Tis The Season

I think I love late summer better than Christmas. The produce, the produce stands, the farmers markets and all the freshness that abounds just makes me so happy. And tomatoes are probably my favorite of all in season fruits and veggies. This is probably because it coincides with fresh corn season and fresh peaches season. But I find myself looking for multiple reasons to make things with tomatoes right now. And today, I think the all time best thing ever happened inside my oven. I made these slow roasted oven tomatoes from Smitten Kitchen. Oh, let me tell you...if you even like tomatoes a little bit...please try this. Then, store them in your fridge in some olive oil and put them in everything from omlettes to pasta to fish to salads to the best one (drum roll) on top of bagels with cream cheese and sea salt. Yum yum yum, dance, twirl and pop another one of these lovelies in your pie hole.

I would have pictures for you but Smitten Kitchen owns the copywrite to the pix for this recipe so just go there for both the visual, directions and to drool. http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/slow-roasted-tomatoes/


On parchment paper, half cherry or grape tomatoes. If you use romas or campenellis you'll either need to increase your cooking time or quarter them. Drizzle with olive oil enough to make them glisten and sprinkle with some kosher salt. You can add some herbs, black pepper or garlic if you want but I wouldn't. They are so perfect with just a little salt and oil.

Floodgates

My poor sister in law Amber. I called her today sobbing into the phone while she was trying to get Cayden into his carseat. I couldn't get out a single word as my snot dripped into my cell phone and I heard her say "Cayden, Auntie Amy is on the phone and she's very sad so you need to be quiet and let me talk to her." I finally got it all out and got calmed down but every time I think about what happened today, I start bawling all over again.

We went to the military I.D. office this morning so I could get my I.D. card renewed so it would be current while Mike is deployed. All of our benefits are tied to the military and in the event I needed to do anything associated with the military while Mike is away, I need to have a current I.D. card. So we go to the office and I hand the lady my two forms of I.D. which were a current Nebraska drivers license and an old California one. "I can't take these" she said, "because they are the same sources." I say okay and dig in my wallet for another kind of ID. While I'm digging she says "yeah, you're going to have to come back on Tuesday because we are closed Monday." I grab my social security card and ask her if this is okay and she winces and says yes that's fine. So she pulls up our military record. Then, she says to me..."when your daughters were born and you enrolled them in medical insurance, we input a temporary social security number for them. We do this all the time because you probably had to have their first check up before you got their actual social security cards." I nod my head in agreement and she continues..."well, now you have 90 days for your husband to bring their actual social security cards to our office or we will suspend their medical insurance." I stop my nodding and say "hmmmwhat?" And she blabbers it all again and all I hear is "husband has to bring in the form....suspend their medical insurance." I explain, my husband is deploying and will be out of the country and we just moved and their SS cards are in some box in the garage he was supposed to go through but he watched the Olympics instead and they are 3 and need medical insurance and what should I do? She then repeated that their insurance would be suspended. Then Mike came over and started to argue with her about how this wasn't right and he was going to be gone and could not bring in the form and looked to me to do my normal "chime in" and I just started to sob. Now when I say sob I don't mean that cute cry where the one tear escapes your eye and trickles down your cheek. I mean sobbing, hysterically, because my daughters were going to have no health insurance and Mike was going to war and I had held it together very well up until this exact moment when circumstances and stars aligned to reach and out and zap me and I just plain ol' freakin lost it. Right in the middle of the office. With Marines all around. With guns strapped to their thighs. No joke. Guns. Strapped. To their thighs!!! As I am hyperventilating, Mike is not so calmly requesting an exception be made and a supervisor comes over and sees me sobbing. She tells the girl to have Mike sign the form and to allow ME to bring it in within the 90 days and that will be fine. "but what if I can't find their cards?" I wailed. "how will I go to the social security office when mike's gone? who will watch them while I do all this?" I am now reaching that place where my voice is so squeaky and high pitched that words just sound like "eeeek" and "beeeek". And Mike is all "aim, I'll find the cards in the box, I know where they are, it'll be okay." He thanks the supervisor and she goes away. The girl that originally waited on us still needs to print all this stuff out, explain to me what I need to do, take my PICTURE and print out my new ID card. And I can't stop sobbing. I just keep crying and crying and crying and tears are streaming down my face and I can't speak and Mike is looking around like "I have no idea what's wrong with my crazy wife" and I want to reach across the desk and strangle the girl who even hinted at taking away my babies medical benefits all the while tears are flooding my face. So I sit there and try and breathe, she snaps the PICTURE (I look hot), prints out her forms and off we go.

Then Mike is all "what's wrong." And I'm all "baaaaaaa, waaaaaaa, haaaaaaaa" and he's all "dude" and I'm all "baaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaa baaaaaaaa" and he's like "okay honey, I have more errands to run, I'll see you tonight" and I'm all "you're an ass" as he walks away and he's all "what?" and I'm all "fine, whatever, jerkface, drive away" and he's all "okay psycho, see ya at home" and that's when I called Amber all hysterical.

You guys get why I was hysterical right? Mike doesn't get it. It's all about the breaking point. Girls, you get it right? Do I need to explain this to him? Or am I really losing it? I think up until this point I have done great. Really had a grip on my emotions, reality and what was happening to our family. Then today, I lost my ever lovin' mind. Normal reaction right?

Random Conversation With Jessica

Me: What are you doing?
Jess: doing this (tickling her leg with a ribbon off her pants)
Me: What's your favorite song?
Jess: Eenie meenie miney Moe, Catch a Tiger By The Toe, If he hollers let him go, eenie meenie miney moe.
Me: oh
Jess: that song is very cute.
Me: what do you want to be when you grow up?
Jess: a ball. a beach ball. Then Katie and Grammie and everyone can throw me at the beach. I love to get wet in Papa and Grammie's swimming pool. And I love to pick flowers for Grammie.
Me: What did you do today?
Jess: Oh, I did lots of things. I went to the mall today.
Me: What did you there?
Jess: rode a merry-go-round ONLY. We didn't ride any other rides. The merry-go-round was ALL ALONE.
Me: What's your favorite food?
Jess: hmmm. My favorite food is chicken from chick fil-A and I like getting balloons from Nugget. Mama spell nugget. Member it starts with a 'N'.
Me: Who's your favorite person in the world?
Jess: Cayden, he is always fun. But sometimes Cayden takes my special balls away.
Me: But Cayden is your favorite person?
Jess: yep, and Katie too. she's my favorite person too.
Me: what about me?
Jess: giggle ...you're my third best friend.
Me: who's your first and second?
Jess: Daddy and Katie.
Me: I love you.
Jess: cuz I need somebody to be my best best best friend. I love you too. This shirt is silly.

Happy Birthday Shout Out To Steve!!!

I was not born with siblings. Nor did my parents crank out any after I was born. BUT, one of my favorite things about Mike is that he came with 5 younger brothers. I was 17 when I started sniffing around the Meeker house. Mike's baby brother Steve was 3. That was 19 years ago. Steve and I got to be friends because he was a ticklish 3 year old and I was a teenage girl with a pony tail and he liked to flick my pony tail up and down. He was a shy little guy with this huge bright light inside of him that would shine like the sun every time he smiled or laughed. Steve was 3 when Mike moved went off to college. It makes me happy that Steve has as many memories of time with me as a sister as he does with Mike as a brother. He doesn't remember a time when I wasn't around. All the other boys grew up as the Meeker boys who had no sisters. But Steve has always had one...me.

I'm not sure what sort of emotions I would feel toward my own siblings if I had them. But I can't imagine they would be stronger or full of more love than those I have for Steve. One of my biggest fears in life is that some twippy chick is going to get her talons in him so I find myself fiercely protective over him. Watch out girls. It's not because I don't think there are any nice girls out there - I just want him to be happy and have someone who is careful with his heart. Steve is one of the best people I know. He is funny, kind, gentle, friendly, sensitive, prompt, silly, smart and cool. The fact that he is 23 today seems next to impossible to me. At 23, I had been married for 2 years and felt like a full fledged adult. Steve doesn't seem old enough to walk himself to school yet. I guess he'll always be our baby brother even though he's grown into a morally sound genuinely good man.

I love you Steve. Happy Birthday to you today!!!!

You CAN afford to shop at Gymboree...

It's my favorite time of year. All summer clothes are on major clearance. If you have an inkling of what size your kids will be in next summer, you can get their entire spring/summer wardrobe for 80% off regular price. People always tell me "I can't afford to shop at Gymboree" but I'm telling you people...you can. If I'm looking to buy something at retail or just around there I go to ebay because there are tons of gymboree "stores" on ebay. All of my items I've ever bought have had tags on and are still in the plastic. I have had 100% good luck with buying gymboree stuff from ebay. But that's not where the GREAT deals are. If you go to Gymboree online this time of year and buy summer collection items, you can get GREAT deals. Here's the thing I love about Gymboree. Their clothes are made amazingly well. They have magic fabric that just doesn't stain, I have no idea how they do it. Their fabric doesn't shrink. Their fabric doesn't fade. Buttons never fall off. Seams never tear. And because my kids share clothes, it's like I put two kids through one set of clothes each season. The biggest thing I love about Gymboree is that within a collection...everything matches. So for example, I just bought a bunch of the Aloha, Hula Girl, Hawaiian stuff for next summer. Everything is in cream, tan, olive, apricot/coral, navy, yellow or light blue. Each shirt matches each pair of shorts, each dress matches the other clothes and then I fill in with a couple of denim shorts from WalMart or Target and my six gymboree items plus let's say 3 WalMart items makes up 9 pieces but I might have like 20 different combinations of how to wear the clothes so it becomes an entire season's wardrobe for two kids. I also bought about 5 things in the flamingo collection because I love the rainbow sherbet ice cream cone colors...they remind me of the 80's and Florida and summer all together. So with these few purchases I am set for next summer. I might add in some geranimal play clothes from WalMart or some Cherokee shorts or T-shirts from Target and I've picked up some church dresses along the way but basically poof, I'm done.

WalMart, Target, Old Navy, Gapkids, Kohl's etc. all have their summer clothes on clearance right now. You can pick up some awesome deals. I also picked up like 6 knee high socks at Gymboree for $10 today which go great with plaid not too mini-skirts for this fall and tights, underwear and socks were cheaper at Gymboree today than they are at WalMart and let me tell ya...they last a lot longer. I think I've spent less than $150 and I have enough clothes to cover both my girls through Spring and Summer of next years including underwear, socks, pajamas and two pairs of sandals each. I know $150 sounds like a lot but if I left my shopping until next Spring, I would be able to buy way less than half of these clothes and I would have to settle for paying full price.

Now as my great friend Jody Carson taught me, you can ALWAYS do better shopping at thrift stores and I truly LOVE thrift stores. But I just don't have the time to stay on top of going through them. As my sister in law Faith can testify, you have to go every week to snag the great stuff that comes in. With two active 3 year olds, I find it much easier to sit down with my lap top at night after they go to bed and shop online. The shipping is often free and if not it's darn close to the cost of gas.

I occasionally find some great deals for myself online as well. But I find that I still want to go into a dressing room and see how something fits for myself. As the girls grow I'm sure I'll need to take them to try stuff on more often as well but for now they are the exact same height and they wear the exact same size so it makes it really nice to shop online. To summarize...here are my favorite places to go.

If you have to pay full price or buy something in current season:
www.ebay.com search gymboree and the size you want (example gymboree 4T)

If you are able to shop at the end of a season:

www.gymboree.com
www.target.com
www.kohls.com
www.walmart.com (they run out of stuff really early so their prices are great in season too but beware of seams, buttons and shrinkage)
www.oldnavy.com
www.ebay.com (just watch shipping, I'm finding for sale stuff I can do better at the actual store)
www.crazy8.com
www.childrensplace.com

BEWARE of these sites...expensive and never good sales:

www.sears.com
www.macys.com
www.nordstrom.com
www.gapkids.com

Have You Read These Books?

In case you are one of the very few people on the planet earth that has not read these books, I just wanted to give them a shout out. I went to a book club on the latest one and it was a really good discussion. These books are addictive so be warned, once you get going they are very hard to put down.

Author: Stephanie Meyer
Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn

Really great stories about really great characters. I really recommend them. They won't make your brain hurt but they are really fun.

Almost Dead To Me

Awhile back, I did a post of things that were Dead To Me. This list comprised things that I just can't stand anymore so I'm choosing to pretend they no longer exist on planet earth. The following is a list of things that are almost dead to me, meaning they are on notice that if they do not shape up then they will become dead to me. Got it?

• The Government of the People's Republic of China - look, I have no beef with Chinese people. (no duck, pork or chicken & snowpeas either ha ha) But their government left a lot to be desired over the past few weeks. First, the little girl who had the beautiful voice and sang the song about world peace at the opening ceremonies was actually just a really cute girl. The voice came from what the government deemed was a less cute girl and the really cute girl with pigtails and rosy cheeks was just put there for window dressing. How would you like to be 7 yrs old, super cute in actuality, have an amazing voice and told by your government that you just aren't cute enough but we'd still like to use your voice? Ummm....therapy later? Then, the 12 year olds on the womens gymnastic team that had falsified passports issued by who? Oh...the government. Then, the whole dishonor issue regarding the male sprinter that was supposed to do really well. Hello? Chinese Government? He tore his Achilles!!! Let's tear the Achilles of one member of the polit bureau and see if they feel like sprinting around a track shall we? And pulling passports of former Olympic gold medalists because they are involved in aide work in Darfar? That's just ridiculous. And you know why I can say all this? Because I live in America. Thank goodness for that.
• Homemade Rice Krispee Treats- Have you tasted the ones that come out of the package? They are WAY better.
• Cheeseburgers - I used to love Cheeseburgers. In fact, they were a major weakness of mine. When I was on a diet, I didn't crave chocolate...but I really craved a juicy cheeseburger. So what happened to them? They all taste like dried out cardboard now. Where can a girl get her cheeseburger on people?
• Shaving - I cut myself in the shower on the night of our anniversary. It's 2008...is it really necessary for us to still be cutting ourselves in the shower and not realize it until the shave gel or soap run into the cut and then it's too late, you are in the kind of pain that stings but you can't stop what you are doing and you just keep shaving away hoping you don't cut your other leg. I just am over the whole thing.
• Regular deodorant - now that they have Secret Clinical strength...is there any reason to use anything else?
• My closet - it will never be organized. It is a pit sent up to me directly from hell in which things go in but never come out because they get eaten by the demons that live there.
• The heat - I am so ready for fall, crisp mornings, jeans, sweaters, my clogs, not having to get a pedicure every 5 seconds, walks around the neighborhood, going to the park, eating caramel apples, going to the pumpkin patch, sitting outside with a blanket and a book in the coolish weather but still okay to be outside because it's super sunny. Heat heat go away!
• Old people that think they still have it together but in reality have totally lost it but then get mad at you when you kindly volunteer to put their medications together for them because they CAN DO IT STILL even though when you ask them what they take everyday they end up telling you "I take 3 chlonadine in the morning. Then I take 1 chlonadine at 11. Then 2 chlonadine at 7. Then 4 chlonadine at bedtime." In actuality, they take 3 chlonadine per day and all those other pills all have other names. Ummmmm.....I think you need to let it go now. Bless their heart. (I just had to follow that comment with bless their heart so you won't think I'm some elderly hater cuz I'm not but I hope when I am in my eighties that I let my kind relatives help me instead of overdosing myself with blood pressure medication).

Obama/Biden???

I've never gotten super political with this blog. I offically announced I was supporting Obama awhile back and I've posted a few things here and there. But I just feel political today. Maybe it's the whole conclusion of Olympics and the Chinese gymnast scandle. Maybe it's the People magazine article I read about Elizabeth Edwards and her snake in the grass cheating husband. Maybe it's just watching Mike put desert camoflague uniforms in a bag and learning that listerine is the best thing with which to clean a gas mask's drinking tube with. Ugh. But in any case, I feel political today and I feel like talking about it. So if you think politics is too emotional an issue for you or if you can't be friends anymore with me if we disagree about this stuff than you should just not read any further. I won't hold it against you I promise. For me, I LOVE talking about politics. Most of the people I know don't agree with my positions on most issues so I'm used to being a lone wolf in my beliefs. I respect the heck out of differences of opinions and I think political debate is what made this country great. Without it we would never have had a Declaration of Independence or a Constitution. So I welcome all ideas no matter how radical to be brought to my dinner table. I never allow myself to get upset by them and I hope you feel the same. Let's get started on my ramblings shall we?

I was a little worried about Barack Obama's choice of running mate. Would he choose Hillary? Yee Gads I hoped not. I was hoping for someone like Bill Richardson from New Mexico or Tom Daschle but neither of those choices seemed to be likely to unite the party. Biden has been a front runner since the beginning of this whole thing but I took no time to learn anything about any of these guys because I figured I have too much to learn and I'll catch up once he picks someone. So, now Joe Biden has been selected, I set out to learn a little bit about the Senator from Delaware and what he stands for. Here are some facts...just in case you were curious.

Biography:

Joe Biden has represented the state of Delaware in the United States Senate since 1972, when he was elected at the age of twenty-nine. He wrote the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). He is a huge supporter of the "family farm" and agriculture is one of his big issues. He is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee . Senator Biden and Les Gelb, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, have offered a five-point plan that offers a political solution to ending the war - a plan overwhelming endorsed by his Senate colleagues by a 75-23 vote. In 1999, Senator Biden authored a Senate-passed resolution endorsing air war in Kosovo. Today, Senator Biden is the Congressional effort to end genocide, this time in Darfur, Sudan. He supports a high quality VA Medical Care system for our veterans. He is a long standing member and former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 - also known as the Biden Crime Bill - put more than 100,000 cops on America's streets and increased dramatically federal support for innovative criminal justice prevention and rehabilitation. The 2007 Biden Crime Bill goes further by addressing the 21st century crime problems such as computer hacking, on-line child exploitation and teenage prescription drug abuse. He is the Co-Chairman of the International Narcotics Control Caucus. Senator Biden was the first in Congress to propose a "Drug Czar," a cabinet level office to coordinate all federal agencies responsible for drug-related programs and devise a strategy to combat illegal drug use and trafficking in America. He recently introduced the College Affordability and Creating Chances for Educational Success for Students (ACCESS) Act which would increase tax incentives, expand Pell grants, and begin college planning as early as the eighth grade. He authored and chaired legislation to create a Commission on Civil Rights in the early eighties, he introduced the 1986 Global Climate Protection Act, he was the chair for creating a National Mammography Awareness Day and he authored the Rail Security Act of 2007 to regulate transportation of hazardous materials on our railways.
Personal Information
Senator Biden grew up in New Castle County, Delaware. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, and from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. Prior to his election to the Senate, Biden practiced law in Wilmington, Delaware and served on the New Castle County Council from 1970 to 1972. Senator Biden lives in Wilmington, Delaware and commutes to Washington, DC when the Senate is in session. He is married to Dr. Jill Biden, the former Jill Jacobs, an educator in Delaware's schools for over twenty years. She currently is a professor teaching at Delaware Technical Community College. Senator Biden is the father of three children: Beau, Hunter and Ashley. Beau serves as Delaware's Attorney General, Ashley is a social worker and Hunter is a lawyer. The Bidens also have five grandchildren: Naomi, Finnegan, Roberta Mabel, Natalie, and Robert Hunter.

Issues (this is a poor summary of his stance on these issues. go to http://biden.senate.gov/ for complete information on his views and positions):

His big issues seem to be to re-establish the middle class, to build a larger volunteer force military and to properly fund it. (YAY) He believes it is vital to finish what we started in Afghanistan but that we abandoned what we set out to do in Afghanistan when we entered into the war in Iraq. He believes Afghanistan is a vital area in which we need to establish security. He believes we need to withdraw our troops in Iraq in a way that won't leave total chaos but that Iraq needs to become the world's problem and solution rather than just ours. His 5 point plan that he authored with Les Gelb is supported by the Congress with a 75-23 vote. As far as civil rights go, he believes we should not deny legal rights to same sex couples as far as taxes, adoption, laws etc. He thinks it should be up to the individual states as to how to recognize civil unions and define marriage. He believes in ending the don't ask don't tell policy of the military . He believes turning away patriotic Americans that want to serve based solely on their sexual orientation is wrong. He believes in the Paycheck Fairness Act due to the fact that women still earn 77 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. He supports investing in alternative fuel sources and increasing our use of renewable energy. He supports incentives to companies that decrease their environmental footprint.

Amy's take on it all: Although I disagree with some of Joe Biden's positions on civil rights and the definition of marriage, this is not a one issue election for most people. For me however, this is very much a one issue election. We are at war. Friends of mine are dying. Children I know are being orphaned. Mothers and Fathers are having to leave their children with Aunts and Uncles or Grandparents to go serve in Iraq for reasons I just don't understand. The reasons we went into Iraq don't exist. They never existed. And we are losing. And I believe we cannot win. I don't believe there will be peace in that region. Mike is going to miss my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, his birthday and countless moments, hugs, kisses, snuggles and memories. And he's not the only one getting jipped. My girls are getting jipped out of their Dad. Sure, Mike signed up to serve. And he's more than willing to go wherever he is sent. And I support him going to places in which we are set up for the purpose of defending our freedom. But to protect our oil interests? Is that worth his life? My answer is no, especially when we have more than enough oil here in our own country. It's just not worth it. We have technology that enables us to listen to over 500 songs on a device the size of a postage stamp. But we can't figure out how to make cars run on something besides gasoline? Come ON. We have the most brilliant minds in the world in this country. Minds that invented TiVO and Diet Coke for crying out loud. The age of the gasoline powered car is over. Let's move on. And all of a sudden, if we did, the Middle East wouldn't matter so much anymore would it? So for me, this IS a one issue election. It's about Foreign Policy and who I think will end this war faster and protect my husband from having to go away from our family the least often as possible. Sending people into harms way is the number one most sacred duty a President has and when they take that responsibility too lightly in my opinion, we have to stand up and say "no". John McCain said the other day that "we will never retreat in Iraq". To me, what that said is "I will sacrifice as many lives as necessary to ensure we never back down even if we are out numbered, out matched and can never stabilize this region." A similar position was taken during Vietnam. We never won there either and over 55,000 lives were lost. Are we really going to repeat that? How can an issue like whether or not two chicks can claim each other on their W-4's take precedence over that sort of issue? It can't, at least not for me. As for you, you have to decide what it the most important thing facing this nation. I hope you study the issues. Really study them. I think the best way to do this is to not listen to negative ads and campaigning. Go to the candidates websites and find out what they stand for and what their official political viewpoints are. Then, see who lines up with you the most. For the record, I think John McCain is a great American and there are a lot of things he stands for that I believe. But we've had the Washington status quo for a long time now. I just think it hasn't really worked that well. And I think Bush has really let us down. So someone who is so entrenched in the machine that is Washington and someone who is vowing to continue a lot of Bush's programs and policies just isn't for me. Whatever you decide...PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH. I'm still in the middle of mine.

By the way, I voted for George Bush. Twice. I am not a party Democrat. 99% of the people who read this blog are Republicans and VERY conservative. Most of them call me their left wing liberal friend or family member even though I am pretty conservative if you look at the rest of the world. But in this election like I said, it's just about war for me. As Mike prepares to leave I can't help but only be able to think of that. Sorry if your political sensibilities were disrupted by this post. Feel free to blast away in the comments section..

To my Mike...

Him...
Sitter on my couch.
Watcher of my T.V.
Mender of my wounds.
Father of my children.

Stealer of my heart.
Cause of my tears.

Cause of my laughter.
Inspiration for my dreams.
Waker of my sleep.
Ignitor of my passions.
Source of my money.
Partner of my life.
Cheerleader of my goals.
Dancer of my nightmares.
Butt of my jokes.
Best of my Friends.
Answer to my prayers.

Mate of my soul.

Happy 16th anniversary Mike. It's been quite a journey. Thank you for everything, especially for growing up right beside me. And congratulations on your choice of spouse. You really lucked out. Oh...I lucked out too. It's just you REALLY REALLY lucked out.

4 years ago today...

WARNING - PERSONAL INFO AHEAD.
Four years ago today I conceived my daughters. Nooooo. I'm not going to tell you some gross story that starts out with a candlelit dinner and ends where...well... you think it's going to end. Nope. That's not how I roll. Instead, 4 years ago I was laying in a bed in a Navy Lodge in Bethesda Maryland recovering from IVF surgery. My parents were with me. Mike was in Nebraska stuck in Residency orientation. Some of his very best representatives were back in Maryland, having made the journey from cyrogenic tank (frozen), to thaw, to a petri dish where they made their long awaited journey toward my low quality eggs, where 4 of them did the job they were created to do. But all that happened like 4rs 3 days ago. TODAY, 4 years ago, I went from my bed, to Walter Reed Army Hospital where the little Katie embryo and the little Jessica embryo were taken from the petri dish, put into a large straw and inserted via catheter into my hormone shots induced ready and waiting uterus. My mom held my hand as we watched via ultrasound a little flash of light burst inside of me, hoping and praying that the light would grow into something I hadn't really dared to dream was possible. I think this day, August 21st 2004, is the most significant day in my life. More than my wedding, more than the day they were born. It's the day our dreams came true, it's the day those dreams took form and shape. Little did we know, that flash of light would someday look at me and say "ha ha, I made a little pup. (fart) Sometimes, pups are funny!" Or "Mama...why does Mama start with an M? And why does Jessica start with a J? And why does Katie start with a K? And why does Daddy start with a D? And why does Grammie start with a G? And why does Papa start with a P? Mama? Mama? Are you listening? MAMA! I need to talk to you. (Pause) Why does Mama start with a M?" Oh, that little burst of light. You guys did good.

Mike hijacked my blog

Mike finally couldn't take it anymore. He got into my blog and left his own commentary on my previous Jessica Hood post. I guess some elves are fiesty elves. Psycho much Mike? Read his comments and you guys will have a new insight into the freak show that is my life.

Recent Pictures From Our Goings and Doings...

Jessica & Katie on preschool orientation day
Sunday before Church

I love this because it's so Jessica - she's always cracking up

TOTALLY Katie and Jessica - they are always talking about something that they are giggling about together (while they are supposed to be posing for a picture) Hello? Girls? Umm...camera....have it out...look over here would ya?

bye-bye Papa - I go to preschool now!

Jessica and Katie knew how sad I was because they were off to preschool and I was going to have to be all alone...so here's where they are showing me that they love me "THIS MUCH" and "you'll be okay mama, cuz right after preschool is over you come get us and we will ALL BE TOGETHER AGAIN!" Bless their hearts, they tried really hard to cheer me up.

Hugs and Kisses

Leaving me behind off to stake their independence in the dog eat dog of preschool and 3 year olds. It was just yesterday that they were leaving me in the dust at the park...and the store...and at church...and on our walk down the block. GO GIRLS GO!!! You go get that big wide world out there. Grab it by the tail and kick it's trash!!! But don't forget to write. And call. And always live with me and daddy okay? Okay? Hey girls...I think there's some smudge on your faces...wait up!!!

See ya Dad. We're going to preschool. Have a good day!

Mom, we love ya but let go already. This is just before they went to class. There were tears behind my sunglasses.

Jessica was so happy she was going to school. She was the happiest of us all.

Katie and Mike. This is where both girls LOVE to climb. On top of his shoulders. You can tell he really HATES it. ha ha...he's a sucker for his chicks.

Build A Bear

We did a super cool and special thing today. Mike took the girls to Build A Bear workshop and they made "daddy bears". These bears have a special recording device inside so the girls can squeeze the foot of the bear and hear a special message to them from their Dad. We are keeping these bears put up until he leaves and will bring them down at night when I tuck them into bed while he is deployed. The messages are simple just "Hi (Jessica or Katie), it's Daddy. I want you to have a good night and I'm so glad you are bringing me to bed to snuggle you. I love you!" Each one is a little bit different but that is the basic idea. They picked out "daddy clothes" for their bear which out of all the choices of jeans/Tshirts, doctor outfit, suit and tie...they picked the same camouflage military uniform their dad wears to work everyday. When he gets home at night they unlace his combat boots as soon as he sits down. It's like it's their little official jobs. I guess they really associate that uniform with their dad so that's what they picked. I think all three of them had a really good time and I think the bears will come to mean a lot to the girls. I was really emotional about it because I understand that in a few days all the girls will have of their Dad are pictures and these bears so I left the Bear store and let them have special time just the 3 of them together. Because I was feeling blue, I went and blew a shameful amount of cash at Sephora on makeup and skin care products while the girls and Mike built the bears. Then I came at the end and took some more pictures.

At the beginning, the bears are flat and don't have any stuffing. The girls made a wish and inserted a small red heart inside the shell of the bear. (it's called a wish heart) Then, Mike inserted his recorded message into the foot. And off they went to the stuffing machine where the girls could step on a button to activate the machine and watch all the soft fluffy stuffing go into their bear. Then, after the bear is "born", they took them to the bathing area and gave them a "bath" to wash off any extra stuffing pieces and to brush their hair all pretty so they could be all clean and ready to get dressed. Then, they and their Dad dressed them in the clothes they picked out. Finally, they got an official birth certificate for their bear and a little carrier house so they could take their bear home.
Giving Daddy kisses with our new bears.

Katie helping Daddy dress her bear.

Katie with her still naked bear.

Katie and Daddy and bear almost dressed.

Jessica and Daddy getting her bear dressed.

Katie giving her "just born" teddy bear a bath before getting him dressed.

Jessica cleaning up her brand new baby bear who was just born. You have to give him a bath before you can put on his new clothes and take him home.

Outside Build a Bear - Mike, Katie & Jessica

My Own Personal Mastercard Ad & other misc ramblings

Yard Guy - 50 dollars
Cleaning Lady - 70 dollars
Take Out - 20 dollars
Number of boxes to still be unpacked in garage - 20 gazillion

Watching the Olympics round the clock snuggled on the couch with your 2 chicas and your husband who is leaving for Afghanistan - PRICELESS

There are some things money and time can't buy.
Luckily, for the past week, there's been...LAZINESS.


This doesn't REALLY sum up my life for the past week and a half but sorta. My kitchen needs to be cleaned and there are more boxes in the garage than I'm comfortable with, but it's been fun snuggling on the couch with Mike and the girls and just being. When our Bishop talked about Mike Phelps today at church both Katie and Jessica squealed out "DADDY...LYMPICS!!!" I wish maybe we weren't watching "as much" lympics as we are...but I'm just taking advantage of the extra snuggles and kick back pace we are living life. For that, it's been really fun.

Yesterday on the way home from Grandma Meeker's birthday party, we stopped at a roadside orchard stand and bought peaches, tomatoes and pluots just outside of Marysville. Man, let me just tell you that if a ripe pluot would of been on the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, I would have been toast. I can't tell you how great this fruit is. And on top of the sweet, almost ambrosia quality of this fruit, I got to have a lightly toasted plain bagel, with whipped cream cheese, thinly sliced warm from the garden ripe summer tomato and gray salt. Oh my...what a treat. For 12 years we lived where produce grew, but just can NOT be compared to the produce of the central valley of California. I am so thankful for all the farmers markets, fresh produce in the supermarkets and especially the road side stand we stopped at yesterday. Everything has been great this season. My girls love all of it. I don't think they've met a fruit or vegetable they don't love. The other night we had Bill over for dinner and I grilled some salmon on a cedar plank but everything else on the table was fresh produce. We grilled fresh white corn on the cob, sliced ripe tomatoes, English sweet cucumber, fresh peaches and blueberries tossed with amazing Yogurt Cream and even caramel apples for dessert. It was a festival of fruit and veggies. We are so lucky to live here. Thank you farmers!!!!

We really enjoy our new church we are attending. In our church, when you move, you change congregations so we are brand new and getting to know everyone. We spoke in church today and then both Mike and I taught classes. It was fun to jump right in and get to know some folks. I am very thankful for fresh starts in our lives and am thankful my girls love going to church so much. They said their favorite thing about church is snuggling in the big long chair (pew) because we always sit all together and get to snuggle as a "whole family".

Tonight we played a new game called "I love you more than (fill in the blank)." So I told Jessica "I love you more than Diet Coke" she replied "I love you more than drawing "J"'s" and then Mike said "girls, I love you guys more than Olympics." and both girls just stopped what they were doing and looked at him and Jessica goes..."wow". She KNOWS how much her Dad loves the Olympics.

I am really enjoying the frozen yogurt trend that is back on. We have a number of Pinkberry impostors in ou home town that charge by the ounce and have like over 100 toppings. The pinkberry flavor is called "tart" at our yogurt shops and topping it with strawberries, blueberries and granola is heaven. And the yogurt is only 25 calories/ounce. The granola is bad but the berries are great too. If you have fro-yo in your area you should totally check it out.

Anyhoo- that's all I got for tonight. These are just my random ramblings as I sit here listening to the girls, the Olympics, Mike returning a page (he's on call) and the clicking of the keyboard. These are the sounds of my house. I'm sure going to miss the sound of Mike's voice...except ewwwww....right now he's talking to someone on the phone about vaginal discharge. gross. Such is the life of the on call doc. Sad... really gonna miss him, vag discharge conversations and all.

Dara Torres

Can I just say that Dara Torres is a freakin stud?!!! Her daughter is younger than mine. I can't get my butt on the treadmill or take a walk around the block but Tara started training the day she gave birth. I am still trying to get the after baby weight off, most of which I had on my butt BEFORE I got pregnant and Tara has BY FAR the best body I have ever seen in my life. And she's 42. And in the Olympics. And really good. And goes to mommy and me swim classes. And seems to be a great mom. And she gets 2 massages per day.

I would like to trade lives please. Well, I'll take the body and the massages but I don't want to do the workouts, trade my kids or my husband. But everything else, I'll trade. Especially the massages. Did I mention I'd like to have the massages????

Oh Dara Torres, you are making me covet.

Happy Birthday Grandma Meeker

Mike's Grandma Meeker is 95 today. What a lady!!! I don't have a picture of her to show you because all my albums are still packed so I can't scan one for you, but I wish you could know her. Imagine a little German lady with steel gray hair that is very short. Now imagine the kindest, twinkling eyes that light up a room when they smile. Her eyes, like Mike's, smile before the rest of her. Her eyes light up first, followed by a huge grin followed by a loud cheerful voice. Grandma Meeker was very present in Mike's life. She was widowed when Marilyn was pregnant with Mike. So for all of the boys lives, she was a single independent lady and drove herself down the 100 miles or so to help Marilyn with the six boys. She was the best errand runner. Everyone at our high school knew Grandma Meeker from track meets, basketball games or just from her showing up on campus to bring Mike or Ron homework they forgot, or their lunch or to pick them up from school. She had very little money but would always slip the boys some "greenies" (dollars) when she saw them. She clocked so many hours watching these boys play baseball (even boo-ing the ump sometimes) and was there for all of their major life events. She had the most beautiful penmanship I've ever seen and I used to love to get her letters and see her beautiful handwriting. She's so thoughtful, loving, accepting and caring. She's been basically deaf for a very long time. But in the past few years, macular degeneration has stolen her eye sight and arthritis has limited her hand functions. She lives in Paradise with Mike's Aunt and Uncle and we are going to see her tomorrow to wish her a very happy 95th birthday. We love you Grandma Meeker - you are one of the very best people we have ever known. Thank you for the time and effort you put into helping raise my husband. Your charming spirit and love of life runs through Mike and both of my girls and will live on forever.

Jessica Hood

Jessica is OBSESSED with archery. She's been watching the archery competitions online and on TV with Mike and loves it. She says "awwwww...poor poor little guy" when the arrow goes into the red. When they hit a yellow she gives a little "yeeeee" and shouts out the number. "yeeeeee, he got a NINE!" Mike said it took her watching it like two times and she totally got that they were shooting something at the target. It's all about circles and numbers. And maybe just maybe, all the video games her dad plays where he shoots with an bow and arrow might has something to do with it. Oh, and also cuz Mike thinks he is actually Orlando Bloom in Lord of the Rings. He swears he can slide down an elephant while simultaneously taking out an invading army. I don't believe it... but he does have very good balance.

In any case, I'm going to try and find a toy bow and arrow for Jessica today. Peace Out.

===================================

*** OK - this edit is by Mike. As you all have noticed, I tend to be really "hands-off" with Amy's blog (even though my name is 25% of it). I enjoy reading her ramblings and prose as much as you. But this time, I just must correct...

1) I don't think that I'm Orlando Bloom. I don't want to be Orlando Bloom.
2) I know I am not Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil the King of the Silvan Elves of the wood.
3) I wish I was Legolas. Sometimes, in my dreams, I am Legolas. Sometimes these dreams happen when I'm awake.
4) I know that I am a human, not a wood elf, so my chances of doing anything that Legolas did are slim-to-none. Because of this, I would settle for just playing an elf in a major hollywood film.
5) Because I'm fairly confident that I will never be offerred a role as an elf in a major hollywood film, I somethimes console myself by dressing in my green flannel PJs and tan leather slippers, running around the house and jumping over things with a toy bow & arrow or a plastic short sword.

Thanks for allowing me to clear things up... I just couldn't have Amy's readers out there thinking I was delusional or something.

Do I Still Have a Heart?

One of the things we tell Katie that we love about her is that she has a "heart" and she loves everyone with her whole heart. So she's pretty proud of her heart and if you ask her what is special about her she'll tell you "my heart". We always tell her it's one of her special gifts.

So tonight at dinner she got really worried and with a panic voice asked "do I still have a heart?" And we were confused and said "yes of course you still have a heart Katie, why are you so worried?"

And she said "cuz I burped!"

Our New Guest Room

Mike is putting the guest room together today. It's the smallest room of the house and only has room for a queen sized bed and a desk that Mike will use undoubtedly for storage of various computer parts. But the desk completely closes so you can't see the mess. So guests will not have to worry. Their life will be great lounging on their super cute queen bed, looking out a great window and having a bathroom with double sinks attached to their room for their very own private use.

Anyhoo, Mike's putting this room together. And the girls are all over him while he's trying to put the bed frame together. He tells them, "girls, this isn't a room for girls. It's a guest room. It only has room for a bed and a desk and guests. It's only a GUESTS room."

So Katie thinks for a sec and goes "okay daddy, let's guest how many duckies I have in my playroom and then we can be in here okay?" ha ha

So I guess now I have a Guess/Guest Room. So please come for a visit, we'll let you sleep here and Katie can drill you with Trivia Questions. Double the fun.

Panda Porn

Pandas are almost extinct. So this Panda reserve has been established in China with the sole purpose of breeding Pandas to repopulate the species. There's this one boy Panda named Liu Liu (pronounced Loo Loo) who is their number one stud boy Panda. But Liu Liu has trouble getting "in the mood" sometimes so they show him videos of boy and girl pandas in the act of making little baby Pandas. I think the reason Liu Liu is so successful is because he obviously doesn't have high morals and probably when they showed the other little boy Pandas their dirty videos, they looked away and would not watch the Panda Porn. See, this is what comes from Communism. Bad China. BAD CHINA.

Oh, and just so you don't think I'm out there surfing iffy Panda websites, this story was shown on NBC's coverage of the Olympics tonight. Gee wonder what I was watching that?

Olympic Fan? Not an option...

So you know Mike. The guy who lives with me and my chicks? The one who we never see, who works many hours and has had for the past 8 years been either in med school, residency or in the first year as a FP Doc which is full of adjustments and figuring stuff out which amounts to lots of hours away? You know that guy that is leaving for the desert and war in just a few short precious days? Well, let me know if you see him, cuz I HAVEN'T.

Well, I'm only half joking. He's the lump on my couch. He has these 2 weeks off. But he hasn't come to bed (basically) in the past 3 days. Why? Is he busy unpacking the ginormous number of boxes in our garage left over from the move? Nope. Is he out visiting the sick and afflicted? Nuh-uh. Is he trying to get rid of the mole (who we have named Mark) in our backyard that he is spending all his time out there just trying to catch Mark? Not even close. He has been for 3 days, glued to the TV watching the Olympics.

For those of you that know us, you know Mike is an Olympic freak. It started in 1984 when McDonalds had their Go For The Gold game where you could get a free (insert McDonald item) whenever the US won a medal. When we won a Gold you got a free Big Mac, a silver got you a regular coke and a US Bronze netted you a small fry. If you remember, Russia was still an Olympic powerhouse in 84 and they boycotted the Olympics. Thus, providing the US with the most medals we have ever won in any Olympics. Now rewind to a summer in the life of a certain 14 year old boy, who lived just behind the neighborhood McDonalds. He and his brother could get a game ticket with "no purchase necessary" so they could get one everyday. In the morning AND in the afternoon. (different shift of workers = not remembering the brothers) You were only supposed to be able redeem one game ticket per visit but every McDonalds let you redeem whatever you wanted. Mike and his little brother Ron ate McDonalds all summer long. It was a 14 year old boys dream. Add Molly Ringwald or Brooke Shields and Mike would have been a 100% happy boy. As it was, he had to settle for all the Big Macs he could eat.

Thus, started the love affair with the Olympics. Ever since then, he's been psycho about it. We have had a tradition in our marriage. For opening ceremonies, we always have people over and we always cook food celebrating the host nation. (This year House of Cheang supplied the yummy menu of Asian delights) Mike always has an American flag draped from our entertainment center and he always makes everyone watching wave individual American flags when our athletes are competing. Usually we all have to stand when the National Anthem is being played and the freakshow that is my life goes on and on for two solid weeks. You guys think I'm joking. I'm DEAD SERIOUS. The dude is crazy.

Given that he is on his way to the desert and that he will miss the entire fall TV season, football season, BB season etc. And given that he had "use or lose" leave/vacation time to take. And given it was an Olympic year...you guessed it. Mike took these two weeks off so he could watch the Olympics. That's it. I figured he'd also put away boxes, also would get rid of Mark the mole, also spend time with his loving family but pretty much...he's been watching the Olympics 24 hours/day. I have come out each night to find him nodding off in front of his laptop with his spreadsheet open that gives our medal totals, upcoming events and all other Olympic data he needs to have at his finger tips. Homeboy is insane.

Just this morning, when the Olympic theme song blared from the TV at 8:30 in the a.m. I heard my girls squeal in delight "Olympic song daddy! Olympic song!!!" The girls' favorite events are gymnastics and the horsey games (equestrian) and they like the water polo matches because they think the kids are just swimming. Right now, (6:04 pm) we are watching the TiVo'd prelims of yet another swimming race and Mike is sleeping on the loveseat. But the remote is in his hand and he's sitting up in the chair so if you ask him what he's doing I'm 100% positive he'll reply "I'm watching THE OLYMPICS". Oh, and in case you are wondering... Cool Runnings is one of his favorite movies and he cries every time when they pick up their stupid bill-sled (yes I know it's called a bobsled). And he'll want me to erase that and not tell you about the crying, but tough, it's what he gets for putting us through this. Oh, and this year, the Chinese didn't even get their flag raised during opening ceremonies before he was crying because in his words "I can see the same pride in their eyes that I have in my eyes when I see OUR flag go up" yes. yes. It's cute until you live with it.

So my friends, I am watching A LOT of Olympics this week. I love the Olympics. I truly do. But the feather weight boxing match between Latvia and South Korea? I totally could live without watching that.

Help. Please send help.

P.S. Mike just read this post and asked me to correct one fact. He has averaged 3 hours of sleep per night in the past three nights not the zero hours I reported. This includes the nap I just caught him take while I was typing this. Freakin psycho.

PPS. He rewinded the TiVO 18 minutes just now...back to the point before he fell asleep. ugh.

Funny starts with an "F"

Yesterday, I picked Jessica and Katie up from preschool. They were SO happy saying good bye to all "their kids" giving hugs to everyone and high fives to their teacher. Then, upon climbing into their car seats, Jessica saw it. A boo boo. And there was blood. (I assure you it was just a scratch) She started wailing..."oh no, I have a boo boo" and the tears started to flow. And I asked how she got it. And because this was the beginning of the crying jig she could still be understood she said "on the playground!" more crying. I said "oh, I'm sorry sweetie but playground time was over 45 minutes ago so if you've had the boo boo that long and you didn't notice it maybe it is just hurting cuz you saw it." Her reply..."waaaaaa, no mama, it hurrrrrrts." "well, okay honey, when we get home I'll clean it and put on a band-aid" This somehow upset her even more and the crying really got cookin' and she lost all ability to speak English. About 1/2 way home I got the feeling she was trying to tell me something. So I asked her to repeat what she was trying to say. "It's weanbeegee-ing!" huh? "It's beejeenee-ing" whah? I finally said "Jessica, if you are going to cry that hard, I can't understand you so I can't help you." So she swiped at her snotty nose and wiped her tears, actually took a calming breath and exclaimed...
"MAMA, IT IS BLEEDING AND THAT STARTS WITH A "B" WAAAAAA BAAAAAAA!" And then she promptly launched into the hysterics again. I however, could not stop laughing. I even snorted. Here's why.

Jessica has wanted to know what every word starts with lately. You can hear her all over the house going "zoo, that starts with a "z". Mama -that starts with an "m". Juice - that starts with a "j" like me." So the fact that she was in dire pain, suffering horribly, could not get out coherent verbiage, but wanted to make sure I knew that first her wound was bleeding and that bleeding started with a "b" just struck me as funny cuz you never think about those conversations when you think about being a mom.

Now, as for Katie, she made me feel great today. I put on a shirt that was snug in the breastesses area today. She poked my boobs and said "mama you have boobies." And I said "yep, are you gonna have boobies when you get big?" And she said "yep, but only on my tummy cuz big girls only have boobies on their tummies" and I thought how cute, she thinks boobs grow on our tummies I guess that makes sense. Then she followed it with "right now I'm little so my boobies are on my shoulders way up high but when I grow up they will fall down and grow on my tummy right mama?" hmmmm. "right mama?" mmmmmm. "right?" "Yep, Kate. I guess when you get big you will have boobies on your tummy." And she follows me into the kitchen "when will I grow up Mama?" And I stopped, bent down, grabbed her in a tickle hug and said "hopefully not for a long long long long time, especially if it means you getting boobies on your tummy" And then we laughed and laughed.

OFFICIAL Snack Mom

Yipeeee! Tomorrow is my first day of making snacks for preschool. I feel like a REAL Mom. Okay, attention all Moms out there! Here's what I made and why I chose it. I need YOU GUYS to leave me comments on whether or not I hit or missed and any great sure fire snack ideas that I can use. Because I have 2 kids in the class I have to do snacks twice/every other month and then bring supplies twice/every other month. So a total of 2 things per month whether they be snacks or supplies. So next month...no snacks.

Okay, I'm sure you get the drill. You've probably done it a million times and want me to PLEASE get on with it already.

Snack Menu for tomorrow:

Breton multi-grain crackers with a medium cheddar cheese slice cut into a star shape. (I chose the Breton MG because they are large in size, round in shape and have a delicate, flaky, buttery texture/taste while maintaining their 100% whole grain goodness. They are salty which will pair well with the creaminess and nuttiness of the cheddar. I think it presents an overall good balance of salty, crunch, flaky, creamy and nutty. There will be two crackers and two slices of cheese per child.)

Ants on Logs - fresh crisp celery filled with peanut butter and topped with four raisins (the ants). (The dried raisins give a chewy texture to the snap of the celery and the cream of the PB. It is surprisingly a very sophisticated texture balance, is visually appealing to children due to the idea of eating pretend ants. None of the flavors compete with the cheese/cracker appetizer -I mean snack.

Beverage - Normally when serving cheese, you would tend to go with a red. However, the light crispness of the celery, the dried fruit and the flaky buttery aspects of the Breton have led me to decide on a white....JUICE THAT IS. We are going with the standard box juice of 100% apple.

So what do you guys think? Got any ideas???? I need to learn how to make individual pizzas.

First Day of Preschool

Today is the day I've been dreading since October. Today, my babies started preschool. Every parent I've talked to doesn't seem to understand why I wasn't looking forward to today. I approached it like some painful dentist appointment...an event that I know is necessary and will be for my betterment but will most certainly be painful and long.

Now the girls did not share my feelings. They felt nothing but sheer delight and excitement for today. They were excited to learn, excited to get to know their teacher, excited to play and cut with scissors. They were especially excited for circle time and that they would get a snack.

Katie could feel my nervousness. She told her Dad on the way to preschool, "Daddy, mama is a little bit sad." And when he asked her why, she replied, "because we are going to be apart from mama. Jessica Rose and I go to preschool together and we have our best friend with us the whoooollllleeeeeee time." Then she looked in my rear view mirror and said to me "mama don't worry, me and Jessica Rose will always come back for you. At the end of preschool you will come get us and we be together AGAIN!!!"

"Thanks Katie Kate", I said. "That makes me feel better. But I'm still going to miss you."

Jessica pipes up from the back "we going to miss you too Mama, but that is how preschool goes."

And that my friends is why I'm so sad. Because she's right, that's how preschool goes. And kindergarten, and elementary school and high school and life and pretty soon before you know it I will be shuffling along in a local mall wondering why the girls haven't called and whether or not they give senior coupons on Tuesdays.

This event, the going off to school, is the first time they'll leave ME. From now and forever more they'll be leaving. And I'll be waiting. Waiting for them to come back and share their experiences with me. Because you know what? I've never liked or wanted to hang out with anyone more in my life than these two chicks. I think they are the coolest, funnest and most facsinating people I've ever known.

In any case, they had a blast today. They had no hesitation and ran into the classroom first as soon as their teacher opened the door. They were so excited and happy it was hard not to feel glad for them. Mike went with us for first day of school and then he peeled me away from the window, dried my tears and took me out for a super nice lunch at our favorite restaurant Boulevard Bistro. When I picked up the girls, they were red in the face, tired and so happy.

I asked Jessica if she had fun and she did. Except for this little diddy she shared with me. "There was this kid in a green shirt that tried to push me down, but I was TOUGH. And I said hey I'm 3 and no kid in a green shirt is gonna push me down."

I gave her a high five for being tough and a hug and kiss for not pushing back.

Other than the green shirted bully, they said all the other kids were nice and that they wanted to go back Thursday. It's my turn to bring snacks. Today, somebody brought them pizza and apple juice. That's a pretty darn tootin' good snack. I gotta do some rethinking of my cheese cut with star and flower cookie cutters and crackers. I still think that would be a cute and good snack but homemade little pizzas? Come ON.

In any case, we are now officially in preschool. There will be lots of funny stories that preschool will inspire. And hopefully, I'll get used to it.

I think our system sucks. It's design to is tear kids away from their moms. So does the wild. Animals are so pressed to break away, fly the coop, leave the nest, wean, remove themselves from the pack blah blah blah. I think babies should just get to stay babies and live with their moms forever drinking chocolate milk and reading Pinkalicious.

Cool Clothes, shoes & purses

My mom had this cool catalog at her house that is called Travelsmith. They specialize in clothes that are good for traveling. I expected old lady, polyester clothes that old ladies take on vacation but it's not. These clothes are so cute. And who doesn't want clothes that don't wrinkle, are light weight and don't take up a lot of space. I like those features even if I'm not traveling. I don't have time to iron and I don't have a lot of room anyway. Their clothes and shoes and purses are so dang cute so I wanted to share the website just in case you are looking for a new source for clothes.

www.travelsmith.com

Goodbye by Joshy Boy...

I had been married for almost a year. My boss, Carolyn had gotten a little Lhasa Apso puppy named Chelsea who came to our office everyday. I fell head over heels in love with little Chelsea and begged Mike for us to get a puppy just like her. We called a family who was selling one Lhasa Apso in the newspaper and made arrangements to go see him. When we walked into the courtyard in their backyard, this little fur ball on a patio chair growled this pathetic puppy growl at us and gave a little yelp. I said in what would be my first sentence in a "mother" voice..."oh you be quiet", and walked over to scratch him behind the ears. We talked to the people, played with the puppy they had named Muffin, thanked them and drove away. About halfway down the street Mike said..."turn around...let's go get him." And a few minutes later, we drove off with our new puppy Joshua the Lhasa Apsah...which is what we named him. He visited everyone in the family that day and although I promised Mike he would NOT sleep with us...that first night he yelped so much down on the floor by our bed that he ended up curled up in between our feet on the bed right along side us. That's where he slept ever since. Well...except for 1/2 of the time he lived with my parents. See, we shared custody. Their dog Molly had separation anxiety and needed her best friend (our dog Josh) to prevent her from tearing up the house. So we shared custody of Josh and Molly, keeping the two dogs together for the better part of these past 15 years. These dogs lived together in Washington DC, Colorado, Maryland, Nebraska and of course, California.

Today, after a wonderful 15 years of life, we let our Joshy Boy join his best friend Molly in Heaven when we put him to sleep because of breathing complications due to old age. He was our first baby. And when we realized we were infertile, he filled a void in our lives that we needed so very badly. He had a great life. He lived inside, slept in either our bed or in a bed in my parents room. He was the best traveled dog that ever was. We often joked that he got to pee in every place from Yosemite to the National Capitol Mall. He climbed the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, hiked the Shenandoah National Forrest, swam in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, survived tornadoes in Nebraska and blizzards in both Colorado and Washington DC. He was a couch potato and spent most days curled up in a little fluff ball while someone petted him. He got gourmet dog food, gourmet treats and was treated like a little king most of the time.

He loved to chase squirrels, but he wasn't very fast. My favorite memory of Josh was when we were living in DC. The squirrels would come in our yard and torment Josh while Mike and I were at work. So Mike (who IS really fast) would hold Josh like a football and together they would chase squirrels all over the neighborhood. Josh's tail would be wagging so hard as I watched them run off from behind that it would wag in circles. Our neighbors must have thought we were crazy...seeing human running as fast as he could, carrying fluff ball dog chasing the squirrels in the neighborhood on our military base.

Josh, we will miss you. Thank you for knowing just when I needed to feel like I was a mother and helping me make it until my babies came. Thank you for loving my babies so much that you worried so much about them when they were infants just like a crazy little mother. You were so good to my babies, going in whatever room they were in and being so patient when they climbed on you, pulled your tail and your fur. You never bit anyone (except for that 3 legged cat, the guinea pig, baby robin, mouse and that one slow squirrel) and you were gentle, patient and kind. You always let Molly eat first and eat your food. You never ever were aggressive with another dog or person. You loved to play with Mike and my Dad and you loved loved loved to be in my mom's lap. Mostly, I just loved being your human mom and protecting you during lightening and wind storms as well as from those scary burglars that one night. A watch dog you were not. A loving, gentle soul that was one of my best friends I've ever had, you were that and so much more. Thank you for always being happy to see me and for never making us feel sorry for one second that we turned our car around and came and got you. And you are welcome for not having to go through life with the name Muffin. We love you baby, sleep well and be at peace.