PK 11.16.09

Today's post is a solemn one. Today mark's the one year anniversary since my aunt patty's passing (and my Nana's birthday!).

I've had a strange feeling all day. I feel like I should be sad. Then I think no no, stay strong. And then I feel like I could completely lose it. But I think it's because I have this sense of longing that will probably never go away. I find myself driving home some nights and going to pick up the phone to call her the way I always did. To update her on my life, work, personal, whatever it may be. She'd then of course give me her opinion whether or not I asked for it, the best part of our conversations. And of course her laugh, after I told her some ridiculous story.

Last year was a blur, I can't remember if I told her I loved her enough. Or if I thanked her enough. So here it goes...

Thank you Aunt Pat, for your amazing ability to listen and for your countless words of wisdom. Thank you for always being there and looking out for me, and my mother. Thank you for proving sometimes you have to give your mother a hard time because that's what daughters do. Thank you for believing in love despite hardships. Thank you for your ability to stay strong in the hardest of times...to never give up hope, to always believe, and to fight. We thought we were going to lose you 18 years before we did, and the world was a better place with you in it.

And thank you, to the man above, for giving us those extra years. Thank you to Dana Farber, Hospice and all of her best friends for supporting her, John, and my family through such a difficult time. I miss you every single day.

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.
Buddha

Pupdate November

During a little break from raking leaves, I snapped some photos of the boys. We were lucky enough to get weather in the 60's mid-November, so we had to take advantage and let the boys play while we worked.

Meals and Memories Are Made Here

In a little over a week, our kitchen renovations will finally begin. I simply cannot wait for our upgrades, it's going to look so much better and is really worth the investment in the long run.

We had a relatively painless experience picking out granite and tile (thankfully the cabinets are new and not going anywhere so we didn't have to start from scratch).

I figured I'd give a sneak peak into our choices. We wanted to make our kitchen warm and inviting, but neutral so it will easy for prospective buyers to see themselves in this kitchen in a few years when we sell.

Granite:

Tile:

And then of course a reminder of the BEFORE state.

Exhibit A: (when we moved in)

Exhibit B: (current state)

Oh the places you'll go!

It was a very busy October for this gal. I had Veronica's wedding (AMAZING TIME!), which meant a house guest (wilky!) and lots of fun things to do, a trip to Austin to see Wilky (love that city!), and two business trips to California and Houston. I feel like I haven't seen the hubs in ages.

...I'm also writing this a little jet-lagged, so perhaps I don't even make sense.

I was so lucky to have spent the past month in warmer climates-- flip flops were entirely acceptable, Iced Starbucks drinks were a must, and outside dining doesn't cause you to get frostbite. But alas, I am home, it's fall....and well...it's getting cold. I've pulled out the sweaters, scarves, and boots. The only nice thing about this is that the holidays are right around the corner and so are our house renovations. tune in shortly for an update.

House Renovations

The Britt household is about to undergo some renovations. We are lucky we don't have anything HUGE to do, but projects that will make our house a little nicer to live in and hopefully increase the value when we go to sell. I feel like all that HGTV watching is finally coming to good use. We've been waiting until this time so we could enjoy our summer, and the advice provided to us proved true--live in your house for a little before you do TOO much.

On the agenda:

1. Kitchen--adding granite and a backsplash. Apparently this means we also need to replace the sink and faucet.

2. Making the 3 season porch 4 season by replacing all of the windows and adding heat.

...details and before pictures to come!

I am dating myself...

Remember way back when you'd create a mix tape? A mix cd?

*BTW, what would it be now? More on that later.

Well, I found mine. all of them from college. Some survived, some are a wee bit scratched. Turns out cleaning out a car does have some positives.

It seems, mine are divided by theme:

• Sappy (for breakups, love stories etc)
• Getting read to go out. (Apparently when you pregame, it's critical you have the right music going)
• Car trips (both my roommates dated guys that lived out of state, so I'd go along for the ride and hang out. It's critical that once you enter another state, you don't need to search for songs).
• Gifts to the significant other/roomie

What I've learned from mine:

• I really liked Ben Harper and John Mayer's sappy songs
• You could never have a mix tape without Dave
• Apparently you can make a song better by making a techno version of it
• Of the top songs listed on Billboard 80%+ made it in my cds.

Date	Artist - Title	Weeks at #1
November 12 2000 – January 27 2001	Destiny's Child - Independent Women Part 1	11
January 28 – February 10 2001	Shaggy feat. Ricardo "RikRok" Ducent - It Wasn't Me	2
February 11 – 17 2001	Outkast - Ms. Jackson	1
February 18 – March 17 2001	Joe feat. Mystikal - Stutter	4
March 18 – 24 2001	Crazy Town - Butterfly	2 (1)
March 25 – 31 2001	Shaggy feat. Rayvon - Angel	1
April 1 – 7 2001	Crazy Town - Butterfly	2 (1)
April 8 – May 26 2001	Janet - All For You	7
May 27 – June 30 2001	Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya and Pink - Lady Marmalade	5
July 1 – 28 2001	Usher - U Remind Me	4
July 29 – August 11 2001	Destiny's Child - Bootylicious	2
August 12 – September 1 2001	Alicia Keys - Fallin'	6 (3)
September 2 – 22 2001	Jennifer Lopez - I'm Real	5 (3)
September 23 – October 13 2001	Alicia Keys - Fallin'	6 (3)
October 14 – 27 2001	Jennifer Lopez - I'm Real	5 (2)
October 28 – December 8 2001	Mary J. Blige - Family Affair	6
December 9 – 15 2001	Usher - U Got It Bad	6 (1)
December 16 2001 – January 12 2002	Nickelback - How You Remind Me	4

Source: Billboard Magazine

• I liked Nelly, Ja Rule, and Ashanti...A LOT.
• Eminem was hardcore.
• Almost Famous made me obsessed with Elton John
• I was obsessed with songs, quotes, and song with good quotes.

Ok, enough reminiscing! Back to work...

October and a Pupdate

The end is near.

Yup, it's that time of year again. October! Which means crazy amounts of candy everywhere I turn. It means Jarrett wants to torment me with tons of scary movies. And it means the introduction of scarves and sweaters and shoes :(

But the best part of cold weather? Snuggling with the pups. And the pups snuggling with each other.