That he was here with me

My parents defintion of a "classy, timeless" Paris pic

                                               

 My dad's birthday isn't until tomorrow.

But my 4 o'clock cancelled, so let's do this dance!

On to the tribute...

Tomorrow my dad will be 63.

63.

And yet, he is still the same dad I grew up with. He hasn't changed AT ALL.

He is still the strongest, scariest, most intelligent man I have ever met.

And he's still a great Dad.

And so I wanted to say thanks...

Thanks for all the times you: bailed me out, picked me up off the side of the road, fixed my car, moved my furniture, made me tuna casserole, brought me lunch, dropped me off at the airport at midnight, picked me up at the airport at midnight, made me laugh, taught me something, lit candles in Paris for me, bought me sneakers, slipped me money, believed in me, yelled at mean people for me, gave me blessings, taught me to be brave, and brought me delicious cupcakes for no reason at all.

It has always meant the world to me.

Thanks, Dad.

Love,

Oreo

 

But it's only in my dreams

Whenever someone says that they are going to blog about a dream they had, I get so excited. I mean, what is more exciting than someone else's dreams?

Umm..yeah...just about anything else.

I think I'd rather proof read your tax returns than hear about your dreams. (Unless you are my client, in which case I will say "Oh, that's fascinating. So what happened after your mom turned into a snake?")

Anyway, in classic TSC tradition, we are going against everything we stand for.

This blog post is about my dream last night.

So..me and my whole family were staying the little ski resort town that my sister Erin used to work out. It's literally for the super rich only. I babysat there and they gave me an IPOD as a tip.

Anyway, so it's Christmas time and we are all there.

We open all of our Christmas gifts one night when I realize that I got NOTHING. Not one gift.

And this becomes the central theme of the rest of the dream.

For some reason, shortly after the gift opening, my dad starts drinking all those little liquor bottles and is headed for alcohol poisoning. I turn to my shocked and concerned family members and say "I don't know if any of you realize this, but I got no gifts"

Of course, in my dream I had resolved to say nothing and be a total martyr. I frequently do this in real life. Of course, as in real life, my resolve lasted two minutes.

So then my mom ends up going back up to our vacation apartment (?) and is followed up there by a pot dealer.

These other thugs won't let us on a elevator to go and save my mom. Not sure why. But I keep saying to them over and over "Bottom line is, I didn't get any gifts".

I think I woke up about then. Luckily for you, dear readers.

Anyway, there you have it.

Fascinating, eh?

Lori Ann

Not crying on Sundays

 Early Sunday Evening Life Updates

I hate that the weekend is almost over. I would love for the US to transition to a 4 day work week. But it would probably only make me want a 3 day work week:) 

This is what I did so far this weekend:

Saw this movie:

It was pretty funny. I did feel guilty though as I abandoned my brother to seeing Smurfs 2 with my nieces. He is a really good sport. 

Speaking of nieces, I hung out with those crazy girls for a few hours yesterday. 

The nail polish rarely lasts even a whole day. I just want them to know it's important to take care of themselves.

Baking. I've recently gotten obsessed with making peanut butter cookies.

My mom made both the girls Amish style aprons. They are SOO cute:) 

I really wish these pictures told the whole story but they are only a small glimpse into our crazy girl's day out. These are the funniest, coolest, and prettiest girls in the whole world. 

Yesterday I also walked 5 miles. I was trying to meet my fitness goal of walking 15 miles this week. I only made it to 13 total. I had planned to walk 7 miles yesterday but called it quits after 5 when I started to feel a little light headed:) 

That didn't stop me from going to the gym at 9:30 pm yesterday night. 

Here are various 

pictures of me

when I am done 

working out.

I look so insane.

I'm not sure what 

drives me to 

take these

pictures. Besides

sheer narcissism.

My sister spoke at church today. It was a great talk. The personal confession was a little less shocking than what I like to see, but I'll give her a pass. I'm not all that sure that Danielle has much to confess to anyway:) 

Katy really hung in there until the closing hymn. That's when she finally gave up on life. 

Danielle thinks I'm singing hymns on my ipad. Hah.

Speaking of siblings, I never really got to document this. 

The mature and one year older siblings

Danielle is officially the party decorator for all parties now

My dad made these ribs. So crazy.

Their combined age and a nod to the upcoming Paris trip!

I just love this one

                   Lori Ann

Such a sweet surprise

Ok, let's make it official and call this

"The long summer of tedious health and fitness updates from Lori".

I am getting bored of this topic.

But will that stop me from blogging about it? Of course not.

So, anyway...

I am always looking for signs that I am transitioning into a healthy person. Instead of a "this is just a manic few months of working out to be shortly followed by regaining all the weight and then some" type person.

A few things that I have noticed lately that give me hope:

1. It looked like it was going to rain the other day right before I left work. I was grumbling to myself  "It better not rain and ruin my walking". Holy hannah...old Lori would have prayed for rain as a reason to get out of walking.

2. I realized today that I have been going to the gym (at LEAST 2 times a week) since April. It's August now, b@$tches!

3. I have 7 workout itunes mixes. (including the much dreaded "5 mile mix") 

4. Today, after walking a few miles and working out I was so excited to leave the gym and treat myself.  I was going to stop at the CVS and get myself....drum roll, please.... a giant flavored water and wild cherry tic tacs.  Not a box of tasty cakes. Not a king size kit kat. Not 3 cokes and a bag of pretzels. (All things I've stopped to get myself before). I STOPPED FOR FLAVORED WATER AND TIC TACS, baby!!

5. When I got to the office, somebody had brought donuts in and I didn't even stop to smell them, much less eat 2. Or 3.

So, there you have it.

Maybe I am really becoming the healthy Lori.

Weird.

Anyway, those wild cherry tic tacs are calling my name:)

Lori Ann

If I sat and smiled

It's only 9:22 am.

It feels like it should be like 3:17 pm or something.

I have seven appointments in a row beginning at 10 am.

*I just literally put my head down on my desk in defeat*

I already had an 8 am appointment.

And I walked two miles before work.

I might walk a few more after work.

If I survive.

It's 9:26. Only 4 minutes have passed.

Holy Hannah, it's going to be a long day.

This super excited and upbeat blog post brought to you by:

Lori Ann

p.s.- about 26 days until PARIS!!!

You don't think he's drowning them, do you?

I decided to walk outside today, instead of on the treadmill.

It is my version of the perfect summer day today. About 75, bright blue skies, and a chilly breeze.

Holy hannah, I forgot how much I loved walking outside.

I've been on that treadmill for months now and I honestly loathe every second of it.

But walking outside absolutely inspires me.

I only walked two miles (I had to get to work) but I could have kept walking and walking forever.

Especially with my completely awesome itunes mix. Which has everything from The Beatles to Sir Mix a Lot. Nothing quite as jarring as going from 'Let it Be' to 'I like Big Butts'.

Anyway,

I am glad it is a beautiful day today. It's my beautiful sister's birthday, after all.

And even though I said it yesterday, I wish her the best of birthdays and an amazing 36th year.

Lori Ann

p.s.- Danielle- next year it will be me, you, and the picture of Jesus. Be warned!

Strong and Kind

It's our family's unofficial twin day.

Otherwise known as the day we celebrate the birthdays of David and Danielle. 

Their actual birthdays are August 3rd and August 5th- born a year and 2 days apart. 

So we usually meet in the middle and do a twin style combined party. 

 I have recently learned the "joys" of this type of combined party when my nephew Jack was born one day after my birthday. It gave me an appreciation for the good naturedness of my older siblings. It's not easy to always share your birthday. 

Anyway, enough about us October babies...

Happy not exactly birthday to both of them. I couldn't have asked for better examples, better leaders, better friends. 

You are both everything that I ever aspire to be. 

Lori Ann