Life's Little Blessings

I stumbled upon a new job over the weekend, Poop-Sitting. Yes, I really did just use the phrase "poop-sitting" so, before going any further, let me back up a few days and explain how I was introduced to this new-found profession.

Mike and I came down to Houston late Thursday night for our 1-month old niece, Elizabeth's, baptism. Despite our late arrival, Alexandra, Duke and Courtney were awake and eager to entertain. The family excitement has not weaned since...

To give credit where credit is due, Alexandra, who turned two in September, has been Chairing the social committee. She has kept us entertained with non-stop conversation and endless amounts of energy. We have had golf lessons, gone grocery shopping, done hair and make-up, cooked, made Valentines, played cheerleader, danced, watched videos, read books and taken at least one ride on every item in her garage that has 3 wheels or more. It has been a blast. A true gift for uncle Mike and aunt Ashlie.

Unfortunately, late last night (during the cheese course of our Valentines dinner celebration) an unwanted visitor joined our group... The Big D!

My guess is that Alexandra had gone so hard that she worked her stomach into a tizzy. And, despite several "Trojan Horse" attempts at disguising crushed Imodium capsules, we were unsuccessful at sneaking anything medicated into her system.

Which brings me to today... We were all dressed and ready to head to the church. Courtney's parents had just arrived from Austin and I was downstairs emptying the memory card in my camera, making room for afternoon photographs. Un-welcomed and unannounced, the "Big D" came back. We knew in an instant that our hopes of having Big Sister at the front of the church was far-fetched; actually, it was going to be quite dangerous for anyone within a 30' radius.

This is the reason I am sitting in a quiet, almost empty house on poop-sitting duty. I hate that I am missing Elizabeth's special moment, but in an odd-kind-of way I am honored to have a niece who will let me stay by her side when life (momentarily) loses its magic.

A couple highlights from our weekend:

Boys will be boys

Mike played in an indoor soccer tournament this weekend with one of his Greensboro friends, Gary Everhart. It was a round-robin style of play, so the day began at 9:00am and lasted until after 5:00pm.

The good news was they won! They were the undefeated champions of the (smelly) Twin City indoor tournament. Their trophy, a large pepperoni and cheese pizza from Dominoes.

The bad news was a goalie from the team they played for the championship... He had a major temper problem, and when the score hit 5-0 he lost his cool and head-butted one of Mike's teammates! Who in the world thinks about head-butting another person??? (Besides Zinedine Zidane) I feel like I just read something about this on my dad's blog - only he was talking about hippopotamuses in the African wild.

Here are a couple pics to document the victory (and the battle wounds).

Things look "different" today. Thanks for the advice and the prayers.

Whiney

Had one of my quarterly "I'm frustrated and overwhelmed" cries tonight. Not looking for pity, just optimism and prayers. I need my dad to come back to America so he can give me a "Big, you can do anything" talk. Settling for a glass of wine and a new i-tunes playlist (cheers to Beyonce).

(Lack of) Progress Report

I am embarrassed to admit that it’s only January 28th and, already, I am floundering on some (OK, most) of my New Years Resolutions. Here’s the progress report thus far:

Get More Sleep = F
5 hours last night, 4 the night before... Think this one might be hopeless.

Start Taking Vitamins = D
Still choking down between one to four a day (out of the nine I am supposed to be taking).

Stick to a Workout Schedule = F
I did swim laps last Wednesday... Maybe I could constitute one athletic activity a month as routine.

Walk Addie Regularly = F
We've been playing lots of fetch. Does that count?

Get Rid of Clutter = C
Slowly but surely.

Spend More Time w/ Grandparents = C+
Have helped Grandma print her Dancing with the Stars tickets off the Internet, download and print the free Suzie Orman book Oprah was giving away on her website, and open a CD full of pictures that my cousin sent her from Costa Rica over two years ago.

Maybe I should start over with February Resolutions.

Hip, Hip, Hurray!

It has been a near torturous wait but we finally received Mike’s Level-1 CFA exam scores, and he passed!!! Celebrations are an order for this weekend. (Now, if the Steelers can just win the Super Bowl... Mike will be on cloud-9!)

DGH 2009... Almost!

Wow, what an incredible week... 52 applicants, 41 interviews and 11 stellar women helping me to lead the way.

We have finished the Globetrotter interviews and are only days away from announcing our 2009 team. Thanks to the many volunteers who have been a part of this selection process. I love you all dearly!



(P.S. No clue what is on my face in this pic. I'm reflective!)

Proud to be an American

Regardless of political affiliation, most would agree yesterday was a shining moment for our country. A day of camaraderie and patriotism, both here and abroad. I appreciated Obama's emphasis on taking personal responsibility for our government and I was inspired by his focus on traditional values. He said that our challenges may be new, along with the tools we use to meet those challenges. However, "honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism... These things are old; these things are true." I could not agree with you more Mr. President.

I have traveled to many places where people are far less fortunate than we. It is because we are Americans that "our capacity remains undiminished." I believe we are keepers of a legacy, that our ancestors do have something to tell us, and that leadership by example is the most powerful form of influence known to man.

Top five reasons why I've been a bad blogger lately:

5. Have been busy getting ready for the 2009 Dustin's GreenHouse Globetrotter Team. All of the applications are in, we have 47 students from 13 different schools, and interviews start Monday... We've also outlined (almost) a complete program which will begin in February and run through September. I'll wait to share those details in a separate entry.

4. The Legacy Campaign has crossed the half-way mark, which means our to-do list is getting longer and more urgent. We raised over $12,000 from our Active members alone on Monday night. This is more than any other group of Active members has ever given! We are still a long way from reaching our goal but we are definitely making headway.

3. Work has picked up again... The Consulting world always slow down in December and then kicks into overdrive by mid-January.

2. Mike goes back to school on Monday so I've been taking advantage of as much quality time as I can get.

1. My parents' journey through Africa makes my daily activities seem a little blah. If you're interested in reading about their experiences go to www.afathersplayground.blogspot.com. Even if you don't know them, I promise that it's worth the visit. They are truly doing some amazing things!

Insightful

"Experiences are worth ten times the money spent on things. Things go away, are used up, break or are consumed. Experiences stay with you forever."

~Martin Green (my Pops)
From his journals of Africa

Not a pill popper.

I'm not doing too well with this whole vitamin thing... The goal was to take 9 pills a day (5 in the morning and 4 in the evening). So far I haven't been able to choke down all 5 of the morning pills in one day, much less start on the "pm" pack. Is it possible to have an extremely small throat hole??? I just swallowed pill number 3 (from yesterday's "am" pack) and I swear it is lodged in my esophagus and is slowly inching its way down. I need chewables (for grown people).

Random thoughts on a rainy Tuesday...

I'm sitting in the Lexus dealership waiting for my car to be fixed, again. This time my Check Engine and VSC (or was it VCS) lights came on... Frank, the service guy, just came in and said the problem was an air filter something-or-other and estimated the repair cost at apx. $450.00 (assuming they don't encounter any other big problems once they get inside). Ugh, I hate spending money on car repairs. I'd rather pay for a parking ticket, pay to have a cavity filled, even pay those random, unexplainable taxes that show up on cable and cell phone bills than pay for car repairs! My big question is when is enough, enough??? I am looking at all those new, not-broken cars in the parking lot... They are starting to call my name!

On a brighter note, we went to see the movie Marley and Me last night... It was fantastic (loved Jenn Aniston) but would highly recommend bringing tissue. (Speaking of dogs, I can't get my mom's dog to pee in the rain. We're at 12 hours and counting...)

Mike and I also had a wonderful New Years celebration and weekend in Chapel Hill. I think most of the guests from Cat and Chris' wedding would agree that a vacation from the vacation is now a must! Three nights of partying requires at least two weeks of recovery these days! Here are a couple pictures from the festivities.

A Very Green Journey

Please keep my parents in your prayers as they prepare to embark on another International adventure together... They leave for Africa tomorrow afternoon, where they will spend the next two months traveling. To help document their journey (and as part of my Christmas craft responsibilities) I started a blog for my dad. A place for him to document their journey. If you are interested in hearing about life in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa keep an eye on www.afathersplayground.blogspot.com. I'll do my best to keep everyone up-to-date as well.

Christmas Memories

It's hard to believe that Christmas 2008 has come and gone... Here are a couple of pictures from the past week that help tell the story of our time together.

"Apple Juicy" visits Mollie and Caroline:




The Green's and Cunninghams at our 6th Kabuto - Christmas Eve Tradition




Just before dinner we went to church for Communion. We were about to walk in the front door of the sanctuary when we heard something hit the ground... Somehow Mike had managed to pick up a lint brush out of my dad's car, with his butt. It made for a hilarious entrance!!! (Dustin was definitely letting us know he was there!)



We attempted to volunteer at Carter Brothers on Christmas Day. It was bitter-sweet because they ended up having too many volunteers show up and could not use our help.



My mom's side of the family came over for dinner on Christmas Day. Aunt Frances (our little fashionista) had fun playing dress-up with the shoes Mal and I received from Santa.




Reido finally made it to town on Friday. (A day earlier than we originally thought, which was very exciting!) Here are a couple pics from his visit.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Because Mike and I do not spend a lot of time at The Box during the month of December we purchased an (um) abbreviated Christmas Tree. See picture above.

Don't get me wrong, it smells quite real and we light the thing every night... Some might say the only differences are that it's a lot cheaper (99 cents from CVS) and much cleaner (no pine needles to clean up).

Mom and Pops, I can't wait to get home to your real tree, Dustin's star and all of our familiar ornaments. I love you!