Episodes

As I've said many times before, almost every experience in life can be linked back to an episode of "Friends" (and if not, definitely "Seinfeld"), and this past week proves my point at least a couple of times! On Monday, Greg's sister and I went to the day spa to celebrate her birthday, and had fun times baking in mud, getting painted with seaweed goo, and lounging in humid "caves" sipping tea and crunching apples while surrounded by groups of girlfriends, numerous sets of fake boobs, and a few assorted elderly men in Speedos.

My favorite character there, though, had to be a guy lounging by the pool with a copy of Guns and Ammo propped up on his knees, which might as well have been a neon sign that said, "I'M A HETEROSEXUAL!!" in giant letters, because I assume that's what he was trying to accomplish. Unfortunately, Lisa and I were apparently in that episode where Phoebe's boyfriend unknowingly "hangs out of his shorts," because this guy was doing exactly that from our angle. Ew. Note to men: when wearing baggy shorts, keep your legs down. Women have mastered this art with skirts for centuries now...well, those of us who aren't regularly featured in tabloids, anyway.

Tuesday was more girly fun with my cousin, and we went to see the "Sex and the City" movie after a lunch that, by law, was required to include girly alcholic beverages. The waiter suggested we buck the stereotype and go see Indiana Jones instead, but no dice. Thumbs up to the movie, by the way, though it could have used some serious editing so as not to rival Schindler's List in length!

This weekend has been productive to the point of insanity: yesterday, we rented a U-Haul, picked up our new couch, went out to eat for Dad's birthday (yay!), picked up the desk one of my coworkers so kindly gave us, returned the truck with approximately 12 seconds to spare, shopped for poker night necessities (read: beer), and then had 10 guys over to play cards. I made myself scarce most of the night, since it's supposed to be a Manly Ritual that my male coworkers invited Greg into, and managed to unpack and organize the rest of our closets--hooray!

Here's what our new couch looks like, with the computer desk in the background...you can also see that we finally painted the kitchen (green), and that I still haven't finished the edges and corners.

This couch was a beast to haul and unload, so we found ourselves embroiled in the episode where Ross buys the couch and can't get it up the stairs...except that instead of Chandler around to make wisecracks, we just had Keira in her exersaucer (aka The Circular Prison) crying in the house while Greg used the force of his rage to haul the sucker in, while I did my feeble best to help. Luckily, we did not have to "PIVOT!" because we have double front doors, though.

But enough about us--on to some new pics. Here's Keira doing some important emailing (at the old computer desk), but nicely taking the time to pose for a quick photo:


After 20 months of almost completely ignoring her stuffed animals, she's now fascinated with them, and this kitty in particular. She decided to sleep with her the other night, and to share her waffles with her the next morning.

In honor of the fact that her parents are Lord of the Rings dorks, she wields cousin Brandon's sword like a pro. (When she was born, Brandon went around telling people that his new cousin's name was Keira Elven, and she does have that ear....)

Here she is in our (still-ugly) backyard with Grandma W. Landscapers should be ready to start within the next week or so!

And now, we'd like to introduce Binks' new face (yes, like Derek Zoolander, she has many varied expressions). She busts this one out when she's excited about something, such as if someone asks her if she'd like to go to the park or see the grandparents:

Here's a video I took the other night, when Keira decided that, like Mommy, she thinks our bathtub is the Best Place in the Universe. She played in there for AGES, so I took the opportunity to get her to show off a few of her new tricks for the camera.

Finally, here's a pic from a year ago, when Greg and I took Baby Keira to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. This year's relay is next weekend, and we're hoping it will be under 100 degrees! I'm in charge of my school's team, and we've been working really hard to raise money with T-shirt sales, a rummage sale, and a silent auction...all of which have added to the craziness of the past couple of months, but it's well worth it and an experience I'd definitely recommend!

Why does she insist on growing so fast?!