before & after

count to four

I'm glad L can't count higher than four right now, because I don't want her to count on thirty-two presents again next year. What a lovely, spoiled child she is. Her favorite gifts: a Dora the Explorer tea set (thanks Grandma!), new Velcro shoes (thanks Santa!) and a trike (thanks Grandpa!). We haven't even touched the fingerpaints yet in all the excitement.

J, on the other hand, is quite content with twinkling lights.

sick-s

I celebrated my sixth anniversary in an urgent care, thereby stranding my husband at work without food or transportation. L's troublesome cough was apparently a symptom of the penuemonia in her right lung. She started vomitting bile and blood the second my dad and grandmother arrived on our doorstep. She is such a trooper, and I'd give the world for her to not have to go through this.

Our house is finally settling down. Medicine was dispersed, food was served, and beds were pulled down. Hopefully Friday will bring a little more calm and an opportunity to celebrate #6.

Wheee

When I was a kid, we'd all end up at my grandma's house watching back-to-back episodes of Wheel of Fortune on Christmas day between the presents and the parade of relatives. Now my grandma is coming to our house for the holidays, and I think we're going to replace the Wheel with the Wii. She'll be able to go home and tell all her friends how she came to California and played tennis with her grandkids.

strange combinations

Friday afternoon grocery line shoppers:

A 50-something woman and her mother: a case of beer and a jumbo-size jar of jalapeno peppers.
An elderly couple: a 2 liter of Coke and two packages of snowballs.
My husband: eight sticks of butter and a SoBe adrenaline drink.

Fingerpaints

I think I'm more excited than L to open her gift.

extreme pita

No kidding. It's a new restaurant I learned about this afternoon. I can't think of anything to say about it except to repeat the name in disbelief.

love ya

Driving home tonight with hungry kids, the other half still putting in a late night at work, we took a detour into a neighborhood decked in Christmas regalia. For a moment, everyone in the car was quiet, caught in the awe of red twinkling candy canes and trees spiralled in color. L said the word "reindeer."

favorite poem

For all those saps out there who love poetry...

special delivery

Nintendo is shipping a brand new Wii game console to our house, at no charge. Despite the larger quantities of Wii on the market, they are still difficult to come by around here. So how did I get so lucky, you ask? Follow these simple steps and you, too, might be so fortunate.

1. Wake up early.
2. Drive 30 miles to nearest Best Buy and wait outside for 1 1/2 hours in line behind others as foolish as you.
3. Resist the urge to laugh too loudly during the morning sales rep chant.
4. Don't bother to hide your disappointment when you learn they have no Wii today.
5. Repeat on day two.
6. This time, drive around first and find the longest line outside any videogame retailer.
7. Make pleasant conversation with those in line as foolish as you.
8. Call your wife on her cell and pass on the rumor that Target has a new delivery of Wii.
9. Drive rapidly across town, secure little ones into shopping cart with flimsy seatbelt and run through parking lot.
10. Stand in line behind others even though Wii #70 (the last one) is promised to the older woman in the orange sweater standing four places ahead of you.
11. Covet your neighbor's Wii. Wait. Wait. Hope.
12. Buy the very last Wii. Hooray!
13. Drive home with unhappy kids and bad Christmas carols, but it's all ok because you've got a Wii.
14. Set it up.
15. Furrow brow at strange grinding noises when the game disk doesn't go in.
16. Insist that husband is doing it wrong and repeat steps 14 and 15 multiple times.
17. Call the kind woman at Nintendo customer support.
18. Ship back your defective Wii and wait for a replacement.

Yeah, it's worth it.

almost over

He's trying so hard--just a nudge away from rolling over.

responding with force

In order of importance:

Baghdad. Sheesh.

Great little essay about a bully, a bibliophile, and a dad.

I had the opportunity today to file a sexual harrassment charge against a 19-year-old older brother of a student today. I declined.