whassup?

update on "sparky" the wonder dog. blood test came back clear and we are now trying a round of antibiotics and digestive meds. after this back for another blood test. if they figure out why his hips are so wide I may ask my doctor for the same test! HA!

and then we have this little gem:



my one and only baby...turned eighteen yesterday! yikes! seems like just yesterday that I was holding him in my arms for the first time. he didn't cry while I held him. he just looked at me with this "wth mamma" look and I looked at him with the "wth kid" look. he looked as scared as I felt. I became responsible for his life. he became my reason for living. I changed from that moment on. he came first above all. I did all I could do to make sure that he had the best life I could give him. I made choices that have affected both of our lives tremendously and all in the effort to ensure that he grew up feeling safe and secure.

we have been through a lot him and I. he has had more to deal with in his life time than he should have. he has grown into an incredible young man. he is bright, confident, and the guy that you want on your team. very loyal to his family and friends. funny, creative and grounded. he still has a long way to go and hopefully with one foot in front of the other will make good choices. I am so proud of you baby!

children are with us for a short time and then they are off on their own adventure and dan is gonna have one hell of a life. whatever he decides to do I have told him that he will do it "big". that's just the way he rolls...

and here he is in his most recent shot:



happy birthday baby! enjoy each moment and keep on being you!

recovering...

interesting question, isn't it?

here is were I am, now. recovering and no not in the sick, addiction (although quite possible), accident etc. sort of way.

recovering files, music, addresses and recovering from bouts of tears. lots of tears. my hard drive crashed and I lost buckets. it is not all gone, but what it will take to recover it is time. I don't seem to have a lot of that on my hands lately. I am feeling quite overwhelmed and quite in the mood to take the green garbage bag and start throwing it all away. I mean really. when I sit down and make that ever so helpful list of "things to do" I would like to add "sit on my ass and stare out in space".

I hate to complain as there are far more serious things happening in this world then my big, huge, worthless pity party. I really have nothing to complain about and yet I do. why is that? what is complaining doing for me? is it making things magically disappear. nope, dog still here. oh yeah, sparky the wonder dog avec widest hips in the west went in for more tests today. the doctor said that if everything comes back okay that she will finally accept the fact that sparky is just uniquely shaped and a bit different than the average dog. huh?

I think she just described ME!

in other news mom also made a trip to the doctor's today to find out why nothing has moved forward. no calls from the clinic and no calls from the specialist. cripes!

I had a meltdown last night and decided that I had nothing to eat and never will and will never enjoy the act of eating, EVER! like that was something new? my trip to the doctor's happens next wednesday where hopefully we will be told that I will have to eat like this forever or that I will have to eat like this forever. cause really what is the other option? oh yeah, let's start reintroducing those wonderful foods back into your life and see how it goes...

let me tell you how it goes. you eat good stuff, you get sick, you cry cause you once again want the good stuff and can't have it! in the steps to recovery I think I have finally entered acceptance. okay, partially, but I am starting to think that it is my only choice and so why fight it?

are ya still with me? okay so today was the oh so exciting vet trip, laundry, finish up an exciting project (that I will hopefully share with you tomorrow), and take the homeless man, I mean my son to get a haircut. he does not want one as he thinks he looks amazing with all that hair in his face and down to his knees. kidding, but did ya get that picture in your head or what?

so do you know where you are on your journey? share it with me, k? ciao!

quick update...

birthday week ended and I still need to post some pics! after my night with hal I woke up with no voice and still have no voice. sucks! also found out my uncle passed away and am missing the funeral as I am in chicago. bummer.

so yeah, in chicago and what a beautiful city. well, okay the downtown area that I have seen is beautiful and clean! we shopped all day down the magnificent mile and took tons of photos!

lemme give you the ole top five good and bad of the last couple of days, k?

the bad:

1. stewardess/flight attendant was in a grouchy mood

2. turbulence

3. $69.00 for room service (bottled water $6.00 each)

4. oprah is not taping

5. no hot tub!

the good:

1. gap rules!

2. nike town? fabulous!

3. whole foods is the best store on earth!

4. the most amazing architecture I have ever seen

5. I had a hot chocolate with rice milk and it was heavenly!

and there you have it. a quick update. off to dinner and more shopping! no budget baby! YAY!

oh you know the usual friday night....

doing self portrait with my buddy hal...

a fun little break....

inspired by emily

The questions & answers that generated my photos:
1. What is your first name? Nadia
2. What is your favorite food? blueberries
3. What high school did you attend? Louis St. Laurent
4. What is your favorite color? purple
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Jon Bon Jovi
6. Favorite drink? iced coffee
7. Dream vacation? turks & caicos
8. Favorite dessert? cupcake
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? artist
10.What do you love most in life? my son
11. One word to describe you? different
12. Your Flickr name? paper accidents




1. NADIA/AIDAN AMBIGRAM, 2. Blueberries, 3. Louis St-Laurent, 4. Just an Orchid, 5. Jon Bon Jovi, 6. Venti Iced Coffee, 7. massage room, 8. SWEETIE PIE, 9. Artists Field Bag, 10. Mother and Son, 11. united in different colors, 12. A Repose

fun! pics from birthday week to come and day five will have us pampering our toes!

happy birthday dolly!

it's her special day today! happy birthday to my awesome partner. sista from another mista laurie! so lucky that I get to share birthday week with you and all of our special friends.

last night we...



played at crankpots. fun! we were stalked by the paparazzi so look for shots in people, us and ok magazine next week. sheesh! you would think they would cut birthday girls some slack!

thank you to diane, shelly, angie, francie and trinity. I can't wait to see how all of our picks turn out!

now where is that coffee?



treasured memories tonight as birthday week continues!

day TWO!

wowzer! what a busy week we have ahead of us. last night was family dinner night where dan works and he somehow managed to skip out of work and join us. YAY!

I love being able to go to a restaurant and without too much trouble ordering a meal that I know is going to be okay for me to eat. I love that he thought of bringing a cake for dessert so that I could enjoy sweets as well! it is the little things that make it so special.



I was looking around at the table last night and seeing all the faces of my favorite people and how we were talking, laughing, joking around with each other. relaxed and just having fun over good food and celebrating. the celebration for me was so much more than it being my birthday or hers.



it is about celebrating moments and really being in the moment. I am so blessed to have them in my life! thank you all for an amazing evening and wonderful company. for awesome prezzies and such a beautiful card sarah!

as far as being older I have been thinking about doing a list of things as long as my age to do before my next birthday. I have seen other people do it and think it would be a great challenge. have to work on that! maybe while I am on the plane to chicago next week? still can't believe I am going to chicago! and for no particular reason other than to get away! kewl!

birthday week begins!

LIFE IS NOT A MATTER OF COUNTING YEARS, IT'S A MATTER OF MAKING YEARS COUNT.

happy birthday to me! and so far my day has been fabulous and let me count down:

10. slept in!

9. bright and early phone call from my favorite niece

8. phone call from ma and pa with birthday greetings

7. cutest puppy birthday card ever!

6. SA-WEEE-T puppy birthday present - Wii Fit!

5. homemade gluten free/dairy free blueberry pancakes and fruit salad courtesy of the MAN! YUM!

4. birthday phone call from the girlfriend!

3. surprise visit from dan who gave me the best mom birthday card ever!

2. sun is shining which is "perfect" for the beach bum in me!

and the number one thrill of the day so far (drum roll please)

1. an airline ticket to chicago next week as part of my birthday present...just sayin'!

woo hoo! off to shop, grab a java and then dinner with my favorite people!

ciao!

TGIF and football?

lucky me got to be a seat filler at last nights game. not "LUCKY ME" in the way that a child would react when they just got a new puppy. more like "lucky me" in the way that a child would react to being told that they had to spend the week with aunt mavis with a mustache. ya, that kind of lucky.

oh sure there were footballs being tossed at my face at every touch down. I was almost taken out by the man beside us as he tried to grab the ball sitting at my feet. I was focused on not getting hit in the face! my friend who was sitting in front of me turned around and grabbed it. woo hoo! a mini football! throw some art supplies and then we're talking!

there was also the added feature of pyrotechnics after each touchdown with a sprinkling of streamers. had I know this I would have had the camera ready...



that is one shot...here is another of the streamers...



there were the cheerleaders who were fun to watch and the mascots. a whole bunch of running around, smacking into each other all to get the ball across the line and do a little dance. kewl....

now if only we could get grown men to do this everytime they completed a task. say the underwear hits the hamper...do a little dance! garbage makes it to the back lane....dance baby! obviously we would skip the tights....so overdone!

my highlight of the night was finding cotton candy! woo hoo! the one and only thing besides water that was available for safe consumption. and the bus ride? not so much.

off to book my trip to ny to see my bon bon. thanks linda!

have a great weekend and hey! birthday week begins!