An Unforgettable Birthday Weekend

Yep, I'll never forget this one. Mostly because of all the snow that hit the Baltimore/Washington Region...

(My bro and his perfectly chiseled driveway job)

But also because when we returned home (from camping out at Mom's and Dad's) on Super Bowl Sunday, planning only to drop off our things, one of the cars, and dash back out to a friend's Super Bowl Party, we discovered that someone had broke into our home while we were away. They saw our unshoveled driveway (probably even knocked on the door) and then took advantage of the opportunity.

The chill of the open back window in our living room was the only thing that gave it away, as the house wasn't ransacked or torn apart like you would imagine.  The culprit(s) methodically (I mean they spread it out on the bed!) went through my jewelry taking only the "good stuff" and a few items from Charm City Daddy including a laptop he had in his home office. Our first reaction? Violation."They got us!" Our second reaction Thankful. "Glad we weren't home, and the baby has no idea what happened." Our third reaction? Anger. "I wish I could find the person who did this, and....!"

Despite the serial numbers and detailed descriptions, the police will probably never recoup what we lost. I hope I am wrong, but we shall see. I have no doubt our stuff is on the black market probably being used for drugs or something.  The weather has been a terrible factor in the response  and follow-up of the police/detectives too. I have to think that the police are also more consumed with crimes like homicide than a breaking and entering in good ole' Baltimore.

So why am I sharing this with you? I debated whether or not I would share this here, but then I thought if I could encourage others to take the time to make sure you have additional insurance on their valuables (I didn't have coverage on every item taken), turn ON their home alarms (even in a great neighborhood and especially in 30 inches of snow!) then sharing my story with you would be worth it.

So, that's that. It happened and as my friend Jess eloquently put it, "It's just stuff." Although I no longer have my "push present" and some other sentimental "stuff" I am thankful to have the REAL present that came after the push--Miss Olivia, who laughed and talked when the police officer arrived.  Love my baby so much.

Oh and we didn't make the Super Bowl party (nor did we see any of the fun commercials). 

SnOMG 2010 & Happy Birthday To Me!

Sooooooo here's why  my lifelong dream to have a pool party on my birthday will NEVER happen (unless we move)...

 

my parents' backyard in SnOMG 2010

We're snowed in at my parents' house again! The Baltimore/Washington area got record breaking snowfall for our region. Something like 27-30 inches. It's stupid.

This time we decided to head south of Bmore to my parents' place BEFORE the storm hit, so we arrived Friday afternoon.  It snowed and snowed and then this morning at 7:30 a.m. the power went out and stayed out for 9 long hours.

There were only three things that worked: Charm City Daddy's laptop--on which we watched comedy shows (thanks to iTunes). My dad's Bose iPod speaker--which provided great dance music for me, mom and Olivia. The gas cooktop--on which we made breakfast and dinner--chili!

   

my lil' bro roasting toast

By 12 noon, there was a noticeable nip in the air, and we had to dance to keep warm. We LOVE dancin'!!

 

Their fireplace has an electronic lighter, so all we could do is watch the temperature drop on the remote and suffer.

I documented some of the boredom  suffering. 

Dad (aka "the FEMA director" today)

 

Mom (and Merlot)

 

 

       Charm City Daddy (look who's gotten hip to the odds of appearing on this blog)

 

 

my birthday drink of choice- Vodka sour!

 

modeling my snow shoveling fashion - a hat my little bro sewed in middle school.

 

 

The lights (and heat) came on just in time for dessert...birthday ice cream cake from CCD--which was sooo good. No dry cake-all ice cream and the crust was cookie. Thanks Babe.

I was supposed to be at the spa today getting the royal treatment (and CCD spilled that he had made dinner reservations), but I definitely had more fun laughing and spending time with the family.  I couldn't have planned a better birthday. Oh, and I'm 29!!

I Knew It!

Well cabin fever set in on Charm City Daddy after about 8 hours!

I should have known it was going to be a short haul when he offered to go out in the middle of the night to get me some Robutussin for my sore throat at 12 midnight. By then there was about 3 inches of snow out.

We slept in until about 11 a.m., had a big breakfast, and as soon as we sat down to watch TV, CCD looked at me and said "Want to head over to your parents' house now?!"  I was all, "huh?!" And he was like, "C'mon it'll be an adventure!" And I retorted, "An adventure with a baby?"

Needless to say, I gave in as I always do and started packing us up to make the 25 mile trip.  Here's our  hour-long trip in pictures...

Did I mention the Governor of our state declared a STATE OF EMERGENCY?!

The baby was her usual sleeping-angel self in the car. Like her wizard hat? hehe

Provisions in my new ThirtyOne utility bag. I like it!

I insisted that we bring a snow shovel in case we got stuck in the 10-12 inches that had already accumulated. Mr. Invincible New England Boy - aka Charm City Daddy protested, but I won using the baby argument. I'm glad I did! The plows had hardly been out, and we saw two abandon cars and stopped and helped a stuck emergency worker who was on his way to the airport. Even the road leading into the airport was terrible.  Buckley, our black lab,  even helped out.... I took pics from the warm, dry car....

 

We didn't need the shovel, but I'm glad we had it to help this guy out.

 

So now we're in Severn...snowed in. And I have to go now, as CCD is harassing me about what we're going to eat.  Off to fry to chicken...

Let It Snow!

My favorite Baltimore weathergirl  is calling for a foot of snow (maybe more) between tonight and Sunday morning--with the heaviest downpour tomorrow!

There goes my plans to take Olivia to see Santa on Saturday at the mall--and anything else I wanted to accomplish this weekend. It's a good thing I'm primarily an online shopper (year-round for that matter).

When it snows in Maryland (even a dusting) everything comes to a screeching halt. It's pathetic. Drivers strike stupid, schools and government shut down, and grocery stores become madhouses.We live in the city, and I don't expect a plow to come down our street until Monday--if we're lucky. 

I'll enjoy having an uneventful weekend cozied up with my bebe. I kinda wish I had purchased this Smores kit from Cosi when I first saw it months ago. It would have been the perfect compliment to homemade hot chocolate this weekend. 

Charm City Daddy gets stir-crazy after sitting at home just a few hours, so this weekend should be interesting!