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December 31, 2001

I have a question: how many times can one person watch "When Harry met Sally" without being tempted to drive hot forks into her eyes?

Answer: well, that's just not going to happen. Not to me, anyway. I could watch this movie again and again. Yep! I AM A CHICK AND I AM PROUD.

So that's what my New Year's Eve is all about this year. Dressed in a light-green nightshirt, black socks, and a hair clip, I am ringing in 2002 with the same people I rang it in with last year--plus one.

What have we been doing lately? Hmmm...let me check the picture folder, since it seems that we take pictures just about every day. Oh, stop crying, I'm not going to make you look at all of them.

Quinn went to watch the Bears vs. Packers at my sister Peggy's house in Kenosha. Her husband Jerry and his brother were VERY NAUGHTY and tried to make it seem as if Quinn is a cheesehead, which she MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT.

She was also very flattered by the attention paid to her by her uncles Dennis and Kevin.

And to cap the day off, my mom sang songs about dead mothers to Quinn, which clearly was cause for concern given the look on Quinn's face.

I once had a kind dear mother
She was always good to me
Whenever I got in trouble
She sat me upon her knee

One night while I was sleeping
Upon my little bed
An angel appeared from heaven
And told me my mother was dead

I got up in the morning
To see if it was true
My mother had gone to heaven
To see the sky so blue

Andy's mom also held Quinn recently and sang to her...but she didn't scare the hell out of her...

Quinn has had many visitors. Here she is enjoying the companionship (and cattiness) of a visit with Colleen and Anne and I:

My niece Kaitlin is out from California to visit, and she and Maureen have been hanging out and babysitting or playing games...by the way, Kaitlin sucks at Scattergories...but we sure did have a good time trying to figure out Vanilla Sky together. Could they be any cuter?

Quinn also paid a visit to her great-grandparents up in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. We had lunch and good bonding time with Andy's family, who we don't see as much as we'd like to.

And, of course, Quinn has spent a lot of time hanging around and being adorable.

Oh my goodness. It's only 10:30, and I'm already getting cross-eyed with fatigue. I don't think I'll make it to midnight this year. Last night I was listenting to Maureen and Kaitlin discuss their New Year's Eve plans and I looked down at Quinn, who was pressed up against me as she slept in her Baby Bjorn. I didn't feel old because I don't have any plans, and I didn't feel like a loser...I just felt happy. Like I'm where I'm supposed to be in my life...I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Happy New Year, everyone!