Thanksgiving brought us to the Tot Trot nearby. TD was originally nervous and full of performance anxiety but H and I let her know that all she had to do was try her best. After all, that is what we did in the adult Turkey Trot earlier that morning. It wasn't about winning at all.Well, it's not always about winning, but sometimes it can be. When did she get so big? … [Read more...]
The last year. Where did it go? I try to think back and all I see is a haze of pregnancy and randomness. Now, here we are, celebrating the fact that already The Comedian is two. I said to H the other day, "It seems like she should be older. Must be that second kid thing." Or the fact that she can scale walls like Spiderman, makes H want to put up concertina wire over our balcony, is stealthy as the Invisible Man and can leap tall pieces of furniture in a single bound. The other night she climbed the coffee table, then her chair and jump off the top of it into her seat all with a single, "Heeyah!" sound. It was actually quite beautiful. The grace, the swift, solid movement. She could be a circus performer, I think.She's clever, … [Read more...]
When 9/11 happened H and I had been married all of three days. The 11th was his first day at work and he came home late that night to pack up his gear, just in case. I knew what I had signed up for as a military wife, but so soon? I could not fathom what was running through his mind at that point.When H went to Iraq we didn't know when he would come home or if he even would come home. It was just us in a dusty, desert parking lot hugging good-bye with the words, "Ok. So... I'll see you. Whenever." Not exactly words a young wife wants to hear. We had been through long separations before. Most of our dating relationship was spent apart. He came home six months later. We were both exceptionally lucky. It was hard for both of us to deal … [Read more...]
It can only get better I keep thinking. Yet, as I drove out of the party store parking lot and it wasn't even 10 a.m. all I could think was, "Tomorrow is going to be a good day. Today is what makes tomorrow necessary." Tomorrow H gets the elective snip. His Facebook status is all about jockey's and frozen corn. All things needed for this much anticipated (at least on my part) surgery. High fives all around from my sistah's! Sorry, H. Today I got woken up at 5 a.m. by The Fifth Element. I did the Night of the Living Dead walk to her nursery and fed her. Half hour later, if that, she was up again. S'alright. H's alarm had already been going off for the last fifteen minutes. I was up. I fed her again in bed and … [Read more...]
I don't think H's grandmother had any idea that a box packed full of styrofoam peanuts would have quite this effect on TD or our house. (Pardon the poor video quality, it was dark, it was my phone.)Later, she was absolutely convinced that there was one special styrofoam peanut that was her new best friend. Then, she lost him. Yes, it was a him. When I tried to humor her and look for "him" with her I began to wonder if she was messing with me. V: What does your best friend look like?TD: He's green and small.V: Right. Green and small. Anything else?TD: He can sit up.Impressive.I glanced at H across the room who was trying to stifle a laugh as he swept up the sea of peanuts laying waste to our floor. I mouthed, "I think she is fucking with me." Twenty minutes later she was still mourning the … [Read more...]
Nine years ago H and I let a man we had met only five minutes before marry us at the Paris hotel in front of sixty-five or so of our closest friends and family. We toasted with champagne, danced the night away and then bid them all good night as we took a long walk from Caesar's Palace back to our hotel in our wedding finery. It's a memory I lovingly look back on every year. A few years ago I wrote this little tribute to us and while we have added in two more kids, still have that snake-bitten, scar-faced insane dog that no one pets anymore and still have a Tiny Dictator on our hands we are still in love despite midnight fights, feedings and more.H, it hardly seems possible that we have been married for nine years and gone through so much. I love you more today than … [Read more...]
There is much screaming in my house these days. I think if you stand on the walkway at about 10 a.m on any given morning you might stare up at our front door and think you are about to enter a fun house or even a haunted house at a theme park. It sounds just like that. The girls, the brood, the pack that now roams my house are a loud lot. The yelling is incessant and it makes my head hurt and my shoulders hunch up to my ears which are probably about to start pouring blood. As you can tell I don't get much time for blogging these days. I looked at the mothers slogging up the block to the bus stops with their kids today with open jealousy glaring off my face. It is not that I wish TD would "just grow up already!" It is more that I am craving routine. … [Read more...]
It's hard to believe that one week ago today The Fifth Element entered this world. Before I couldn't imagine her in it. Today, I already cannot fathom the idea of her not being part of our family. In just a few quick years we went from a family of two, plus one insane dog, to a family of five. It absolutely blows my mind. I still refuse to drive a minivan. Love how everyone looks so well rested in this photo except for me. Shortly after this picture was taken I passed out for an almost two hour nap. More to come. … [Read more...]
Scene: The whole family is in the car. We've been out all day furniture shopping for the girls new room.TD: "How long is jail?"H and I exchange glances while idling at a stop light. V: "What do you mean, "How long is jail?"TD: "Just tell me. How. Long. IS. JAIL?!" She is already exasperated.H and I exchange looks again.H: "Why do you want to know?"TD: "I just need to know is all!" V: "OK, pumpkin listen, jail has various times. It's not just one set time. So again, why do you want to know?"H: "It depends on what you have done. If it is a small bad thing it isn't for very long. If it is a big bad thing it is for much longer."V: "Right. Sometimes jail time is for the rest of your life too, if you have done something … [Read more...]
Scene: I'm cooking dinner, sipping grapefruit juice and fielding complaints from the peanut gallery. Spaghetti frittata isn't a gallery favorite. Then the phone rings.H: "Sooo... what kind of new car do you want?"Me: "What?! Why?" Thoughts drift towards our earlier emails regarding his car's prowess. As in, it has none. It's a '98 Corolla. H: "The Corolla just got totaled."Me: "WHAT?! Are you OK?" Inwardly I am screaming and thinking in short circuits of, "FUCK!" "DAMN!" "Whew!" "Crap... we just got rid of our only car payment in December...FUCK!"H: "Can you pick me up? Or wait. I'll call you when the tow truck gets here."Me: "Ok... I'm so confused. What happened? Was it your fault?"H: "No. The other … [Read more...]