Walk with The Animals

Here's a slideshow of the Elephant Walk last week in DC. The walk started by the new Nationals Ball Park in Anacostia and ended 2.7 miles away at the Verizon Center. Jenel brought Tatum to watch the girls come into the arena. Luckily for us Bruce Read was right there at the entrance and gave Tatum a backstage tour of the animals. Even though it's hard to tell by Tatum's expression - she had a good time.

Finally posting some pictures from Easter last weekend.

Greg and I had a great morning at Tim and Jenel's. When we got there Tatum was passed out cold under the table. Mom and Dad were planning to be there for the Easter festivities - but she was so excited for Easter, she woke up at 5:30am!

Jenel always makes the best food and Easter was no exception. I don't know how she does it - I am not the best at entertaining. Without Greg's help or prepared in a bag to heat and serve, I am at a loss. I make up for it by serving lots of wine - that I know I cannot screw up.

Here's a slide show of the events. Hope everyone had a happy Easter.

Easter Dinner?

We had Easter Dinner with Dad and Margaret at South Austin Grill. Wasn't all that great. We used to go there almost every week when we first started dating, but its lost its luster. Even the Stars & Bars house specialty drink was a letdown, the frozen margarita Karen has, especially at $8 a pop. Blah.



Update: When I worked there - back when G and I were engaged - the place was always full. Especially on a Sunday. My food was yummy at least - but usually I can guarantee a good buzz off of two stars and bars - this time nada. But it's always nice to catch up with Sr. and Margarita. Pop's beard is (pun intended) growing on me. It looks sharp - but all the grey makes him look older than he is. He just needs a little Just Like Men. After the Elephant Walk on Monday (stay tuned for pictures) Jenel, Tatum and I ate at Rosa Mexicana. We should eat there the next time we are in the mood for Mexican. Food was so much better than Austin Grill and the guacamole is made fresh right at a station by your table. YUM!

Action Jackson

I stayed over an extra day in NYC because Paulina was able to get tickets to Late Night with Conan O'Brien. I was pretty excited cause Ryan Phillappe was the guest - and I love Conan. He is so flippin tall and blindingly pale :)

I spent the night at Stephanie & Gary's pad where I caught up with my good friends and got a bit of a fix of puppy love. Their little guy Jackson is such a cute dog. We spent the morning at Central Park where the dogs can play off their leash before 9am.

I took the train this time going to NY and I think this will be the way I travel from now on when possible. Greg asked for me to take some photos of the trip - as you can see in the slideshow, it wasn't the scenery that adds to the trip.

Party People In the House

I didn't get may pictures on Opening Night - but here's a few to share.

Everyone was very excited that Tree Stuart is back with the Unit - I was too cause I Love his little girl Katherine - she is the sweetest little girl and when she reached out to hold my hand my whole heart melted. Here she is flashing her gang signs.

I also got to spend time with some of my other favorite people - Christy and Stephanie. Steph now works at The Garden so the three musketeers were together again.

Pictures from the Animal Walk

One of the greatest perks of my job is to help out with the NY Elephant Walk. Here's a few shots from the walk.

This unit is the Blue Unit - Over The Top - which is a fantastic show. Cannot wait until it comes to DC next year. Even though I am in NY for the Opening - which was last night - I am working the party and never get a chance to sit and watch the show. Luckily I did see it in Florida.

Tonight is Conan O'Brien where Ryan Phillippe is the guest! Then HOME to my hubby, my kitties and my bed for some much needed sleep.

HAPPY BDAY to MO!

Love you and can't wait to see you! Save me some Cake...

Greatest Show On Earth

Here is a shot of Amy Alter, me and Taylor Kloss at the Animal Walk in NYC on Tuesday night. Well, actually it was Wednesday morning. The walk was scheduled to start at Midnight on Tuesday - so around 1am Wednesday, we finally started. The elephants are brisk walkers so it didn't take too long to 1.5 miles. It's pretty amazing to walk with elephants down 34th street past the Empire State Building with thousands of new yorkers cheering for us at 1:30 in the morning.

Yesterday morning I also received this lovely photo from my Friend Peggy. It's Christy, Jen and me at the HSM opening in Florida last year with our girls Maddie and Paigey Pie. I am excited to spend some time with Jen and Christy tonight at the opening. Look out!

Stay tuned for more Elephant Walk photos. We were lucky enough to have a photographer on site - the pictures are excellent, I just have to find some time to save them to Picasa.

Luck of the Irish

Happy St. Pat's everyone. A few years ago - we got very lucky with the birth of our Benny Boy.

One of the best gifts I ever got from Gregory.

For those of you keeping track - Benny turns 8 this year :)

Brunch with Taters at Vermillion Old Town Alex.

Aunt Karen in Fla

I may have only had 24 hours with my girls - but we made the most of it. Luckily Melissa loves to run around and do things with the girls. I drove from Palmetto, FL to Edgewater in the morning - got there around noon where the fun started immediately. The new puppy lived up to the hype - Finley is not only the cutest puppy but so well behaved too.

He's like a real live Webkins running around. He also loves the attention and doesn't mind being held.

After the Finley lovefest - it was off to the dog beach, where Fin attracted even more attention. Melissa was stopped every couple minutes with people wanting to pet and inquire about Finley. I felt bad for KiKi - it was like she was the ugly stepchild. One kid called out "look at that cute dog!" followed by "not that one, the other one". KiKi doesn't help her cause by being such a crazy dog.

After the beach it was onto Grandma Bobbies for some hot tub action - as her pool was far too cold for me. I couldn't believe it when Soph ran into the pool without a second thought. She is a water bug.

We tired the girls out and since they had school the next day - Melis put them to bed early - it gave Bobbie and I the opportunity to see the Other Bolyn Girl - very well done and pretty true to the book which I loved. I am definitely more of an Eric Bana fan now - but that might just because with the facial hair he was sporting in the movie he looked A Lot like Dave Gahan.

The next day Em and I got up early and she got ready for school. Then I had Paigey and Soph to myself for a little bit until Bobbie and I took them to school. Bobbie and I bailed on palates and instead went into Daytona for a bit. We got back in enough time to pick up Soph and PIE to have lunch with Emma at school.

Then it was off to the airport - like I said - a world wind trip, but it was worth it to spend the time with the Eagney's.

Here's a slide show of my girls.


The next trip I have to figure out how I can convince Melissa to let Finley up on the bed at night. I am so used to sleeping with animals all over me. Rat Bower wasn't too into sleeping with me either.

The only one who would sleep on me was Black cat and that sucker is about 20 pounds. I don't care how hard you try, it's impossible to sleep with that much weight on your belly.

I had to include this pic of Sophia cause I love it so much.

That's Heavy Doc

Have Some More Sloppy Joe's

Since I was in Naples for work - what's a drive across the peninsula to see my girls? Greg still has to upload the pictures of the 24 hour visit but here's one from the camera phone of lunch time with Emma, Paige & Sophia.

I cannot remember Emma's friend's name (far right) but she was a sweet girl. The girls were so much fun. I will post some of the MANY pictures taken. I may have only been there for one day, but I took enough pictures for a week.

Yes, a few of them are of Puppy Finley - who is even cuter in person, if that is possible. He is also sooo good, but that could have to do with the fact that KiKi was with us too. Compared to KiKi, Cujo might look like a good dog. Just kiddin' Mom - KiKi is just very, very, excited. I love the spaz.

That's So Raven

I am a bad, bad Aunt - I am all excited about my new puppy Finley and posting pictures, and planning a visit - and I don't even post pictures of the new addition to the Clausson Family.

Meet Raven.

They went to the pound and found this little angle needing a home.

What a big tongue (s)he has.

(S)He's not all little and fluffy like Fin. But still a cutie.

Time with Tatum

Saturday Greg and I spent some quality time with the kid. We had a good time playing with her. She even let me brush and style her hair.

Look how cute!


Then it was time for me to have my hair did.


Here's a slide show of the good times

I love NY and Greg

So Close Yet So Far

As it turns out, with all our walking around, we completely missed seeing my Becks. I take some solace with the thought that he was walking where I was one day earlier.

Don't feel too bad for me, cause I may have missed out on Becks, but I did see my best girl Ransom! When I called Karen to see where her brother lives in NY, Greg said too bad we didn't make plans for Karen to come meet us in NY. Karen heard him, and said she was on her way up and would be in NY the next day! How's that for a nice surprise?! K and I talk all the time on the phone, but it sucks that she is so far away from me. We did get to spend a few hours talking and laughing. We met up with her Brother and Sis at the Apple store where we were reminded why we are PC people.

Then over to FAO Schwartz to be reminded why we have cats rather than children. Besides, we are still young at heart - here's K and me with Peter Rabbit.

I have to see if I can find the picture of us 20 years ago with Easter Bunny to see how young we still are.
Greg's still a kid when it comes to Star Wars.

Even in blurry pictures Karen shuts her eyes.

There is a funny story behind this picture. I told a story to some friends at work while in NY with Greg, and with no prodding, Karen told the same story at dinner. Only in Karen's version I was the one who was wigging over the bill and not Greg. I don't remember it that way, but since I barely remember last week, I will have to take Ransom's word for it.

Or deny, deny, deny. Faulty memory of Ransom's and all we wish we had more time with her. Hopefully we will make a trip to Atlanta to visit longer.

We Love NY

I go to NY a couple times a year for work. Usually it's just me and I tend to take up residence in the hotel. Once one episode of Law and Order comes on, that's all she wrote. Luckily for me this time I got Greg to come up with me as a combination Valentines/belated birthday weekend. I spent the first half of the day working, and then got to play with Greg. We walked around A lot - and we found some yummy places to eat and saw some of my favorite people in NY.

Here's some pictures of lunch with The Basile's. JP and Sophie used to work with Feld and I look forward to spending time with them when I am in the Big Apple. Not just cause I miss them, but also cause I love their two girls Florence & Scarlett. I cannot believe how big they have gotten.

I also try to see Steph and Gary when I am in NY. Steph was in Colorado skiing. I missed spending time with her, but I will see her in March when I am back. I did get to spend time with Gar and their adorable dog Jackson - he is so cute. I had a tough time getting a good shot of him with only my camera phone on me. Jackson was way into the dog toy and each picture was a blur. This is the best I could get.

Speaking of puppies - I am a new Aunt!. The Eagney's got a new addition to the family - Finley!
OMG he is such a cute pile of FLUF. I am hoping we can get a trip to see them while he is still a puppy.

Can you stand it - look at that face!

For even more pictures of my new puppy - check out the Melissa's site. http://www.eggknees.blogspot.com/ I am sure there will be A LOT of pictures posted over the next few months.
Congulations Eagney's on your new baby! Love him (and the name) and cannot wait to meet him.

Pinochle Deck

It was so difficult to pick the photos for the pinochle deck since we were limited to only 48 pictures. Some of them we knew we wanted when we first started talking about the idea. Here's the proofs from the Pinochle deck and the photos that made it to the final product (click on the pictures to see all 8 pages).


Here's a slideshow of all the pictures we put together to choose from.

(If you double click the slideshow it will take you to the Picasa page with all the photos where you can download and keep any a copy of any of the pictures)

We cannot thank Amanda enough for ALL her help with this project - she went way beyond her usual role as a fantastic friend. She is now at legendary status in the Beck household.

Happy Birthday to My Man

Today is Greg's birthday (he's the one on the left) :)

You know how much he loves attention.

Happy Birthday Hiney!
Love you lots!