Wassner News

In today's issue of the Frederick Post, there's a great story about Laurel. Check it out and be inspired!

In other news, I'm taking the day to get some work done at Chelsea Piers. I met Bec this morning for an impromtu workout--she took me through some back exercises, then we hit the elliptical for 30 minutes and ran a mile around the track. Funny that the only time I have any hope of keeping up with her is when she's completely zapped and dehydrated! (She's still recovering from the nasty bug she picked up in Madrid). But, considering my own physical limitations (aka the bowling ball I'm carting around), I can't ask for much!

Florida pics

Here are some shots from sunny Florida. We had such a fabulous time with the most gracious and fun hosts! Jeanie and Uncle Phil saw that our every need was met and showed us some great sites, like Naples, Bonita Beach, Sanibel Island, and Captiva. We also spent plenty of time lounging in and around their pool and exploring their development and surrounding areas bit (it's a bit of a shopping mecca with three outlet malls within a 30-mile radius!).

Mark and UP played two rounds of golf in the 90+ degree heat (brave guys!) while Jeanie and I joined the "ladies who lunch" at their club house. On Memorial Day, the club folks pulled out all the stops for a patriotic luncheon in the dining room, featuring all of the BBQ food you could ask for (ribs, chicken, bratwurst, burgers, potato salad, etc.) plus some delish desserts. I definitely added a few pounds to the bump on this little respite, but it was all worth it.

Thanks to Jeanie and Phil for providing us with a very memorable and relaxing trip. We can't wait to go back!

More fun times in Florida....

Hitting the grill

Another adorable pic of Carolina and her little girl Elisa. Love the matching red!

Back...and HOT!

We are back from five wonderful days in Florida and it seems like we brought the Gulf Coast weather with us. It's about 90 degrees in the apartment right now and our AC units are way down in the basement, needing to be eventually installed by some big burly men. Hopefully that'll take place this week at some point because these days I'm not faring too well in sweltering temps!

I will have some pics to post from our great trip soon!

Off to a warner locale...

Tomorrow morning at 8 a.m., Mark and I will be flying the friendly skies down to sunny Florida, where we will spend Memorial Day weekend (and then some) with Jeanie and Uncle Phil. We're considering this our "babymoon" since it'll probably be the last time I get on a plane before F's arrival in August. I'm really looking forward to six whole days of relaxation and of course, spending time with J & UP.

Figuring out what to bring on this trip has been harder than usual...less and less of my usual clothes are fitting over my ever-growing bump. Forunately, I had the luxury of cherry picking Leezie's array of adorable maternity wear (thanks to her, I won't have to buy a thing this summer), so my suitcase is filled. Mark also bought me a very cute tankini yesterday...his great taste and zero reservations about shopping in a "lady's" store is just one of the many benefits of him having three sisters!

Though our car service will be arriving in about six hours, I'm considering pulling an all-nighter to get a little more work done before we go. The downside of being a freelancer is that there really is no such thing as a true vacation...if I don't work, I ain't getting paid. So there will be some writing happening this weekend, but hopefully it'll be conducted poolside!

Oh, in case I don't have a chance to give a proper shout-out closer in, GOOD LUCK to Bec this weekend at her next big race in Madrid. Or shall I say Buena suerte!

Rent!

Last night, Leezie and I went to see Rent (she'd given me tickets for my birthday and we finally were able to go a few months later!). Although I have the entire soundtrack on my iPod and know just about every word to every song, I'd never seen the show live (the movie doesn't really count). It completely lived up to my expectations and I was smiling from the opening act to the closing scene. Such a great show.

Though the cast is lacking a superstar right now (in the past, everyone from Taye Diggs to Joey Fatone have played various roles), it does feature Tamyra Gray as Mimi. Most people know Ms. Gray from her run in the first season of American Idol, but I remember her when she was a super-skinny girl in Ms. McPherson's gym class at MV. Yup, before she moved to Atlanta and became a beauty queen/songstress, TG lived in Montgomery Village and, as I remember, was kind of a B. Maybe I just feel that way because one day she came up to me and kicked me really hard in the butt. It's one of those moments you never forget...I was walking in to that icky basement locker room and boom...her pink sneaker delivered a swift kick to my bony little seventh-grade butt. It was completely unprovoked, and I swear my tailbone still aches some days because of that kick.

Despite those auspicious beginnings, she obviously turned out well and it was cool to see her strutting her stuff as Mimi. She's definitely a better dancer and singer than an actor, but as Leezie and I agreed, she redeemed herself by the end of the show with a fairly believeable final scene where Mimi virtually comes back to life from a crack bender.

Thanks to Leezie for the very fun night!

Congrats, Erin!

We ventured out (over?) to State College, PA, this weekend to watch Erin collect her diploma from Penn State. She graduated among about 1,100 other students from the Business School (she majored in marketing)--her ceremony being just one of many held throughout the campus during the weekend. (I still can't get over how big that school is!). The graduation itself wasn't too exciting--I was let down by the CEO of Fed Ex's rather canned and uninspiring commencement address--but the festivities were fun. I kept Sissy posted throughout the weekend of the various Happy Valley establishments we hit up, including Spats, the Diner, the Cafe, and the Creamery. Lots of indulging going on, to say the least! But hey, we were celebrating!

The weather was crazy on both days (rain, wind, sun, COLD, etc.), and on the way home the sun made its way through some ominous thunderclouds, revealing a full double rainbow! It lasted for a good two hours, and was especially brilliant as we weaved through the Delaware Water Gap. A total postcard moment. I tried to take some pics from the car, but we'd probably have better luck had we stopped on the shouder, as many other drivers were doing. I haven't seen anything like that outside of Hawaii, and it made the otherwise long and traffic-y trip more eventful.

Lots of pics from the weekend below!

More graduation pics...

Another win!

Congrats to Bec for her wire-to-wire win at the Columbia Triathon on Sunday! And not only did she get the W, but she also set the course record, held previously by a 2004 Olympic medalist. Karl also finished "in the money" with a 6th place performance. Amazing!

Check out the Baltimore Sun's coverage of the event.

Twins!

Congrats to Ashley and Joe, who welcomed twin girls Hanna Renee and Olivia Frances on Monday, May 12! Hanna arrived at 6lbs, 8oz, 18 inches and Olivia was 5lbs, 11oz and 17.5 inches. Sounds like everyone is doing great and they're already home!

Here's a picture; not sure which is which but they definitely look identical!

Count Downs

I guess since I'm so focused on counting weeks and months lately, I'm always plugging random dates into timeanddate.com, which has fun features like Duration Between Two Dates and What Date Is It in X Days? Here's a breakdown of the amount of months, weeks, days, minutes, and even seconds between today and some of the major/fun events on the horizon:

Erin's Graduation from Penn State:
3 days
72 hours
4320 minutes
259,200 seconds

Our "Babymoon" to Florida (and visit with Jeanie and Uncle Phil!):
1 week
7 days
168 hours
10,080 minutes
604,800 seconds

Andres & Kasia's wedding:
2 months, 4 days
9 weeks
65 days
1560 hours
93,600 minutes
5,616,000 seconds

Baby Flynn's expected arrrival!:
3 months, 2 days
13 weeks (rounded down)
94 days
2256 hours
135,360 minutes
8,121,600 seconds

Bec and John's wedding:
4 months, 27 days
21 weeks
150 days
3600 hours
216,000 minutes
12,960,000 seconds

Pat and Mary's wedding:
22 weeks
5 months, 4 days
157 days
3768 hours
226,080 minutes
13,564,800 seconds

Look familiar?

Not too long ago, I finally jumped on the facebook bandwagon with my only intention being the ability to play scrabulous with my friends. But before I knew it, I was in touch with so many people from the past that I hadn't seen in forever--from swim team peeps to high school friends. One of these folks is the dear Carolina (Nina), who, after heading off to Clemson for college--where she was a superstar swimmer--she met and married a guy who now heads up the admin. side of the basketball program at the University of Georgia. They have an adorable family, including 20-month-old Elisa, who, as you can see, is Nina's mini-me, down to the head of thick corkscrew curls. Nina sent along these pictures of Elisa posing after being outside on a Slip 'n slide (that's why she's half-dressed!) and I thought you'd like to see them, too...

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Mother's Day Weekend

We had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! M came up on Saturday morning and stayed all the way until this afternoon...what a treat! We spent our days hanging around, doing a bit of shopping, and getting entertained by Sam. We capped it off on Sunday night with a fajita dinner with all of the sisters plus Sam, John, and Mark (who had just driven up from his own fun weekend in VA), at our place. Bec and Karl came straight from upstate with desserts in hand (strawberry shortcake with ginger biscuits and vanilla ice cream by Bec, banana chocolate chip muffins by Karl). It was so lovely to have everyone together to honor our fabulous and amazing mom. I only wish she lived here fulltime!

Some pictures from the evening below.

Yum, this stuff is GOOD!

Just about to get on the train with Sam. (He's thinking, "where in the heck are you ladies taking me?")

Riding the PATH with Sam (and lots of stuff!)

Sam getting served by Grand Liz

Getting ready to chow down on fajitas

Up close and personal with Sam

A friend in the news

Today, Keren is featured on aphotoeditor.com, a go-to blog for those in the photo biz. You can read all about K's fab job with Martha Stewart here.

Here are some more pics from last weekend, courtesy of Mr. Flynn...