Better Late than Never!

While I realize that I have not blogged in a ridiculously long time, I figured it is better late than never. So I have many updates to share.

Eva celebrated her 2nd Birthday on September 6th. I was so excited that her birthday actually fell on a Saturday this year so I decided to have a birthday party for her on her true birthday. I decided on a beach ball theme because she was all about the beach this past summer. And then, a bit of a hiccup. (Cue Monsoon weather). Tropical storm whoever bursts in to New Jersey on the same weekend as Eva's beach ball birthday (good alliteration, huh). And do I have a tent rented...um...NO! So I scramble to rent a tent (don't ask me how much more it cost me than the original canopy I had rented. I confirmed the table and chair orders as well and ensured that the tent would not blow away in case the 40 mile per hour winds that were predicted actually occurred! After about fifty conversations with my mother in a 24 hour period, I decided to go ahead with the party on the scheduled date. Bottom line: Two year old children (and their friends) don't mind getting wet - in fact they generally love running around soaking wet! Birthday parties in monsoons are conversation pieces. It should be the new trend! Mental note, though, don't count on weather warnings to dissuade people from coming to your birthday party so you might want to go with the largest tent possible since otherwise you, your guests and the food will be mighty cozy!

So after the Merry Monsoon party in early September, I began a season of frenetic meetings with senior students applying to colleges and a maniacal quest to write 40 letters of recommendation in a several week period. Oh, did I mention that these students were all new to me and I had never met them before? Yeah, that too!

In October I turned thirty (yikes) and celebrated with friends/family at Sun Tavern. It was a fun night (thank you Susan for organizing) but it is hard to believe that I have entered a new decade!

Just before Christmas, Matt turned thirty-two and was rewarded with word from his employer that he is being laid off as of May 1st. Horray for us! NOT.

Christmas was tons of fun this year with Eva loving every moment of it! She helped Nana and Papa decorate the tree. She put out cookies and milk for Santa and his reindeer (after tasting a few of the cookies)! And on Christmas Day she opened tons of presents - wanting to stop to play with each of them along the way. I found myself asking, "Who in the world designed these packages and why is it necessary for a package with a baby doll and various baby accoutrements to have better security than the Pentagon?" Seriously, I really don't get it!

New Years was celebrated with a bang (the sound of my head hitting the bed at 10:30 p.m.) - I have truly entered a whole new level of pathetic.

Presently we are focusing on job searching (for Matt), preschool open houses (for Eva) and a countdown to the next school break (for me). So now you are all caught up on the exciting adventures of the Cahill family. Stay tuned and I will try to post some pictures to go along with the stories above!