Have a Holley, Jolly Christmas

Christmas this year was a little...abnormal, but great none the less. We celebrated Christmas with my brother and sister-in-law on Dec. 11 and with Adam's parents two days later. As a result, Andrew was a little confused about exactly when Christmas was and asked each day if he was going to get to open presents today. But when Christmas finally arrived, it was great.

My parents came over on Christmas Eve and spent the night with us. My family always celebrated on Christmas Eve. So we had our big meal on Christmas Eve, let Andrew open one gift, and watched some Christmas movies. Then sent the boy off to bed.


The next morning, Andrew jumps into bed with Grandma and Grandpa at 4:45 am (people that is early) and announces the Santa has been there. So we all get up and discover that Santa Claus has not only visited but left snowy footprints from the fireplace to the Christmas tree (magic snow, doesn't melt and tastes like flour).

And then, my wonderful baby boy did the most amazing thing of all. He pulls a package out from the back of the tree and commands me to open it. The first thing he wanted to do was watch me to open the gift he had made for me. And when I opened it, it was a painting of a flower he had made for me in a frame he and his daddy had made. It was the one of the most wonderful moments in my life and made me cry. After giving me a hug and a kiss, Andrew asked where his gifts were. And then the gift opening orgy began.


We spent the rest of the day in our pajamas, playing with Andrew's new toys. It was a wonderful Christmas.

Letting Go

I love Christmas. It is without a doubt my favorite time of the year and I love decorating the house for it. But I am a wee bit of a perfectionist when it comes to some things (it is a family trait), and one thing I have always insisted on is a perfectly decorated Christmas tree.

Now, you may not know that there are rules for decorating a Christmas tree. Yes, very strict rules. Rule number one is to put the light on the tree first. I mean every one knows that, that is Christmas Tree Decorating 101. If you own a Christmas tree that is pre-lit (like me), you can skip this part.

And for most people, that's where the rules stop. You throw the ornaments on and your finished. That is not the case for the individual in search of the perfectly decorated tree. The next step is to put on your garland, draping it jauntily across the branches. I tend to go for strings of red, wooden beads or rolls of ribbon or, if I am feeling ambitious, both.

Next, is solid colored, round ornaments. I am talking your garden variety Christmas balls. Mine happen to be red and silver. These should be placed midway back on the branch, nestled with in the tree (never on the branch tips). This gives your Christmas tree some dimension.

Finally, comes the decorative ornaments (your santas, snowmen, angels, etc). These are placed on the tips of the branches and you should take care to distribute like kind evenly around the tree. For example, my 20+ santa ornaments should be sprinkled all over the tree, never clustered close together. And yes, I have multiple classes of ornaments (the one my grandmother made, santas, snowmen, ornaments collected on trips, etc.).

Now, poor Adam has run afoul of the "rules" so many times he finally gave up and just lets me decorate the tree. I am fine with that. But this year, something had to give. With the recent surgery, I was just not up to decorating the perfect Christmas tree, physically or psychologically. I was too tired and I could not lift or stretch. On top of that, I have a four-year old who has been clamoring for days to decorate the Christmas tree. I had no choice, I had to let go.

So last night, Adam, Andrew and I decorated the Christmas tree. My dear, dear husband offered to drape the Christmas tree with the red, wooden beads, but honestly, I just wanted the darn thing decorated and that takes too long. So we just went to throwing on the ornaments. Adam and Andrew did put the solid red and silver balls on first and Adam did his best to make sure they were farther back on the branches. And then we started throwing on the ornaments.

Andrew worked twice as fast as his mother and father, so there are a large number of ornaments near the bottom of the tree. About half way through, we allowed him to climb up the ladder (with Adam's assistance) to hang ornaments. After that, he had to climb the ladder every time to hang ornaments, so there are a large number of ornaments in the middle section of the tree. The top of the tree, which was only reachable by Adam, is a little sparse. It is far from a perfectly decorated Christmas tree.

This morning, Andrew and I were preparing to go out front to get the newspaper and, on a whim, I flipped on the lights on the Christmas tree.

Andrew, with awe in his voice, said "Mommy, we have a beautiful Christmas tree."

And I have to agree with him, we do have a beautiful Christmas tree.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

There is nothing like a small emergency in your life to make you really appreciate your family and friends. For example, this past weekend, when I unexpectedly had surgery to remove my gall bladder. On Thanksgiving day, I had no idea there was anything wrong with my gall bladder, by Saturday evening, it was gone. And I would have never made it through without my family and friends.

It all started Thanksgiving Day with what I thought was heartburn. When the heartburn was still bothering me on Friday, I went to minor emergency. That was where I got the first inkling I was going to lose my gall bladder sooner or later, but honestly, I thought I would have more time to say good bye. While the doctor was sure I had gall stones, I needed an ultrasound to verify it and all of the radiology centers were closed. The doctor sent me home with some vicodin, a list of instructions, and a warning that the gall bladder was probably coming out the next week. Hah!

When I started getting sick Saturday morning, I knew my time together with my gall bladder was coming to an end. I gave my parents a warning call and then called the doctor at minor emergency. Yes, he said, it was time to go to the emergency room. I called my parents, who already had their pajamas packed, and waited them to show up to watch Andrew. I do have to give a big thank you to my parents. Adam and I did not want to take Andrew to the emergency room because we did not want him to get upset but I needed Adam with me in case I got upset. Mom and Dad dropped everything and were at our house within 35 minutes of my call. As far as Andrew was concerned, he was getting to spend a fun weekend with his grandparents and I never had to worry about my child.

Within an hour and a half after our arrival at Round Rock Medical Center, Adam and I knew my gall bladder was coming out. With some morphine (lovely stuff) and some valium (even lovelier), I made it until 2:00 pm when they wheeled me back to the surgery room. The next few hours are blurry but when I finally came around, I was missing one of my non-essential organs.

I came home Sunday and have been well taken care of since. I have to give thanks to my parents and Adam's parents for watching Andrew during these days of recovery. Oddly enough, I am just not up to watching Andrew right now, shocking I know. I also have to thank our family and our friends for feeding us. I can not get it together to cook right now and the boys can eat only so many hot dogs.

So all you girls out there (because gall stones affect mostly women), if you are experiencing really bad heartburn and are in your 30's, have your gall bladder checked out. You never know. It could be here today and gone tomorrow.

Only on Wednesdays

Andrew's grasp of time is tenuous at best. So we have been working on understanding measurements of time. We have a calendar on the refrigerator and we talk about what day of the week it is and when we are doing certain things. On Monday, we go to the grocery store, Wednesdays are swimming lessons, and on Saturdays, we watch football. I wasn't sure Andrew was getting this lesson until last week.

"Andrew, you need to take off your pajamas and put on your clothes."

"No Mommy, only on Wednesdays."

"Excuse me," I said.

"I only change my clothes on Wednesday."


And since then, that has been his response to everything.

"Andrew, would you like spaghetti for dinner tonite?""

"Only on Wednesday."

"You need to pick up your toys Andrew."

"Only on Wednesday."

"Andrew, it's time to take a bath."

"No. I take a bath only on Wednesday." (Ok, he definitely did not win that one. Our kid is not the Pigpen of his class. At least, I don't think he is.)

And yes, I even heard:

"Andrew, would you like to go get doughnuts for breakfast this morning."

"I only eat doughnuts on Wednesdays."

Who Are You and What Did You Do with My Husband?

I loooooove Christmas. It is my favorite holiday of the year. And I see no reason to confine it to one month. I am already listening to Christmas carols. Adam disagrees with me. He firmly believes that there should be no hint of Christmas until after Thanksgiving.

For 11 years, Adam and I have waged a battle over when I can break out the Christmas decorations. This has led to me surreptitiously slipping Christmas decorations out during the month of November. If he doesn't notice the Santa on the mantle he can't really complain about it, can he?

We have also have a running argument about snowmen. I say snowmen are winter decorations, not Christmas decorations and thus eligible for display. My snowmen coffee mugs make an early appearance in our house. Adam, of course, disagrees.


Until today.

Yesterday evening, Adam and Andrew packed up all the Halloween decorations and moved them into the attic. Andrew loved the Halloween decorations and told Adam he wanted to put up the Christmas decorations. Two weeks before Thanksgiving.

This morning, Adam asked me if Andrew and I were going to put up Christmas decorations today.


Are you kidding me? Who are you and what have you done with my husband?


I fight for 11 years and get nothing. Andrew asks once and Adam completely shifts his position.
I should refuse on principle...


But I'm not stupid. No, sirreee. I am putting up Christmas decorations today.

Colorado Bend State Park

This past weekend we went camping at Colorado Bend State Park. It is an absolutely beautiful park in the Texas Hill Country. We left Friday around 1:00 p.m. and were there about 3:30. The campground is at the end of a very long, bone-jarring gravel road. Seriously, we may have to get new shocks for the truck. But the camp ground is in a valley on the banks of the Colorado River and is literally in the middle of nowhere.

We pitched camp and then took a short hike along the banks of the river. We saw 3 armadillos. Andrew wanted to chase them but Adam informed him his ears would fall off if he touched one (well, they do carry leprosy). We also spent a lot of time throwing rocks into the river, great fun for the 4 year old set. Then we went back to camp, built a fire, ate dinner and hung out until bedtime.

The next morning, Andrew and I got up at 7:15. It was 31 degrees. Did you catch that? It was below freezing. After about 5 minutes, I woke Adam up and informed him we were driving to town for breakfast. You just can't cook in those kind of conditions, well, at least I can't. So after breakfast in a nice, warm cafe, we returned to the park and took off on a hike.

The big attraction at Colorado Bend State Park is Gorman Falls. You start at the top of a hill and hike down to the river and at the bottom is this beautiful waterfall. It's about a 3 mile round trip hike and Andrew hiked almost all of it (he rode on Adam's shoulders for the last 1/4 mile).



After eating lunch at the camp, we went down to the river and went fishing. We didn't catch anything, but Andrew learned how to cast. Where we were fishing, the river runs through a canyon and Andrew discovered the fun of echoes. We had great fun shouting silly things and listening to our echoes.



We saw a lot of wildlife while at the park. Lots of armadillos and deer, including some big bucks (it was opening weekend of deer season), a couple of wild turkeys, and a bobcat walked right past our campsite. I was very excited about seeing the bobcat, Adam...not so much. Oh, and there were a ton of daddy longlegs. I hate daddy longlegs. I mean I really hate them. And they were every where and on every thing. Billions of them. Adam and Andrew thought it was really funny when one crawled up on my hand and I started screaming and jumping around like a banshee. I aged about 10 years in 1 second.

But other than the icky spiders, it was a great weekend. There are only about 25 campsites at the park, so it was not crowded. There is no electricity so at night you can see all the stars. And the setting is beautiful and so peaceful.

Now, I just have to get the smell of smoke out of everything...and make sure no daddy longlegs hitched a ride home with us.

Late Nite Adventure (or Finding Molly)

There a couple of things you need to know before you dive into this post. First, we have a nine year old dog named Molly who is, basically, 5.5 pounds of white hair. Second, if Molly really wants to, she can get out of the backyard. Third, we have an alarm system on our house and every time you open a door, the alarm keypads go "beep-beep-beep-beep." There is a keypad in our bedroom so we can hear it if a door opens at night. I think that will do it for set up.

So last nite, about 12:30, I am sound asleep, as all normal people are. Adam, who is clearly not normal, was still awake. However, I am awoken by key pad going "beep-beep-beep-beep" repeatedly, like 5 times in row. My first thought is "What in tarnation is Adam doing?" (though the phrasing might have been a little different). I haul myself out of bed and go into the living room to see exactly what my husband it up to.....and he is nowhere to be found.

"Adam?" I yell.

"I can't find Molly," he responds, slightly frantic, from upstairs "and I have been searching for 30 minutes!"

So I pick up the bag of dog treats and start calling for Molly and shaking the bag of treats. Normally, this is guaranteed to get Molly to run into the kitchen. This time I got nothing.

Finally, Adam comes back downstairs and we go outside. We search the backyard calling for Molly. We go out into the front yard and call for Molly. No response. If she got out of the backyard, she could be anywhere.

"Did you let Molly outside while I was putting to Andrew to bed?" Adam asks.

"No. Was she inside the house when you took him upstairs?"

"Yes," says Adam. "She followed me upstairs."

"Then she has to be inside," I say. Now, Molly is 9 years old and I am terribly worried that something has happened to her and she is unconscious somewhere in the house and at 5.5 pounds she can be very hard to spot (especially if she has burrowed under the laundry). So, Adam and I start a very thorough room by room search. We move couch cushions to see if she slipped behind them, we look behind the curtains, in the pantry. She is not in the back part of the house.

We head into the front part of the house and, as we pass the staircase, very faintly, I hear Molly scratching at a door somewhere. "She's upstairs," I tell Adam and we go rushing up the stairs.

Strange thing about Molly, she will bark at any one or any thing that dares pass by the house, she will bark to be let in the back door, she barks repeatedly when we come home, but shut her behind a door inside the house and she will not bark. Adam finally found her. She had followed him into Andrew's bathroom and, apparently, decided to check out the linen closet, where she had been shut in for over 4 hours.

She was very happy to see us. Next time she goes missing, I will remember to check the linen closet.

5 Things We Learned Today

It was just your ordinary fall day at our house, until Adam said "What did you do Andrew?" and I looked over to see blood all over Andrew. We quickly learned 5 things:

1. Leg wounds bleed a lot. He fell off his bike yesterday and scrapped his leg. He apparently reopened the wound while watching t.v. today. Unaware he was bleeding, he proceeded to get blood all over both legs and his arm.

2. Andrew cries at the sight of blood. His wound obviously didn't hurt since he was completely unaware he was injured until Adam said something. At the sight of blood, he burst into tears and proceeded to wail like he had lost a leg.

3. Our couch does not show blood stains. Really. There were several smears of blood across the seat cushion. We wiped them off with water and you can't see them any more.

4. Bactine stings. You can quote Andrew on that.

5. Candy corn cures everything. After being bandaged, Andrew is sitting on my lap still wailing at the top of his lungs. I handed him a couple of pieces of candy corn and he stopped crying in an instant. It was like someone hit the off button.

So that was our morning. How was yours?

...and were back.

I know, I know. It's been 5 months. So here is a quick recap and then I am moving on!

In May, we went to Disney World with my parents. We hit all the parks, saw all the big characters. Disney World really knows how to do a family vacation. We all had a great time and Andrew is still talking about it five months later. If that isn't an endorsement for Disney World, I don't know what is.

Andrew with Baloo and King Louie from "The Jungle Book"

Andrew started swim lessons this summer. He is doing really well (he is still taking lessons). At this point, he may be a better swimmer than I am. And swimming lessons completely wear him out (bonus!).



Summer was pretty quiet for us. Adam built a pond and patio in the back yard. He did an awesome job. Andrew started the pre-kindergarten program at his school and I get teary-eyed every time I think about him starting school. He is growing up so fast. We are ready for the weather to get cooler and have lots of fun things planned for the fall, including 3 camping trips (oh dear).

So stay tuned and I hope to get back to regular posts.

Quick Update

Ok, so I started a new blog post the day after my last post. I had finally received my little pink laptop back from Fry's and so I was blogging on that. I get about a quarter of the way into the blog and realize that my little pink laptop is not connected to our picture drive. So, I had to wait for Adam to reconnect me to the drive and by then life had moved on. I apologize. I know you have been checking daily, waiting for the new posts and have been profoundly disappointed. It's just been a really busy month (April that is). So without further ado, here is a quick update.

Andrew turned four on March 30th. Yea! We had a small party for him that involved a bounce house and a pinata. Whoever came up with the idea of giving small children a stick, blindfolding them and letting them swing wildly at a papier mache figure was not thinking clearly. There were several close calls but, fortunately, no trips to the hospital. There is nothing like giving kids a bucket full of candy and sending them home with their parents.
Of course, the next weekend was Easter. Which meant a visit from the Easter Bunny (more candy) and hunting for Easter eggs (even more candy). When your only cousins live in Michigan, you get to find all of the Easter eggs (woohoo!).




Then the next weekend (April 9-11) we went camping at Bastrop State Park. It was only our second camping trip with Andrew (and Adam and I had only been one other time), so it was a big undertaking. We took everything. We were prepared for every eventuality, except for the batteries on our camera's dying, which they did on Saturday. Not many places to recharge a camera battery in the great outdoors. But we had a wonderful time. We went hiking twice. Actually, we all went hiking once. Andrew spent all of the second hiking trip riding on his father's shoulders. On the first hiking trip, Andrew had a great time trying to spot the trail markers on the trees. We also went fishing. Unfortunately, it was a cool weekend and the fish just weren't biting. We roasted hot dogs for dinner and marshmallows for dessert. Bastrop State Park was great and we had a wonderful time. As we were packing up to leave, my lovely husband said he could do the whole camping thing again (which is good since we bought a new tent).






Then this past weekend, we had my family's annual family reunion down at the farm in Gonzales. Andrew loved climbing on the hay with all of the other kids and playing in the mud puddles left by the rain earlier in the week. He did not enjoy being sprayed down with the garden hose after playing in the mud. Fortunately, I had taken about 4 changes of clothes for him, so he did have warm, dry clothes for the drive home. And after all of that activity, he slept the whole way home (we left about 5 in the afternoon) and did not wake up for dinner.




It's been a busy month. We have a little break this weekend, Adam and I have individual things going on but that's it...other than packing for Disneyworld! Life is good.

In a New York Minute

I know. I know. I haven't blogged in ages. So sue me. I am now going to make up for lost time. I hope to do several posts over the next few days so stay tuned. But now, for the subject of this blog.


So, remember that post in February about Adam's big secret. And how it was just killing him to keep it. Well, we went to dinner with Adam's parents a few weeks ago (March 3 to be exact). When we finished dinner, Andrew looked at me and said "Mommy, you need to go home and pack." When I asked what he was talking about, Adam informed me that our plane for New York was leaving at 7 am the next morning and I better get packed. Wooooohoooooo! So, we left Austin at 7 a.m. on Thursday, March 4 and returned Saturday, March 6 at about midnight. All of the grandparents (and daycare) pitched into watch Andrew while we were gone.

What a trip. Adam had booked us into the Millenium Broadway which is just half a block off of Times Square and the perfect location for exploring Manhattan. And believe me, we saw the whole island (well almost) in 2 and 1/2 days.

Our flight landed at JFK a little after 11:00 a.m. After checking into the hotel and grabbing a bite to eat at Carnegie Deli ($60 for 2 sandwiches and a couple of sides -- now I know why New York women are so thin, they can't afford to eat!). But like I was saying, after eating lunch we walked up to Central Park. We rented a pedicab pedaled by the cutest little Irishman (shout out to Neil Ainsworth from County Mayo) and he took us on a tour of the park. It was a wonderful little tour and we didn't have to walk. Here we are with Neil:



When we left the park, we walked over to the Museum of Modern Art. We saw lots of art you would all recognize (Van Gogh, Seurrat, Warhol, etc) including Monet's "Waterlillies" which is absolutely huge and a Tim Burton exhibit. As we were walking through the museum, we walked into a room that had this large, white...tent in the middle of it and a guard standing next to it. No one else is in the room. So, Adam and I are walking around looking at this...tent, and the guard asks me if I would like to go inside it. So, I took my shoes off and went inside. It had these two weird structures which you were supposed to hug and rub and it smelled like lavender inside. It was very interesting. Anyway, by the time Adam and I were done walking through it, there was line of people waiting their turn. We started a trend!






After the MOMA, we went to the Top of the Rockefeller Center for a view of New York at night and then went down to Times Square. Even at night, Times Square is as bright as a sunny day. It was a very expensive day. Everything in New York seems to cost a minimum of $20 a person. Just to ride the elevator to the top of the Rockefeller cost us $20 each. Ouch!

On Friday, we got up and took the subway to the bottom of Manhattan. Then we took a ride on the Staten Island Ferry (which was free!) for a view of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. Afterwards, we walked up to Wall Street and then out onto the Brooklyn Bridge.





Then we had lunch in Chinatown and closed out the afternoon at the American Museum of Natural History:



Our last day, Saturday, we had until about 3:00 p.m to cram in as much as we could. So we went to the New York Public Library, Grand Central Station, The United Nations, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Plaza (where they have the ice skating rink) and Fifth Avenue.

We walked about 30 miles while we were in New York. We rode the subway 5 times and took 2 taxis. We had a great time. And it was my most awesomest birthday ever!

A Gift a Day

Not quite four years ago, I celebrated my last birthday as a DINK (double-income, no kids). A short 22 days afterwards, my precious baby boy was born. Watching him grow and change over the last four years has been one of the most rewarding (and occasionally frustrating) experiences of my life. As I approach my 39th birthday and his fourth, I find I love him more now than I did when he was born. In so many ways, he brings joy into my life every day.

There is this cartoon he watches, "The Imagination Movers," and every episode ends with the same song and dance routine. They sing "Jump up! Get down! Stand up! Turn around, turn around, turn around, turn around." Well, every time we hear the song, Andrew and I get up and dance to it while holding hands. We jump up and down, drop to our knees, stand back up, and then turn in circles until we are both dizzy (Andrew's favorite part). I always take the opportunity to dance with him to this song because I know the day will come when he will no longer want to dance with his mom. It is one of our special moments.

In addition to dancing, Andrew loves to sing. Now, he usually prefers to sing at the top of his lungs and to make up his own words. But he also started recently singing with me. There is a little song from Maggie and the Ferocious Beast that starts off "Paper flowers bloom, On the Walls of my room, When I sing my song." I was singing it recently and I sang "Paper flowers bloom" and then Andrew filled in "On the walls of my room" and then we both sang "When I sing my song." It was so sweet. I love the song, but I didn't think he had paid any attention to it. Sometimes he surprises me.

These are just two examples of the sweet things my son surprises me with every day (not including the hugs, kisses, and giggles). So as my birthday approaches, along with the fabulous gift my husband has gotten me...and while we are on the topic, not a single one of you has found out what the gift is and called me, shame on you! But as I was saying, as my birthday approaches, along with the fabulous gift my husband has gotten me, I have discovered that my little boy gives me a gift every day.

My New Space

About 3 years ago, I quit my day job and became a stay at home mom. Not long afterwards, my friend Staci (she has a great name but she spells it wrong) invited me over to her house for an afternoon of scrapping. That's scrapbooking for the uninformed. While I had seen scrapping before I hadn't really done any before that afternoon. Well, I was hooked. I thought "What a great hobby! It's fun, creative, and all you really need is a pair of scissors and some paper. So it's cheap too!" And here I am, a couple of thousand dollars later, addicted to scrapping. Turns out you need (seriously people, need is the right word) all kinds of things in addition to scissors and paper.

Once I got started, I needed a space at home to scrap in. Basically, I needed a desk and a book shelf to hold my stuff. No problem. There is a sitting room off Adam and I's bedroom. It's a strange shape, sort of L-shaped but not exactly. We already had a chaise and a large chair and a few antiques in the larger portion of the room, so I just stuck a desk and some shelves and in the smaller section and, voila, I had my scrap space. When I showed Staci, she predicted that eventually the furniture would get moved out and the entire room would become my scrap space. I laughed, there was no way that would happen. Well he who laughs last, laughs loudest. Staci, you can start laughing.

Over the past couple of weeks, the chaise and other furniture have been moved out and Adam built me a huge desk to use for scrapping. He did a lovely job, don't you think:





The desk is L-shaped. The long part is 8 ft long and about 30 inches deep. The short part of is about 3 feet long. I do my actual scrapping on the long section and the short section holds my computer and printer. Adam did a really great job. So nice to have a husband who can build stuff.

And I love my new desk. I have grand plans for the remaining space too. I definitely need more storage...so I can buy more stuff. Makes sense to me!

The Great Blizzard of 2010

That's right folks! The Great Blizzard of 2010. We just had snow here, a lot of snow. Big, fat fluffy snowflakes. It was a huge blizzard...by Texas standards. It was awesome!

So, on Tuesday morning about 7:00 am, it started sleeting and quickly turned into snow and it snowed on and off all day long. This was the view out my back door at one point.



At one point, I was talking to Andrew about the snow and I said "Let's go build a snowman." And he replied "No Mommy. I don't want to build a snowman. I want to throw snowballs!" That's my boy!

It was fun though, getting to do all of those traditional snow activities wiht Andrew that we so rarely get to do here in Texas.

We caught snowflakes on our tongues:




We made a snowman:






And we had a snowball fight:






And after we were nice and cold with frozen hands (we do not have the proper snow equipment!), we went inside and had hot chocolate:



It was a great day!

Don't Call Me, I'll Call You

It happens every two years. That song plays (you know the one), the torch is lit and I am instantly glued to the t.v. for the next two weeks. I LOVE the Olympics. The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. I love it all.

I am currently recording about 8 hours of Olympics each day and watching most of it (thanks to the DVR, I actually only have to watch about 6 hours). And it really doesn't matter what they show, I watch it all. Curling, cross country skiing, biathlon. I don't discriminate.

Now, as a rule, I root for the Americans. I am completely nationalistic. I don't care what your story is or how hard you have worked for it, I am cheering for the American, not you. Actually, if you are in the American's way, I am generally rooting for you to fall, slip, drop your curling ball, whatever. I don't want you to get hurt, just lose. The exception is when there aren't any Americans in contention. Then I get completely sucked in by the little stories and find myself cheering for some obscure Estonian competing in their 5th olympics whose uncle's dying wish was that they win a gold medal and this is their last chance to fulfill that wish. Go Marit or Petra or whoever you are (I generally can't pronounce the last name so it's first names only).

I get all worked up. I can feel my blood pressure rising as I scream at the t.v. The other night, I found myself leaning foward, back, side to side, all in a bid to help Seth Wescott win the goal medal in snowboard cross. He won by the way, thanks to my help.

So for the next week and a half, I am watching the Olympics. Don't call me, I probably won't answer the phone.

Regressing

Ahhhh, Valentine's Day. Flowers, boxes of chocolates, romantic dinners and Scooby Doo valentines. This year, Valentine's Day has taken on a whole new...angle. Andrew's class is having a Valentine's Day party. So, I gamely trooped out in the freezing rain (and I mean that literally) to pick up a box of valentines for Andrew to hand out at school today. I sat down at my desk to insert the temporary tatoo that comes with each one (can't give just a card these days) and fill them out. Then the instructions from his teacher arrived.

1. There are 21 kids in the class.

2. Each child shall bring 20 valentines to school (no more, no less).

3. The "from" section of each valentine shall contain the child's name.

4. The "to" section shall be left blank.

5. The valentines will be distributed....

Wait a minute! "The "to" section shall be left blank!!!!" What the heck is that all about??!!

I must say Instruction #4 ruined all of my fun. For a minute there it was like being back in first grade and getting to decide who got which valentines. Alissa is my best friend so she gets this pretty valentine. Suzie is mean and the teacher's pet so she gets this ugly one. And Johnny smells bad so he gets the valentine that is torn. (Admit it, all of you did the same thing.) If the I don't get to put names on them how can I insure that people get the correct valentines??!! For heaven's sake, Johnny might think I actually like him!

Eeeewwwww!

Where's the Beef

My grandparents owned a farm and raised cattle, so growing up I ate a lot of beef. In fact, you could say my family epitomized the phrase "Beef, it's what's for dinner." And I have carried that on in my adult life. We eat a lot of beef in this house. In fact, we eat a lot of meat. Almost every meal features some kind of meat.

I had not realized how central meat had become to a meal until I made soup the other day. I made a lovely green chile soup with potatoes. No meat. So Andrew and I sit down for lunch and Andrew starts picking through his soup.

Andrew: Mommy, where's the meat?

Me: What are you talking about?

Andrew: Where's the meat? There is no meat in my soup.

Me: This soup does not have any meat any it.

Andrew: Well, there is supposed to be meat in it.

Me: Just eat your soup!


Clearly we need to eat vegetarian more often.

Keeping Secrets

My husband is a wonderful man. He is kind, caring, funny, smart, and handsome (to name just a few of his many wonderful attributes). However, he is keeping secrets from me.

My 39th birthday is coming up in March (f.y.i., I am partial to diamonds and emeralds) and my husband has already purchased me a gift. I do not know what this gift is and Adam won't tell me. And, quite frankly, it is killing him. That's right, it is killing him that he can't tell me. He is soooo excited about it and he just wants to share the excitement with me. But he also wants it to be a surprise. It is quite the conundrum for him.

Actually, he goes through this frequently. Birthdays, Christmas, he is always offering to let me open my gifts early. Or giving me hints about what he bought. After he bought my engagement ring (but before he proposed), he showed it to everyone he knew. He invited one guy into our closet to "look at his new suit" just so he could show him the ring. He is doing the same thing again, telling everyone he sees about the gift.

I love surprises and really don't want to know what he bought. But that being said, I am a mean person and there is a prime opportunity here to torture my husband. So I am constantly asking him for hints and making guesses about the gift. It is making the wait just that much harder for him. I know, I know, I am just a cruel person.

So, if you should pass Adam on the street during the next few weeks, I am sure he will tell you all about my gift. If he does, call me.

It was bound to happen...

And this weekend it finally did. Considering how often Andrew falls while running at top speed, I am surprised it took this long.

It all started when we went to Home Depot on Saturday morning. Adam is building me a new desk (yea!). So, while he was picking out wood for the desk, Andrew and I went to get the other things we needed. After we had picked up everything we need, we started back over to the lumber department. Now, Andrew being the boy he is, he does not stay right with the cart. It's more like the cart is the sun and he is a planet in orbit around it (and not a very stable orbit at that). But as long as he remains within a few feet of the cart and isn't knocking things off shelves, I am okay with it. He has got to get that energy out some way.

So, we are heading down the big main aisle of Home Depot. We have spotted Adam at the end of the lumber aisle. When we are about 15 feet away, Andrew takes off to establish a new orbit around his dad. He gets about half way there and trips over his own two feet. Lands on his knees and slides across the floor face first into a shopping cart (yes, it looked like it hurt). He turns and looks and me and then bursts into tears.

I picked up my poor baby up and checked for injuries. And it had finally happened.

Andrew had broken his nose. Well, I should say he has all the signs of a broken nose. His nose swelled up and bled. Fortunately, it wasn't a bad break, my child is not going to have Owen Wilson's crooked nose (thank goodness!) And in fact, he didn't fuss about it long at all.

It is amazing how an offer of lemonade and M&M's can make a kid feel better.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

As we all know, you have to watch what you say around kids. For the first couple of years, you can pretty much say what you want and not have to worry about it. But after that, things you say have a tendency to come back and bite you in the butt.

For example, every night at dinner we encourage Andrew to talk about what he did that day. You typically here about things like his trip to the grocery store with Mom or playing with his friends at school. But not always...

Adam: So Andrew, what did you do today?

Andrew: Drive Mommy crazy.

At least he's honest. Or for example, this past week. I sprained my knee last week and have been babying my knee. Andrew was crawling up in my lap and I cautioned him to be careful.

Andrew: Why?

Me: Because my knee hurts.

Andrew: Oooohhhh. Mommy's knee is old.

Me: What?!

Andrew: Mommy is really old.

That little @#^&$!

Starting Over Again

Adam and I are pretty strict parents. No snacks between meals (other than the regularly scheduled snacks), limited sweets, and "Don't you tell me no!"

One of the decisions we made early on and strongly enforced is that Andrew sleeps in his own bed, he does not sleep in ours. The only time the rule is ever relaxed is when we are travelling. It is hard to keep him in his own bed when he is sleeping 3 feet away in the same room. But every time we travel, we see the wisdom in our decision...because Andrew kicks in his sleep. When Andrew sleeps with us, Andrew is the only one who gets any sleep.

We live in a two-story house, the master bedroom is downstairs and Andrew's is upstairs. Ever since he moved out of his crib and into a bed, we have had a handle lock on Andrew's door. The lock made it difficult to turn Andrew's door handle. Any adult come open the door from inside the room when it was locked, but Andrew could not. The possibility of Andrew navigating the stairs in the dark and half-asleep made the lock necessary. It also meant that when Andrew was ready to get up in the morning, he had to call down to us and wait for one of us to come open the door. A significant advantage for us parents.

Last week, about 5 am, I hear a sound in Andrew's room over the baby monitor. I didn't hear anything else, so I rolled over to go back to sleep. Imagine my surprise when two minutes later Andrew tumbles into bed next to me. "What the heck are you doing here?" "I ready to get up Mommy." Great, just great. The handle lock was no longer an obstacle.

So for a week now, Adam and I have been woken up every morning by Andrew crawling into bed with us, sometimes as early as 3:30 am. That is awfully early folks. We are trying to figure out how to keep him in bed until at least 6:00 am and how to keep him from coming out of his room after we have put him to bed.

Basically, we are starting over on the whole sleeping thing. Any suggestions?

On Second Thought

Adam: Andrew and I are going to Toys R Us to get more Legos.

Me: Okay. Have fun.

Adam: Aren't you going with us?

Me: I prefer to stay home if you don't mind.

Adam: No, you don't need to go as long as you don't care how many Legos we buy.

Me: Good point. Gimme just a few minutes to put on my shoes and coat.

Ouch!

So, we set down for lunch today, Adam and Andrew eating their pizza and me eating my Lean Cuisine (yippee.). Andrew of course asked why I was eating something different which led into a discussion of how much weight Mommy and Daddy have gained in the 11 years we have been together.

I said it was my fault. Adam said it wasn't. So I asked him "In the 10 years we have been living together, who has done most of the cooking?"

And my husband, without missing a beat, replied "McDonalds."

Ouch.