Christmas Wrap.

A few weeks ago, when our priest asked for volunteers to carry the bowl of flaming incense down the aisle and up to the altar for the Children's Christmas Eve mass, he had many refusals. One notable rejection from Emily at the thought she may have to put on a dress. Then a volunteer spoke up, "I'll do it." It was Wyatt. Before I could have a say in the matter, [the overprotective Mother in me thinking he was a bit small for such a big job] Wyatt was receiving instruction on how to step and dance the bowl down the aisle, a feat he would perform twice during the mass. Along with his duty as incense bowl carrier, he was also a Shepherd in the recreation of the holy family at Jesus' birth.

Fast forward to Christmas eve. My handsome son, the Shepherd. My lovely daughter, the Angel. Proud Mama moment. Until the bowl of incense came into the picture again. I was grinding my teeth hard, thinking the worst. He made it through the first trip down the aisle just fine, not exactly as precise as he had been instructed but he got through it OK. As we sat through the mass he became sleepy and I almost had to push him off of me to send him up for his Shepherd duty, Sarah of course, was fully awake and performed her angel duties just right. My sleepy boy was a bit of a lazy Shepherd, reclining on the step, lids looking heavy throughout the portrayal.

Then came the second performance down the aisle with the incense. He did much better this time, much more in step with his partner, dancing away, swirling the wooden bowl into peoples faces as he came up the aisle toward the altar. What I hadn't noticed was the way his Shepherd costume had dropped lower below the rope that held it in place at the waist.

As soon as he stepped up toward the altar, he went down, bowl of sand and incense flying up, full face plant at the feet of our priest who, in the calmest manner you can imagine, picked up my son, scooped the sand and the burning incense back into the bowl with his hands, and gently pulled the Shepherd robe up and over that rope once again so that it did not drag the ground. He handed the bowl back to Wyatt who, like nothing had happened, finished his task of taking the bowl around the altar and back down the steps. You can see what wasn't cleaned up behind Wyatt on the carpet in the photo of him alone.

Looking back, it was so predictable. Long robe, new shoes, burning incense, drowsy boy, step up. Yes, I have it on video and it is sad and kind of funny at the same time. If you come to my house, I will show it to you but I am not putting it on the internet! It ranks up there with the most memorable Christmas eve masses. Like the one when Emily was the Angel and she fell asleep [cute video]. Or three years ago when Emily portrayed Mary in the recreation of the holy family, and halfway through mass, Sarah, then four years old, pulled the fire alarm. Sweet, happy memories.

Christmas week was a nice mixture of peaceful, restful, fun and crazy. We went ice skating the Monday before Christmas and I discovered that I could still skate!

Tony is back to work this week and we are looking forward to tonight, saying goodbye to 2008, welcoming 2009, and celebrating Tony's 40th birthday with family and friends on Friday.

Farewell 2008 [stop pushing me], thank you for the goodness and the sweetness and the love. So long and cheers!

Party With a Twist.

Wow, I can't believe it's all history already. We had a wonderful Christmas week full of excitement and rest that flowed in an alternating pattern. Tony had all of last week off and we started the week with his Christmas party.

Tony pretty much puts this one together each year, picks the place, the food, plans for most of the other details too. Ravi, a well respected employee who left the company in the middle of the year to work at his own business was invited. Ravi and his wife Jasmine are also dear friends of ours, so when he asked Tony if he could surprise everyone with an entertainer it didn't take much for Tony to agree to it, even after he found out the entertainment was belly dancing. Tony's co-workers represent a broad spectrum of humanity, including Portuguese from Portugal and Angola, Mexican, Indian, African and of course plenty of people just like me, whatever that's called, American I guess (although I have a grand complicated ancestral mixture of European, and American Indian).

That reminds me of a story that my Dad tells about his Uncle Buddy and Uncle George who would tell him as a young boy, "Tommy, you have ancestors and garments covering your body and you're going to die!" My Dad says he would look down at his skin and freak out!

OK, back to my story. In my minds eye, I was expecting a culturally enriching event perhaps with a Christmas twist on the belly dancing theme. Tony and I were the only other couple that knew that the entertainment was to arrive and perform during dinner, something along the lines of a violinist moving from table to table. Having general expectations of what the dancers would be like, I joked with Ravi, Jasmine, and Tony, "what if they are really really old?" We all laughed about that.

Well, guess what? They weren't very young at all and I won't be so disrespectful as to describe the carnage in detail, but I will tell you that they kept ALL their clothes on. Moral of the story: Never hire belly dancers over the internet, always request a meeting with the actual dancers prior to the event. I have no idea how much Ravi paid them but I'm pretty sure it was too much.

Then, the best part of the evening for me. My husband got the best laugh of his entire career as party host when he held the microphone later in the evening after the belly dancing ladies had been long gone. And I quote: "I just want to say a big thank you to my Mother and Grandmother for generously providing the entertainment for the evening."

I love Jasmine, I wish you could have seen her face.

The Shortest Day.

Time is free, but it's priceless.
You can't own it, but you can use it.
You can't keep it, but you can spend it.
Once you have lost it, you can never get it back.
~Harvey MacKay

I was getting emotional yesterday watching all the families in their movements at mass and throughout the rainy day yesterday. This is what stays with me:

The 30 something man with his hand around his fragile grandmothers waist. The care and the love expressed in his touch, the care I felt him taking for her was not possible to measure.

The Mommy taking communion with her little one holding her leg tightly and the littler one snuggled in her arms.

The Grandmother holding her Grandson in her arms for most of the hour, keeping him close and safe as his mother watched approvingly.

The volunteer Mom coordinating the Christmas eve mass for the children saying to Wyatt, "would you like to be a Shepherd or an Angel?"

The Priest showing Wyatt how to "dance" the bowl of incense down the main aisle. Step, step, step, step, bowlie, bowlie, bowlie, bowlie.

As told to me by Tony after the mass:
Tony took Wyatt to the restroom before communion and a woman asked him to help with her husband. This man has Parkinson's and Tony helped him out of the restroom and to his car. The woman shared with him that it was, in fact, their 51st wedding anniversary and her husband had insisted that they attend mass this morning.

Watching Tomasa [Tony's Mother] in her sweet happiness as she celebrated her birthday surrounded by her children and grandchildren.

And most of all, feeling God's love and presence in all these family moments and movements.

Some days, I am so focused on the task at hand or just getting through the current moment to hurry on with the next one. Yesterday I was able to not only witness but to take time to reflect on the beauty of the simple moments of family unity. I think of it as a gift of clarity and am grateful for moments like that that keep me with the correct perspective, and remind me that true love is measured not in what is said, but what is done.

Santa Rejected!

Only my three elder children sat with him. But, he gave her a candy cane anyway.

This is unprecedented, usually Tony and I will get into the Santa photo if necessary to assure that all the kids are represented with the big guy. Somehow, we let Eva get away with it yesterday at our annual trip to the mall. And to add to my woe, she was wearing her favorite sparkly dress that once belonged to cousin Sydney. Here is the complete series of Santa pics in case you missed them last year.

Ho ho, ho well. Next year Santa, don't take it personally!

Let Them All Be Goofy.

How do I get a Christmas card photo from my crew? First I let them be silly!


You don't really think I would show you the serious one do you? It's not nearly as much fun to look at anyway! I know, I am way behind here with the photo taking for the Christmas cards and the posing in front of the Christmas tree is very un-original, I know, I know. Isn't it better than nothing? Don't say no! I should have done something original and inspired weeks ago. I almost let myself talk myself into not doing cards this year. That was the lazy side of my brain trying to take over. I am getting to it! I won't let that lazy side win, though I am tempted by warm fires and cozy blankets on this drizzly day. I love the rain.

And, oh sweet anticipation, tonight is the Survivor finale and I do love that dumb show! This season, I have been a devoted and loyal fan, keeping up every week on the TV or the internet. It's a good season, I haven't been this interested in a lotta seasons and I have been in it since the beginning. It was late in the summer of 2000. I remember the evening so well, at the time it seemed like something so different. I was still an out of the house working girl and all the ladies at the office were hooked too. It was a fun time around the proverbial water cooler. And right there with me, all along, my best Survivor cohort Nena! And guess what? She is coming over to watch the finale with me! I am just a silly woman tonight. Giddy you might say, and, I haven't even had anything to drink!

Ha!

I am blessed. Because I want to be. It's a choice really. I know this.

This has been a magnificent December. Nothing special really. Just regular stuff, but for some reason, I feel it more, the specialness. I am so into it. I am happy.

More to mention, but it will wait. A lot of funny [to me] things happening here. I laugh out loud more than any time I can remember. It's the kids, and Tony too. I can't go half a minute without something silly being said, or done. Life is good.

Oh what a dizzy, unsubstantive post I have created here!

Yesterday, 12/09/08.

I drove through the fog and dropped off seven kids at school.

I spent three hours with my sister in law Maria.

I ate Nena's cheesy rice for lunch.

I can't remember much about the afternoon, I must have spent too much time on the computer.

I made a lentil soup for dinner. Tony has been requesting this recipe for weeks and thought I would surprise him. When it was almost ready he called to say, "go ahead and eat without me, I've already had dinner at the plant."

:(

I tried to pull myself out of a stinky mood but didn't have much luck with that.

I received a phone call from my cousin Brian, stinky mood became less stinky.

:)

Wyatt through a major tantrum over a book. Stinky mood returned.

:(

Tomorrow [today] not stinky, starting off quite well.

Fifteen days until Christmas.

:)

Yesterday, 12/08/08.

I drove through the fog and dropped off six kids at school, retaining only one [child] for myself.

I talked to my Mom on the phone after four days of phone tag.

Sleeping Beauty played with the nativity set.

I ironed fifteen shirts.

I paid $1.45 at Costco for a gallon or twenty of gas.

I took my Girl Scouts caroling with their troops at a nearby retirement home and didn't get any good pictures to share. You know, blurry, dim light.

I had to ask Sarah to stop tattooing drawing pretty pictures on Eva's skin.

I boiled two crabs.

We watched A Charlie Brown Christmas. That Linus is a smart little dude.

Sixteen days until Christmas.

Dashing Through My Hopes.

The annual Santa photo did not happen on this day.

Snap Crackle Pop!

And just like that it's December. Holy Saint Nick I can hardly believe it! Thanksgiving day was very low key, we had an easy morning at home and spent the afternoon with Tony's family.

This photo is from Saturday, here are all of the not fully grown grandchildren in Tony's family. There are five full grown ones that were present but somehow didn't get into the picture. There are two more in Mexico so I guess that makes 19 grandchildren in this family and happily, there is one more on the way for an even 20, heartfelt congratulations Rafi and Miriam who are now expecting baby #4! The occasion that day was the 25th wedding anniversary of Tony's oldest sister. Felicidades to Lupe and Vidal for the big two-five and while I'm at it, on the same happy day, congrats to Mari and Victor for a rousing 14 years together!

We broke out the Christmas boxes Friday morning and from one day to the next we were pumpkin free and done decorated for December. Tony put up the lights on the house and we are now fully festive. Phewww. It feels good. It feels right. It sure feels like December. Notice Eva is still in love with her Snow White dress. She continues to wear it daily. Usually more than once a day. She cracks me up, that one. I'm all cracked, inside and out!
This month fills up so fast too. Already the calendar is loaded with events like recitals, caroling, parades, celebrations and parties of various sorts. I'm ready to bake cookies and make Christmas-ey stuff. I keep the Christmas DVD's put away all year because I want the magic to restore itself once a year that way. I took them out last week and the kids were giddy. We have The Grinch, Frosty, and all the Rankin and Bass classics that I loved and anticipated so much as a kid. My favorite is The Year Without a Santa Claus, it's the one with the Heat Miser and the Cold Miser. We planned our whole weeks around when it was going to be on TV. I think Renee and I would play misers and sing those great songs for weeks after it aired when we were little. That DVD also has Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey and that one is especially sweet.
OK, so glad I squeaked out a post today. I'm off now to pick up Wyatt from school and do other random things that need to be done today. Ciao!

Love This.

Growth & Gratitude.

We drove up to Renee's on Saturday. Our first stop was the downtown parade in which Sydney was marching with her school band. We were so proud of Sydney! She marched in the parade like she was a pro! It was beautiful to see! Band is so cool! Sydney is awesome! She will be 13 in January, I just can't believe that. When Tony and I were married, she was 15 months old. We had a tiny little dress made for her that looked just like Renee's dress, and it was the sweetest. See it here and here. Can you believe Renee is a redhead? I love it, it looks so good on her! She joked that she felt much smarter since leaving the blond behind. Ha!

Then we spent the day with my family at Renee's. We ate, we drank, we danced. It felt so much like Thanksgiving day that I have had my days mixed up all week. It's funny having Thanksgiving and then looking forward to Thanksgiving a few days later!

I was able to get these boys to freeze for ten seconds for a photo. This is Sam [Renee's boy, he will be 7 next month] and Chase [Jimmy's boy, 7] and Wyatt [my boy, 5 1/2].


Just for fun, look at this one below, it's from 2005! Three little boys, see how they grow! What handsome boys! I don't think I could find cuter ones anywhere [although I've heard the ones in Dallas are very cute]. Do you think they favor?


Gratitude. I'm full of it. I am deeply grateful for Tony and for my stinking awesome kids, for all my family near and far, for all of Tony's family and also for my friends. And most especially, I'm grateful to God who gives us more than we need and often more than we deserve. Happy Thanksgiving! Make it all good!

Don't Encourage Me!

In the nursery school yesterday I was sitting with Eva at the play dough table and all my bound up creativity just exploded into a masterpiece of hardly describable proportions. Check out my little orange man. The little children, and parents too were just doting on him [or laughing at me behind my back]. I think I have found my true talent. Ha!

It's over. Soccer season is over! We attended our last three games on Saturday!
After three pizza parties in five days our Saturdays have been returned to us! We are free at last, our Saturdays are free at last! I was proud of myself for thinking of this:
Emily has had the same soccer coach, Kim, who is also a friend of ours, for the last four years. I scanned all the team photos and put them all together on one page. I wanted her and all the other families to know how much of her time and incredibly good willed effort she has given to the girls, and us parents. She an amazingly genuine and kind person too. I hope she liked it. She gave me one of the best gifts I have ever received once when she came over and took my older kids away for an afternoon just a few days after Eva was born so that Tony and I could have time together with her and just our two selves. That gift really sticks out in my mind. I put little asterisks by Emily in each team picture so if you click on the picture to zoom it up, you can find her.

Tony and I went out to dinner [yay!] Saturday while the kids stayed at home with his Mother. I was so high [figuratively, of course] and happy that I wore two different shoes! The last thing I remember is standing in my closet trying to decide which pair to wear! Haven't I always told you I was a serious dork! We had a evening out and about, what a difference an hour and fifty-five minutes can make to a Mama's well being. Now say Amen.

Sunday we went to Tony's parents for lunch and look what his Mother has in her backyard:
What a beauty, that little heart, just thriving along so nicely with the other not so shapely cacti. Imagine how tasty she might be someday! Mmmmmm! Imagine how big she could get!

Parent teacher conferences today, that along with piano lessons and CCD should make for a nice full day. Catch me on the other side. Mom, Renee, get ready for some[thing] fun...were coming your way!

Peace.

Randomly Speaking.

We played games the other night. We decided Candyland should be first so Eva and Wyatt could play too. We didn't have all the little gingerbread men so the kids improvised with the tokens which I obviously found amusing.

I was the yellow Lego. The typically swift game of Candyland took the six of us almost thirty minutes to play. I was the loser, I think I got put back in the chocolate swamp [where I truly belong anyway] like three times!

I love this picture Wyatt made for me with his red crayon, I love how he made us holding our stick hands together. I only wish that I didn't have the male pattern baldness.

Some of his creativity doesn't please me so much though. Look what Wyatt did to every bedroom door in the house! The little vandal! No wait, the little door scrubber!

It is nearly impossible to keep clothes on my littlest one. She has this burning desire to wear a costume, preferably any princess, every moment of the day. She will not keep regular clothes on her body! So she more often than not looks like this:

I wouldn't mind so much if it were another month [July maybe] where it would be appropriate to be running around half naked all day! I'm getting tired of telling her to get dressed! What is it about kids anyway that keeps them from being cold? I'm freezing over here and they are running around with shorts on asking me to blow up the pool! Maybe I should just chill and realize that they are happy and having fun, which should [and does after all] make my job easier.

Here she is as farmer girl. I talked her into this one because it is mostly regular clothes, which I celebrated, but sadly it didn't last long. Can you guess what Emily was? The horse of course. In case you haven't visited us at home in the last oh, ten years or so you might not know that playing animals is Emily's favorite activity. I don't know if she is ever going to grow out of it! She is a really good horse, she even wore all brown, shirt, skirt, socks. I told her, "look you even have brown hair and brown eyes." You should have seen her smile at me. She loved that.

Today I think I'll take it easy and just go grocery shopping, buy new auto insurance, pick Eva up from school, take all the kids for the flu shot in far away Modesto, [try to] get new sneakers for Emily and Sarah, warden over my kids to get their homework done, and then go to a PTA meeting. Yeah, I think I will take it easy like that! Help! I hope Tony can do the feeding of the children tonight. Ahhhh, looking forward to Friday.

Pass the Puffs With Lotion Please.

I have been slammed by another round of allergies, or maybe it's a cold. Anyway, I think I am over the worst of it. It started on Monday and is lingering a little bit but much better today. On top of that,it's been a really busy week around here. I have managed to heap new things onto my plate and it is plenty full. I think I even became treasurer of the PTA this week and I am not quite sure how that happened! I must have been over medicating.

I see that my Halloween recap is late...


Sarah and Wyatt and Eva wore repeats of years past, Emily was Nancy Drew and we trick or treated our block with Nena [thank you for spending your Halloween with us] and Emma. We also squeezed in birthday cake and a trip to a fun little Halloween festival complete with dancing. I didn't dance, though I wanted to. It was hard to resist when Tony and Emily did the Macarena. The Chicken Dance and the Cotton-Eyed Joe were also calling out to me, but somehow I didn't give in. Eva was the sweetest little dancer and when another little princess dancer found her, Eva could not ever have been happier. I know that little girls who dress as princesses, sometimes think they are really princesses. It was also fun to discover that my friend Emma has got some great moves!


So now I see turkeys. Turkey art is already making its way home from school. I especially love the turkey art that is drawn from the tracing of a hand. These are from past Novembers:


I am very much looking forward to Thanksgiving, we are going to celebrate it with my family the Saturday before at my sister Renee's because she is going to be at work on the actual holiday. I can't wait to spend the day with my family.

Wow, Barack Obama [I cried too] is holding his first news conference, he is a speedy guy, so far impressive I think. Dear God please help him be a good president.

Bo Bo Bonus Post.

This morning my nephew Chase called to wish me Happy Birthday, which was very sweet! He told me he was going to be Bo Bo Fett for Halloween. I told my kids and they all cracked up because it sounded funny and none of us knew what Bo Bo Fett was! I googled it and it's a character from Star Wars movies. Lots of people spell it Bo Bo Fett just like I thought it was. It's really spelled Boba Fett and it just cracks me up to even say it! Boba Fett is actually a really tough looking dude that I wouldn't want to mess with. I know my nephew is going to be an awesome Boba Fett and I can't wait to see a picture of him as Boba Fett.

Boba Fett. Boba Fett. Hee hee. One day soon we will netflix a Star Wars movie, I think I saw the first one back in the day. I'd really like to see it again.

Bonus October post! I am so on a roll! It just blows that I picked today to notice how dirty my house is, and even worse, that I have the energy and determination to do something about it! How about that? Cleaning house on my birthday, go figure! I do have friends on the way [yay!] and some happy kiddos coming home from school soon and a good man who might bring dinner home!

Look how much fun Wyatt and I had yesterday when he got home from school.

He was crazy for my birthday card from his cousins Bella, Rafi, and Mia. Thanks Miriam, hope to see you and your beautiful family soon!

Sad to see good 'ol October go, but hello sweet November!

Boo!

Happy Halloween Eve! Wowza, two posts in one week, I'm on fire! Thursday afternoon means we're snuggling in closer to Friday, and that means I'm loaded with anticipation and generally pretty blissful. No big plans on the menu, just regular odds and bits of fun and joy.

Tony's family brings these to us, they call them limas. They look like a cross between a lemon and a lime and these two eat them like candy. Sometimes my kids have this much fun with them:



Today was Eva's Halloween party day at her school and I it just happened to be my day to help out at the school, so I was able to get a few cute pictures. Look at her with the other Snow White, aren't they sweet?



I made pumpkin muffins because it was also my day to bring snack. The schedule for my assigned snack said "pumpkin muffins, make at home."
I had to buy the canned pumpkin, but I had everything else on hand and it was super easy. Here is the recipe I used, all I did was cut the ginger in half, reduce the sugar to 3/4 cup and make bigger muffins, two batches gave me forty [nearly] full size muffins. They were actually quite good, very pumpkin-y! They would surely be a good Thanksgiving snack too.

I hope your Halloween and your weekend is spooky and wonderful, in that order! They say we may have rain, I say fine with me bring that rain...not so happy for the trick or treaters though. Depending on which way you look at it, my life can be sweet or spooky [or both together!] any old day of the year, just obviously and especially so tomorrow. Happy Birthday to me and you go have fun being spooked!

Girl Scout Camp '08

It was a great weekend at camp. Not as cold as in the past couple of years. My favorite part of the weekend was when Emily and I were off together retrieving something from her cabin and she said to me, "I'm so glad we're here, I love the outdoors." It reminds me that she is forming ideas about the world and good memories are born that she will always have. My girls also get plenty of the whole slumber party atmosphere too, being in a small cabin with 10-15 other giddy girls for the two nights. We don't do sleepovers, it's just our policy, so I can at least have a little something to help them get over it when they fuss about it later.

This year's theme was Tribal Tribute, all about native Americans. Wouldn't my Dad be proud? As a fifth grader, Emily has already studied native Americans in school, so she's proudly loaded with Indian info now. The girls made art, an Indian purse, a dream catcher and a talking stick complete with an ornamental arrowhead. They even threw spears!

We hiked to the Pinecrest Dam again, the bigger girls like Emily went even further, but not all the way around the lake like last year. Notice how Emily proudly wears her Tennessee shirt I brought back from my trip for her? It's her favorite piece of clothing, she even wore it for her school picture!

The one excitement that we had not experienced in prior years is the true wildlife encounter. No, luckily not bears, but big aggressive raccoons [I thought raccoons were cute and cuddly, and much smaller than they actually are]. They came out just as night fell to scavenge the trash cans and freak us out. Some of the girls were scared, but most were intrigued. Sometimes, all you could see were these little red eyes peering at you from the trees. Oooooh, spooky!

The campfire, the smores, the songs and skits are sort of the culmination/highlight of the weekend for the group. Each year, my girls become more comfortable getting up on stage to sing and dance and be goofy with their girl scout buddies. That part is so much fun to watch!

Hey Fall, What's Up?

Wher've ya been? I've missed ya. [Is wher've a word?]

Love, love, love it! Fall is my favorite. The hot stuff heat is gone and now we can give the sun a break, let it get dark early and relax a little more, or when soccer season is over we will!

Just look at my my early birthday present to myself. It's instant downloadable happiness for me today! And it's a Wednesday, just when I need the lift!

I don't know about you but I am now ready for the elections to be over. I finally made up my mind about who I will vote for, so my goal is to have my ballot in the mail by tomorrow. I have seen some strange things around town lately. Yesterday when I was driving my kids and my other carpool kids to school, I saw a motherly woman [someone who looked somewhat like me] carrying a mangled up sign like this one as she ran down a busy residential street. It got me so curious about her situation. Was she retrieving her sign? Was she taking someones sign? Is she for it or against it? Where was she going in such a hurry? What did she have for breakfast? I was so intrigued with this woman...I wanted to know her story, I wanted to follow her, but I didn't.

Eva is such a funny girl. She can't resist any costume. I have been trying to photograph each one, can you believe how many she gets her hands on?

I have not even been able photograph them all, this is only a sampling! Fall is probably her favorite season too, the costume bin comes down from lofty heights and she is free to be. That last one is just in her pj's, she likes it when her hair is wet and it looks long, when it dries and curls up close to her head she asks me "where is my long hair Mommy?"

What else have we been up to? Well let me tell you! We received some much appreciated grandmotherly love when my Mom came and stayed two nights with us last week. We have made time for and dined with good friends, we have seen an adult movie [the Brad Pitt, George Clooney one, funny but I cannot recommend it to you]. We have seen a play at the university which included my friend Nena's sister Kelly who was awesome in it.

My two big girls and I are packing up for another year of Girl Scout camp. I am hoping that our cabin is close to the bathroom, or even better that I will not have to get up in the middle of the night to go there! It does get cold in the mountains you know, there is nothing worse for me than getting my toasty toes out of a warm sleeping bag for that!

I definitely won't let so much time pass before posting again. I am really looking forward to Halloween this year, it's more fun on Friday, yay! Oye como va!

Peace to you and happy happy voting!

Little E is Three!

We celebrated our September birthday girls on Sunday.

Just a nice quiet simple celebration, not nearly as crazy as usual. I loved having Renee, Sydney, Allison and Sam here, it was fun.

Wednesday is a beast. It truly lives up to its name, tomorrow we are over the hump and on the slide down toward the weekend. But our weekends have not been slow, they've been hectic. I need a slow one pretty soon.

October is finally here! I hope we get some relief from all the hot weather soon because I am so over summer. I want to be cold for a while! This morning me and Eva went for a walk and then I pulled down the fall/Halloween boxes. Eva has been dressing up [she is currently a witch but is asking to be a bat] and playing with plastic pumpkins and Halloween cookie cutters for a while, she's happy, she's 3! My baby is 3, wow!

Emily is now also playing cello, taking her lessons at school. She is giving piano lessons to Wyatt and Sarah, they are on a schedule and everything. If she can keep her patience in check, she can be a wonderful piano teacher to them, plus I don't have to pay for lessons for all of them just yet!

I'm exhausted already. Like I said, Wednesday is the beast of my week, I have a couple more hours then we're off on the hump-day marathon that breaks me down every time. Maybe today will be different, I can't lose hope! Hope, hope, hope.

Time for Tenn.

Eva was such a great little traveler. The only exception was the fear that she developed, at 42,000 feet, of the airplane lavatory. It terrified her to pieces, she screamed the first time she looked at the toilet. Then she continued to scream until I unlocked the door and let her get out. No amount of candy bribe would get her to consider going back in, so she waited until the airport to go. Actually she is particular about bathrooms, some just don't measure up to her standards. We have been out and had to go "really really bad" and when we get to it, she will just refuse it based on looks alone. Other than that we had no problems traveling. From our home to stepping off the plane in Nashville we traveled almost exactly 2,000 miles.

My Dad picked Eva and I up and I was able to get a rare photo of my Mom and my Dad with me. From the airport, my Mom left with her best friend Belinda and Eva, my Dad, and I were off for a couple hour drive to where he lives. We stayed there two nights and had a really good visit with him. We just hung out, perfectly happy doing nothing but being. My Dad is seriously awesome, completely without pretense, he is the most authentic human being I know. I miss him a lot. He took us to Papa's Friday night and then we spent two nights there, just me, Eva, and Papa. Being at Papa's is like being in a time capsule for me. So many wonderful memories there, so many amazingly awesome childhood summers I remember. I took a whole bunch of pictures of pictures on the wall, those same ones that have been there forever, or as long as I can remember.

We ate at the Cracker Barrel three times, I love it there. We don't have any here in California, so it was a real treat for me. I remember driving west on Interstate 40 through Texas about 15 years ago, somewhere near Amarillo there was a sign that said "last Cracker Barrel going west, last chance!" I just looked it up and now they have them in Arizona, still none in California though. I wonder how many meals we had at Cracker Barrel with Meme? She loved that vegetable plate for sure, and so do I! Thank you Daddy and Papa and Aunt Teri for that yummy treat.

My cousin Leigh invited my aunts, uncles, and cousins over for an open house on Saturday. It was just dreamy to see everyone there, I didn't want that day to end. The food was great, the visiting was great but definitely not enough, I wish I could have had more time with everyone. Leigh truly blessed me by opening up her home and inviting everyone, it was so so good to be there.

Sunday I went to mass with Papa and Aunt Teri, we endured Tennessee's share of the hurricane Ike which was a whole morning of big wind followed by a rainstorm. My Dad then took me to my Uncle Dayrel's [my Mom's oldest brother], we spent the day together and I said goodbye to my Dad that evening [sob]. The last couple of days, Eva and I tagged along with my mother and her friend of 50+ years, Belinda. The highlight was a visit to see my Great Aunt Merle who is my grandmother's sister and looks somewhat like Granny did [important note: if my Uncle Dayrel offers to drive you somewhere, give him a hug and very politely say no thank you]. Aunt Merle told us stories of things that she and my Grandmother [also Eva] did as girls. That visit was sweet but also heartbreaking, as Aunt Merle just lost her son JH a month ago.

Uncle Dayrel and Aunt Ruth gave me copies of two cd's that they made. They include old family pictures they have compiled. I love them. They're just like gold and treasure to me.

Staying with Belinda and her husband CJ was pretty terrific too, they treated us so good, made us feel so welcomed. Belinda even made me a special treat, biscuit and chocolate for breakfast one morning, mmmmmm. Granny always made it for me and Renee, it was our favorite.

I won't soon forget the 3:30 a.m. serenade we received from CJ. For a few days, Belinda had asked him to play a song for us and we seemed to always become distracted with something else. We didn't expect to see him so early in the morning as we left with Belinda who took us to the airport. There he was in the kitchen with his guitar, he sang something like, "everybody's leavin' town." I'll say it was memorable, and very very cool.

Tony took six days off work so that I could make the trip, I told you he was awesome! So now it seems like a dream. I still can't believe me and Eva did it! It was sweet. I know we moved away when I was five years old, but something about Tennessee still pulls at my heart, it just feels like home to me and I will keep missing it and all of y'all too.A million thanks to my Mom, Daddy, Papa, Leigh and Trent, Aunt Teri, Uncle Dayrel and Ruth, Belinda and CJ. Thanks to everyone who came to see us too! You were all so good to me and Eva, we love you! Thank you from my whole heart, I hope to see you soon.

Zoom Zoom Zoom.

The world is moving so fast right now and down time is scarce. I had planned to have a great post already about my fabulous trip to Tennessee but instead I lament not having the time to make it happen! Words are faster than pictures, so here I type just so you know it's on the way.

Our other goings on:

Soccer season is in full swing, we were on the soccer field for eight hours Saturday because it was also picture day. That was a very long day! I enjoy it [but I am secretly counting the weeks until soccer is over].

Sarah has a cute new short haircut!

Eva's going to be three years old next week! Oh my baby!

Hurray for fall!

Holy California!

We arrived home safely early this afternoon. I can't wait to share my photos and stories of our Tennessee trip with y'all.

One fun tidbit; just as we drove onto the freeway out of Sac International, we came upon Arnold Schwarzenegger [I'm 99% sure based on assumption, a good guess, and some here say] with a 3 car motorcade and 2 CHP moto escort. It was funny, welcome to California...meet the Governor!

The road down to the river. I'm tired. Hasta mañana.

I Am Not A Satellite.

It feels like Friday is the only day that belongs to me. Nearly no driving, no answering to anybody but Eva for five full hours. It's magical.

We celebrated Sarah's birthday this week. She had such a great day. Tony's sister Carmen and the boys dropped by for cupcakes and ice cream and so did his Mom and Dad. Thanks to everyone who called her to wish her happy birthday, she raced to the phone every time it rang...knowing it would be for her, you made her feel so special.


Sarah came home from school today with a "guess what happened to me today?" Then she smiled at me with a big hole where her tooth used to be. Her second lost tooth! Her second lost tooth that she could not produce for me! This one she said she took it to the restroom to wash it and dropped it down the sink! What will we tell the fairy? She may be suspicious now, with us begging for treats and having no teeth there under the pillow!

A big development in my world, my littlest one has also started school. She is going two mornings a week for three hours and so far she is loving it. It falls heavy on the parent involvement so I will be spending a fair amount of time with her and I'm looking forward to it. I may even find some time to help in Wyatt's or Sarah's classroom a little bit. Yay for me!

Our Tennessee trip is fast approaching. You would not ever believe how much I am looking forward to it. Eva has expressed her desire to ride on a green airplane, I told her that I hope it's green too. I can't wait to see my Dad, my family, and spend away time with my Mom. Sometimes I feel like a satellite, you know being so far from family, but I'm trying to shake that.

Too funny. My kids decided the other day that it was a fine idea to dress up in as many pairs of underwear over their clothes as possible. At first they let me look at them, even posed for photos, until I mentioned to them that in the future the photos just might come in handy for something like, oh...threats...bribes. They ran away from me screaming as fast as they ever have before.


Tony has been making salsa, with all the tomatoes and peppers we have in the garden now. He is making lots of it and freezing it for the chilly days ahead. He made some for a meeting we attended last weekend and I think he is getting a [well deserved] big salsa ego. He received so many compliments on his fabulous concoction, one woman even called it "the holy grail of salsa!"

Here's to a great weekend! Cheers!

TGIF!!!

Hello Friday afternoon, I love you. You are so peaceful and friendly and comfortable, you just make me feel good inside.

Rough week. I have been KO'd by allergies, big bad ones. Not just the in the face ones, the all over flu-like kind. I think I went to bed at 7:30 last night. Thank you to my husband for doing all the bedtime prep and the nightly duties, it was marvelous to wake up this morning and find the kitchen clean and the sink empty. He even did the pots and pans! What a man, what a man, what a mighty good man!

Today was marginally better, mostly in the face, more traditional allergy symptoms. I think I will live through it. Yay.

On the subject of kitchen clean up. My kids make lots of messes, all kids do right? Well, right under my nose, Wyatt managed to make the grandest one person, split second mess I have ever had to clean in my entire life. You spill some milk, it takes what, thirty seconds to clean? You drop a jar of spaghetti sauce on the tile floor, maybe fifteen minutes, yes? Have you ever had to spend one hour and twelve minutes to clean a single mess? I have.

This is my story. I filled the Vita-mix container almost to the rim with one orange, one apple, one peach, one container of yogurt, a cup of blue berries, a cup of strawberries, flax seed, soy milk, honey, and ice. It ran at top speed until all was blended to a yummy deep purple. I then remembered the two blackish bananas that I desperately needed to use up. I removed the lid on the container and walked over to retrieve the bananas, which now I wish I had done in reverse order.

You can guess the next part, Wyatt's finger flicked the go switch and it exploded all over the kitchen. It was on the blinds, the window, the ceiling, the counter, the floor, the refrigerator, the dishwasher, the oven, all three counter stools, the walls, the bread basket and it's contents, me, Tony, Wyatt, plus much much more. I froze, he froze, finally I looked into his bewildered little eyes and said sternly "what was that?" He said pitifully, "I didn't know."

Luckily I didn't freak out, that would have made things worse. I just started to wipe and scrub. It was about 7 p.m. when it happened I was starving. The kids had eaten earlier but Tony and I had not. I was using the smoothie to hold me over until I could figure out what we were having for dinner. Tony asked me if I wanted a hamburger, I said yes and he was just a blur as he jetted out the back door. He could not have uttered more perfect words, it was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment, "do you want a hamburger?" It made things right again and gave me the strength to scrub and bleach on.

What I am especially thankful for this week:
600 mg ibuprofen
allergy medicine
air conditioning, it felt like the hottest week of the summer to me
soccer coaches and girl scout leaders
smoothies, still

I'm off to make a Friday night pizza and I just remembered that it's a holiday weekend. That makes this Friday even sweeter!

Happy Labor Day!

Week 1 = Well Done.

Three in school. So Cool! So far, so good. Nobody is complaining, not much whining going on. Happy little school children is what we have here, that translates into happy Momma as well. Eva has been a little cranky, but I'm guessing she is having a hard time adjusting to being without her three loud, bossy siblings for so many hours a day! As you might guess, this relative quiet is refreshing for me though.


Wyatt has the same kindergarten teacher that both Emily and Sarah had. I'm hoping she will be Eva's teacher as well, that would be sweet. Wyatt has walked to that kindergarten class so many times before, I could have just dropped him off at the street and he would have been OK to make his own way to the room on his first day. Actually, he probably would have preferred it that way. He is such an independent child, he does everything himself. Bathes, feeds, dresses, the whole works. The only drawback is that his need for independence pushes him to climb anything, giving me grief.

So the first week of school went smoothly. My calendar is like a flower that is blooming very quickly. Emily, Sarah, Wyatt are all three playing soccer this year which means we are swiftly loading our weeks. If I can get through this week, I will be in good shape. Every day is already filled up with soccer practice, Girl Scout meetings, back to school night, orientations and meetings with sales guys from pool companies. Not too many holes in the schedule this week but I am up for it. It's gonna be A-OK.

Eva is a heaping handful without Wyatt or my big girls for distraction. She is keeping me ultra busy in these early school days. I'm off now to find her ballet shoes because this morning she is a curly twirly little pink and black dancer.

Beach Postcard.

One last summer trip. We gladly drained our credit card points to spend four days and three nights at Mandalay Beach in Oxnard [a five hour drive for us, south of Santa Barbara and happily north of the LA area] where the temperature rarely rises above a very perfect 73 degrees.

To get there we passed through the most amazing valley. It was everything you would imagine finding in a bountiful agricultural area in California, including about thirty miles of orange groves. It was exquisite. Delicious fruit and vegetable stands every few miles. It was the best part of the drive, a visual delight.

There were no theme parks, no shopping, no frills. Just beach, pool, pool, beach, beach, pool, beach, pool, pool, pool, beach, beach, pool. The only exception to our strict beach/pool schedule was a short trip over to Ventura to the San Buenaventura Mission Saturday night. Nothing brings out the smiles, the shrieks of joy, the bursts of bodily delight in my children than the beach.

In the beach photos, the waves don't look very big, but they were. BIG. The first night on the beach, as our three big kids were playing in the surf and soaking themselves, a terrifying scene played out with a tiny kid no bigger than Eva getting sucked into a wave that had knocked him down. He had maybe been pulled ten or twelve feet out when his father sprinted from twenty feet up the hill at top speed to pluck him out of the ocean. Tony was holding Eva and he practically threw her to the sand in a micro-second, ready to save the kids life, as did every other adult that watched this near-tragedy unfold. It was scary, I thought OMG we are in the wrong place here!

We all made it home safely with only minor abrasions you might say, from waves tossing us into the sand as if to say get out you are not big enough for me! One thing worth noting, my husband is entirely too fearless with himself and the body surfing. At one point he was so far out and as the current took him further and further from me, my life as a newly single mother flashed before my eyes. I'm not kidding, I was freaked out. I was screaming at my kids to get away from the water because I felt like I could not witness him disappear into the ocean and keep an eye on them as well.

When he finally climbed out of the water and made the long trek back up the beach to me, he said he was never worried for a second. WHAT! After giving me a freaking heart attack! Luckily, I was able to calm myself with the open bar known as the two-hour managers reception at the lovely Embassy Suites. When it's 5:30 p.m. there, you get yourself over to the Surf Room and get in line. Hey, it worked for me.

Back to life, back to reality. Bring it, I'm ready!

So Long Summer Vacation.

I know summer is still in full swing, but because school starts next week for THREE of my children, our summer season is almost history. I've enjoyed having the kids home with me for the last 2 1/2 months but I also can't wait to see what comes next. I am eager to turn the page. That's what it feels like sometimes, like I am literally turning the pages of my life. The key, so they say, to happiness is to live in the moment. Right now I would give myself a B+ on that.

For the last three days, Eva wakes up at six a.m. with one request. I want to be a fairy. So naturally, we indulge her. She bounces around for a few hours as a fairy, then she is ready to put her little girl clothes on and continue with some other sort of fun. Oh, just a warning if you find her dressed as a fairy, don't call her a princess. When she is a fairy, she likes to tell me, "I'm the fairy and you're my best mommy." I love that!


We started the week Monday with fevers. No child was spared. Eva took the worst of it because she also threw up a few times and could not keep the medicine down for a while. My next trip to Costco you can bet I'll be loading up on Tylenol and Motrin because they almost wiped me out. Yesterday things were much improved. Today, not a trace, only happy healthy children. Thank God it didn't stay too long. It's crazy when all of them are sick.

Overheard yesterday between Eva and Wyatt:
E: Let's go Dad!
W: I'm not your dad, I'm your Wyatt!
E: You're my Wyatt?
W: I'm your brother and your Wyatt!


We spent last Sunday with Rafi and Miriam. That's my goddaughter Mia with Eva in the stroller. I was overjoyed because she smiled at me! Actually I was tickling her toes, but I think it still counts.

Let's see...how to properly say goodbye to summer vacation. Think, think, think. Maybe the beach?

Lucky Pickle.

I thought it was just in the process of becoming a long delectable cucumber, still small. Tony picked it out of the garden last night, he told me it was ready.

What is it? What am I supposed to do? Get out the vinegar, the spices, which ones?

Will it taste like a cucumber or do I have to turn it into a pickle? It looks like a pickle.

*Sigh*

And I am just that goofy, still in my pj's, to take my fresh pickle outside in the early morning with a Dixon Ticonderoga, to photograph it.

Okay, fine, I confess. I don't really have anything interesting to report today. I just wanted to make a post on 08/08/08 at 8:00. I guess I can't hide from my accounting background, I'm just a numbers freak at heart. The most fortuitous Friday in the century, here we are, right in the thick of it.

I am looking forward to watching some of the Olympics. We will forgo our Friday night Netflix movie in lieu of the opening ceremonies. I like to see all the athletes march into the stadium representing their country, it'll be fun to watch it with the kids.

Speaking of movies, I think my all time favorite movie was bumped last weekend, it's still under consideration. Fiddler on the Roof. I had never seen it before, and didn't expect it to be THAT good. It was a marathon, it took two nights to watch and of course we lost Wyatt and Eva to dreamland, but oh it was great. I may have to break my rule of not buying DVD's for this one, and I'll probably need to find the soundtrack as well.

I'm going to get out there now and seek my fortune, which means I am off to check on my four lucky pickle loving children. I hope today brings you all the buena suerte you can stand. It's Friday! Ciao!

Pickle update: we ate it raw, it was very very delicious!

August Bits.

I love fonts, do you love fonts? If you do you have to see this, it's brilliant. It's the funniest thing I have seen in a long time day or two while.

For another sort of funny, check out the little doggy Wyatt made for his Daddy. As we gaze upon it, Wyatt informs me that there are lots of dogs that don't have tails. As for little Eva, I have enjoyed very much hearing her tell her Daddy, "you be Cinderella, and I be Snow White."

Our garden is filling up, but it seems like it is taking a very long time for the tomatoes and the cucumbers to be ready. Gardening teaches patience like nothing else!

I am especially longing for the cucumbers. Every time I look at them, I hear Granny's [my Mom's Mom] voice telling me to "go get us a cucumber." She would look at me with a twinkle in her eye as she said it. I would rush out the door and behind the house to pick a nice one off the vine, then we would slice it and share it with a little salt. Oh, there was just nothing better. What I would not give for another moment with her like that, for one more "go get us a cucumber."

I made chocolate chip cookies yesterday, I baked one sheet of them and froze the rest for later. Having homemade chocolate chip cookies in the freezer, just waiting for the right happy moment to be loved up, is good. Very good.

What an exciting day! Cucumbers, cookies, doggy's and fonts! Bet you're just on the edge of your seat waiting for the next installment!

Eva has just requested "sunscream," the kids are blowing up the pool, so I'm off. Gheeesh, I don't know if I can handle all of the excitement around here.

Fun With Time Lapse.

After a thorough organization blitz of Wyatt's room, all of the pieces to this very cool toy were located. I thought a video like this would be fun, check it out.

Build and Tear Down. from Mel on Vimeo.

The best toy ever for a little boy, I think. Build it, tear it down, build it, tear it down, build it, tear it down. For that matter, the girls love it just as much as he does. They take turns to see who can put it up and take it down the fastest. It was a gift from Nana and Papa [AKA Lois and Jim] a few years ago. I remember Papa diligently showing him how to put it together Christmas morning. Sweet.

FYI, the video was a little over five minutes in real time.

Bye Bye July.

Hey there July, sorry you have to go so soon. Honestly though, I am glad you are leaving. You're just too hot for me friend. I know it's not your fault, come back next year when I have a swimming pool and we'll talk some more. See ya.

I've been trying hard to get a post out, working on this one since Monday. Lot's of great summer distractions I suppose!

Guess what? I made an extraordinary decision, which involved convincing my unbelievably considerate, exceptionally bighearted, benevolent and loving husband that my big idea was a good idea. What is it? Hmmmm, you'll just have to read on, I am going to be a tease and make the suspense linger here, I don't get to do that often, so I am going to keep it for a few more paragraphs anyway!

Hey, have you seen my succulent hanging baskets lately? They make me happy because they are not dead. Actually, I had to trim them of the greenery that was no longer green and they sort of popped out and made me love them again. After the haircut, you can see the healthy green cacti flora in there, sweet.



We are eating peppers and tomatoes from our garden, there is nothing better than that, I love it. We have decided to take out part of our lawn on that side of the house next year and make a bigger garden with even more veggies. I told Tony that I also would love to have a herb garden and a place to grow flowers for cutting. How cool is that? I cannot wait!

Many exciting things happened last Saturday. The first was a visit we made to the big swimming pool showroom. Still just research for now. They had real full scale swimming pools just for show, it was a really good trip. It would have been better if it had gone according to plan and we could have made the trip childless. Surprise! Everyone behaved! I am feeling lots better about my swimnming pool knowledge, I'm glad we decided to wait this out and do more exploring. Stay tuned, we have our first pool company meeting us here at home on Friday.

Saturday night, we went to an amazing wedding reception. We don't know the couple, but Tony knows the father of the groom. About a month ago, when Tony told me we had been invited to a wedding, my immediate reaction was, that's nice, but no thank you. I knew that it wasn't anyone we know, because I would have had advance knowledge that a wedding was approaching, that was my reason for the flat refusal. I don't know if it's normal to feel this way, but when we don't know them, I pretty much feel like I don't really belong there. Why not just crash random weddings for the same effect? Is it just me? I get it, that you go out of respect for the person inviting you, especially if it's the father of the groom, okay, maybe I was a little bit harsh.

Anyway, my story continues...

After I said no thank you to Tony, he showed me the invite and I was flabbergasted. It was the most extravagant and ornate piece of correspondence I think I have ever held in my hand. I can show you a photo, but it does not do it justice. It was beautiful, from the envelope to the beautiful folio to the invitations themselves, one each for the wedding and the reception and printed on the thickest cardstock imaginable with elaborate shiny gold paisley designs and rhinestones. I found myself immediately with a change of heart. At that moment, I knew we would go to this wedding reception. If someone went to this much effort to invite strangers, I couldn't refuse. Adding to the intrigue, the wedding itself, took place in Canada one week before the reception.



The family is Punjabi. There may have been 400 or 500 people there. I'm not so good at judging the size of crowds. I immediately felt comfortable, can't really say why, I didn't feel out of place at all. There were a few other co-workers there so we sat near them. It was so much fun to watch everything, I felt so privileged to be there, just felt lucky to be able to step into this strikingly different culture and experience their traditions so authentically, it was so cool for me. I don't usually make it a practice to take pictures when I am invited to someones party, it seems too intrusive. I guess I felt like enough of an anonymous outsider and I was so intrigued and honestly overwhelmed by the grandness of it all, that I stood up and tried to take video when the newlyweds arrived. Okay, maybe I looked like a tourist but no one was watching me! The drums were extraordinary, the anticipation was thick, and I sensed that something BIG was about to happen. If you want to see it click here: Newlyweds Enter from Mel on Vimeo, it's about a minute long.



The girls with my kids are Tamveen and Amad, the daughters of our friends Ravi and Jasmine. They sat at our table and were explaining what was happening when we couldn't figure it out. I wish I was more adventurous about trying new food, but I'm just a pretender. They had an enormous selection of Indian food I have never tried, but being the food wimp I am, I stuck to the rice, the veggies, and the flatbread. I think the dinner was not served until about 10 p.m. but we fed the kids before we left for the party, good call.

The music was loud and the dancing was so much fun, except that I didn't dance. I so seriously wanted to, I was feeling it, but because it was so late, Eva was very needy and I didn't want to leave her. Tony got out there with the men and danced their dances, again so much fun to watch. I know that's the video you really want to see, but it was too dark for my camera. Oh yeah, you know I thought about it! We left at around 11. Wyatt and Eva were both asleep when we put them into their carseats.

Big news in my house: the crib has been disassembled and it is in the garage. Eva is sleeping in what she calls the beddy bed, which is actually Wyatt's trundle, and it's only temporary, but better than the crowded room with the crib. I thought I would be sad to see it go, I thought those mushy Mommy emotions might get the best of me, but no. It wasn't as hard to say goodbye to the place my four babies laid their baby heads as I had imagined. On we go.

Swimmer update: Three water safe kids live at my house! Two more days of swim lessons and our six week swim lesson marathon is history. Emily did a lifeguard camp last week and look how grown up she looks in her polaroid.



Wyatt did a cool front flip yesterday at the pool that I captured on film, check him out! Feet up, great form!



Did you forget about my big suspenseful idea that I acted upon and made real? Do you have any guesses? I'm just busting out with delight here so I'll just blurt it out! I am going on a one week trip with my mother to our homeland! Yep, we're headed for Tennessee and Eva's going too!

Long story short, Mom calls me tells me she's going, I invite myself and my child, it takes me two and a half days to convince my awesome husband that I should go, clickity click on the computer and I have two tickets in my hand.

More facts to share: the trip is in September, I haven't been since 2002, haven't seen my Dad since 2004, [who swears he will never fly and planned to drive out for a nice long visit this summer but hasn't shown up yet] I'm excited, and a little anxious too. My three big kids will be in school and without me and little E for a week. My husband is my hero, my very own private superhero.

Adios July, so long, thanks for your gifts and all the goodness you gave us, except for the really hot part.