The Owl, the Key and the Fleur de Lis

Kappa Kappa Kappa Gamma

I'm so happy that I am a

Kappa Kappa Kappa Gamma

Nobody knows how happy I am.

"Oh Pat," said she.

"What?" said he.

"Tell me the truth," said she.

"What do you think is the best fraternity?"

"Oh," said he, "that's easy, easy to see," said he.

"Nothing is better than KKG."

Oooohhhh

Kappa Kappa Kappa Gamma
I'm so happy that I am a
Kappa Kappa Kappa Gamma
Nobody knows how happy I am

There you have it. If any of you have witnessed a Kappa sing that song where they bop up and down and wave their arms back and forth and sing real fast, now you know that there actually are lyrics. And if you happened to have been at Brewsky's in Lincoln Friday night, you might have heard that song because it definitely was busted out during the Kappa Kappa Gamma reunion.

Nearly 50 Kappas from initiation classes from 1996 through 2001 got together homecoming weekend in good 'ole Lincoln to remember our "dear Kappa days." People traveled in from Denver, San Diego, Chicago, San Antonio and Kansas City just to be there! I have to admit I was a little nervous beforehand - and I planned the whole thing! But there was a range of emotions: will she remember me? Am I successful enough? Is she going to be there? Will I get a chance to talk to everyone I want to? Will I make it to Lazarri's at 1 a.m. to get a piece of spicy chicken pizza?

Those emotions soon went away and suddenly I didn't feel like I had been away from the house for five years. We caught up like we had only been away from each other for a summer. I remembered everyone's name (another pre-event jitter), answered the question "do you have any kids" (with a no, of course) about a million times, and remembered how much cheaper beers are in a college town. We ended the evening at The Bar, which was a Kappa favorite. (Sad that we still knew some of the bartenders). There was definitely a new addition to The Bar - a photo machine. I think eight of us were crammed in there shoving money in the darn thing, but it didn't work. I am sure our pounding and kicking it helped :-).

We ran back to Kappa after (I do NOT remember it being that long of a walk - apparently I never wore heels in college or I walked home barefoot) and Denise and I gave ourselves a house tour. Of course we went on another one the next day when the house was officially open for house tours, but hey, I'll never refuse an opportnity to see where I lived for three years.

Fortunately for Trevor and I we didn't stay for the football game.

Photos below and at this link courtesy of Picture Man!

Busted

This was two days after she was spayed. They say they bounce back from it and man are they right. She's back to her same 'ole ornery self.

Have a good weekend!

Thoughts from 30,000 feet

As I log onto my computer to write this post, aboard Midwest flight 157 from Philadelphia to Milwaukee, my eyes are welled up with tears. I’ve been crying. Almost downright sobbing. So bad I had to pass on the on-board-freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies so I didn’t have to look the flight attendant in the eye. My cocktail napkin soaked with tears…and snot. But once the ThinkPad powered up, this little face appeared at me larger than life as my screensaver and I chuckled. It was as if it were planned.

I didn’t have a bad day. I’m not scared of flying. I just finished reading Marley & Me. And you can probably guess what happens.

The bond between a person and their pet is something a non-pet owner just doesn't understand.



And that’s as far as I got before we were told to shut down all electronic devices. I still don’t understand the reason behind that. Anyway, so I don’t completely remember where I was going with the above but I think it was pretty much something along the lines of 1. dogs are awesome and 2. they truly are man’s (and woman’s) best friend.

I’m now en route from Milwaukee to Omaha. I’m tired. Trevor and any of my friends I’ve traveled with will vouch for the fact I turn narcoleptic on airplanes. For some reason - not tonight. And I don’t know why. I worked 36 hours in the past three days. I’m pooped. I want to go to bed. But I kind of have the restless legs syndrome going on. The other reason I can’t sleep right now might be because of the screaming child in front of us. Now, I know there’s not a lot a parent can do, but it’s annoying. I know I am just setting myself up for bawling kids on airplanes. But that’s another reason dogs are sweet. On my last flight there were two hounds and neither of them made a peep. The good news is since I’m not asleep, I was able to eat two – yes count ‘em two – on-board-freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies.

Apparently the key to landing is for me to turn on my computer. I’ve got to shut down again. Later I’ll post about the Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3-Day, which is where I was all weekend.

from the desk of macy

From: Trevor Fitch
Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2007 10:38 AM
To: Wendy Fitch
Subject: from the desk of macy

dear wendy,

what does "97th and fort" mean anyway? the guy that i've been pestering the shit out of for the last few days keeps mentioning it. oh well. today i've kept myself busy by running around on the bed while that guy is sleeping and licking him to wake him up. when he wakes finally wakes up, i go back to sleep. it's totally fun. oh yeah, and this morning at like 4, i jumped down, squeezed through the closet door to play with underpants, but couldn't get the door open again, so my incessant barking finally woke that guy up and he let me out. i think he called me "dipshit." so far this morning i've been chewing on socks and underpants, and it's making me gag. totally weird.

now that vacuum cleaner is terrorizing me. i'm cowering in fear, shaking as hard as i can shake, but it won't go away. that guy keeps telling me to "quit being such a lame-ass douchebag", but hell, if i can't run around and be annoying, what am i supposed to do with my time? cower, that's what. i hope he understands that.

have a great time in philly. hope i'm still here when you get back.

your ultra annoying dog,

macy.

p.s. even though i got a bath yesterday, i'm completely filthy and pretty much in need of another one! who'd have thunk it?

I get to write-off my haircut, right?

Completely kidding. But I did just get my thank you from Locks of Love, which I thoroughly enjoyed receiving.

I think LOL is a great organization. But now that I've put that out there - they could use some help in the postcard-design area. Kind of creepy and plain weird.

There is no place like Nebraska

Trevor and I headed to Lincoln for the NU/Iowa State game. We haven't been back to a game together since 2005, which was only two years ago but it felt like an eternity. Anyway, after the game (third quarter, rather), Trev and I walked around campus. It was so fun to reminisce. I told Trevor I felt like I needed to be wearing a backpack! So much has changed on campus since we were students there and then other aspects feel like we never left. We sure have a lot of great memories from Lincoln; it was wonderful to be back.

Below: Wendy's home for three years - Kappa Kappa Gamma

















Below: Trevor spent a lot of time at Nebraska Hall
















Below: Trevor's home for two years (or was it one year? I can't remember) - Lambda Chi Alpha

All I want for Christmas is

a food processor. And a subscription to Us Weekly (especially since it raised its newsstand prices .$50 an issue). And an address embosser. And a...let's be honest. The list goes on and on.

Back to the subject at hand. I have to post this because a friend talks about how he got a crockpot for his birthday. And while I am sure he was appreciative, I'm sure he won't be as ecstactic as I will when I open up that silver Bed, Bath and Beyond box December 25.

Happy Birthday Famous Trevor!

Looking forward to our dinner at Famous Dave's!

Dinner at the Four Deuces

Last night we hosted a murder mystery dinner party. The best part was how into it our friends got! I mean - look at these costumes! I was voted "best performance" (Madam MeMe didn't have one real-world conversation all night) and Trevor got best costume (he was a fat mobster). Too much vino to remember who got the other two prizes. Anyway, if you get the chance to participate in or host one of these, do!

US Weekly Tells No Lies

I'm a Virgo, but I'm sure you already knew that.

Maverick Mojo. Why Fight it?

Well, I did it. I applied for grad school.

Actually I only applied for my non-degree status because I have two prereqs to take, but still...I'm going back to school. I'm going to study and go to class and skip class and wear a backpack and buy books and take tests and do projects. Dear Lord. What have I done?

I'm actually very excited about it. If all goes as planned I should start my MBA program in the fall of 2008. I am very excited about that (not so much the prereqs). I met with an advisor in the spring and mapped out my MBA plan and she spent a lot of time talking about how MBA students choose a publicly traded company (no duplicates, though) and apply each course to that company. I find that very exciting. I also think I will truly value this experience being in the "real world" and having business knowledge to relate my courses to.

So, my application is with UNO. I received an email saying they were processing my application, in which I realized my birthdate on the application somehow is listed as 10/17/1975. Nothing about that is anywhere accurate. Need to get that fixed.

I'll keep you "posted." HA! Sounds like a blog pun if I've ever heard one. Oh yeah, my horoscope in US Weekly this week said something like "now's the time to do something you've been contemplating, like apply for grad school." Holy cow! I KNEW that publication was like the Bible. I'll scan it and post it soon.

Happy Birthday to Me

Slowly but surely I'm catching up to the rest of my friends...I'm finally 27. The big day was last Friday, September 7th. I think the most enjoyable part was that I had the day off and I was in OMAHA. So often I feel like days off are spent traveling back from vacation or doing laundry because you just got back, or you took the day off for a specific reason (i.e. to recuperate from the JT concert). It was fun to have the day off work and just enjoy it. And that's exactly what I did. After first waking up at 6:45 am, Macy must have remembered it was my birthday and willingly napped with me. Until 10. It was awesome. However, that did mean we didn't get to the dog park like I had planned (but we went Sunday - no worries). I had a delish sushi lunch with my mom and then she and I headed to Golf Galaxy to pick out the putter she and my dad got me. Then, I hit the links with my mom and dad. However, might be the last time that happens. My dad got a little irritated when 1. my mom stopped by their house (we played at the course they live on) to go to the bathroom after the third hole, 2. when he had to go back two holes because my mom left her pitching wedge on the green and 3. when she didn't think she could play the last hole because she had to pee so bad. For the record, we didn't even drink beer! Anyway, it was fun. We ended up the big 2-7 with dinner at Bonefish Grill and beers at Clancy's. Mike, Denise, Josh and Shannon - thanks for meeting up with us at Clancy's. Like I said, have to take advantage of those Friday night birthdays! And to the Hites - you stayed out way too late to drive us home. Thank you. Yellow cab is pissed we never called to cancel.



Thanks to ALL of my friends who called, sent cards or text messages. The best part about burfdays is the reconnecting with all of your friends. Because when everyone has so much going on, it's great to know they'll always remember you on your day - and vice versa.

No Subject

From: Fitch, Trevor
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 9:11 AM
To: Wendy Fitch
Subject:

when you're out of town, all hell breaks loose (dog-wise). she spends all of her time looking for you, then ignores me, then barks her ears off, then runs off and almost gets hit by a car, then gets yelled at and shoved back into her kennel, then makes me feel bad, then gets to sleep in our bed, then gets rolled over on in the middle of the night, then gets elbowed at 3:00 in the morning because she will NOT stop licking my elbow armpit.

Cue Pomp and Circumstance

And another good Macy story

Man I love this dog. She's hilarious. And gross too, as suggested by the below email. There's also the time she stumbled upon a Wheat Thin covered in ants and put her face right into it. Brushing off large, black ants from a white, furry face is something I never thought I'd do. Oh but I did. Or how about the time I thought she had an ear infection (per the groomer) so when she was rubbing her ears in the rocks at my parents' house I thought nothing of it. But when she didn't stop I pulled her away only to realize she had been rubbing her face in a dead, decaying frog carcass.
Sidenote: after a 40 minute and $40 vet appointment, no ear infection.


From: Fitch, Trevor
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2007 8:15 AM
To: Rachel McKenney; Wendy Fitch
Subject: RE:

Gross email time! This morning the dog barked me awake, I just assumed it was time to get ready for work. So after standing in the yard for 5 minutes, I realized it was 3:30, not 4:30. So I put the dog in bed, where she took up her favorite game, licking herself in her special area. Do you know what's more gross than watching her do that? Listening to her do it right next to you while you're trying to sleep. I even elbowed her to get her to stop and she just flopped on her back and continued. ..........Then she licked me in the face, therefore, shower time.

Enjoy your coffee. Happy Friday.

Since you've met Miss Macy (via photos), you'll get a kick out of this email I received from TFitch a few weeks ago:

From: Fitch, Trevor
Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 9:35 AM
To: Wendy Fitch
Subject:

synopsis of this morning's encounter with the dog:

4:48:00 - wake up, walk into laundry room, hear quiet jingling, let hound out.
4:48:10 - let dog out onto porch, carry down stairs
4:48:30 - hound pees, yawns, looks around
4:48:55 - hound lazily walks over to steps, sits down, yawns
4:49:00 - hound lazily follows me up stairs, into house, sits down, yawns
4:50:00 - hound lazily eats treat, nearly falls asleep, yawns
4:50:10 - i say "lets go see wendy" and walk towards bedroom door
4:50:12 - hound stares at me from dining room table as i stand in bedroom doorway
4:50:13 - hound's eyes almost bug completely out of her head, hound runs into master bathroom faster than i've ever seen her move
4:50:13.5 - hound makes the turn at the shower and heads back out into the living room. trevor in pursuit
4:50:13.7 - hound races into guest bedroom, begins to defecate. turtle head is popping out
4:50:14 - i apprehend hound, pick up around lower waist, hold upside down like a doggie poop bouquet
4:50:16 - hound is transplanted in front yard, takes MASSIVE poop. is nice enough to leave bits and pieces around yard
4:51:00 - dog is asleep on wendy's face

The Blog is Resurrected

Hi everyone! I've decided it's time to bring back the blog. I miss not sharing life updates with you. Whether or not you miss receiving them...we'll that's up to you. Actually I just realized everyone is so busy the blog is an easy way to keep everyone looped in to what's going on with the Fitches. So if you have a blog or a Web site, please send me the link. Of course, there are times when phone calls will be made. Like when I win the lottery. But I have a feeling you all will be calling me first when that happens!

The biggest update sine my last post in December of 2006 would be the new addition to our family - Macy!
Macy was born April 1 and joined our family June 5. She's a female Maltese, currently weighing in at 4 pounds, 2 ounces. She's actually grown a lot in the two months we've had her. In the above photo, she only weighed 2 pounds!



In May, right before we got Miss Macy, we went to New York with eight very close friends. We had a great time; nothing like five couples in two NYC hotel rooms! We crammed a lot into three days, including a double decker bus tour of the city, tasty meals at The Eatery, Mesa Grill and Dos Caminos, Wicked, a Yankees game, the top of the Empire State Building (buzzkill) and shopping. It definitely was a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. We're so fortunate we have such great friends to do things like that with.

Just last week I cut 12 inches off my hair to donate to Locks of Love. I'm still getting used to the new 'do (moreso getting used to having to do it every day!) but I like it. And I probably shed less which has to make TFitch happy. Macy doesn't care about length; it all tastes the same to her.

Our jobs are still going well. I'm still with Barkley working on Blue Bunny and the Breast Cancer 3-Day and Trevor's still with Kiewit working at the Mid-America Power Plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

That's it for now. Talk to you later!

Merry Christmas from the Fitches!

Where was this article last year?

Brides may need help with post-wedding blues

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Everything about Brian and Christina Behrend's late summer wedding was picture perfect - from the bright Texas sun to the emotional vows that symbolized a storybook romance.
The Dallas couple - she's an account manager for an e-mail provider, he's a professional Web developer - met six years ago and, as their online diaries say, it was truly love at first sight.
So when the Sept. 2 wedding was over and the honeymoon bags unpacked, Christina headed back to work and was a bit unnerved when her life as a new bride was marked by a case of the blues.
"Our apartment was a mess - there was no motivation to clean. Our bank accounts were empty. The high from the adrenaline of planning a wedding for over a year was completely down. So moving into this new low was quite depressing, particularly when you return home with nothing to do except continue on with work and everyday activities," she said.
The Behrends are not alone. Wedding planners, psychologists and other experts say a post-wedding letdown is perfectly normal, even common.
Carley Roney, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the online wedding site theknot.com, said weddings are often the high point in someone's life, particularly young brides.
"There's a certain high to having such an increased sense of purpose," Roney said. The wedding "is filled with all the things that are sort of so celebrity: my guest list, what dress should I wear, how can I spend this $10,000 budget? It's very glamorous.
"You build and, all of a sudden, it is over. Period. Full stop," she said. "The glamour is over. You become another person - sort of on the normal list."
Marg Stark, a San Diego author whose book "What No One Tells the Bride" offers women a realistic guide to the sometimes rough waters of walking down the aisle, said newlyweds often find themselves isolated.
Single girlfriends may not understand, and no new bride wants to sound like something is wrong with her marriage, she said.
"So you're cut off from the friends who used to keep you sane. And your anxiety is doubled, thinking that you're the only bride out there who isn't basking in bliss," Stark said.
Susan Padrino, a psychiatry instructor at University Hospitals of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, said there aren't many scholarly studies on the topic but psychiatrists and psychologists are seeing more patients with emotional wedding hangovers.
In many cases, the stress of marriage and wedding planning sparks underlying depression, which should be treated right away, she said.
"You could speculate that today's emphasis on the wedding as the 'best and most expensive day of your life' would put even more stress onto the bride and groom," she said. "Unreasonable expectations about what the wedding day will mean could also contribute to a significant letdown feeling."
The Internet, where wedding postpartum discussions abound, and more realistic portrayals of marriage in the media have helped. But Roney and Stark say the idea of being depressed just after getting married is still somewhat taboo, mostly because people are afraid to talk honestly about the sometimes bad feelings associated with getting married.
"As long as there are women fogged over by tulle in their wedding fantasies, there will be newlyweds who have turbulent adjustments after the perfect wedding is over," Stark said. "I do think society sets women up with a lot of impossible, overblown expectations."
Many wedding planners say they have begun counseling clients about the possible post-wedding blues from the minute they start putting together the ceremony. They recommend a budget the couple can truly afford without dipping into credit cards; enough time to plan without rushing, which could add stress; and postponing the honeymoon to allow time to recover financially and emotionally from the wedding.
Loree Tillman, a wedding designer from Escondido, Calif., said newlyweds often end up missing the fellowship of family and friends that a wedding brings.
"I have had brides say, 'OK, now what? What do I do now?'" Tillman said. "What I tell every bride after their wedding day is, plan another party! Large and/or small - family reunion, barbecue, holiday party. This helps carry those wonderful feelings that brides and grooms had on their wedding day."
As for the Behrends, they have started a weekly date night and work out together at the gym as a way to focus on their marriage now that the wedding is over.
Christina said she hopes their Web log, which details their experience, will help other newlyweds.
"Hopefully, once we've settled into this new phase we can finally start building our relationship and lives together," she said.

366 Days Down

And I can't believe it!

Trevor and I celebrated our one-year anniversary on Saturday. We decided to go to dinner at V. Mertz stay at Embassy Suites on the Old Market. When we checked into the hotel and found our room, we realized we were upgraded to the Presidential Suite. Presidential Suite as in my dad really wanted that room for the wedding last year and they wouldn't give it to him. We opened the door and were in awe, and did what we had to do: call our friends to have them come down to the hotel and party with us. Like Trevor said, "we could not have had that room and not called anyone." It was a super fun night! The only problem is we were planning on staying at an Embassy Suites every year on our anniversary...but Saturday night might have set our expectations a little too high :-).