time

there just isn't enough of it. in a day, a week, a month, or even the year. and...i.don't.like.it.

a few weeks ago, john gave notice to the part-time position (mantle shop) he's been working for 9 years now. it became difficult for him (and on him) to be out of the house two days a week from the time he would leave for berks in the am and not arrive home until after 8 or 9 pm. that made for a long day for me of getting tony ready in the morning and out the door, going to work and coming home and taking care of tony, the house, etc. it was taking it's toll on me and on john as he was missing out on so much time with anthony in the evenings. tony would typically be in bed before john would get home, which would lead to there sometimes being 2 days straight where john wouldn't even see anthony awake, let alone get to have any "fun" time with him.

we discussed and felt it would be better for john to pick up some side work on the weekends (one or two good paying jobs a month, which he'd already been doing on top of mantles). this would, not always easily, make up for the loss of income we'd be taking by him leaving mantles. we'd have to make some changes, but ultimately, it's his health and the health and happiness of our family that is most important...we'll manage. it was with a heavy heart that he gave the notice to his boss. a man who had become a good friend...a man who, as a father himself, understood john's reasons more than some would.

last week marked the first week that john didn't have to work in the evening. it wasn't quite an accurate portrayel of how our weeknight's would be as anthony was in disney all week, but already i could see it was going to be a good thing. today ends the first week of our "new schedule" and all i can say is...

i.love.it.

we have eaten dinner by 6/6:30 every night as a family (as opposed to two meals and two shifts, with the latest being after 9 pm sometimes)...tony's had his bath followed by lots of snuggle, book reading, board game playing time (instead of bath and right to bed)...and john and i have had some quality time together in the evenings to talk and work on our little projects (both individual and household)...all before 9/9:30 at night. we are getting more time together as a family, as a couple...more sleep too, and it's making our little house on mayer street a much happier place.

another thing we are working on is our need to "just say no". we find ourselves booking our calendars jam-packed to the point of juggling multiple things on the same day and running the three of us ragged, all because we like to keep everyone happy and can't say no. we have started to limit ourselves for the remainder of this year, allowing for plenty of us (meaning just the three of us) time. starting january 1 we are going to evaluate this a little further even as we were just overwhelmed at times this year and just can't let that happen again.

please don't get me wrong. we love our friends and family. we do. we really, really do. we are so so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives, that we love and care for and they the same in return. this is why it's so hard to say no sometimes...but seriously people, there just isn't enough time. you know it. we know it. if you ask us to do something and we say no, it's not because we don't want to, or, heaven forbid, don't like you. we do. we really, really do. it's just we have to put our family and our needs first now. we've back-burnered ourselves long enough and 2010 is going to be the year for us!

friday june 19, 2009 - relay for life

on friday we again joined the berks home building community connection team in walking for the relay for life. after work i picked up tony and we headed to the twin valley high school to meet up with john and some others from berks homes. we walked, mingled and tony made a tie-dyed t-shirt at the berks homes kids tent (picture of the shirt to come later). while john stayed over-night with some others from the office, continuing to walk, tony and i headed out around 11 following the luminary ceremony - we couldn't hang much longer...in fact, tony couldn't hang past the parking lot - he was out like a light before i hit route 23.

his sleepiness could have had something to do with the fact that while we were walking around the track...he practically ran every lap - the whole lap. i wish i had 1/2 his energy!

a rare (and not so great) family picture - just the 3 of us - that doesn't happen often!

saturday june 13, 2009 - wedding work

the sun was shining and the rain held off...the day was truly a blessing for clarisa and lance. this couple has gone through the obstacles to make it back to the alter...yes, i said back to the alter. clarisa and lance were married before - to each other - and have 4 children. due to personal circumstances (that is not my business to blog to the world about), they like millions of others in the world, got a divorce several years ago, but remained amicable towards each other co-parenting their children. their love they shared for their children, then grew again into love for one another and through Christ's redemptive work, blossomed into a beautiful relationship.

following their thanksgiving engagement, clarisa asked if i would make the invites & bulletins and act as wedding coordinator for their day. my duties included decorating the church, meeting with the florist and picking out the bouquets, alter flowers and the flowers for the favors. of course, i jumped at the chance seeing as how i love to do that sort of thing!

the invites - black linen cardstock, white cardstock, vellum overlay, tied together with a turquoise sheer ribbon (personal information blurred out of course)

the invite with the vellum lifted to see the print better

the bulletin - black linen cardstock, white cardstock layered, tied together with a turquoise sheer ribbon

another view of one of the "layers"

the "with thanks" layer (personal information blurred out again)

i met the bride, groom and their children at the reading museum for pictures prior to heading over to the church to do some final prep and open up for the guests and musicians to arrive. i have to admit i was extremely nervous as this would be the first time she would see the flowers i selected...but luckily...she loved them - i was relieved!

clarisa - the beautiful bride

a family - reunited by love

here's another collage of a few of my favorite photos i took that morning. i am by no means a photographer, but as much as i know i will enjoy looking at her professional pics when she receives them...there is something about the candids taken by friends that show that much more of the "personal" side of the day.

not much going on...

not much going on...it was a slow week for the d'angelos.

due to my lack of anything interesting to post, i thought i would post a picture of the diaper cake i made as the drawing prize (along with a $50 bru gift card) for the reading hospital baby your baby fair i attended yesterday. this was on our genspan baby group display table we had set up to get expectant mothers (oh, and the dads too) to sign up for our research group.

the little baby bath products scattered throughout the diaper cake are burt's bees baby products, hence the bee bear attached. if you know me at all...you know how i love my themes!!

oh yeah...and that's my very own tony d. in the framed picture to the left. he was a genspan baby before he was even here...and way before i was even on their payroll!

snow day fun

we received a "decent" amount of snow and considering we are the last street in exeter to get plowed, i figured it would be better for tony and i if we stayed home today. i say "decent" somewhat sarcastically as the amount of snow we got is nothing at all to right home about if you're someone like me that actually enjoys the snow, but it was a fair amount for this winter so far.

tony and i enjoyed a lazy morning of snuggling in bed watching caillou and mickey mouse clubhouse on demand. he slept until 8:30 and then came and crawled in bed with me for about another hour or so...yeah, we were bums.

then we forced ourselves out of bed and i finally fed my child some breakfast...good thing he's as much a morning person as i am. after a yummy (and fun!) breakfast of egg and cheese breakfast burritos, we bundled up and headed outside intending on shoveling (tony) and snowblowing (me)...only to find that our awesome neighbor across the street had already snow blowed the entire block's sidewalks and service walks! all we had to shovel was the little bit of the driveway that wasn't blocked by our cars.

because of the kindness of our neighbor, we got to do this instead of shoveling...

"shorty" the snowman...

"but he needs a hat mom..."

then after coming inside to warm up by a cozy fire...some of us decided it was a perfect time to take a snooze...

this guy here wanted to lay on the floor...next to the coffee table...almost on top of dad's slippers...nice!

while this little lady here decided she'd take her nap on the cozy couch...with her baby...brat!

boy do i love a good snow day!!

a night out

saturday night, john and i enjoyed an evening out. we attended a dinner honoring the owner of my company who was in for a visit from taiwan. i was in charge of organizing and planning the evening, from finding a location to hold it, sending out the invites, picking entrees, and making the placecards and centerpieces...don't think for a second, i'm complaining, because i absolutely love doing that sort of thing...it's kind of like planning a wedding reception (which i tease john all the time about "redoing" because i love party planning so much)...it's just i had 2 weeks to plan saturday's event...yep folks, two weeks. i was very nervous pulling it all together, but i think it ended up going quite well, and everyone seemed pleased.

i was very happy with the outcome of the centerpieces - it's so nice when you have a vision and it turns out exactly how you saw it. the dinner was held at the french creek golf club and the building and room looked beautiful. i snapped a few pictures of my centerpiece preparations...

votive candle and votive holder

copper wire - wrapped around the votive holder

branches (from front tree after a storm) placed in terra cotta pot with morter and moss

ta-da...finished product lit and on the table

here is a link to more pictures of the evening.

there must be something in the water

on friday afternoon i had the pleasure of attending a small baby shower at penske honoring two friends (who also happen to be former co-workers) mario (and his wife - the one actually having the baby - anne) and alicia (my former supervisor - and her husband bobby). while alicia and bobby know that they will be welcoming a boy (due date is november 4th), mario and anne are wanting to be surprised and will wait until the birth (due date is january 2nd) to find out...i do not have that kind of patience, nor do i like surprises that much!!

mario and anne

the yummy cake

alicia (mrs. "bobby majcher!!!!!!")

they got a lot of great gifts and generous gift cards and it was fun to get together again with "the old gang" to celebrate such a wonderful occasion!! these two new penske babies will mark the 3rd and 4th babies in that department alone in 12 months...there must be something in the water!!

you can see more pictures from the mini-shower here.

take me out to the ballgame...

last night we went to john's company picnic held once again at the reading phillies. we have such a good time there every year and the food and fun just seem to get better with every passing year.

anthony fell asleep in the car on the way to the game and continued to sleep until almost 8 p.m. well into the game. good thing i had saved him some food because til he woke up, the 2 hour buffet had ended. guess his first few hours today at his "new school" really wore him out (hmmm...was it the hysterical crying - when i was there with him for the time we were there - or the playing he did once he relaxed? my guess it was a little of both)!

this year was a first for the "reading phillies dance team"...interesting...why a minor league baseball team needs a "dance team" is beyond me...aren't all the men there to watch the baseball game anyway? how about an all male dance team to entertain us women that aren't into sports?? now we're talkin'! well, anyway...they came into our section to search out the craziest woman there to win a "makeover" treatment at a local salon. i told them up front while pointing to sue d. that they wouldn't have to look too far...well sure enough, when the contest started, so did sue! she won the title of craziest woman in our section that night and in the process won herself a haircut, full color and wax at a tricia's salon in wyomissing!! way to go sue!

despite john leaving early for the men's church group camping weekend, tony d and i stuck around and enjoyed the fireworks with all of john's fun co-workers! it was a long night, but we had a great time!

special thanks to heath, jamie, julie & maddy frey for taking such good care of t and i and walking us to our car after the fireworks!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

sharing the love

so i just finished up another order of lollipops for a co-worker. they are for a tasteful 2nd time around bachelorette party...thought i'd share in case you or your friends know of anyone in need of some shower (bridal/baby) favors!!

postponed

is anyone surprised? yes, the company picnic is postponed...the actual game part of it anyway. we arrived at the stadium at 6 p.m. for the buffet to start. although our tables were under a pavilion, the rain, mist and wind caused them to be sopping wet. luckily john has the forsight to bring along some bar towels to wipe off the tables/benches with, so our hineys were only damp, not soaking wet.

we enjoyed the buffet for about an hour before hearing that the game would be delayed from the original 7:05 p.m. start time. then it was another hour of eating before finding out we would be receiving vouchers to attend a game anytime we want in the future. so with the 2 vouchers for reserved seats from tonight and the 4 i received for being the event coordinator, i would say it appears we'll have some fun with the phillies in our future this summer!

needless to say we left first energy stadium with full (some would say too full) bellies and drenched clothes...but it seemed that everyone had fun. tony got to spend some time with his buddy aden, so he was happy...and daddy got an unlimited supply of ribs and chicken, so he was happy too...and when my two guys are happy...mama is happy!!

let's hope the weather is better for the berks homes company picnic at the r-phils on july 25th (the weekend before my birthday in case you didn't realize)!

100% chance of showers

bridal (allison) and baby (mary) showers that is...i have one of each this weekend, so i guess it's only appropriate that if i have all these showers to attend, it's actually raining outside, right?!? wrong! i'm so done with this weather...bring on the sun!

tonight the d'angelo's will be attending iron mountains' (my company) picnic at the reading phillies pool pavilion! sounded good when i booked it months ago...2.5 hour ayce buffet, pool for the kidd-o's, b-ball, and fireworks...whoops...who ordered the rain?! anywho, i'll post more after the event tonight complete with a rain-soaked tony d in his phillies finest!

flashback...friday, april 25th

ok - so i'm a delinquent blogger...there is so much that i have to update on, but just not enough hours in the days/weeks it seems. tonight will be real quick and i hope to update the rest tomorrow!
last friday evening was spent at the antique automobile club of america museum in hershey, pa. my company celebrated 5 years in business and also the launch of a new product.

it was wonderful when the day of the event actually arrived and i was able to see all my hard work and planning come to fruition. i planned every detail from finding and securing the location, hiring the caterer, organizing the limo bus and trivia game to be played on board during the drive from morgantown to hershey. designing and making the invitations and finding and making each of the centerpieces and place cards. for anyone that knows me, you'll know i'm not bragging about all i did to make the event happen, but i'm telling you all this because i love, love, love to do this type of thing!!! if i had all the money in the world and could just work for fun, bridal and baby shower and wedding planning, and design would be where you'd find me. in the meantime i just do it when i can.

the food was great, and everyone at work seemed to enjoy themselves and were still telling me so the end of this week, a week after the event. on the lower level of the museum were some old cars that we were actually able to sit in and take pictures...lo and behold, they actually had some period costumes/dressups we could "play" with as well, and luckily i had known about this ahead of time, so was able to get our in house photographer to bring his camera and supplies to snap photos of the couples/groups...what a success - even those employees who are hard to crack a smile out of got in on the fun. unfortunately our photographer is not finished touching up those photos, so i'll have to post them later. but for now, here are a few pictures from the evening.

the group gathered for dinner on the upper level rotunda

our table clockwise from bottom left: lance, john, me, marjori, bobby, esther and clarisa

the hershey kiss-mobile

i will post some more of the funny pictures once they are finished and i am able to get them from the photographer.

cleaning out the desk...

congratulations go out to our friend mike g.

who was offered the new job he interviewed for several weeks ago!!

we are very excited for him and wish him the best of luck with his new position and with the daunting task of having to give notice to his current employer...and cleaning out the desk!

i wonder if they'll let you keep your stapler?

***p.s. shannon - the cookies were awesome!!!

berks homes company picnic @ the r-phils

another year, another fun summer company picnic!! john's company picnic for the last several years has been held at the reading phillies picnic pavilion. this year's event was moved to a friday so no one had to worry about waking up and heading to work after a long, fun evening at the ballpark. this year's event also included the post game fireworks. it was so much fun and we got to see a lot of the families of john's co-workers we wouldn't get to see throughout the year. we always enjoy mingling with their spouses/significant others at the company christmas party, but it's always nice to see all the kids having fun with each other. anthony was such a good boy, but as you can see in some of the pictures, was also a very sleepy boy towards the end. he doesn't want to ever miss a thing, and hung in like a trooper til the fireworks started, then dozed off and slept through the loud booms til it was over. he was awake for the trip to the car and then was out before we were 2 blocks from the stadium. yes, in true christy style, he was dressed to the 9's for the occasion in his phillies gear! included are some pics of the lutz and frey families. mike and heath started as co-workers of john but have become good friends of ours outside of work now as well!! hope everyone has a great weekend!