Last year...

 

this happened on May 26, 2006 and life hasn't been the same since.

*And yes, I did save the peed-on stick. Can't bear to throw it away.

Wynonna Judd lives in my house...

 

and she desperately needs some Prozac.

Off to a great start this weekend...

On Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse today (A.C. likes the bright colors and computer-generated animation) Mickey and the gang were trying to lure a baby elephant out of a tree by shaking a can of peanuts. They sang a song over and over that went like this: "Shake, shake, shake...shake your peanuts!". Sing it aloud to yourself and what does it sound like? Please tell me that the adults who write for this show didn't know what they were doing.

Funny dream

I dreamed (dreamt?) last night that Kevin and I (don't remember the baby being in the dream--am terrible mother) moved into an apartment with our friends who just got married in Costa Rica (James and Jen) and several of their friends from Chicago. Coincidentally, I think it was like the apartment that I lived in in college, but it was a 3 bedroom. In my dream, I was concerned about where we were going to put our cats' litterboxes (yet again, didn't enter into my mind to worry about the fact that we were bringing tons of cats into this mix as well). At one point, we were all sitting around in our new apartment and one of the friends of James and Jen pulled out gifts for everyone. She gave us one of those big, school cafeteria size cookie sheets. First of all, I felt badly that we didn't get anyone anything (didn't know that gifts were in order for multiple-family-move-in-day) but I was also so excited to have such a large cookie sheet! I mouthed to her, "Thank you so much! All of my cookie sheets are so tiny!".

*Edited to add: If you know us, you'll understand the irony in the giant cookie sheet because our oven doesn't work (it's original to the house, 1952, and would be an ordeal to replace it at this point) so I use my little toaster oven to cook and bake. Kevin calls it my "Easy Bake Oven". So, I have no use for an institutional-sized cookie sheet.

Houston Documentary

Check out "Hot Town, Cool City". Looks like an uncharacteristically positive and interesting view of our fair city.

Totally ready for her closeup

 

For the love of all that is good and holy...

Whatever you do, DO NOT watch the movie "Because I Said So". It is deplorable. (Although you might be tempted to watch it in the spirit of the "Ugh, this stinks...smell it!" phenomenon which is ok. Just don't blame me when you hate the movie too--I can't be held accountable for that.)

I adore Diane Keaton, but even she couldn't save this train-wreck of predictable, asinine, badly-acted crapola. I can't believe that I sat through the whole damn thing. There is 1 hour and 42 minutes of my life that I can never get back.

Too cool for school (not to mention, too young for school)

Anna Claire's Sweet New Ride

Time to ditch the old carseat and get a bigger, more comfy one...

Defintion of Bliss

Sitting in our "formal" living room, otherwise known as, "The Room Without Loads of Kid Shit", listening to jazz (Ella Fitzgerald; Diana Krall, etc) with the candles lit, incense in full-force, visting with my husband and daughter.

Pictures

Blurry? Yep...
Non-use of flash when necessary? You got it...
Pictures of Jenny in a swimsuit? Absolutely not...

Click on the first picture to open the album

Costa Rica 1

Vacations

I've come to the realization that vacations are addictive. Our trip to Costa Rica (yes, I know...pictures? Soon, Grasshoppa.) was way too short--especially considering that we lost two full days due to traveling. But, on the flight home, we flew directly over the Yucatan and it's hypnotic, turquoise waters and we both smiled, knowing that we'd be there in another month for round two of "Best Friend's Destination Wedding Madness" (also commonly known in our home as, "I Really Think That We Need to Re-Evaluate Our Choice in Friends, Since We Have Two Destination Weddings, 3 To 4 Months After I Gave Birth, Both Of Which Require Me To Squeeze My Post-Partum Carcass Into A Swimsuit").

There's always a feeling of let-down when you come home from a vacation, but having another trip on the horizon really helps the old moral. I simply adore the Yucatan, so I'm really looking forward to sinking my toes in it's soft sands; wading in the water; sitting by the pool and feeling the hot, Mexican sun on my shoulders (not to mention, seeing some dear friends in the process). It cures what ails ya!

Costa Rica!

Hola! We're back from Costa Rica....wow! Naturally, our pictures are terrible because 1. our camera sucks and 2. I'm a terrible photographer but I think that I'll be able to post at least a few that can give you a small view of our trip. I'll post pictures soon, I promise.

To begin with, yes, it was hard leaving the baby behind. Logistically, we knew that it would have been hellish to try and take her--in no way a vacation for any of us--but the morning that we left for the airport, she had a snotty nose and was extra sad-looking. This primal thing came over me and I cried the whole way to the airport.

Costa Rica was like no place that I've ever seen, or really any place that I thought I'd ever see! Volcanoes (which are really tall, y'all!); hot springs (HEAVEN!); monkeys (not even in cages or on a diamond-encrusted leash, being led from club to club by Paris Hilton!); flowers and plants like you can't even imagine...it was crazy-cool. James and Jen's wedding was beautiful and perfect. It poured rain the whole time--complete with lightening and thunder, in the middle of the rainforest.

Finally, I did the freakin' zip line. Still can't believe that I went through with it. I've never been that scared in my whole life. It was like that dream you have, right as you're dozing off, that you're falling and you awaken with a shudder. I pretty much lost any amount of religion that I had, from screaming obscenities the whole way, from platform to platform. Those Howler Monkeys below the zip line sure got an education in the English language.

More trip details and pictures will follow.