I did the day I married him, just two months ago.  I love him even more than I thought I ever would two years ago, this week, when we decided to take the plunge and be "boyfriend/girlfriend" (how middle school, I know).  I have the feeling it will always be like this.  That's what I hope, what I pray, and what I look forward to.

It's so much fun building our own traditions now that we're married.  This morning, I set out all of his birthday cards, and made cinnamon buns with candles for him to blow out.**  Fresh coffee with whipped cream.  We got up and started celebrating right away.  The fun will continue tonight.

BABE - I hope this day that you feel the LOVE.  From everyone.  I've never met a person who knows you, or even just knows OF you that doesn't think you're amazing.  I'm so incredibly proud and honored to be your wife.

Here's to 33 and all that this year in your life holds.  I love sharing every moment with you. Muah!

The re-enactment of blowing out the candles.  I was trying to be all perfect-wife with the cinnamon buns... learned a little lesson about that?  Wanna hear it? Here it goes.  Apparently... you shouldn't put wax candles in cinnamon buns that are fresh out of the oven if it takes half an hour to get to the breakfast table.  We had melted wax in the middle of our buns!  Nothing a knife and a hungry dog couldn't fix, though :) Thank God I didn't light the candles... Hahaha.. live and learn.  Welcome to our life - lots of trial and error, baby!

The card loot.  Courtesy of our sweet families.

Mr. Birthday boy digging in.  Hey, sleepy eyes, c'mon!

Mmmmmmm.  I think he likes it! 

 
  

Brody & The Leaves

Who knew yard work could be so much fun?  We watched Sunday as Jarred raked (and Brody helped) the leaves in their front yard into a giant pile so Brody could jump into them.

Brody thought running straight into them would be more fun.  In the end, I thought he looked like that giant pile of trash that talked on Fraggle Rock.  Remember that?

It was so much fun to be there.  Oh, precious moments.

 

 

 
 
 
 

Family Togetherness

Michael and I took our first road trip as a married couple and we not only survived, we thrived!  Wow, the caffeine is really working :)

No, for real, it was SOOOO nice.  I had been working so much and traveling so much leading up to the wedding that I was not a fan of hours upon hours spent in the car, but this time it really was VERY, VERY nice.  I love my husband.  And his family rocks.

We road tripped it down to North Carolina in celebration of Michael's birthday and his beautiful cousin Caitlin's 13th birthday!!

Thankfully, I found something to do with my camera other than take pictures of coffee.

 Brody is three years old and tons of fun!  He is sweet, and funny, and just the right level of energetic. And oh. so. cute!

Story to MELT your heart -  Sunday morning, Michael and I were laying in the bed and Brody came downstairs to say good morning to us.  He crawled in between us with his Gameboy and he was playing Super Mario Brothers (3, I think, Babe, correct me if that's wrong).  I helped him a bit, pushing the buttons to help his little Luigi jump into a tunnel.  Brody wanted Uncle Mike to help.  "You do it."  Michael, "I can't buddy, my fingers don't work."  Michael was really great at telling Brody what to do (Of course!)  Brody was cool with that for like a second and he asked Michael to do it again.  Michael told him again that he couldn't do it because his fingers don't work.  Then... stand by for your heart melting... Brody says to Michael, "I have tools."  Ohhhhhhh.  I wanted to CRY my eyes out!  A little bit later, when Jarred was down, Brody actually went and got his little plastic hammer and saw and went to work on Uncle Mike's hands.   I so wish Brody could fix those fingers.  That purity.  So beautiful!  Such a sweet boy.  Okay, it's over, check to make sure your heart is still beating, now that it's all melted and what not.

 Shout out to Tonja, Michael's aunt, faithful blog reader and fellow Diet Coke lover!

Happy 13th birthday Caitlin!  Love those bangs!

Yes, we had the waiters at Champp's sing.  Yay for birthday ice cream!!

There was another birthday table across from us and this guy was wearing a jacket that said "Original Soulboy No. 1"  You know I had to get a picture of that!

Look at that birthday boy, ain't he cute?  I just realized there were a lot of 3's going on.  Caitlin's 13.  Michael's 33.  Brody's 3 (it wasn't his birthday, but still).  And we had 3 bowls of ice cream.  Cheers!

Oh! I just thought of another one - Baby Grey is 3 months old!  I look old and tired and wrinkly here but look at Greyson - he's such a sweet ball of rolley, poley babyness.  I loved holding him all weekend!

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

I missed it!!!!

I am a news animal.  I always want to be where the BIG story is.  Seriously.  I cried the other night because I wanted so badly to be on a plane to Texas.

Get what happened last week.  Was it Thursday? Yes, Thursday.  Thousands of people were going to be at this big "House Call on Capitol Hill" to protest the Democrats' health care bill.  I'm usually at the White House.  Which I LOVE.  For real, it's a dream come true, not trying to sound cheesy here, but it just is.  But, when my boss asked me if I had time to go field produce from the Hill for the House Call, I was like "Yesssss."  I just knew that was the "big story" for that day, so I wanted so badly to be in the middle of it.

Yay.  I was happily doing interviews, and blogging from the Hill.  We had great elements for a package, la dee da.

THEN.  I got back to the office and my friends told me the news.  Obama showed up at the briefing today.  I was like, Are You Freaking Kidding Me???  I was just wondering when he was going to show up and surprise the press corps and I was thinking about how I should be carrying my camera in there just in case it happens one day.... and it happens on the ONE DAY I missed the briefing.  Arghh!!!

Later that afternoon, I was reading the transcript of the briefing and it broke my heart all over again:  :( Boo.  Barry, please come back to me.

THE PRESIDENT:  Hey!  Hello, everybody.  Please sit down.  Good afternoon, everybody.  I wanted to come down and just talk a little bit about health care before Robert gives his regular briefing.

Photo Credit: AFP

Good Monday Morning!

I know what you're thinking.  This girl has totally dropped the blogging ball again, and now she's back and trying to be all cheerful on a Monday morning? Whaaat?

Three letters for you. P.S.L.  Yep.  I'm having a sweet reunion in my mouth right now.  Oh, Pumpkin Spice Latte, how I love you and how I've missed you.  I'm so glad we're together again.

I'm going to do a bit of a random thoughts, update blog, mmmkay?  Good.

1.  Notice the red cup?  I'm am just not about pushing Christmas before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, I wish STBX would do orange or brown cups for the month of November.  And Christmas music? Please.  Not now.  I'm already hearing it scanning on my radio, and noticing snowy and Christmasy commercials.  Hold on a minute!

2. It's going to be like 73 degrees today. Totally awesome for November!  LOVE not having to tote or wear a coat.

3.  I want stuff.  I've been such a good girl for the last year, working my tail off and not buying music, books and clothes, you know?  I got to enjoy a bit of a spending spree in October for my birthday... now it's like I've awakened the beast or something!  I walk by store fronts and I hear that little voice in my head ("I want that!!!")  Seriously.  I didn't even hear that voice for a while, now it's interrupting my thoughts!  Things I'm drooling over now are two CD's - Harry Connick Jr. and Sting have new albums.  I want them!  And Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe's book. I want that too!  Maybe I can buy myself some Christmas gifts :)  So bad.

4.  Wardrobe malfunctions.  Two weeks in a row I blew it.  Both times were Fridays.  Two weeks ago, for the first time at my new job, I wore jeans on a Friday.  I felt cute and professional, since I still had on a black suit-like jacket and all... then I remembered, Oh yeah... I need to go to the White House today... felt a little underdressed.  I went anyway and I tried to duck in and out under the radar.  It wasn't that bad. Then, this past Friday... oh my goodness!  I ran out of the office in a hurry because President Obama was going to make a statement in the Rose Garden about the Fort Hood shootings and the bad unemployment numbers... um.... yeah... about a block from the office, I noticed my feet were really comfortable.

So, yeah... I was humbled... as I stood in the Rose Garden in my Nikes..........  how embarassing!! I was going to tell anyone who asked that I "just had foot surgery."  Haha.

5.  For the last week, I've been driving to work instead of taking the Metro.  If you're all "Green" and what not, don't hate... but I kind of like it better.  It gives me like an hour more a day to spend with my husband.  So, I vote for driving.  I'm going to see if that can be the new normal. :)  The drive in is beautiful!  Watching the sunrise over the Nation's Capital - not bad at all!

6.  Every time I see Dana Perino on Fox, I want to cut my hair.  I have such raging hair jealousness.

7.  I interviewed Howard Kurtz for a story a couple of weeks ago and he signed my book!  I'm such a nerd.  Helen Thomas is next, if I ever remember to take my book with me! :)