The Seven Spot

Annual Comeback Post!!

So I'm not going to, like, make a big deal about it this time...  But I'm kinda maybe actually looking forward to blogging again.  I'm sure I'll discuss this in a nauseatingly philosophical way in the next few weeks or so (if I make it that long this time), so for today, let's just get re-acquainted with a little re-cap of the year that was (it's been a year since I last posted!  Holy crap!).  Here goes:

January

• Started training for my 4th half-marathon.  Ran 4 miles for the first time in like, forever, in 17-degree temps and cried when I finished because my  hands were damn-near frostbitten.  Bought new running gloves.
• Continued our growing obsession with all things vino by deciding to splurge and attend the Premier Tasting event at the St. Louis Food & Wine Festival with Jesse & Karen.  This may not seem like a big deal to you, and certainly not something to include in a year's worth of highlights, but to us this was a very big deal.  It's the premier wine event in St. Louis, and we got to try some amazing wines, including Wine Spectator's #1 wine of 2008 (Clos Apalta; we even got to purchase a couple of bottles!).  We are attending again in a few weeks, so more on this to come.
• After 16 months, sold our other house!

February

• Visited my beloved alma mater with my beloved cousin Marcelle as she decided what college to attend in the fall (I'm happy to report my threats of ex-communication if she became a Jayhawk paid off and she is, indeed, a Tiger).
• Dan went on his 11th annual ski trip with his law school friends; I was neither invited nor gave a rat's ass (dig deep to this 2006 post to remember why I don't ski).
• Finally got off the "hard shit" - aka super-intense painkillers that I'd been on for a couple of years.  This was a very big deal.

March

• Karen and I hosted the Best. Party. Ever.  Since Dan & Jesse's birthdays are only a week apart, we decided to do a joint party (no weed involved) and organized a blind wine tasting event.  It was such a hit that it will now be an annual tradition. 
• Attended Baby T's  first birthday party!
• Cheered the Tigers to the Elite 8 for the first time since 2002!

April

• Decided to take on some household renovations and started meeting with a designer at Ethan Allen (it's "free!")
• Celebrated the beginning of another year of Cardinal baseball
• Attended book release party for our friend Angie Fox

May

• Crazy bachelorette party for one of my college & KD besties
• Cards/Cubs game where Karen & I tipsily (?) made clydesdales at Build-a-Bear (mine is named August after our city's great beer magnate)

June

• Started taking tennis lessons and joined a league at Shaw Park
• Traveled to Chicago for Marcelle's graduation
• Attended annual Missouri Trial Lawyers' convention at the lake (another excuse for good food & wine)
• Wedding in Kansas City for above-mentioned college bestie
• Hired a contractor for remodeling projects including lots of painting and building a wine cellar (lots and lots on this to come!  OMG* we love it!)
• Installed (or paid someone to install) new hardwood floors in our whole house!  Pics of this to come, but here's an in-progress:

 

• Celebrated our 2-year wedding anniversary at Charlie Gitto's, where we got engaged and also where our rehearsal dinner was held:

 
  

July

• Traveled to Door County, Wisconsin for annual Marsh family vacay; played a lot of farkle
• Saw Bob Dylan in concert for the 4th time, along with Willie Nelson & John Mellencamp (side note: the Willie crowd is quite different from the Dylan crowd, and no, I did not buy a concert t-shirt with a pot leaf on it).  And yes, my dad was with me (Dan, mom, and Jesse & Karen too).  I ONLY see Bob Dylan with my dad.  It's sacred.

August

• Wait for it:  Yes!  Spent another week in the hospital!  We couldn't end that tradition!  This time it was less of "umm, we can't quite put our finger on wtf is wrong with your insides" and more of "yes, you have a pretty serious case of acute pancreatitis" - I TOLD YOU ASSHOLES!!!!!
• Finally got a definitive diagnosis for not only acute pancreatitis, but also ongoing, chronic pancreatitis.  Once again, I TOLD YOU ASSHOLES!!  (which, it is apparently very hard to diagnose CP, although I managed to do it with a Bachelor's degree in Art History and 30 minutes on Web MD, but whatever). 
• Switched my ongoing care to my primary care doctor, the only one with half a brain.  Recovered quite nicely, I must say.

September

• Heidi and I finally but the bullet and joined the Junior League
• Helped Jesse throw a super-fab party for Karen's 3oth birthday
• New furniture arrived!  House finally feels like home!

October

• Vacation to Napa Valley with Jesse & Karen (we pretty much do all of our wine-related activities with them) and Greg & Christina - both couples whom I set up!

It's kind of hard to see, but the barrel has a heart and the word "love" on it.  Awwwwww...

• Threw a baby shower for my lovely sister-in-law Colleen and her soon-to-arrive baby girl
• SAW BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND IN CONCERT!  OMG OMG OMG!!!!!
• My brother Ben made the heroic decision to join the Army and shipped off to basic training.

November

• Hosted dinner club, used our new dining room furniture for first time and OMG it is so much better than cramming everyone around the kitchen table...
• Attended Dan's 20th high school reunion (um, my husband is like, OLD)
• Dan (or really Dan majorly helped by Karen) threw me a "Thirty-Faux" birthday party.  It was really my 31st birthday, but Dan took a lot of crap for not throwing me a party for 30, so this was sort of making up for that.  Which, OMG, pink & green monogrammed cake!!!!

I also wore a headband with a very big, sparkly flower on  it because, well, it was my birthday.

December

• Went on a romantic carriage ride through Tilles Park with BFF Amy to see the Christmas lights (long story but our hubbies couldn't make it and we did NOT want to forfeit our tickets)
• Celebrated Christmas at our home with Dan's family and my family, including my bad ass soldier Brother and darling 93-year-old Grandfather.  It was perfect.

*As a good Catholic and general disliker of tacky internet abbreviations, I cannot for the life of me believe why I am saying this so much.  But it means "Oh my goodness" in case you were wondering (no taking-in-vain here, I promise).

So, there you have it.  The Marsh 2009.  I'm really hoping to reconnect with my blog friends from way back when, so if I pay you a visit, put me back on your blogroll and Google reader, ok?

 

Marsh Family Christmas Tree, 2008 Edition

Saturday will be a sad day in the Marsh household.  We'll finally awaken from our sugar plum dreams, and will have to face reality.

Yes, the Christmas tree will finally come down.

This is only Dan & me's second married Christmas, so we're still nailing down our new family traditions, but there is one that, so far, we seem to agree upon:

GO COMPLETELY APESHIT OVER THE CHRISTMAS TREE!!!

We've got very high ceilings in our living room, so that means, naturally, that we need the absolute biggest Christmas tree we can find.  Last year, it was about 10 feet tall, but this year Dan decided to not mess around and came home with this massive 12-footer:

 

(Click on any of the pics to enlarge!)

Isn't it a beauty?  We can hardly stand to take down such a glorious display of holiday cheer.  Except that my stupid cat keeps eating the lights.  And the needles are falling off.  And, well let's face it:  this tree pales in comparison to next year's 14-footer.  Okay, it's time to come down.  But before we do that, let's take a little tour of some of my favorite ornaments...

Every tree needs a monogram or two:

   

Christmas is a time to celebrate love:

   

I found my prince!

The date we got engaged...

A few wine-themed ornaments:

   

And lots of Cardinal ones (this is Christmas in St. Louis, after all):

        

 

Someone's started running again!  Woo hoo!

 

One for each of our boys:

         

   

Commemorating the sale of our log cabin (finally!):

  

Go Tigers!

   

Memories of our Italian honeymoon:

 

RIP, Diet Coke (I've effectively cut it out of my diet, but more on that later):

 

A few from my childhood, lovingly handed down by my mom:    

A few miscellaneous favorites:

  

     

And one more of the glorious Marsh family tree of 2008, all lit up:

 

Happy belated Christmas to all!

CSA?

Is anyone out there a member of a CSA?  I'm thinking of joining one and would love to hear about your experience!  It seems like a great way to get fresh, local, organic produce, which I'm all about these days.  And you should be too.

Set Your Tivo!

Wanna see my uber-handsome dad on Dateline NBC this Friday?  Of course you do!  Who cares if the story covered is a bit morose?  It's actually very interesting, and you can see for yourselves where I get all of my good looks & charm.

Dateline NBC - Friday night, 10/9 central.

Welcome Back, Sarah!

Hello, hello to my long-lost blogging buddies!  Here's hoping that your 2009 is going as well as mine so far. 

And it's a welcome change.

We had a bit of a rough year in 2008, and to be completely honest I really didn't have the energy or inclination to blog about the experiences as I was going through them.  I suppose that blogs are really supposed to be a true journal of your life experiences, and I think in the future I might stick to that philosophy a bit more, but I really didn't want to turn this into a big b*tch-fest for all the world to see. 

The point now, is that I'm "back in society" (as my darling Danny says) and ready to catch up with you all.  To give you my updates, I've come up with a little something we'll call...

08/09:  A Study in Contrast*

2008:  Undergo four (count 'em) very painful and hard-from-which-to-recover GI surgeries

2009:  Advised by trusted GI docs that further surgeries are not needed (yay!)

2008:  Miss approximately 3 months of work due to said surgeries

2009:  Get promoted, even after missing 3 months of work due to said surgeries

2008:  Must rely on massive amounts of painkillers in order to function in daily life

2009:  Make the decision to get off painkillers and find natural pain management alternatives

2008:  Painkillers fight back, causing months of extremely difficult withdrawal symptoms

2009:  I fight back harder, and kick painkillers' asses.  Two more months and I will be completely weaned off the slimy bastards (double yay!)

2008:  Have no energy to exercise; gain 25 lbs. and lots of insecurities.  Still in pain, but with no painkillers

2009:  With the help of an *incredible* natural foods health counselor, drastically change diet and work on insecurity issues.  Lose first 10 lbs and become PAIN FREE!  (More to come on this- I have lots to say on the benefits of eating whole, non-processed foods for not only pain management but just "life management" in general...)

2008:  Continue to pay two mortgages (for a total of 16 months) due to really crappy real estate market

2009:  SELL HOUSE!  Be a normal newlywed couple without the stresses of double-house payments and chronic pain.  Fall more in love with husband for being so wonderful in 2008.  Plan big summer trip to Europe.  Thank God for bring me victoriously through once again, and using the experience to bring me closer to Him.  Enjoy being myself again!

*okay, so some of the '09 updates happened in late 2008, but you get the idea...

I really want to thank everyone for your emails and comments checking in with me, and to apologize if I didn't respond to you at the time.  I hope you will understand.

Leslie and I had a great talk the other night, and she told me that I really need to start blogging again because she knows I have so much more to write.  And I think she's right. 

It's great to be back!!

Bad Grammar Makes Me [sic]

A parking lot near my office:

I did not make this correction, only because some other smartass beat me to it. 

Funny story...  So I worked from home today, because I had a bad reaction to my new pain meds.  I was a little hysterical when I woke up this morning, and might have had a tinge of crying in my voice when I called my boss.  Flash forward to tonight, when I ask Dan to toss me a popsicle upstairs where I'm watching re-runs of "The Office."  SMACK!  It hits me right in the face.  Right below my eye.  Hard.

Call my boss crying, then show up with a black eye the next day?  I think I'll have some explaining to do... 

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Dan was out of town last week on a family vacation to Door Couty, Wisconsin that sadly, I had to miss due to being out on medical leave for the entire month of June.  Because I was so sad that I missed the trip, and because I have trouble sleeping when I'm home all alone, I decided to break the cardinal rule of the Marsh household:  No cats allowed in bed.

Even though Dan truly loves our cats, and often falls asleep on the couch with one (or both) of them snuggled up with him, he has a real issue with them sleeping in our bed.  I've learned to live with it; marriage is all about compromise, right?  Dan doesn't travel without me much, but when he does, I've been known to open up the bed to Henry & Jack.

The really funny thing is that I'm certain Dan knows that the cats join me in bed whenever he's gone.  I'm always extra-careful to wash all of the linens before he returns, but I get the sense that he sees right through me.  He's never said anything, probably because he knows I can't lie to him, and he truly doesn't want to know. 

The moral of the story is that I'll keep up the charade as long as I can, all the while appreciating the quiet understanding between a husband who loves his clean & orderly bedroom, and a wife who just loves to snuggle up with her kitties.  As I've told him many times:  Hey, I was sleeping with them long before I was sleeping with you...  HA!

Back in the Swing of Things

Recipe for the perfect Friday night:

Kung Fu Girl riesling & continuing education courses for my insurance license.  Good times.

Recipe for an even-more-perfect Saturday night:

Dinner with my sweet husband at our favorite Sushi place (yes, I did order chicken.  But we had some great champagne!).

I'm so happy to be back in the normal routine of life, even if I did totally dork-out on Friday. 

Recovery, Week 6

It's been quite a long road, but I'm happy to report that I'm doing soo much better!  My remaining stent (the biliary duct one, for those of you following along at home) was removed last Monday and thank goodness I wasn't admitted to the hospital and could go right home afterward.  Tuesday and Wednesday were reeeeeaaaalllyyy painful as my insides tried to calm down from being poked and prodded, but by Thursday I was ready to go back to work.  It sounds like it was a quick return, but remember that I'd been home for nearly 5 full weeks.  Since Friday was a holiday, Thursday was the perfect day to return; it was super quiet at the office and I spent most of the day chatting with my co-workers and cleaning out my inbox.  Friday I worked in my mailbox garden for a couple of hours and then we had dinner at my in-laws' (the super-strict lowfat diet is very difficult to follow when smoked ribs are on the menu, let me tell you).  Saturday was a wedding shower for my fave NYC girl (Suz, you are second!) and KD roomie Jen, and then Dan and I headed down to my parents' house for their neighborhood block party.  It was a whirlwind weekend, and probably too much activity (damn you, hindsight!).

Today I had all kinds of crazy abdominal spasms, but I don't think they were anything to be concerned about.  Hopefully they'll go away soon (fingers crossed).

Anyway, just wanted to check in with everyone.  I'm really thrilled to be getting back into my routine.  It's amazing how easy it is to take life for granted when you're trapped in your house for 5 weeks, but I'm certainly appreciating things right now!

The Blogosphere Just Got a Whole Lot Better

Emily has started not one, but two fab fab fabulous new blogs:

Green Beans & Cake is her eco-chic journal.  Make sure you check out her very first post, with a hilarious tribute to TOPH.

See Prep Run is her journal of her (our) training for the 2008 Chicago Marathon.  Now that I'm nearly recovered and ready to jump back into my training, she will serve as major inspiration.

Enjoy!