Firsts, Seconds and Lasts

Well what a week or so we have had. It all started with Fred's birthday on the 23rd. What a day it was!! I had it all planned, on the night before Fred's birthday I was going to go into the bathroom write "Happy Birthday" on the mirror and replace his towel with an "Iron Man" towel I bought him. Then Tuesday afternoon I was going surprise him at work with lunch and sweets that I had made. I was also going to give his 'big' gift to him then, (Iron Man on Blu-Ray), so he would think that was everything. After spending lunch with him I was going to return home and make dinner for Fred's surprise birthday party that everyone was coming too. Please note this was the plan!!! This is how it really worked...
I had to breakdown and give Fred his towel before I went to bed. I was simply too tired to stay awake, so I told Fred what my plan had been and I gave him the towel. He thought it was a fun idea and like the towel. I did write "Happy Birthday" on the mirror before I went to bed.
Tuesday morning I spent getting dressed and making final preparations to take sweets to Fred's work. I packed up the 200 mini-cheesecake bites, and cheesy chex mix that I made and headed down to Insight. Low and behold when I got to there I called Fred so he could let me in, and guess where he was. Yup that's right, out to lunch with some co-workers. It was 11:30!! I planed to be there so I would be him before he left for work at noon.









The little stinker. I joined him at the restaurant and we ate lunch with his co-workers. After we went back to Insight and delivered sweets and treats to everyone. I did give him the movie and he was pleased with that. Then I turned around and went home.
On the way home I picked up the balloons and cake. Once home I started hanging decorations and making dinner. All of the decorations were for a first birthday, because it was Fred's first birthday as a married man. Two hours later I was finished the kitchen was clean and I was ready for the party to begin. A couple of friends got to the house before Fred did. I didn't worry about people showing up before Fred because it would be a hassle to plan exactly when Fred would get home. So as soon as Fred got home he knew a party was happening, but the stinker had figured out that I had something planned for that night. The geek figured out everything I was doing. urggg. Oh well it was still fun. And I got to see "Iron Man". I had wanted to see it all summer but it just never worked out.

Moving on.. the next day was Christmas Eve. In the morning we had a meeting with the lawyer's office about my disability. It was an easy meeting, they just took more information and sent us on our way. It will take another 3-6 months before we hear anything, pray we get it. Next was a couple of quick errands and then off to my parents house. We helped my parents set up for their big Christmas Party. Then of course was the party. Which Fred has already written about so I won't re-write it. It was a late night for us, but eventually we got to sleep and had a good night.
Christmas morning came quickly and the kids were eager to get downstairs to open their packages. And boy where there plenty to open. All those packages where for 6 people. 6 PEOPLE!!!!!! Mom finally admitted that it wasn't a small Christmas. It was a blast having little ones to watch open their gifts. After morning of packages, food, and fun Fred and I headed home. A nice nap for me and some computer work for Fred then off to Fred's parents for dinner and a few more presents. It was a long and fun day. But I was glad to sleep in my own bed that night.
Monday the 29th was the 2nd Annual Kaestner Family Adult Dinner. Each year instead of buying gifts Rick and Vikki take their children and spouses out for a nice dinner without the little ones. This year we went to a wonderful restaurant called "Equus" where we had a wonderful 5 course meal. Don't ask me what exactly it all was but I remember it being very good.

Then comes December 31st. The last day of the year!!! I started a new series of Trigger Point Injections (TPIs) to help with my shoulder pain. This is a wonderful picture of my back after the shots. Under each band-aid is an injection site. If you look carefully you might see the red marks on my back. For those who may not know a TPI is when a medicine is injected directly into the tender area to help break up knotted muscle. In this case we use a homeopathic medication called Serapin. It does all of the breaking up that steroids would do without the side effects. It's not the funnest procedure in the world but I've been through worse and it's very effective.
That night we spent with friends at our house. Watching movies and playing games. It was a was a great way to ring in a New Year. And at the moment Fred's off with Stuart playing and I'm with two of our nieces, Katie and Rachel. We have spent most of the day watching girl movies, eating what we want and just enjoying time together.

Christmas, Birthdays and Wives

This is Fred again. I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Crys and I spent Christmas Eve with her parents. Every year they invite a whole bunch of friends over to celebrate the holiday which includes plenty of good food, playing Christmas carols on pipes and singing and recanting of the Christmas story. This year my parents and Stuart actually came to spend the evening with us too so Crys and I got to spend the evening with all 4 of our parents at once. It was great.

This morning we got up at the good old hour of 7 am and spent a wonderful few hours opening presents with Crys' Mom, Dad, Eli and Brandon. It was great and I'm sure Crys will post some pictures soon from the day. The highlight for Crys and I, I believe she will agree with me, was Crys got me a new Blackberry phone and I got us tickets to go see Wicked in January!

Also, Crys LOVES to make a big deal of birthdays, and I haven't had a big hubbub about my birthday in the past 5-9 years so I don't. Well, my wonderful wife, planned a very wonderful surprise birthday party for me on Tuesday complete with friends and family members in attendance and it was so much fun.

I must say that I have the best wife in the world. I know a lot of people think that their wife is the best and may even say so, but in my case it is true! Crys is the most wonderful woman I have ever met and I can't even imagine my life without her. We are approaching our 1 year anniversary mark in 2 Sundays and it feels like I have spent my entire life with this wonderful woman that God has put into my care. My greatest happiness in this life is making her smile and giving her everything I can afford to give her. She really won't let me spoil her very often and has this absurd notion that I should spend my money on me instead of her, so I have to keep a lot of my surprises completely secret and not even tell her when I have a little extra. :) I want the world to know that I love my wife and that getting married is the best thing I have ever done! I love you, Honey! - Fred

Just For Fun

I have put a few new songs on our play list.
1)"The Maine Christmas Song" This song really describes how a lot of my Christmases went up there. And every time I hear that song a flood of memories come back to me. It is really a sweet song.
2)"Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" I know this is slightly irreverent as a Christmas song, but oh so funny. Sometimes you just need to laugh at it all and this song helps.
3)"Da Turdy Point Buck" For those who don't know, a 30 Point (Turdy Point) buck is a male deer with 30 notches in his antler rack. Which makes it one HUGE deer. Now this song has nothing to do with Christmas, it's about hunting. But they overlap for a lot of people so I put it on here. This song is just pure insanity and fun in my opinion. If you haven't heard it before it is worth listening to at least once.
4)"My Car Won't Go" This song is the ultimate northern winter song. If you have ever lived in a major snow state you have most likely have had a day like this. I remember one morning of having to dig out my car, drive to work on un-plowed roads, tromp through 18 inches of snow to get to my building and when I walked into the store this song was on the radio. Talk about ironic.
All of this songs are at the bottom of the list so feel free to skip ahead to them and take a listen. Enjoy!!!

Christmas Cards

I couldn't afford to send a Christmas card to everyone on my list. So I found an adorable card to post so that everyone can see that I really do care and Fred and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas!


Send this eCard

Becoming My Mother

How many women have said "I don't want to me my Mother?" How many husbands say, "Please don't become like your Mother?" And in some cases it is very valid where those people are not good examples and should not be followed. I was very blessed with a great Mother who has also been a great role model. And can you believe it, at the tender age of 24 I am not turning into my Mother. I'm already there!!!! Don't believe me just ask my husband. He was actually the one that noticed it.
Now I'm NOT exactly like my Mother. There are some difference in our attitudes and how we deal with things. And there are some things I'm not happy when I react like my Mother would. But the really important things, like how I view service, giving unto others, my joy in simple things and my eye for interior decorating (Thank goodness for that one)I gained from my Mother. She has been a wonderful role model to me and I'm glad that she has been my Mom. And if I have to grow up to be like someone then I'd choose her. I LOVE YOU MOM!!!!

Plastic, Curtains, and Twizzlers

In and effort to keep the house warm this winter. Mom and Dad bought some window plastic and curtains for our windows. Boy oh boy what a difference it has made. Whats fun too is that when the sun shines through the window in the living room it adds a 'Rosie Red Glow' to the room.















In other news... I am really excited. I have a reason to eat Twizzlers. And it is a really good one too. It will help with my stress. This is an excerpt for the article

"Sweet tooth: You can grab a handful of candy, as long as it's low in fat, such as a pack of Twizzlers. A sweet treat works just as well as a starchy one; both will spur serotonin production. But fruit sugar doesn't do it, so eat your banana later when you've decompressed."

The full article is here: http://www.psychologytoday.com/rss/pto-20081006-000003.html

I'm excited about this. Especially since I love eating them and I am content with only eating four or five in a sitting. Life is good.

Nutrition Facts

Kosher Status OU

Serving Size 4 pieces (45 g)

Amount Per Serving	%DV *
Total Calories 160
Calories from Fat 10
Total Fat 1 g	2%
Sodium 95 mg	4%
Total Carbohydrate 36 g	12%
Sugars 19 g
Protein 1 g	2%

Amount Per Serving	%DV *
Vitamin C	0%
Calcium	0%
Iron	0%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
	Calories:	2,000	2,500
Total Fat	Less than	65g	80g
Sat Fat	Less than	20g	25g
Cholesterol	Less than	300mg	300mg
Sodium	Less than	2,400mg	2,400mg
Total Carbohydrate		300g	375g
Dietary Fiber		25g	30g
Hershey's goal is to keep each product's nutrition information up-to-date and accurate but please consult the label on the product's packaging before using. If you notice that something is different on a product's label than appears on our website, please call us for more information at (800) 468-1714.

A Weekend To Remember

Thanksgiving in and of itself has never been a holiday I really enjoyed. It always seemed like a big "holabalo" for nothing. Of course growing up what family was near by was within a few streets of each other. And the family that was far way wouldn't come in for Thanksgiving, so I never really saw the point. And no I still don't really see the point but this was by far the best Thanksgiving I ever remember having. There was a HUGE downside!!!! Shawn and Stephanie weren't there. They were the only members that couldn't make it to the our celebration.
First off we had family come in. Josh, Bre, Dave, Erin, Ben, Janelle and all the kids attached came in for the Holiday. Normal this would be our Christmas routine but we bumped it up to Thanksgiving because of my brother's deployment. He won't be here for Christmas.
Wednesday everyone came in. Mom and Dad left Eli and Brandon with me on their way to the Manhiem Steamrollers Concert. After Fred got home the four of us went to Mom and Dad's house. We got there just and Josh and Bre were. So we took everything in started cooking a spaghetti dinner and setting up sleeping spots. Within a few hours everyone else made it in. Poor Ben, Janelle and Julie had a 10 hour drive due to construction. They were all very happy to be out of the car. After a good deal of catching up and chatting we finally all went to be around midnight. The kids were in bed long before that. It was fun having everyone at Mom and Dad's. There were 17 of us there and room for more! It was wonderful having everyone under one roof.
Thursday was full of fun as well. The was a 'Turkey Bowl' pickup football game in Charlestown.Several of us went down to watch and play. It was fun to be out. The sun was shining and it was pretty warm out there. Upon returning mom announced that the turkey was done a whole 2 hours early. So we scrambled to put the rest of the fixin's together. Then we all ate our little hearts out. It was a great meal, with was followed by a movie and a nap. Later that evening we had cheese, crackers, pie, and veggies. The kids played in the basement while the adults had board games to play. Bedtime came much earlier because the Black Friday Shopping train rolled out at 3:30am.
I was up at 3:15 and went on the Shopping trip. After several great scores at the stores we arrived in time for a pumpkin pie breakfast at 8 am. I spent most of the day sleeping I guess all sorts of other things were going on but what do I know. We took a family picture and a few rides on the Harley. Then just about all of us left for home. Josh and Bre followed us to a couple of store by our place, and had dinner with us.
Alright that was our weekend. I'm still recovering from it but it was certainly worth it. I hope everyone else's weekend was just as wonderful.