Happy New Year!

I am going to try to be better at updating this blog. We shall see. Dylan and I found out in December that we are going to have a little girl. Her name will be Lenox Elizabeth Wakefield. We are very excited. She already has a ton of clothes thanks to her Nana and Aunt Erin. They were told to set a "Lenox Limit" so they don't go overboard on her. No word yet on how that is working. I hope everyone has a wonderful 2009. My new year's resolution this year is to try to save more money. May God bless you 2009!

So this is the first picture of our baby. My friend Christi says that Hurricane Ike has more definition, to which I agree. I am due in April. Even though we were trying to get pregnant, it is so frightening when it actually happens. “Are we ready for this?” plays through your head like a broken record all day long. But as Dylan pointed out, thirteen year olds do it everyday. Not quite the words of wisdom I was looking for, but you take what you can get. The way I see it, this child is being born to two parents that love each other more than anything in the world.

Moving on Up...

We are moving to Millbrook on Friday so we can be closer to the restaurant. You never realize how much crap you have until you are packing it all up. Today also happens to be our anniversary. I can't believe we have been married for eight years. That being said, this will be our sixth house. Hopefully we will stay put for a little while. We do love NY and the Hudson Valley.

Big Changes

Dylan's restaurant opened yesterday and the numbers were pretty good, considering there was no advertising and no sign (the Millbrook) sign committee does not meet until the end of the month to approve the sign. Last night was my last night working at Brothers. I will miss the people, but I need to focus on Dylan's restaurant. We will be moving from Beacon to Millbrook soon. I am excited about the move, but I don't know anyone there. I will continue commuting to Beacon to work at TIGA. I really feel that for this restaurant to be a success we need to be a part of the community. The town of Millbrook is great and the new place has so much more room, so if anyone is looking to take a vacation, please let me know. I love having company. Plan your vacation for the fall because the foliage is amazing. There are three wineries within 10 minutes of Millbrook, so it could be quite the vacation. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. This is a wonderful opportunity for people to truly realize how talented Dylan is, of course I already know that.

The Economy

So it is pretty scary when banks are closing, the unemployment rate is up, companies like GM are cutting thousands of jobs, Starbucks is closing 600 stores, and the government has to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. What is even scarier is that Dylan is about to open a restaurant this weekend in the middle of these struggling economic times. The good thing is that the town the restaurant is in is a very affluent community. Hopefully the bad economy won't affect their decisions to eat out. On another note, my job is really stable, in fact we are so busy right now. But the economic situation right now is very frightening. So I guess you can thank my man Brian Williams for this little post. I love Brian Williams, always keeping me informed of what is going on each day.

It is amazing to me that so many people are so politically uninformed. I will admit that I voted for George W. Bush in 2000. In my defense, let me say that I was 21 years old. I was a young newlywed with a husband who was in the Navy. I was a full time college student, with no worries about health insurance, no impending wars, etc. I think that children are raised with their parent's political views, just as religion or traditions. My parents are not strictly Republican, in fact I can remember my Dad telling me as a child that you were supposed to vote for the best man for the job. Now when I am a mom I will tell my children that you vote for the best person for the job. I know some people in my life will be thinking "how can she be supporting Barack Obama?" Here is how that happened. I know that I have been in the position where I lost my job and my only hope for health insurance was $600 a month COBRA coverage. Pretty steep with no job, right? I also know that I was raised in a household and a church where I was taught not to judge. I really don't care what other people do in their life. To me abortion, gay marriage, etc. are a non issue for me as far as politics are concerned. I know what I would do in my own life and that is all I can be responsible for. What this all boils down to is that I would hope that everyone will vote this November, but only after learning where the candidates stand on each and every issue and then deciding who will do the best job for them. That is my little rant for today.

Working on the weekends...

Bartending at the restaurant was supposed to be a two week thing, but it has now been over a year. There are nights when I want to quit and I get really pissed off, but it all comes down to one reason that I don't. Its not the money, I don't need the money but I do admit the cash is nice. Its because I have met some of the most wonderful people by working at this place. I have a NY set of parents, Jay and Marilyn, that may just be the most wonderfully caring people I have ever met in my life. They truly care about me, but more important, they care about my family. Mike and Catherine have become great friends to me and Dylan, and anyone who is married knows how hard it is to find a "couple" friend that you both enjoy spending time with. Anne and Joe always brighten up my evening. Tom, Sandra, and Dave make me laugh. Jeanne is always a positive addition to any night, with her sense of calm. When she listens to you, she truly listens to everything you are saying. Between John and Tara, Ray, Gary and Bernard, and all my other friends, this restaurant has become quite the blessing.