Really...do we need more snow?!

Ugh, this weather is the worst, isn't it? This is the one time of the year that I HATE Ohio. Nothing like getting 12 inches of snow dumped on you overnight. I had a funeral yesterday morning, so I didn't have to worry about driving my usual 45 min (turned 1 hour 30 min) drive to work. I was thankful when my lil bro, Jake, came and picked me up; but I am sure I looked funny trudging through the large snow drifts in dress pants and dress boots with a heel. Im lucky I didn't fall on my ass, like I am known to do. It was 4 o'clock by the time the plows had finally started moving the snow around our house and Kevin spent a good 4 and 1/2 hours outside in Papa's skid loader pushing our driveway, our neighbor's driveway, a woman down the road's driveway, and the end of the road that the plows just happened to miss, clear of snow. I am just thankful it didn't drift overnight because our county sucks for snow removal. You see most people with blades on the front of their trucks driving with them down because it seems no one else will do it. I know our neighbors are thankful for Kevin clearing their driveways though. The one guy is nearly 70 and doesn't need to be out in it and the lady down the road is home all week by herself since her hubby drives truck. I just know that I am ready to be done with the drab weather. I want to smell the fresh grass, hear birds chirp, and not have to let me car warm up for 45 min before I get in it to go. Oh Spring, where are you?! Anyone down for doing the Spring dance with me? If my calculations are correct, we simply need to hop around flapping imaginary wings eating peeps...

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye

Yesterday was a day that my family has been dreading for a while...my little brother, Joe, left for the army. I took a vacation day to spend as much time with him as I could. On Monday night, Kevin and I went over and played chicken scratch (or the game of the devil as we call it) til around 10 at night.
Tuesday, I went to mom's house and just chilled out while Joe went through his crap trying to pack up what he needed. He gave me his "Chicken Robot" dvd which I am way excited to watch and Kevin and I inherited his bed...I need to sanitize it with acid first, but I am thankful to finally get to sleep on a normal bed. Kevin and I have been sleeping on a suped up futon that I have had since I was 16...not the greatest on the back. Now we have a bed for our spare bedroom so people don't have to sleep on our couches when they come over, which will be nice.
So anyways...side track. My grandparents came over to say goodbye to Joe and that is probably the worst time I had with the whole goodbye thing. Just the look on my papa's face about killed me. After that emotional train wreck, we went to sandusky to pick up his shipping papers. Jake rode with me and we talked the entire way. That was nice, cause when the rest of the family is around, he doesn't really talk about him and his life...he just jokes. We ate at Olive Garden and then I had to say my goodbye. I thought for sure I would cry, but we just gave each other a huge hug, said I love you to each other, made our usual jokes about not taking the red pill, and said goodbye. I am very excited for him and know that he will do great. The only thing I can do now is be supportive, so I am trying to let that over-ride my saddness. I know that he would be upset if we all continued to be debby-downers. All I can do is write witty letters to let him know I am here for him. I sure will miss him though.

Party Shananigans

Kevin and I hosted our annual "Ugly Sweater Party" and Joe's going away party on saturday night. Kevin and I were worried that no one would show up since a plethera of our Cleveland friends had other plans. We ended up having about 30 people show up though and we had so much fun. There was, of course, ample amounts of alcohol and a great group of people. This combination results in the following:

-randomly yelling "shots!" and a stampede occurs to the kitchen area

-snow angels/wrestling in only underwear compliments of Joe and Kevin

-a beer fight where I ended up being attacked by Kevin and Jon and getting beer poured down my pants

-more shots

-beer pong

-random dancing to Kanye and TI in our living room (poor dancing)

-there is now a hole in the wall leading to my bathroom that Joe just happens to fit into perfectly (hmmm)

-finding urine in our upstairs hallway in the morning (apparently someone thought the wall was a urinal?) (yuck)

-more shots

-Haley crying a little on Joe's shoulder

-waking up and making sausage casserole for a bunch of hungover individuals

-some really funny photos that remind us how stupid we got the night before

I am glad that Joe had a great time. He was laughing non stop all night and you could tell he had fun. It was great watching everyone interact since it was the first time my cleveland friends were meeting my bellevue friends. I am glad everyone got along and only one wall got peed on. Next time, depends will be issued to anyone that looks guilty.

Hello Blogging World

So this is my first blog. Interesting. I thought it may be nice to do since my sister-in-law does one. It is a nice way to stay updated.
I am currently a little sad. My younger brother, Joe, will be leaving for the army on the 20th and flying out the 21st. I was fine with it until this morning when I read his blog regarding leaving. Needless to say, it finally hit me like a ton of bricks that he is really leaving. I thought I would be ok with this since I have lived pretty much my entire life with a long distance relationship: my parents divorced when I was very young and my father has always been a ways away from me. So, basically, I thought I knew how to handle a long distance relationship. Boy was I wrong. It dawned on me that I can't just call him up to talk when I need to like I normally do. I can't call him up spur of the moment to meet for lunch when I am bored. I can't call him and ask for favors. He is going to be hours away with only written communication for quite a while. I am not so much scared, ok maybe a little bit, about what he is going to go through. I am just going to miss him being around. I am wishing now that I had spent more time with him. It makes me realize how little I really do see my brothers and that makes me sad. I am horrible about keeping in touch with people, but I have always been one of those people that can pick up right where I left off, but I forget that others aren't this way. I went through a phase where I was very distant from my family, trying to establish myself and my husband as a family, and I am still mad at myself for that. I have made a promise to myself to write Joe at least once a week while he is in boot camp. I hate how it takes someone going away to really make you appreciate them. Why does it always have to be this way?! Well, I will keep the first one short. Hopefully my next one will be more cheerful!