Metamorphosis

It happens every year about this time. The calendar says that it's December 2?--whatever date, after the 25th--but I feel like it must be April or something. I start to get a serious "Spring Cleaning" bug. I think it's just the excessiveness of the Holiday decor. All of the glitter, tinsel and ribbons. The clutter where I usually don't allow clutter. The decking of the halls with boughs of whatever. Whatever it is, I feel the intense need to streamline my home. It's the only time of year that I feel sort of Asian-design-inspired. Clean lines. Minimalist.

Even though we, here in the South, are just finally experiencing cooler weather this time of year, I itch to yank down my heavy drapes, in deep, Autumnal colors (that have, sadly, been up since Sept. 1, in a desperate attempt to pretend that we have a season called "Fall" here in Texas) and put up my flowy, light linen curtains that billow and blow in the breeze when the windows are open. I want plants everywhere. Large, minimalist cacti but also flowering African violets. It's this time of year that I crave a beach house, or, more accurately, the opportunity to just decorate a beach house. I want distressed, white furniture. Seagrass rugs. Pale blue, linen furniture and seashells on bookshelves. I crave candles in scents like "jasmine" and "water lily" instead of my usual, spicy, sandalwood-y favorites. It's really and truly like I become possessed by some other woman this time of year. Like maybe this, headless, even-paler-than-I, woman. It sort of creeps me out.

Christmas 2007

Christmas Eve 2007
Originally uploaded by veggiejj

Open this album to learn all about Anna Claire's first Christmas.

Or, you can watch a fancy version here:

Twas the night...

Twas the night...
Originally uploaded by veggiejj

before, the night before Christmas. And all through our house. Not a creature was stirring....

So close...

She wants to walk so badly, she could just poop.

Mele Kalikimaka

I'm currently sitting in my home, with the air conditioner running and sweat still rolling down my back. It's 75-ish degrees outside, humid and just plain, 'ol nasty. Oh, and it's also 5 days before Christmas. I hate this with the heat of 4,000 suns. We went outside for a little while yesterday and there were newly-hatched mosquitoes buzzing all around. Seriously though.

According to the weather guys on the news, we're supposed to get a front on Sunday which will lower the temps to a more festive 50 degrees in time for Christmas. I'll take it, but I really don't know how many more Decembers I can spend in shorts and a tank top.

Porpoise Crispy 2007

Anna at Blackbeards
Originally uploaded by veggiejj

We went to Corpus Christi (affectionately referred to as Porpoise Crispy by those of us who've lived there in the past) this weekend for a wedding. We decided to make a long weekend of it and take in some sight-seeing and friend-visiting while we were there.

Our first stop upon arriving into town was Blackbeards restaurant. Kevin used to work there when he was in college, so we always like to go back and visit when we're in Corpus. There wasn't any sign of the ghost that lives in the restaurant though. Maybe our babbling, menu-licking child scared him off.

The wedding was great! We're so happy for Chad and Meredith...also, Anna Claire was so happy that so many people turned out to adore her at the reception.

Sunday, we visited with some friends. Tony works with Kevin and his wife, Cathy, was pregnant the same time that I was (we joked that there must've been a lull at Syntex that week in May, when we both got pregnant). Their son, Michael is a doll! He's bigger than Anna but they're doing many of the same "tricks". The kids had a great time together and Anna also enjoyed the Maingot's dogs, Bandit and Sandy.

Monday, before heading back to Houston, we hit the Texas State Aquarium as soon as they opened. We had the place to ourselves until the dolphin show, when a couple of groups of school kids joined us. I think that Anna enjoyed watching the children more so than the dolphins!

Approaching 11 months

Anna Claire will officially be 11 months old on Dec. 22. Here's a small list of her recent discoveries and interests:

• New words: "DAAT!"--meaning, DOG! and "DAT!"--meaning KITTY CAT! It takes a well-trained ear to note the differences in inflection and delivery on the two words. There is a house in our neighborhood with a life-size, mannequin-looking Santa Claus, complete with a real sleigh and two reindeer, in their yard. Almost daily, we walk over to wave at Santa and she always shrieks, "DAAT! DAAT!" when she sees the reindeer. I figure, dog? reindeer? Close enough.
• She's beginning to develop more of a taste for table food. Part of it, is the appeal of eating what everyone else is eating, I think. Her current favorites are popcorn and croutons.
• She's gotten eerily confident in her cruising and standing. I think that spending the weekend at Paw Paw and Granny B's, and their cushiony carpet helped her to overcome her fear of falling. Now, she sort of haphazardly wobbles and bumps her way along, from our coffee table to the recliner, to the arm chair and then "thump!", down on her bum to chase a cat or two.
• Her latest obsession is putting toys in containers, such as: putting her toys in the toy basket (Mama likes this one!) and putting her rubber ducks in the Wurstfest cup, in the bathtub.
• She also enjoys our "For Mommy?" and "For Anna." game, wherein she hands us "gifts" and you say, "For (Insert name here)?" and then you hand it back to her, saying, "For Anna". It works particularly well when she's gotten ahold of something that she shouldn't have. Naturally, though, you don't give it back to her, once she gives it to you!

Hazy shade of Winter

Close up
Originally uploaded by veggiejj

Most days, about 3pm, we hit the wall around here. Naptime is long-over; it's too late to try and get out to do anything fun but we've still got 2 hours until dinnertime and when Daddy gets home. Lately, to break up the monotony, we've been spending some time in our front yard. There are tons of leaves to chew on, people walking by to adore us and a big ditch to try and crawl into.

Talking Cats

Cheese and crackers, y'all! This is awesome! Watch the first video--which is great, and then watch the second video to see the translation.

Happy Holidays

Christmas Party
Originally uploaded by veggiejj

With much love,
Jenny, Kevin and Jenny's right boob

Self portrait, taken before the Syntex Christmas party.

Why We're Bad Parents...

Why We're Bad Parents, originally uploaded by veggiejj.

Part: Infinity. (Because infant mental stability is overrated)

She leveled the playing field by pulling down my shirt, exposing most of my bra to Santa, while I was chatting with him afterwards.

Merry Annibirthmas To Me!

DSCN1289,
originally uploaded by veggiejj.

Kevin affectionately refers to the time between Nov. 25 and Dec. 25 as my "Annibirthmas" because our wedding anniversary, (Nov. 25) my birthday (Dec. 10) and Christmas all fall within that 30 day span. He usually gets me one big gift to cover all of those bases. This year, I asked for a new light fixture for our formal dining room. It looks so nice and puts out much more light than the old fixture.

Whereas a smart woman would ask for diamonds, I ask for merchandise available at Lowe's. What is wrong with me?

Foot Loose and Baby Free

A rare picture these days, of Kevin and I sans baby. This was taken last week at a friend's birthday party. We left the baby in the car.

Also, how cute is my husband?

Thanks for the pic, April!

Holiday Home Tour

Yesterday I attended the annual Houston Heights Holiday Home Tour with a group of girlfriends. As usually happens when I do the tour each year, I come home thoroughly depressed about my own house. The homes that are on this tour are the epitome of style and wealth. Just to own a home in the Heights is a financial feat, much less to furnish and decorate it accordingly. And landscaping--don't forget the landscaping. Here's a brief rundown of the houses that we saw:

Cute and Quaint Cottage: A very small cottage, built in the 1920's. This was probably the most modest of the homes and very cute. The people who own it don't actually live there, so it was decorated in a 1940's theme, complete with a room dedicated to the owner's uncle who died in Normandy.

The Gays Who Should Be Kicked Out Of The Club House: Beautiful home, built in 1915. This house, owned by a Gay male had lots of character and potential, but it just wasn't "home tour ready". Maybe I'm just OCD, but there were tons of finishing touches, just not taken care of. For instance, in the bathroom, there was a beautiful built in cabinet with leaded glass doors (original to the home). This is where the homeowner stores his linens. Ok, had this been my home, in this cabinet, I would've had fresh, fluffy towels, folded and re-folded to perfection--all the same color (probably perfectly white)--possibly some decorative soaps and apothecary jars. You get the picture. In sharp contrast, however, this cabinet had ill-folded towels of varying colors, patterns and degrees of use (i.e. 10 year old car washing/dog bathing towels next to newish towels). Also, while they did attempt to decorate the home with candle arrangements here and there, every single candle that I saw still had the plastic wrap on it. Seriously, what kind of Gays are you people? I have a good mind to report you to the Gay decor authorities.

The Perfect, Young, Upwardly-Mobile WASP Couple Home: Ugh. Where the house before this one missed so many details and I was beginning to feel pretty good about my own decorating skills? Well, this house shot all of that to hell. This home is a 1903 Queen Anne with no stone left unturned in exemplifying class and style. The piece de resistance was the family room, with it's roaring stone fireplace and real, live harp player, perched next to the perfect Christmas tree, playing holiday tunes.

The Ho, Ho, Homo-est Homeowners That There Ever Was House (also known as: Gays Got It Right): A new build, custom home with every extravagant upgrade known to man (especially known to Gay Man). The front porch steps were adorned on each side with pots of perfectly blooming Paperwhites--this was a sign of what lay beyond the front door. While the holiday decor of this house was, in my humble opinion, just a twee much, I was awestruck none-the-less by the skill and expense that went into it. The main Christmas tree in this house had so many ornaments on it, I wasn't even able to see a glimpse of the actual tree underneath. I can't even fathom the time it took to get the ornaments on and off of it.

Stuffy, Sterile and Snobby House: The last house that we saw was another new build. While it was beautifully appointed, it left me feeling very cold. We were told that the homeowners have a one year old son but I didn't see any parts of the house that looked the least bit fun for a one year old. While my family room is replete with plastic Fisher Price crapola there wasn't a single piece of plastic to be found in this home. Even the nursery was stuffy with it's pristine wood floors and antique crib. This home didn't make me feel the least bit inadequate as a mom.

It's funny because I volunteered for our old neighborhood's annual home tour for several years. We were given a schpeel about the home that we were to recite to the tour-goers. This schpeel included factoids about the house itself and also about the furnishings (for example, "Please notice the solid mahogany dining chairs that were purchased by the couple in a Parisian antique store, while on their 4 week long European honeymoon). Kevin and I always joked about what the schpeel would be if our home was ever on a home tour. I think it would go something like this:

As you enter the formal living area, be sure to notice the armchair, made from medium density particle board, finished with a toxic birch stain and purchased by the couple from IKEA in 2001. Also, you may notice a faint and quite charming aroma of cat urine near the homeowner's sofa. This is due to their cat, Wynonna Judd's, territory marking. You might also notice this familiar scent in the master closet. The homeowners' Christmas tree is decorated with ornaments primarily from Target and ornaments that they've collected during their travels to such exotic locales as San Antonio and Corpus Christi as well as a few trinkets from Buckee's Truck Stop near Sequin, Texas.