I'm back-sort of

After a long blogging hiatus I'm back.  We had one of our computers die and it took a while to figure out what was wrong.  We tried keyboards (nope), dvd rom drives (nope-although my computer really needed one because I was using the one from my first HP computer I got back in 2001), and finally a hard drive.  It turns out that Josh's data drive was actually the problem so it's coming out and I have my own computer back.

I also have been so busy with work that when I get home I want to spend what time I have with Maegwin instead of blogging while ignoring her.  I'm on a special project that I really hope will help propel me to a management position or at the very least fill out my resume for when I apply for one.  All is going well so far and I'm getting a laptop and will be traveling to Baltimore next week.  It's just for the day but in February it will be for several days during close to help transition people to SAP.  I'm good at training others and helping with acceptance & transition to new systems so I'm sure it will go well in the end.  Things are pretty tight around here money-wise too so a promotion definitely couldn't hurt.  :p

Back in September (wow has it been that long?) we ventured forth to California for my sister-in-law, Josie's, wedding.  It was an action packed couple of days and it was so nice to see everyone.  We got up at 4 am and my co-worker Todd came and gave us a ride to the airport.  What a trooper!  We were totally out of it waiting for our flight and we breezed through security so we had like two hours to sit around and wish we had just slept longer.

Maegwin was really great on both plane flights despite being rather sick on the way back.  People even commented on what a good baby she was.  When we first landed on Thursday we headed to Mom & Kevin's house to drop off the luggage and then we were off to visit with Nana and Grandpa.  I of course forgot my camera but thank goodness one of Grandpa's friends came over and had one that he let us borrow.  He and his kids also brought a really cute outfit for Maegwin and a coat that she will be able to use all winter.  Thanks, Mohan!
She met Aunt Josie who she thought was so funny she literally laughed for a good ten minutes at her.  We think it's because she looks like Daddy.

Then Maegwin met Aunt Amy-who I made a joke about being short. Sorry, Amy!  Josh says you are a good sport.  hehe

She loved hanging out with Nana (Bisnonna?).

But that Great Grandpa was shifty-he's a character.

We spent several hours there and were so tired when we left that we were literally keeping each other awake driving home. The highway was still full of cars. Ah, California how we miss you!
The next day was all about the rehearsal and the dinner afterwards. I actually didn't take a ton of pictures this day because I was furiously knitting on the blanket for Matt & Josie. I didn't get it done but it was nice to just sit back and visit with people. I did catch Maegwin learning lots of stuff from her cousins Claire & Emma. She looks quite studious, or perhaps she just wanted Emma's cookie.

She also spent some time playing on the little piano that we brought home with us along with a ton of fabric books. Thanks to everyone who let us borrow them. Maegwin loves them all!

We crashed out pretty early everyday but it made it much easier to shower in a houseful of people since we were up at 4:30-5 am before anyone else was making a peep. I also don't have a lot of wedding day pictures but Maegwin loved all the activity and watching everyone getting ready.

We hung out together while pictures were taken. The sun was too bright for us-we've become quite vampiric here in Ohio.

By the time we got to the church Maegwin was sacked out for all the professional photos but I think she looked cute slung across her daddy's shoulder.

I did a reading which I feel like went well and then it was on to the reception. No pictures again-though we have some great photo booth ones that can be found here and here. That's really the only family shots we have so I want to order some at some point.
The last day of the trip was the only one where we had free time for a few hours so we headed out to the city and met up with some friends. Jeremy, Cara, and Mike were all able to come out to brunch. We went to Andalu where there are bottomless mimosas and really fabulous omelettes. I had the gourmand. Yum! I miss good vegetarian food that isn't just "here have a dinner roll and some mashed potatos and corn or this nice iceberg salad".

Cara's boyfriend is nice and looks like one of the guys from Mythbusters! It was so nice to see everyone and we even dropped in on Jared. We sort of cornered him in his condo so he couldn't get away.

Maegwin spent a long time playing with a cat toy there. Then we headed home to pack up and visit a bit more. The next morning we headed out and really didn't leave ourselves enough time. We barely got through airport security and to our gate before they were boarding. Thank goodness for family security lines or we would have missed our flight.


Whew! Ok, that's enough typing for now. I am down to the other border on the blanket so I hope to have it shipped out before Thanksgiving. Really that's better than I did with Amy's wedding blanket and it will have taken a bit less than a year to complete. Laura, no getting married and asking me for a blanket for at least another 10-15 years. Long enough for me to forget and think it is a good idea again. Next blog I promise to share what I've been up to on the knitting front and some photos of Maegwin's first discovery of chocolate covered Joe-Joes. Oh and in other good news this week I can finally wear all of my pre-pregnancy dress pants so I'm very happy to have my work wardrobe back and be the same size I've been more or less my whole adult life.