She's Mobile

Of course she learned to stand and crawl just a few days before we had to take a plane ride.

One More Sob Story

Every night when I put the Boy to bed we talk about his favorite part of the day and his sad part of the day. Sometimes he asks me mine, too. Last night he said,

"My favorite part of the day was playing with all my friends and my sad part of the day was having to leave."

So then he asked me mine. And I said,

"It's the same as yours. My favorite part was seeing my friends and my sad part was leaving them."

And then, of course, I cried because I knew we didn't really mean the same thing.

What I Won't Miss...

As promised after a tearful blog post or two. Here is what I will not miss after I move.

7 Months of Winter. 'Nuff said.

My house. Yes I realize it's also one of the things I'll miss, but sometimes I wonder why anyone buys a house...ever. What a pain in the arse. And I won't miss the office, a.k.a The Man Cave. I always felt like there should be a deer head mounted on the wall in there. I once tried to get the Oprah show to come make it over for me.

The wind. And along with that, my vote for the Rochester City motto, "This would be a nice day if it weren't for the wind."

The taxes. Ohhhhh the taxes.

$10.50 for a movie. It's probably as expensive where we're going, but I just wanted to vent that frustration.

Paying the plow guy who tore our lawn up every year.

The high electric bill that comes along with the cold.

Not being near a Sonic, Chick-Fil-A, or Long John's. Five Guys just can't make up for all three.

Roxy. Because we're selling her with the house.

Potholes. Am I right, people that live here? In 9 years I've popped two tired on potholes. Do you KNOW how big a pothole has to be to pop a tire? If you're driving down the narrow lanes of Mt. Hope avenue on a busy day, you can't go around them either.

Not being able to buy caffeine free regular Dr. Pepper.

Residency. Can I get an amen from the doctor's wives?

And finally a quick rant about the NY State gun laws. Don't read this part if you're not a fan of the NRA. I fully support my constitutional right to own a gun. When I moved here with my .22, I complied with NY state law to turn it in until I received a permit. The ridiculous amount of time, money, and effort I had to go through to get said permit was insane. I refused to do it on principle. I just called the Sheriff's Office to find out how to retrieve it now that I'm moving. I was informed they destroyed it. They did it without my permission. They mailed ONE letter to the WRONG address. It was returned to them and they still destroyed it. They encroached on my right by setting up the absurd process by which to obtain a permit, then they destroyed a $500 piece of my property, and I have absolutely no recourse. For this reason alone, I'd like to give the government of New York the proverbial middle finger.

Okay I'll step off that box. I did mention the winter, right?

Adios, Rochester.

Going Away Party

These were her future friends.

These will always be my friends.

What I'll Miss...

We're leaving soon. In a week actually.

I wanted to write down some of the things I will and won't miss about this place that we've lived in for the past 9 years. I'll start with the teary, weepy What I'll Miss post and follow it up another day with the negative, buzzkill What I Won't Miss post to stop the tears from flowing. So...what I'll miss:

My house. The secret attic room, both my bedroom and the nursery that I got to decorate from scratch exactly the way I wanted them, the windows in the living room, the dogwood tree in the spring.

My street. Where I started to love running. It's perfect for it: almost exactly a five mile run to the end and back and almost completely flat. Lots of pleasant "alone time" was spent on this road.

Book Club. For getting me to enjoy something I never did but always wanted to: reading.

Strong Museum. How I spent many a Friday or Saturday night entertaining my oldest and getting 1/2 priced milk shakes from Bill Gray's for dinner.

My OBGYN. Is that weird? My friends get it. He hugged me at our last appointment. I almost cried. So did our pediatrician. He was great.


Highland Park. Especially in May.

Wegman's. I didn't shop there often, but if I needed something amazing or amazingly odd, I knew Wegman's would have it.

Being this close to NYC.

My neighbors. And the free slurpies he would give us. And for never complaining about our rotten dog.

Knowing with near certainty at which friend's house I would spend each holiday and which would be celebrated here. Who will be in charge of the Superbowl and pumpkin carving now?

The libraries. So many branches within driving distance.

Being in a decent sized city that didn't feel big at all.


The Boy's friend's. The thought of putting him into a regular pre-school somewhere else terrifies me.

And of course, my friends. Like Nicole, who is one of the strongest people I know. Here are the ones I have pictures of, but there are more that I will miss, too. In their life, everyone should have someone who:

...is an example

... is a calming influence

...let's you be yourself, flaws and all


...you can count on for anything

... is a life line
...gives unconditional love

I love you women so much. Thank you for being my friend and teaching me how to be one in return. Because of you, I am better.