One in Four

Last week Andy sent me this email link from Deadspin.


"One in four stories about the Olympics has been about Michael Phelps. Frankly, we can't fathom what the other 75% of stories might be about. Reporters eating seahorses on sticks, we guess."


And said, "Much like your GReader posts... :)"


I laughed. Today I noticed there were ALOT of Michael Phelps blog posts and I realized as I kept hitting share that Damn, Andy's right I share alot of Phelps stuff.


Okay, so I'm alittle obsessed with Michael Phelps right now. I actually had to stop myself from hitting the share button a few times today because I realized maybe everyone else isn't quite as obsessed as I am. This doesn't mean I'm going to stop though, oh god no. That would be tragic.

Things are slow on the Justin Timberlake front these days, he's really not doing much but buying furniture with Jessica. Justin will always be my number one, heck he has his own category of posts on this blog, but I need something to obsess about during the JT lull and why not Phelps. He's got a lot going on right now: VMA presenter, SNL host, Entourage guest spot.


You have to admit he's a pretty freakin kick ass athlete and I can't stop wondering what those abs feel like in real life and just what he's barely hiding and teasing me with underneath those Speedo swim pants and board shorts.

Blueberries

294_9447_copy, originally uploaded by carinh.

We ran out of these blueberries that we picked ourself from Brown's Berry Patch so I had Doug get me some from Wegman's yesterday. They have been my afternoon snack of choice at work for awhile now. And I'm so disappointed, the ones from Wegmans just don't taste anywhere near as good as the ones we picked. I don't know if the ones from Brown's are just better or if they tasted better because we picked them ourself. Either way, I want more of these because the ones from Wegman's aren't very good right now. Maybe Deb's got some left steal I can aquire during game night tonight or maybe I can convince Doug to go blueberry picking this weekend provided Brown's blueberry's are still good for picking.

Sounds Fun

I'll play too. Here are my answers to Deb's iTunes random questions (using my iTouch):

What would the world be like if everyone were just like me? Just the Two of Us - Will Smith

What's the worst song on this iPod? Theme from Save the Last Dance - Fedro Starr

What should I be when I grow up? Board Meeting - Timbaland

What song should I never, under any circumstances, admit that I like? Wait a Minute - Pussycat Dolls

What's my horoscope for tomorrow (Friday)? Smalltown - John Cougar Melloncamp

What should I name my first born child? SexyBack - Justin Timberlake (Already have a first born so this would be my second born, Justin's a great name for a boy, don't you think? LOL)

I will also follow in Sharon's footsteps and provide a not so random 10 today of some off the beaten path or not in the top 40 songs I enjoy. Also, like Deb, on random till I come across ten I want to share:

1. Rescue Me - Hawthorne Heights (it's new and probably will be in the top 40 soon, but hey I like it alot)
2. Lips Like Morphine - Kill Hannah
3. Facing up - Kate Voegele
4. No Strings Attached - Nsync
5. Your Guardian Angel - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
6. My Hallejuah Song - Julianne Hough
7. Call of Distress - Lovehammers
8. Let Me Take You There - Plain White T's
9. Stay Away - The Honorary Title
10. Chloroform the One You Love - Flickerstick
11. One of Those Nights - The Cab
12. Happy - Saving Jane

Ok I'll stop now :) I noticed something, it appears I don't like a lot of off the beaten track hip hop. The majority of the above list I guess would be classified as alternative rock. Interesting.

August in a nutshell

I have really been slacking on this blogging thing this month. I thought I was getting better at it. In my defence alot has been going on this month and blogging just wasn't at the top of my mind. I suppose it should be quality of posts not quantity, huh.? Here's August in a nutshell.

We started the month off celebrating Riley's 3rd birthday. The theme was Scooby Doo, of course. Her party was so much fun, my favorite party so far. I loved the way everything turned out from the setup of the party to the decorations to the cake to it not raining. She had 3 friends from school come and I loved seeing her play with them outside of school. I also remember the look on her face when everyone was singing Happy Birthday to her. I wish I could have captured her joy on film. I've never seen a kid blow through presents as quickly as she did. I couldn't keep up. I really need to get the thank you cards in the mail.



Entire set Here.

Then we had some very sad news a few days later that basically turned our lives upside down. My father in law passed away. It was not sudden and something we all knew was going to happen, but still none of us were ready for. I miss him very much. I'm not going to go into details because I don't think Doug would want me to.



This photo was taken on Thanksgiving and I think is one of the last photos I have. I wish I had taken more. I'll never forget the last things I remember him saying to Doug. "You just out in the neighborhood driving around and decided to stop in?", "I told you I wouldn't make it to Riley's next birthday, but I did." Doug helping him with water, "That hit the spot."

We had several vacation plans for August that we continued on with because Doug's Dad told him, "Go out and live your life, have fun. Don't worry about me." So we did and those words will be with me forever.

We went to Alexandria Bay with my parents. We took a boat tour, Riley got to drive the boat, saw two castles; Boldt Castle and Singer Castle, and Riley had Smoore's for the first time. I found a really expensive dark chocolate to use in hers since she can't have milk.






Entire set Here.

The next weekend we went to Camp Mead in the Adirondacks with our friends the Gotobeds. We went to Great Escape, did some hiking, canoeing, and swimming, played some games, watched Michael Phelps kick ass!, and then stopped in Lake George on the way home for another boat ride. Some of my favorite photos from the trip:





Entire sets Here, Here, and Here

The fun didn't stop there. I also attended a wedding, bridal shower, and wedding poker night for our friends Kai and Hannah. Riley ate chicken feet which I don't have a photo of. I'm so happy for Kai and Hannah. They are such nice people. Hannah is incredibly greatful for everything and she makes me realize just how much I take for granted in my life.



This is by far one of my all time favorite photos. To me the exposure and composure are great and I really captured the emotion. I think this is probably one of the best photos I've ever taken. I love it.



Rest of the sets, Here, Here, and Here.

And guess what there's more. We managed to find time to go blueberry picking, goto the zoo twice, have dinner at Chris and Deb's new house twice, play some Rock Band, goto the Drive-in a couple times, and if you can believe it even relax and do nothing a couple days. I think the rest of August will be more of the relax and do nothing. Now that I've put it all out there, that's ALOT in one month.

Dad Heckman, We are having fun, we are living our lives. We love you so much and miss you terribly.

What the F#@!? Isn't she alittle young to be shaving?

Daddy and Riley are on vacation this week by themselves. It's nice that they get to spend some quality time together. When I arrived home from work last night, I immediately noticed that Riley had a new bandaid on her leg and it in fact was covering a boo boo. When I asked what happened, this is the story I was told from Daddy:

"I was playing Guitar Hero and Riley was in the bathroom. She had the door closed when I went to check on her. I tried to go in and she said, NO! I'm doing something, go play another song. What she was doing was shaving her legs. She had my shaving cream on her legs and was using my razor to shave her legs. She scraped her leg. "

I had to laugh and then worried what could have happened with that razor. Oh boy! Next I'm told of another interesting thing that happened. Daddy and Riley were outside most of the day. Riley playing in her sandbox and Daddy working on our new backdoor landing steps (which I should take some photos of). He had a piece of wood sitting on saw horses and Riley walked right into it and bumped her head. She didn't cry, instead she looked up all angry and said, "What the Fuck?" I didn't believe it, but Doug swears that's what she said. He said that he told her that was a swear word and not to say it, and I said, "Well at least she's using it in the proper context?"

I can't wait to find out what interesting adventures they had today.

Riley's first ride

Thought I'd share another layout. This is from the day Riley got her first bike and it's using the Basic Grey scrapbooking paper line called Euphoria which I was extremely happy to have back in June when it first came out. This was my first time being on the cutting edge of scrapbook products. LOL!

Journaling reads: After four trips to the toy store and you telling me you didn't NEED a bike, I finally convinced you we should get one. Surprisingly, it's not been the first time it's been me thats really wanted you to have something. We got it home and you helped Daddy put it together. You took it for a spin and were so happy. You loved it!