She talks to angels

To my dear niece

Katherine Danielle

 on the first day of your (likely to be) 4th tempestuous year of life.

I have been your aunt for 4 years now.

Well, 4 years and about 8 1/2 hours.

And when I am old and gray, it shall be your childhood that I remember most.

 I was lucky enough to be there for most of it. 

I remember everything.

 From the day your mom hid you as a newborn on top of the armor so that you could sleep peacefully in a house full of wild little ones.

 All the way through today, when you wouldn't go to the park with me because you wanted to spend time with your "mum-ba".

And every adventurous day in between.

If Jack is the passion, James the humor, Elly the magic

 then you are the love, Katy.

You love your family so much.

 You remember everyone.

You take care of everyone. 

You are beautiful inside and out. 

You are the precious moments girl, the animal lover, the mama's little helper, and the beautiful blue eyed baby we never knew we needed so much.

You are our only Spring baby and while it may (ok, it definitely does) sound cheesy,

I've always felt that Spring was the perfect season for you to be born.

You are the bearer of warmth and sunshine in our family.

And yes, while we might fight about everything from Porto pots to cookie baking, there hasn't been a day that has gone by in the last 4 years and now almost 9 hours that I haven't thanked God for you.

For our Katherine Danielle Monroe. 

I love you so much and I look forward to another year of bubble baths, experimental baking, screaming for no apparent reason, secret club sleepovers, rapid outfit changing, silly dancing, and pure Katy craziness.

Love always.

Aunt Lori

No Comment

I haven't commented on any one's blog lately. 

I feel bad about that because there are a million things I usually want to say. 

But; fellow bloggers, know this..

I am obsessively reading your blog, even if I don't comment!

Tomorrow I am going to update you on my new BFF Jennie and how she is a bad influence on me. 

She convinced me to call out of work at midnight, forced me to let her dye my hair, painted my nails a shade she called "hooker red", made me listen to an entire Weezer album, and got me addicted to playing Rock Band.

She routinely criticizes both my baking and my Spanish accent. 

It's kind of a friendship made in heaven. 

Anyway,

I will leave you with; instead of your daily Sugar, a picture of Sugar's latest work.

.\ She was mad because I wouldn't give her any pizza. 

Lori Ann

Word Up

Ok, so..

I have come up with a plan to live in my car from August to December.

To both save a ton of  money and confront my fear of homelessness.

 (I am pushing all of my clients to confront their fears this week)

I think its a brilliant plan.

My mom keeps saying "No, absolutely not".

I think she is jealous that she didn't think of it first.

I am writing about weird stuff because I am so tired lately.

I think I have seasonal affective disorder.

I loathe summer and as it gets closer I feel more and more exhausted.

And then, on that first real day of fall, when the leaves are starting to fall and the wind is chilly, it's like I wake up and am SO happy and energized.

Anyway, if these are my only problems then I am a lucky girl indeed.

Word up.

Lori Ann

Your daily Sugar

Tick Tick Boom

Random Sunday Night Updates

 Look what I got done at Staples for only 9.99.

 It's one of my favorite pics of the kids.
 (it's just missing the Kat)

 I slept over my friend Jennie's house again last night.

 We made scones.

 They were strange.

Then we played rock band until 3 am.

We kept playing that song "word up" and now I can't get it out of my head. 

Sugar was lazy today and didn't clean the apartment.

 Maybe she'll get her act together and we can get it done in the morning. 

Word Up

Lori Ann

I'm only me when I'm with you

Dudes, what's up?

I have been going out a lot lately. Kind of leaving my hermit existence behind. In the process I've also been neglecting Sugar. Which makes her angry and leads to stuff like this. 

So, anyway, tonight I was hanging out with my friend Jennie, her boyfriend Jake and their friend Susan. All of them are extremely hilarious and after watching the new Footloose we were feeling super inspired. Which  led to us making duh..duh...duh...

Our OFFICIAL SPRING/SUMMER 2012 TO DO LIST!

1. Go to a evangelical church. (not in mockery, but for the experience)

2. Go LARPing. (Live Action Role Playing)

3. Susan has a personal goal to hook it up with her manager 

4. Dance all night 

5. Steal Mr. Squeakers (our friend Amanda's cat) back from her ex-boyfriend and his new weirdly older girlfriend.

6. Take artistic pictures. Like one of us posed as a tree, while someone else in the picture cries- you know, those pictures that everyone pretends that they get.

7. Go to Harry Potter World. Not sure if this is going to happen but super excited that Susan loves HP as much as me!

8. Jennie has a goal to read all the HP books. Or else our friendship is over!

9. ******************************** (cannot be listed- don't worry, it's not illegal. Just slightly immoral)

10. Karaoke

11. Help the Elderly

12. Resolve our childhood issues (Jennie, Susan, and I are all therapists and Jake's mom is a therapist)

13. Go to a concert (anyone but Santana)

So, yeah. It's going to be one crazy summer. I will keep you posted as we accomplish all of the above!!

Lori Ann

You were right for me

Most of my clients (like 99%) suffer from depression and anxiety.

 Sometimes it's their primary diagnosis, other times it's just part of a greater mental health issue.

A visual imagery technique I use to help cope with the depression/anxiety  is

 "Moments of perfect happiness".

Which is as simple as it sounds.

I ask them to describe one or two moments of their lives which were moments of perfect happiness.

This helps those who are unable to see the positive in their past or future. 

As I was doing this with several clients today I started thinking about what are the moments of perfect happiness in my life.

 Here's some that came to my mind.

1. Seeing my mom enter the front door of the mission home to pick me up from the mission.

 A minute later we were both laughing and it thrilled me to hear the elders say "Now we know where Hermana Hinsdale gets her laugh"

2. This one night when my sisters and I stayed overnight in a fancy hotel in Greensboro.

 We get to the GC ( Golden Corral) and Erin went up and got like 8 different desserts and kept saying

 "What's wrong? Haven't you seen fat people eat before?"

I couldn't stop laughing. 

3. I was sleeping in the living room at my sisters house, sometime around Thanksgiving.

 At 5 am I could hear someone get up. It was Elly (at age 5).

She was holding little Christmas ornaments in her hand and she kept mumbling to herself  "We've got to decorate, decorate".

 It was the first time I realized that she really was a little like me.

4. Every single time I step out of my parents house I feel like the sky looks stunningly beautiful.

 And it makes me Pennsylvania happy.

I have a few others.

But lists longer than 4 always lose my interest:) 

Lori Ann

My heart will go on and on

Some of you may not realize this, but we Hinsdale's aren't super rich upper class people. 

We just seem like it because we are super classy. That's right. 

Anyway, we do have one priceless heirloom to our family name. 

An original menu from the Titanic, listing what was served on the night the ship sank.

Yes, as you can see from the picture below, the menu's were electric blue and apparently "chicken, hamburgers, jello, and bread" was being served that fateful night. 

Now, here's where I reveal the truth. This isn't really a real menu. Gotcha.  It's one my mom made up for her "Titanic dinner", which she insisted we all attend. As "characters" from Titanic. (I kept reminding her that these were REAL people, but whatever)

Anyway, the dinner was delicious. Or at least that is what I heard. Apparently the Titanic didn't cater to vegetarians... strangely, just like my parents. 

My mom made Waldorf salad and we talked about how sad it must have been and theorized about what each of us would have done if we'd been on board. 

It was kinda fun and cool. Just like my mom.

The evening ended on a controversial note when my dad stopped my mom from reenacting the sinking of the ship's captain (who was played by Thomas the cat). She was either going to put him in the bathtub or spray him with a water bottle or something. 

Then THIS happened.

It was the best part of the night. 

I love my family.

Lori Ann

p.s.- I don't know if any of you are on Pottermore (the official Harry Potter website). I got on yesterday and they sorted me into GRYFFINDOR. I never ever would have put myself there. So yeah, I'm a gryffindor, people. (Now I've just got to work on that whole "bravery" thing)

One way or another

I had some of my favorite work friends over last night for a sleepover/crafting party.

We ate pizza and Easter candy and had way too much.... caffeine?? 

Or something.

Anyway, 

We had face paint, crocheting, friendship bracelets, and adding goals to my friend Sandy's bucket list.

 ( pictured below)

It was pretty festive.

 We didn't really go to sleep until 5 am.
 (and all of us are in our thirties)

Anyway, she must have gotten really tired because when we woke up and looked in Sandy's bucket list book, the following goals had been added. 

HUG A MIDGET 

 SMACK THAT

LEARN TO USE UM CHUCKS? 

BELIEVE IN THE LEPRECHAUN 

 DANCE WITH HOPE

RUN WITH RAINBOWS 

 RAH

LISTEN TO THE OCEAN

My favorite one is "rah".

 Not sure what that goal is all about.

I think this is the first sleepover I've had in about 15 years.

It was completely epic.

 I will be featuring my craft creations in the next post. Don't be jealous!

Lori Ann

No se

Ok, so for the last couple of years I haven't really gone out in the sun during summer.

 One, because North Carolina was hotter than Hades. 

Two, because I'm a vampire.

 Just kidding.

 But not really.

Anyway, then my doctor told me that I was Vitamin D deficient. 

Every day (without rain) since I have made it a point to get out in the sun for at least 30 minutes. 

Which leads me to my point.

 I've always been jealous of my mom and both my sister's skin.

 They all have radiant, clear amazing skin.

 And Erin and my mom have really cute freckles.

 Which I've never had before in my life. 

Until now. 

These are freckles, right?

I took like 12 pictures today

(I believe that's the official narcissism threshold!)

 Trying to figure out if they were freckles

Or not.

As you can see, my life is consumed by important matters of self reflection. 

Lori Ann

61

I love this picture. It makes me look both evil and emo. It's a win-win. 

Oh yes,

For all of you doubters out there and all of you who say "eat responsibly and exercise" is the way to go..

I just lost 9 lbs on my 48 hour juice fast.

Bringing my total weight loss since December of 2011 to 61 lbs. 

61 lbs, baby! 

Vegetarianism and the occasional extreme dieting technique have been amazing! 

Yours truly,

An even more sexy

Lori Ann

For my Frenemies

Word has it that recently there has been some unrest amongst the 10 and under set.

They claim my blog is "boring". 

cough ..Cannon..cough

Well, there is a lot of things this blog is. It is: awkward, poorly written, self obsessed, not socially relevant, lacking in pictures of me in cotton dresses, a tedious chronicle of the minuate of my bizarrely uninteresting life, a tribute to my emotionally unbalanced cat, a scrapbook of weird photos of my sister's offspring...oh yes, it is all of those things and more...but the one thing it isn't is boring. 

I guarantee you that almost everyone that reads this blog is either laughing hysterically, crying bitterly, shrieking in either joy or pain, sobbing as their heart breaks, or perhaps slowly giving in to the inevitable rage that jealousy of my life inspires in others. 

No, but no one, should be reading my blog and saying "eh". 

So, instead of my usual 'blah, blah, blah', today I am going to be talking about a few topics that all kids love. Here we go..

Topic # 1- Eating healthy!

I have been a vegetarian for 100 days! Yay for me. I only miss barbecued ribs and chicken nuggets. Also, I am doing a 48 hour juice fast today and tomorrow. Today was intense.

Topic # 2- Investments

I am thinking of saving up for a nice camera. My iphone is great but I want to take weird artsy photos and make my eyes much bluer than they really are. 

Topic # 3- Crafting

My subway art continues to be abysmal. I don't think I have even one hint of artistic sensibility in me. Que tristeza.

Ok, well I hope you like all the new excitement, children. Buckle up for tomorrow when we will discuss mental illness and the costs of pet care. 

Lori Ann 

My favorite Easter Pictures

 Sugar

 She makes me nap with her when I am supposed to be cleaning.

Gosh, that girl needs to get her priorities in order.

 Mom, the girls, and the traditional Easter bunny cakes.

 I love this one.

My mom is such a crazy grand mom and the kids love her.

 Mom and Katy were singing "Nick knack patty whack give your cat a fish"

My dad redid Danielle's kitchen floor.

 And it looks AMAZING.

Stuff like this always makes me remember what awesome parents I do have.

 Even if they don't read my blog to hear the accolades. 

Today is my 100th day as a vegetarian.

 You know I'll be blogging about it tomorrow.

 Try to rein in your excitement!

Lori Ann

And the sky is gray

You guys, I just had the best dream ever!

And you know how much we all love listening to the rambling details of another person's dream.

So..tell me what Freud would think of this.

1. It was set in the future..I think.

We were all in some fancy high rise office building.

2. We were at war with each other and I think we were on the "good side" but George Washington was bombing us.

 No one wanted to believe he would do it, but he did.

 He also sent a lot of people in jet suits to surround the building with guns.
(they were hovering right outside our windows on the 50th floor)

3. Thomas Jefferson was on our side.

I had a lengthy conversation with him while he was in the bath.

He told me to run into his private bathroom to grab the Constitution, which we needed for our battle plans.
 (he looked like Ben Franklin..but clearly identified himself as Thomas Jefferson)

4. Right after the bombing started we all sat down to Christmas dinner with Chuck Norris.

 He gave us the gifts that were meant for the soldiers outside in the jet suits.

 I was kind of mad because all I got was a dollar store empty tin and copy of the second season of Little House on the Prairie.

5. My dad showed up and was kind of offended that Chuck had gone ahead and carved the Christmas turkey.

Chuck let him hang up a lighted wreathe and that seemed to make him feel better.

6. We finally started fighting back against the jet suit people.

Well, first we stole all the hidden money in the building but then we
(and by "we" I mean everyone else..I was hiding with Thomas Jefferson- who was still in a bathtub, but this one was filled with mud)

 started doing this coordinated shuffle dance which threw them off and gave us a chance to shoot them out of the sky.

Like I said...best dream ever.

So interesting, right? 

I solemnly swear never to blog in the middle of the night again!

Lori Ann

p.s.- Why doesn't google images have anything for "Thomas Jefferson in a bathtub" ?

Your daily Sugar

Hummus is the new black

I am feeling fairly incoherent these days.

 Which is why I am doing ANOTHER random post. 

Don't act like it's getting old..you know you love it!

 As promised I had hummus for lunch today!!!

 It was AMAZING.

Sweet, sweet hummus- where have you been all my life?

 Sugar, Sugar..'

.I got her some catnip today and she keeps racing across the room, stopping, and then pouncing on nothing.

At least one of us gets to get high.

 The infamous rainbow pancakes I made with the kids.

 It was a wonderful celebration of gay..umm, Irish pride.
 (you know, the leprechaun and the pot of gold and all that?)

 Danielle and I saw this old mill when we were driving through the back hills.

There are so many things like this where we live.

 After seeing the Colosseum and Notre Dame and everything else,

 I still find American history to be the most fascinating and beautiful.

Lori Ann

A non sweet post

I can't think of a coherent theme for tonight's blog. 

I try to limit myself to two posts a week about my cat.

I know the people want more, but seriously, we all need to pace ourselves. 

So, instead of blogging about the evil Sugar cookie...

Here are my random thoughts for today

 April 3rd 2012

 A crazy sunny day in Chester County, PA.

1. I tried hummus for the first time today.

HOLY FREAKING HANNAH..it was AMAZING.

 For the rest of my life.. the week I am having hummus on pita bread for lunch.

Boo-yah!

2. Did you know that, in Maryland, it's illegal to go through your husband's pockets while he is sleeping?

It's also illegal to mistreat oysters and throw bales of hay out of second story windows.

You're welcome.

I know I saved at least a few of you from a few nights in county up in Maryland with this timely legal reminder!

3. My parents called me on their way to a Phillie's game.

When did they become the teenagers and I,
the parent?

 They dragged me to a midnight showing last week and today called to taunt me with their activities while I was working at my office.

Aren't these supposed to be their golden years of blessed peace and rest?

4. Sugar officially likes mac and cheese.

 But only the spiral kind.
(Like mother, like daughter!)

5. I've been taking a lot of cat advice from my clients.

It can't be a bad thing.

It's not like mine and Sugar's relationship could get MORE dysfunctional.

6. The Pennsylvania sky is always so beautiful to me.

 I was driving home late tonight; at almost 9 pm, and it wasn't fully dark.

The sky was layers of the most stunning

 indigo

blue.

 I miss the sky the most when I am away.

In tomorrow's post I will reveal my Easter plans...which will not include any of the following: 

1. Easter egg hunting with Junior

2. Watching Junior Easter Egg hunt

3. Listening to stories about Junior Easter Egg hunting.

4. Eating ham.

Lori Ann

Let the good times roll

To Mom, Dad, Thomas, Sour Krout, and Uncle David,

Thanks for showing the Sugar Cookie a good time!

As you can see she's still recovering from her week of deli meats and chasing Thomas around the house.

 I really really appreciate you all.

Especially you Thomas, don't let them keep feeding you- I heard they are fattening you up for Thanksgiving! 

Thanks again!

Lori Ann
&

Sugar December