Snowed in

Originally, my plan for the day was to bring the girls to day care and then spend the day shopping and hanging out with Munchkin. Unfortunately, we got walloped with a pretty good snow storm, and day care was closed, so I had to stay home with the girls. Since Munchkin leaves tomorrow morning for a week, that ruined my plan for sisterly bonding, but we did get to hang out today, even if we were cooped up inside all day.

She remained in pretty good spirits after Frenchie left. There were a couple of tears, but nothing like we have seen in the past. So, that was good...and they are as in love as ever and already talking about their plans for either spring break or next summer. And so the story continues to evolve...

Christmas was excellent, if tiring! The girls came to The Boy's parents house on Christmas eve, and did awesome, even though they were up well past their bedtimes:-) Eventually they got really tired, but they fell asleep there despite the noise and didn't miss a beat as we got them home and into their own cribs. On Sunday we were with the pretend family all day and they both stayed in really good spirits and cheery all day. They just love to be held, so having a larger room full of people to hold them is like baby heaven for them:-)

If I am going to be honest, the whole Holiday snuck up on me really fast and I feel like I missed out on most of it. I did manage to get most of my shopping done before the actual day, except for Munchkin...that was much of the purpose of today, and now I don't know what... Once again, Smoking Hot Roommate saved the day and made sure that Munchkin was adequately spoiled on Christmas Day.

OK...I have an announcement for anyone listening. Please listen carefully, as it applies universally...

BUYING A GIFT FOR THE BABIES DOES NOT COUNT AS BUYING A GIFT FOR ME:-P

Remember that;-)

Quick things

Yankee swap at work today, which was enough for me to come in and work half a day (before it become time to manage some teenage emotions later in the day). I am pretty fired up, and totally convinced that I brought the best $20 gift that money can buy.

Shake Weight, bitches....

Super Happy Birthday to Big Sis!!! Hugs and Kisses and looking forward to birthday dinner tonight:-)

I know how ridiculous this is, but...

Frenchie arrived safely on Thursday, and it was honestly like the two of them had last said goodbye maybe a day ago...they just get right back into being around each other with incredible ease.

I remain a little confused by the whole thing. Clearly, it is impossible for kids at that age to maintain a "relationship" from several thousand miles apart. Not when, at best, they see each other for maybe three weeks a year. Not when their teenage hormones are raging, they both clearly attract a lot of attention from the opposite sex and the appeal of having someone more accessible must be enormous. Obviously, there is no realistic chance of them being together at all seriously (as serious as any 15 year old can be).

But, this has already gone on for TWO YEARS. And, obviously, that can't happen, right?

So, yeah. Still not sure what to make of this.

The longer it goes on, the happier it makes her, and the more it becomes clear that the two of them have a really special connection.

But, I also feel like it will make it that much harder when the inevitable comes.

Winter break time!

Things I am done with:

1) School, at least for the semester. And not in the existential sense I was talking about a couple of weeks ago...no, I am actually done.

2) Christmas music. This is more conceptual. Just make it stop.

3) Waking up at 3am to feed one of the babies (I hope:-))

Things I am most definitely not done with:

1) Christmas shopping. Ugh.

Frenchie arrived last night, which makes Munchkin so very, very happy. And that makes me so very, very happy. He is at school with her today, which is super cute, and I am not entirely sure what her plans for the weekend are.

This did pose some difficulties with sleeping arrangements. We have three bedrooms, which was plenty when he came to visit last year. However, with Munchkin in one, the babies in one and me and The Boy in one...well, there are none left;-) So, after thinking about it, I decided that it would be OK if he slept in her room with her.

No, of course I didn't. Be serious! That would be ridiculous...she is gonna sleep with me and The Boy gets the couch for the week (which is not a bad as it sounds...it is super comfortable, and the baby monitor only chirps in the bedroom). We could have made Frenchie sleep on the couch, but that seemed kinda rude. The only other alternative was sending one of them to Smoking Hot Roommate's place, but that would have been a huge pain.

OK...complete change of the story...I got super good news that two of my favorite people are having a baby (I wrote about them way back when...the backwards relationship here). She called me yesterday to let me know that she is pregnant, partly because she knew I would appreciate her ambivalence towards the whole idea. Beneath her witty nonchalance, I can tell that she is really excited, and I am sure he is, too. And yes, it is only one:-)

Alright, back to Christmas shopping...I am desperate for ideas. Who has some?

Odds and Ends

Oh look...a free five minutes to post...what a treat!

Incredibly busy of late between school, work, finals, the girls and Christmas and whatever else you can think of. I feel like I haven't stopped moving for weeks, and I am desperately looking forward to finals being over and having some time to myself in a couple of weeks. Yesterday I had the girls out all day doing various errands and whatnot, which worked really well until about 2:30 in the afternoon when they got sick of being in their car seats all day and completely melted down. Oh, well...probably not fun for the other people in the all that heard all the screaming, but I am OK with it.

I feel like I have a bunch of updates for you, since I have been a terrible blogger of late. Finding it very hard to find time to squeeze in writing time.

The girls are awesome! Getting really big and eating like champs and sleeping better...not quite back to their pre-teething overnights, but we are getting more towards that. Mommy will very much appreciate it when they do, as she is somewhat sleep deprived.

There was a scandal at Munchkin's school last week...a couple of the kids got caught sneaking off during a school dance to, um, have some "alone" time. Honestly, I sort of feel like the school ad the other parents are blowing it a bit out of proportion...seventeen year old boys and girls do these things. Would I want my kid to? No, but it is hardly the end of the world.

I feel for the poor teacher (who is younger than me) who walked in on them and now has to go through the rest of the year looking at these two and thinking "I once saw you having sex. Yay." It also made me appreciate the concept of the far-away boyfriend;-). Keeps my little Munchkin out of trouble!

Speaking of...he is coming a week from today. Arriving next Thursday night and staying until the 23rd (Big Sis' birthday:-)), which will let Munchkin also take her customary post-Christmas trip with her friend's family and also facilitate Tinkerbelle coming to visit after Christmas. Just like it has gone in years past, and one awfully good tradition in my book!

Christmas tree is going up this weekend, probably Sunday. I wish it were up already, but we just haven't had any time. I have done not one lick of Christmas shopping, and will try and get it all in after school ends. I should have a few days where the girls are in day care for at least part of the day and I can have a couple hours to myself to run some errands and whatnot.

I also want to take a day (probably after New Year's) to play hooky with Munchkin, who I desperately owe some time and attention to. She is somewhat a casualty of my ridiculous schedule, and I feel horrible that she seems to be getting less of my attention than she deserves. Not that she needs it, really, but I feel like she has been sort of neglected. Many, many thanks to Smoking Hot Roommate, who has shared my concern over this and has made even more of an effort than usual to spend time with her. That actually sort of sounds worse than I mean it to...I just feel very reassured that there are other emotionally invested adults who care about her and are available to give her the support and attention she needs in addition to me.

Well, look...my five minutes is up...Happy December, everyone!

Done

I am done with school...not done in the sense that I have finished (I still have one more semester, done for good in May), but done in the sense that I have had enough. I don't feel like I learned nearly as much this semester as I did during the first year, and in fact found a lot of the stuff to be kind of repetitive (or overly theoretical).

And to be really honest, there are a lot of my classmates that are kind of annoying. There are also some that I like dearly, but there are entirely too many who have always been the smartest person in their class, and need to be constantly validated. And that gets old...the whole point of doing group projects is to get used to sharing workloads and sharing credit. If you can't trust someone else to do something, and you need to be patted on the back for every good thing you do, then you make for a pain-in-the-ass group member.

I am also a little sick of people asking me for a job. I was sort of warned that this would be a problem, but it is still annoying. I work in an industry and for a firm that a large portion of my classmates would like to work in/for, and that can be very hard to break into. Ergo, once work sort of got around, I found that I was an extremely popular girl with people who want some sort of an in. And I don't blame anyone...they are completely right to aggressively try and make as many contacts as they can.

But it has gotten old: I have had probably 50 people ask me if I could set up a breakfast or lunch meeting with one of the partners at the firm for them. There have been exactly 3 people that I have done that for (and no, they are not my friends, they are the people that I think the partners would want to meet). In fact, only two of them were with partners in the firm I work for...the other was actually with another firm that fit that guy's background better (more high-tech industries than what we do most of our work in). I also feel bad making those people swear up and down to not tell anyone that I did that for them, lest people get irritated when I tell them there are no openings.

Honestly, the job situation is beginning to wear on people. Most of my classmates assumed that there would be a healthy array of really attractive options for them when we all graduated. The actual situation is obviously bleaker than that. I am extremely fortunate to not be looking for a job, and I am not one bit envious of those that are. As graduation approaches, the pressure is not going to ease up at all.

Which isn't to say that any of us need much sympathy...no one that I go to school with is going to have any trouble landing on his or her feet. However, a whole lot of them came here expecting to go to Wall Street and earn $200,000 their first year back to work, and many of them will be sorely disappointed. We at least take solace in knowing that it is probably even worse for the people in the law school, who have twice as much debt and even bleaker job prospects (but really, no one has any sympathy for lawyers).

So, I think all of that...the overall stress, some annoying personalities, some disappointment in the curriculum...is sort of combining to make it a bit tedious these days. Really, I am just ready to be through with it and back at work full time. I dunno...maybe some new classes after the New Year will make me feel better about it. We shall see;-)

Torn

I am feeling a little bit parentally neglectful this week...not in my genetic parenting duties, but in my assumed parenting duties. Tomorrow, duh, is Thanksgiving...a time to be spent presumably with family. The Boy and I are taking the girls to his parents house, where all of his brothers and sisters will be, and then hopefully stopping by Big Sis's house, where the pretend family will be.

That leaves Munchkin in kind of a weird spot, though. She could come with us to The Boy's parents house, which she has done in the past and is obviously more than welcome...but I am getting the sense that she sorta doesn't want to. I am not sure if she feels a little bit weird about it, and feels like she is sort of tagging along, or if she just gets sorta bored because there is no one else her age. I don't really know...it's not like she doesn't know his family (she and Twin Sister and Twin Sister's Wife are totally buddies). Maybe she is fifteen and her moods can't be explained;-)

She could also go to Big Sis's and spend the day with the pretend family. And in fact, I think that is what she would rather do (it is also a lot closer, so she doesn't have to be there all day if she doesn't want to). But that, I think, makes her feel kinda weird because I won't be there, and because she is sort of an extra at the family gathering.

Mostly, I just kinda feel like, for maybe the first time in a long time, she is kinda feeling family-less. I am not saying that it is rational, but it does make me awfully sad:-( She is a remarkably balanced and positive young woman, given the loss she has suffered in her life, but I guess that maybe she is capable of thinking about it a little bit more as she gets older, and is becoming more aware of what most people have that she doesn't (you know...parents).

So, grumpy faces all around:-(

Practice Thanksgiving

Last Saturday night was Practice Thanksgiving with The Boy's softball team. This is an annual tradition where the entire team and spouses/girlfriends/boyfriends get together and everyone brings some part of the Thanksgiving meal, and we have a giant feast in anticipation of the holiday.

Honestly, it has become one of my very favorite traditions...none of these people are really my close friends, but I know them all pretty well at this point, and it is a super fun bunch of people. It is just nice to see everyone all dressed up, and to have a really fantastic giant meal full of awesomeness.

I feel like this is a growing social trend, as well...the idea of a "friend" Thanksgiving before the actual holiday. I have heard from a whole bunch of people that they do similar things in the week or two before Thanksgiving. And, sticking with my basic belief that Thanksgiving is America's Best Invention Ever, I am all for it!!! It is just such a nice Holiday about nothing more than gathering with the people you love and appreciating each others' company.

Anyone else have similar traditions? I really do feel like this is becoming pretty common...

Only Because Demi Lovato Was Unavailable

I'm sorry for being all over the place lately...and to having very little consistency to this blog. Between school and work and the girls, I just don't seem to have that much time to write...who knew? Also, I feel like I have less to write about, unless you all want the minutiae of who is eating what and sitting up on her own when, etc... I will try and spare you.

However, I do have a funny anecdote for you today...

As I have mentioned a bunch of times, Munchkin and The Brain Surgeon are big on music swapping. It started with him periodically loading her iPod with stuff, but now she shares stuff with him, too...you know, so he can keep up with what the kids are listening to these days;-). Occasionally, they will just swap iPods for a little while, which they did at some point last week.

While he is, in fact, not an actual brain surgeon, he is indeed a neurologist...and one of some repute. He works in the neurology department at one very fancy-shmancy hospital in Boston, and handles a lot of cases of great complexity referred to him from other parts of the country (like this one, if you feel like crying. Kind of a lot). In other words, he is a serious person who does very serious work.

Also, when he is in his office all day, he listens to music while he works. And yesterday, he was listening to an iPod borrowed from his very favorite 15 year-old not-quite-but-almost sister-in-law. A 15 year-old with a somewhat whimsical sense of humor. At one point in the afternoon, a mother and father came in with their 12 year old daughter for a discussion of treatment for some affliction (I don't know the exact details, but the girl is the patient, which is never happy).

As he was straightening up some things on a bookshelf or something, he didn't get the chance to turn the music off right away, so they came in and sat down before he switched it off. Which allowed the girl to ask this very serious doctor doing very serious work in his very serious office...

"Are you listening to Justin Bieber?"

On being a Mom

So, I see that you all hate seeing eye dogs. Noted;-)

I have been thinking a lot lately (wonder why?) about what it means to "be a Mom". Really, I think about how to answer the question "How do you like being a Mom?" which I understandably get a lot these days. And beyond that, how virtually every new mother feels the need to incessantly talk about how much they love it and how fantastic it is.

Here is the dirty little secret...I don't like being a Mom. Now, before you call DSS...I love my children. But that is not quite the same thing. I love seeing them every day, I love when they smile at me when I pick them up at day care, I love sleeping with them if they are being a little fussy, and basically I just love being around them (most of the time.)

But "being a Mom"? Spending every free moment (and a lot of not free ones) cleaning, changing, burping, pumping, feeding and repeating. Struggling to find moments to do such enormously fun stuff as doing the laundry...that is not really all that enjoyable. And that is what "being a Mom" is, really.

Anyone will play with them and tickle them to make them giggle...but being the parent means doing all of the stuff that is a huge pain, and provides no reward. Running to the grocery store to buy formula, or diapers, or to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription after they have gone to sleep? Not fun. Cleaning up their throw up at 3am after you discover the hard way that the acetaminophen that you give them for their teething makes one of them throw up on command? Yea...you get the picture.

So...um...I am not really sure what my point is. I guess what I am saying is that I am not gonna give bullshit answers anymore. "How am I enjoying being a Mom?" Well...it is a good thing I like the two of them, because, to be honest, they are a complete pain in the ass;-)

Related to nothing

Is there anything better than seeing-eye-dogs?

I love them. Like, seriously get warm feelings in my heart every time I see one. I think that I would carry Milk Bones and hand them out every time I saw one if it wouldn't distract them from working.

And when you really think about it, it is a pretty remarkable thing...for a person to be able to gain that kind of freedom, independence, assistance and companionship (and, frankly, protection) without having to rely on other people constantly.

It also reminds me a a beautiful picture that was hanging on the wall in the studio of our wedding photographer of a bride and groom and her beautiful black lab emerging from a church. His coat was so shiny that it looked like he had gotten dressed formally for the occasion:-)

I think I may make this one of my favorite charities: www.guidedogsofamerica.org

Pet peeve

I have a little pet peeve today...and I am gonna go ahead and vent it. Actually, it is from yesterday, but whatevs.

Here is the issue. Yesterday it rained (actually it has been raining off and on for a week or so, neither here nor there). When it rains, obviously, people carry umbrellas to keep them dry. And while umbrellas have some drawbacks...bad vision, decreased maneuverability, carrying water inside, etc...they are generally pretty wonderful things. More to the point, even though an umbrella causes some inconvenience for other people beyond the carrier, no one really begrudges its use.

However...that doesn't mean that it is OK to carry a giant golf umbrella that is roughly six feet in diameter!!! Yes, I am talking to you, Guy Who Was Carrying the Biggest Umbrella I Have Ever Seen yesterday afternoon...

I understand that it provides a huge, dry-area, and I get that it likely kept you dryer than anyone else on the street. But in order to keep your legs just a little bit less wet, you mandated that every person walking in the other direction had to line up and go by you single file because you took up more room than any other three people. And since neither you nor anyone else could pass by the slow-walking woman in front of you, you also managed to stack up traffic behind you as well.

I think that maybe you need to think about why certain things are manufactured in certain ways. The Golf Umbrella is intended to keep not only you, but also an entire bag of golf clubs dry. And it is intended to be used in a place where an average hole is 300 yards long, fifty yards wide and has no more than four people on it at a time. I have been on a few fairways in my life, and never has one been so narrow as to require limits on the personal space of the four people walking down the fairway at the same time.

An average city sidewalk, however, is somewhat more narrow, and quite a bit more crowded than the fourth hole at your local golf course. Maybe, just maybe, the space requirements on an umbrella are just a little bit stricter...

That is all.

Because Thanksgiving isn't early enough

Stopped at CVS on my way to work this morning to grab a few things...and...Christmas music...

For serious? We are gonna start with the Christmas music in the first week of November?

Match.FiremanStoppingTraffic

I am still up in the air on the tattoo(s), and I will let you know if and when I finally decide what to do. If I ended up getting this and then another when Munchkin is old enough (which I promised her, although I could easily go back on that if I want to) I could conceivably be a girl with eight tattoos. They would all be small, but o I really want to me a girl with eight tattoos? Of course, seeing as I am already a girl with five tattoos, maybe that isn't such a big deal. Anywho...

Kind of a cute story that I want to tell, just because I feel like it. My friend had a date yesterday...just a brief meeting for coffee because it was really short notice, but still a date. I tell you this because she met the guy she was out with in one of the strangest ways I have ever heard of.

Thursday morning (I think), she was driving to work, and got stuck at an intersection. It is kind of a weird corner, where traffic turning left can be stopped by traffic that is stopped at a stop light about 25 yards behind the street she was trying to turn down. To ease this problem, the street is clearly marked, and a "Don't block the box" sign warns traffic to not stop in the way of cars turning left. Several cars seemed to have ignored the sign, though, and she was stuck waiting, and was backing up traffic while she waiting. Meanwhile, there were two firemen in a fire department SUV that were stopped just in front of the intersection, and therefore right next to my friend.

I should probably mention that my friend is super cute, because I think that is a key part of what happened next:-)

Seeing her kinda trapped, the fireman who was driving turned on the red lights, got out of his car and yelled at the cars behind him to back up and let the car through. There was a good public safety reason for this (it alleviated the traffic congestion)...although there was probably not an actual public safety need to ask for her number...hee hee. But he did when she rolled down the window to say thank you.

Sort of taken aback, she declined and drove off. But then she realized that a) he was adorable, b) that was super nice of him, and c) like every other single girl in America she constantly laments the difficulty in meeting nice boys:-). So...later in the day she drove by the fire station and left her number for the guy who cleared out the traffic for her.

He called her right away, they met for coffee yesterday and she reports that he is quite charming, in addition to being adorable and apparently quite chivalrous.

So...um...that story is relevant to nothing at all, but it seemed like a cute Monday morning anecdote:-)

Another ridiculous thought...

I wanna get either one or two baby tattoos...their names, in some form or another, somewhere. The Boy is on board with doing the same thing.

Unfortunately, I am running out of real estate. I was thinking maybe my other shoulder, but that would make my back even busier than it is. I am not a fan of arm tattoos, really, so those are pretty much out. I am thinking either my other ankle, my hip or maybe the back of my neck where it would be covered by my hair if it is down.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Ridiculous Idea of The Day

I fully intended to post pictures of the girls in their Halloween outfits with their tiny pumpkins...and even have the pictures ready to upload...I just haven't gotten around to it yet. But I think I probably will, maybe. Hopefully sometime before Thanksgiving;-)

Let's see...Munchkin's last soccer game is tomorrow afternoon, so I am gonna try and take the girls to watch. Smoking Hot Roommate should come with, shouldn't she? Yea, see, everyone raised their hands, so it is unanimous...

Sometime within the last week, The Boy got it into his head that he really wants to build a house in the Virgin Islands. I have no idea where this came from, but I do know that it has evolved mightily within that week from "Hey, you can buy an oceanfront lot in St. Croix for like $125,000" into something substantially larger and more expensive. I suppose the good news is that the more expensive it gets, the more outrageous it gets, and therefore the less likely that I really legitimately have to talk him out of this.

Because, for real, it is a terrible idea, right? I can rattle off at least a dozen reasons why. But there is at least 2% of me that would have a hard time saying no to that;-)

Also...election day...anyone have any thoughts?

The exciting conclusion...

I am sure you have all been hanging on edge this week waiting for the thrilling ending to my half-stories from earlier. And, lest I allow you to dangle all weekend, here you go!!!

First of all, LPEG left a link via comment to alcohol laws in various states, which was completely and totally news to me. And, seriously, props to her for bringing something useful to the table...God knows I haven't been doing that much lately.

Turns out that it is legal in Massachusetts to serve your kids alcohol. That is not super surprising, really, and I imagine it is pretty standard in most states...under the supervision of a parent or guardian, the consumption of alcohol is not banned. What really got me was the next part: even if you are in an "alcohol-selling premises" (like a bar or restaurant) the consumption of alcohol by minors with parental approval is legal.

Say what?!?! In other words, if you roll into Applebees with you kids, you are allowed to order them a beer. This is true in 10 states (Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming if you are counting). I have to feel like very, very few places would actually serve it, but it was completely news to me that they are allowed to...I have never heard such a thing.

And no, I did not get her a vodka tonic with her chicken fingers last night;-)

Anyway, I am OK with a little glass of wine with dinner. I think it helps to promote responsible use of alcohol and removes some of the "magical mystery" of it, not to mention that it is the default behavior in large parts of the world that have much lower levels of alcohol abuse than we do. But, I am not gonna argue with anyone who thinks it is inappropriate.

Funny thing is...guess who was not on board? Munchkin! She drank less than half of her half glass...:-)

Next subject is her winter trip. I was surprised that she was as torn up about it as she was. She sees her friend every day, and she sees Frenchie a couple of times a year, so it seemed like a pretty easy decision to me. But she apparently has more respect for tradition than I do, because the thought of missing out on the annual trip was killing her. In the end, she opted to go to France or have him come here, but she really thought it over a LOT.

It may not matter...he had something he has to do, which was going to preclude him from coming here before Christmas (and she doesn't get out of school in time, and both Frenchie's Mom and me want our kids home on Christmas:-P), but it looks like maybe that won't be an issue, which would let him come here for a bit before Christmas Day. So, we may not have an issue after all.

Halloween...anyone have any plans? I didn't really get the girls costumes, because I couldn't find any I liked when I finally looked yesterday. I did find some adorable Halloween clothes...T-Shirts with pumpkins and black cats and witches and stuff...so they are appropriately dressed at day care today, but not really in "costume". We have a couple of things to go to tomorrow afternoon, but other than that it will be a low key weekend:-)

Have a good one!

You decide!

In the spirit of election season, we are gonna have our very own episode of "You decide!!!" here in AM-Land.

First scenario...Sunday dinner at Smoking Hot Roommate's place. She cooked (noteworthy in itself:-P) and me, The Boy and the girls and Munchkin, Papa Bear, Big Sis and the Brain Surgeon and little baby EH all went over to join her and the Rocket Scientist. Lots and lots of Italian food...spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread and chicken parm and stuffed peppers and lots of goodies. Very well done:-)

So, she and Big Sis and I were in the dining room, I was setting the table and Big Sis was pouring everyone wine. She stopped at Munchkin's spot and asked "Does she get some?"

And...well, let's get your take on this. Fifteen years old, family dinner, is it appropriate for her to have a half a glass of wine with dinner with everyone?

Second scenarios...Christmas break is coming up, and Munchkin has some scheduling trouble. Last year, Frenchie came for about a week before Christmas, and she took her annual Fantabulous Winter Trip with her friend's family right after (the trip on which she met Frenchie two years ago...two years!!!). This year, however, it doesn't look like Frenchie can come before Christmas (or that she can go there)...which means that she may need to choose between her annual vacation with her friends' family, or a visit with the boyfriend.

Anyone care to guess what she is leaning towards?

Hodgepodge

Seems like my politics post was met with a big fat snooze...

I have learned my lesson...pictures of babies leads to much response, posts about Congressional takeovers not so much. Noted.

The girls had their six month appointment on Monday, and are doing really well. MA is still quite a bit bigger than her sister, but they have both grown well since their four month appointment. LK is now 26.5 inches long and weighs about 15.5 pounds (I think...I should write this down, or remember to bring their little blue books with me) and MA is 27.5 inches long and weighs 17.5 pounds. I know everyone loves percentiles, but I didn't write them down or remember them...they are both at varying stages of the middle for everything, though (except that LK is only like the 10th percentile of weight for her height...she is a skinny minny:-))

OK...now for some brain dumps, much related to television:

Should I care that Brett Favre sent pictures of his junk to a TV host? Should this really be the biggest news story in America?

Loving Mondo's chances to win Project Runway. And love him, too...he has really grown on me as the season has gone along. He is like a little Latin Pee Wee Herman:-)

Jersey Shore: One season was plenty...you try too hard now.

Man vs Food: can next season be Man vs. Diet? Seriously, you are getting fat, Adam.

Juan Williams: should be a bigger story. The case for public radio is sketchy as it is, and when that radio begins deciding what constitutes acceptable free speech versus unacceptable free speech...I think we have a problem.

And finally, just one more politics thought...I can't tell you how many times I have read criticisms of the President lately that he "hasn't done anything". That is incredibly confusing to me. He has re-fashioned the health care industry, dramatically upped a huge number of taxes to pay for it, totally turned the financial services industry upside down, massively upped our commitment in Afghanistan and spent nearly a trillion dollars in economic stimulus money. I could spend hours telling you why I think he has done a bunch of things wrong...but it is pretty hard to argue that he hasn't been doing anything...

Anyway...

Happy Friday!

Election time

So...big elections in three weeks, and I have to admit that I have spent little time thinking about it. There are a couple of reasons for this, including general busy-ness, and disinterest in the opposing factions, and the fact that there is little of note that I get to vote for. We do have a Gubernatorial election here, featuring an incompetent incumbent against a bland, hard-to-get-excited about challenger. Snooze.

The bigger issue is what happens in the House and Senate, which seems to be very much up in the air. Right now, it looks like the Republicans will take the House (although that could still swing a lot in either direction) and the Democrats will retain the Senate (a little more of a sure thing). And I have no idea what to make of the Tea Party, which seems to be a legitimate movement fronted by has-been and never-were Republican candidates.

Overall, it is a tough year to be an incumbent...which is fine by me, as it is usually way too easy to be an incumbent. As Congress and the President continue to throw piles and piles of money belonging to future generations at completely ineffective (and in some cases even counter-effective) solutions, it seems like the electorate is maybe waking up for a brief moment to protest.

It is hard to say what the big issue of this year is, but I almost want to say that it is the deficit. Not that anyone from either party is really offering a realistic plan to spend less than what we take in...but they sure seem to be talking about it. It would be better if they were talking about actually balancing the budget, as opposed to cutting the deficit in half or some other equally lame goal. It would be even better than that if there were serious discussions of spending controls, but now I am just dreaming.

My biggest peeve is the notion that a huge portion of the budget "can't be cut" because it is for Social Security and Medicare. Bullshit, I say...I feel no moral obligation to make good on promises that baby boomers made to themselves to require me to pay for their retirement, AND to pay off the massive debt they ran up because they were never willing to pay for what they asked of the Government. This is the generation that got us into this mess, and it is totally preposterous to suggest that they are somehow exempt from getting us out of it.

Anyway, I gotta go feed some babies before I get on too much of a rant:-)

Six months plus six months equals a year, right?

Heard from Munchkin on Saturday: "You know who I kinda love? Radiohead." Seriously...

Kind of a busy weekend...went to the in-laws house on Saturday, just to hang out. And then to a friend's place very briefly on Saturday night (night=6:30pm). Since doing anything is a complete production, that makes for a really ambitious, busy and draining day...:-). We went to a two year old's birthday party on Sunday, which was much less awful than that sounds like. There were millions of little kids running around, but The Boy and I each had one very content baby in a Bjorn (I get LK cuz she's little:-) and it was a surprisingly low key affair.

Six month doctor's appointments this afternoon...it seems like the time has gone by really fast, but also really slowly, if that makes sense. April seems like a really long time ago, but all of the time in between has sorta flown...not sure I am explaining this very well. Anyway...

Am I a really bad mother if I don't have any plans to dress the girls up for Halloween? I sorta feel like I should...but kinda don't really want to.

I will probably end up doing something...any ideas?

Something tells me that Scott Baio is at fault

MA's got pink eye...hooray!

Actually, it's not that big a deal. Around noon yesterday, her eye was all gunked up and gross, and it was obvious that something wrong was going on. (Babies can get clogged tear ducts which make their eyes a little icky, but this was obviously not that!) So, Smoking Hot Roommate had a little bit of quality time with LK, and I took MA to the doctor, where she was diagnosed within minutes. We picked up a prescription at the pharmacy on the way home and had the whole excursion done within about two hours.

The medicine is kind of a pain because it is a paste that you have to put directly onto her eye, which she is not at all a fan of. The good news is that it was already better this morning, and she should have no problem going to day care tomorrow. I told St. Mother-in-Law (who watches them today) that she could give her the medicine if she wants to, or if it looks really bad, but that she doesn't have to bother if she doesn't feel like it. I don't want Grandma to have to be the evil distributor of medicine:-)

It is pretty disgusting, but it doesn't seem to cause any discomfort, and she didn't have any trouble eating or sleeping, which is all good. Through some miracle, her sister (and her parents) have thus far managed to not get it, although I don't know how long that will last. The doctor went ahead and wrote us a refill on the medicine based on the likelihood of LK getting it, too.

Other than that, I got nothing for you! SHR and I had a lovely day yesterday, went for a long walk with the girls, did some shopping and some gabbing and just basically enjoyed a lovely fall day! We should do that much more often. Like maybe next Wednesday:-)

A dynamic duo

Looks like the secret to inspiring readers to comment is to post pictures of the kids...hmmm...who knew? Now, when I get around to posting another picture in another three months, I will know what to expect...:-P

Special Wednesday treat today...well, for me, not really so much for you;-). It is my normal day to be home with the girls, but Smoking Hot Roommate has decided that she can do without work for the day, and is staying home with me...Yay!!! Truth be told, I have had entirely too little SHR time of late, and I miss her dearly. So, this will be fun:-)

Also, based on my confessed love of pumpkin muffins from Stop & Shop, The Boy bought six of them for me last night. Of course, Munchkin and I ate three of them immediately, and the other three have absolutely not chance of making it through the day.

SHR and cream cheese frosting?

BEST DAY EVER!!!

In other news...hell has frozen over...

This is a couple weeks old...and not the cutest picture of them, but I just love the looks on their faces. MA (on the right) looks like she wants to fight, and LK (left) looks terrified of the camera...

Meet the world's greatest rapper: Lay-Z

First of all, let's get one thing straight...it is cold, dark and rainy, and there is very little chance of me getting out of bed on my own accord today. The girls are completely wrapped up in the covers and pillows next to me, super cozy and looking like itty bitty versions of grown-ups! And as long as they are cool to hang out in bed, so am I!!!

And have I mentioned yet that The Boy and Munchkin walk to school sometimes in the morning? Depends on when they are both leaving...but seriously, the cuteness meter is gonna break trying to measure that.

Well, you know where to find me if you need me!!!

Lay off, I am eating for three

Munchkin's foot has been bothering her lately. If you have been reading since January, you probably remember that she broke her foot and spent most of the spring rehabbing it. That all went pretty well, and she was cleared to start running again this summer and fully cleared for the fall soccer season. She hasn't had any lingering pain or lack of flexibility or anything, which is all good.

However, in the last week, it has flared up a bit. She thinks that maybe she just stepped wrong during a game or something, and it has swollen up a bit and is hurting her a touch. The doctor says to rest it and to not worry unless it doesn't heal itself in a week or so. But, that means no soccer this week, at least.

He team had an away game, so I decided to leave school a touch early and pick her up at her game so we could run some errands before we went home. One of those errands was the grocery store, which led to two humorous events.

First, her ability to attract male admirers was on full display. An admittedly-charming boy struck up a conversation with her in the produce department...which I observed at a bit of a distance and with great humor. He asked if she was in school around here, she said yes and said the name of the school (which could be mistaken for a really small college). He asked what her major was. She said she didn't have a major. He asked what year she was. She said Freshman. He asked if she lived in the school's dorms. She said "No, I am a Freshman in high school." Awkward pause...

He handled it pretty well, sort of sheepishly admitting that he was indeed hitting on her, and kind of embarrassed at himself. But not really apologizing for the obvious, which is that she is ridiculously gorgeous, and could legitimately pass for 22.

OK...second thing. We discovered pumpkin muffins at Stop & Shop. I got kinda hungry, so we ate one. Then it was so freaking good that we ate another. By the time we checked out (with three of them in a box), we had the following exchange with the cashier.

Me: Oh, and we ate some muffins, too.
Cashier: How many?
Me: Um. Five.
Cashier: You ate two and these three make five total.
Me: No, we ate five of them already.
Cashier: You ate five muffins?
Munchkin: They had cream cheese frosting.

So yes, we ate five muffins during our shopping trip. And no, I do not regret ounce bite of them, they were freaking awesome.

If ur drvng, rd ths l8r

So what do you get for my 900th post? Texting while driving!!!

Massachusetts' texting-while-driving ban goes into effect today. Long and short, you can get a ticket if you are texting while operating a moving vehicle, and if you are under 18, you can lose your license if you get caught texting while driving.

Several thoughts:

First of all, I have seen this referred to twice this morning as "The state's controversial new texting ban." Controversial? Really? You mean to tell me that there is a single person who doesn't think this is a good idea? I gotta be honest...this is just about the least controversial new law I can remember. NOBODY thinks this is a bad idea. I think that maybe our news sources could use some vocabulary lessons...

Second, the police have announced openly that they will be "targeting younger drivers", which of course makes lots of sense. They send more texts, are less experienced drivers and get distracted more easily...so it is perfectly logical to focus on younger drivers. My question is this: why is it OK in this instance to target a specific group, but we consider it an affront to the founding fathers to do this in other situations?

There are obvious profiling extensions of this in other areas of law enforcement, but in the interest of not trivializing those, I will just focus this on older drivers. Every time some crone in a 22 foot long Buick barrels into a convenience store because they forgot which is the brake and which is the gas, someone notes that maybe, just maybe, we should re-test drivers past a certain age...and, the AARP threatens legal action and the blue hairs throw a collective fit about how unfair their lives are. So why can we point out the obvious about younger drivers, but not acknowledge the safety risks caused by deteriorating mental and physical faculties?

And finally, while we are at it, should we think about some other activities that cause significant road safety dangers? Eating, talking on the phone, doing makeup, reading and writing...I have seen people do all of these and a whole lot more on the highway. I don't mean to sound pious, as I am as guilty as anyone is. I have texted, and I eat while I drive all the time. Heck, on long car rides, I usually turn on cruise control and fold my legs up underneath me in the drivers seat...you may notice that I am maybe not quite prepared to stop on short notice like that...

My point (do I ever really have a point?) is that I am glad we have begun the process of examining the activities of people while driving. Maybe it is the obviously looming prospect of a new driver in the house...but I really don't have a problem with applying some common safety sense via statute.

[Note...according to Blogger, "texting" and "texted" are not words. Umm...seriously Google?]

899

Holy shit I have written 899 posts in this blog...that is really amazing. It also means I should probably plan something pretty big for #900, right? That seems like a lot of pressure. On the other hand, the first 898 don't all exactly qualify of haute-literature (new pretend words and phrases!) so I can't see where you all expect me to re-do A Tale of Two Cities now.

Anyway, the girls are napping, so I am blogging:-). I definitely love my Wednesdays at home with them, but I would go completely batty if I had to do this every day. There are only so many minutes in a day when I can bounce two bouncy seats and shake toys that make noise before I just collapse from exhaustion:-). I guess if I did this every day, I would probably have a babysitter with me for at least some of the time to at least have an extra set of hands around.

Not much new on that front. LK still has two teeth, and I think her top ones are growing in. She also rolls over all the time and usually sleeps on her side like a little tiny regular person. Not gonna lie, it is pretty freaking adorable. MA remains toothless, but she has been really crabby for a couple of days, so she may be about to get her bottom ones. They just get cuter and cuter every single day!

Guess what is making a comeback tomorrow night? Chicken Fingers!!! The Boy is on baby girl duty while Munchkin and I have our date. Hopefully, it all goes well so that we can get back to doing this weekly. I am willing to make a lot of sacrifices for my little girls, but completely abandoning chicken fingers is NOT one of them!!! If this doesn't work, then I may try bringing one or both of them next week and see if maybe that works.

Munchkin is making her babysitting debut this weekend, too. Not sure which night yet, but The Boy and I are gonna go out for a couple of hours after they go to sleep and leave her home alone with them. Kind of a big step, but she can handle it...even if one wakes up, she just wants to eat and go back to sleep anyway. Most likely they will remain asleep the whole time. Not like we will be far away anyway;-P

Until then, if anyone has any ideas for a 900th post (ideas that don't involve pictures;-))...fire away!

Auntie #2 (or #4, depending on how you count)

Good morning, all! It is a pretty miserable day here...not super cold, but cooler than it has been and drizzly and very, very dark. I would love to be able to take a day like today and spend it curled up in bed with my baby girls, but alas life has interfered. Damn you responsibilities!!!

Lottsa fun this weekend! Tinkerbelle and her Mom came to visit and to meet her two nieces, which was just plain lovely. The girls were sorta cranky all weekend, to be honest, especially MA. I think she is teething and it is irritating her in a way that her sister didn't seem to be bothered when her teeth grew in. So she didn't nap well, didn't want to eat, didn't want to be held, didn't want to be by herself...just being kind of a little twerp:-)

She did really well as long we kept her moving, though. We spent most of the day on Saturday out...walking, shopping, eating, etc. The girls did really well with that, but they were exhausted when we got home! They were both asleep by 7:00, which is a little early for them (usually MA goes down by 7:30 and LK is 8:00 or so.) But that gave me and Tinkerbelle a chance to hang out, which was nice!

Sunday included some pumpkin hunting! I bought the two tiniest little pumpkins I have ever seen for the girls:-) The part of me that wishes I was a photographer would love to pose them each with their pumpkin for adorable pictures...but I would a) never get that done, and b) never get around to posting it here anyway:-P So, um, yea...

That was pretty much it. It was a really nice visit, and it was great to see the little bugger. I know I say this all the time, but I don't get to see her nearly enough. I have been spoiled with Sister #1! Speaking of which, Munchkin wasn't feeling great all weekend, so she skipped out on Fantasy Football watching yesterday...but we did make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, so it wasn't a total loss! I have a feeling she may go home from school early today rather than go to a rainy, cold soccer practice. I may even strongly encourage her to do that.

I guess that is about it. Nothing terribly exciting!

One Year (and five days)

Seems I forget to mention here that my anniversary was last weekend:-) Not that we did a whole lot...it was a pretty low key day. I did get flowers and a card, though:-)

You know...last year seems a LONG time ago!!! While the first year has really flown by, it just seems like that was ages and ages ago. I think back to the details of the whole weekend (like sneaking off to take naps at every chance, and being sort of queasy the whole time) and it just feels as if it was an entirely different lifetime. And to be honest, I guess it sorta was...

While it has been a really kooky and jam-packed year, it has also been a really wonderful one. We have been blessed with two unbelievably adorable new additions to the household, and remain happy, healthy and content. The whole experience of having the babies has made me realize that The Boy is probably an even better father and husband than I had expected, and I feel like I had set the bar pretty high! It has shown me that he is patient beyond comprehension, understanding and kind and generous and thoughtful and really, really loving. I don't want to embarrass him too much, so I will go easy on the gushing.

But...I sure am happy that I married him:-)

WMKN Radio

I guess no one (well, except for the divine So Midwestern) cares about my sandwich eating habits. Well, too bad about you! You are missing out:-) I am still feeding two hungry mouths everyday, so I need all the calories I can get...

Moving right along!

One of my new favorite activities has become stealing Munchkin's iPod. As I covered once before, she often has a really bizarre collection of music on there that is not remotely standard for a 15 year old girl. It is very often The Brain Surgeon's doing, although sometimes it is her own...and she and her friends are beginning to develop their own tastes and discover their own stuff, which is sorta neat.

So, what did we cover on my drive to school the other day? Well, first, we had James' Laid, then Galileo by the Indigo Girls, Hungry Like the Wolf and then Tori Amos' Pieces of Me (actually, I think the name of the song is Tear in Your Hand). And, to finish the ride, there was Tequila Makes her Clothes Fall Off and Josh Groban's version of Oh, Holy Night.

Heavy on the 80's and 90's, plus a touch of whimsical country and...um...some completely non-seasonal Christmas music (not sure on that one!)

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

How has this remained a mystery

Bostonians...how on earth did I just learn about the Farmer's market outside South Station? And even more specifically, why did no one ever tell me about the sandwiches at the Swiss Bakery?

And here I thought Chinatown was my least-explored part of the food landscape.

Oh, Monday

Morning folks:-) Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

We managed to pack quite a bit in, all things considered. The Boy and I went to a cookout on Saturday at the house of one of his friends. It was way out in (what I would call) the boonies, but it was a lovely fall early afternoon, so it was nice to enjoy the fresh air. In a month or so, it would have been full of blazing oranges, reds and yellows, but we are too early for all of that.

We ended up staying later than I planned, and the girls fell asleep there, and then went right to bed when we got home. I think this sort of got them out of their sleeping pattern, though, because they were a little kooky yesterday. They took really long late-morning naps, but never really seemed refreshed. We took them to an Oktoberfest festival with some other friends, and they ended up taking long naps again at about 5:00, which then threw their schedules off a bit, and they didn't really fall asleep until 9:15 or so. But they both slept pretty well, so go figure...

Of course, I woke up at 5:15 to the sound of MA's mobile, which she had somehow managed to turn on, and was sitting on her back, holding her feet up and laughing at it. Her sister, however, was much less amused, and in fact quite grumpy over the whole thing... I am still not really sure how she turned it on, I guess she just hit the button while kicking her feet around?

Other than that, not a whole lot going on...Munchkin's first soccer game is this afternoon, and I would like to go, but am not really sure whether I will make it or not. Kinda hard to fit everything into the schedule these days:-) Depends on how much school work I have to do after my last class is out...class ends at 2:45, but I may have to stick around for a while to work on some stuff. We'll see:-)

And Tinkerbelle is coming next weekend!!! Yay!!!

Routine

Doing my best to get into a new routine...and finding it to be a complete system shock! The first month and a half after the girls was born was a complete whirlwind dictated by my taking on WAY too much at once. I survived, but it was not remotely enjoyable and I spent the whole time waiting for it to be over.

That was followed by three months of unorganized, unscheduled bliss:-). Lovely weather, lots of people around and virtually no commitments of any kind. The girls want to sleep until noon? Fine! Mommy can sleep with them! Everyone feeling cramped and antsy? Well, let's go for a walk to visit Auntie Munchkin and get ice cream! Naps whenever you are tired! Bed time when you feel like it!

Oh, how the sound of an alarm clock is a cruel reminder of life... Fall stood up and smacked me right across the face!

Which is all fine...we will get into a routine pretty quickly, but it will take some getting used to. I am thinking that the breast pumping is going to become a casualty of the new schedule, as it is just a huge pain to find the time to do it every four hours. It is even worse to have to get up at 2:00am to do it, even if the girls aren't awake. I may start by skipping that one and seeing if I can still produce mile while only pumping during the day. That part is manageable, at least.

And, of course, this new schedule MUST allow time on Thursday evenings for chicken fingers:-)

Work

My first full (almost) day or work, and it feels like I never left! Well, except for the difficulty in finding something to wear this morning;-). My oft-discussed weight currently stands at about 110 (really, other than the excess boobs, I have only a tiny little bit of belly to show for the whole baby incident:-)), which makes most of my work clothes not quite fit. I will have to address that this weekend...a couple new skirts and a few shirts should do the trick.

Operation Munchkin Distraction seems to be working pretty well. We have kept her fully occupied all week, and Smoking Hot Roommate is taking her away this weekend, so she has had very little time to mope around. She is getting settled into her school routine pretty quickly.

Oh, and have I mentioned that she is in High School. THAT scares me. A lot.

One final note before the weekend, I found out that two people that I introduced got married recently. I knew they were engaged, but didn't know the actual wedding date...and obviously, I am feeling great pride at having made that match. Add that to BFFg's pending nuptials, and I am quite the successful matchmaker. Match.AM, if you will:-)

I'd like to tell you the whole story about their meeting, but I am gonna have to hold that one out of the blog...you can ask me elsewhere, though. REALLY good story:-)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Three things

1) I have at least one regular reader and g-chat correspondent who is wishing very much for something to happen, and is growing frustrated at the current delays. Please send lots and lots of good wishes and positive karma:-) We can gladly take credit when we make it happen!

2) LK has a tooth:-) Both girls are a little grumpy because they aren't feeling great, but she doesn't seem to be irritated by the teething just yet. I am sure that will come soon.

3) Big Sis and Munchkin had a date last night...sushi and cocktails. According to Big Sis, the following took place:

Waiter: May I get you something to drink?
Big Sis: Chardonnay, please.
Waiter (to Munchkin): Two?

Oy...I still have a year and a half until she gets her driver's license, let alone being old enough to drink. Wish me luck.

[I should not that Big Sis, in something of an upset, did NOT allow her to take up the waiter's offer]

First Day of School

The girls started school today (Day Care, but I feel better calling it "school") which is a little emotional for Mommy. It is possible that, fearing they would feel abandoned, that I made The Boy drop them off this morning:-).

They have a transition period, and today was their first day there without me, and they were there for a grand total of two hours. They did great! They didn't cry at all and they played with their teachers and with the toys at school. They also both ate while they were there, which is good...but they were exhausted when I picked them up. They fell asleep in their car seats on the walk home and haven't woken up yet...it is an hour later now:-)

Munchkin is holding up pretty well...she was definitely a little grumpy for a day or so after Frenchie left, but there haven't been any huge meltdowns and she seems to be OK with the whole thing. She and Smoking Hot Roommate had their fantasy football draft yesterday, which kept her busy most of the afternoon...and the guys in the league (who are all my age) bought her flowers because they were warned about her grumpiness:-)

OK, so one of their wives (who also went to high school with SHR and is a dear, dear friend) bought her flowers in the name of all of them, but the effect was the same. The guys teased her good-naturedly because that is what they do best:-).

That is about all...I have the afternoon to myself with the girls and then all day tomorrow, which is a nice treat. They will be really sick of me by then!

My Name is Earl

So, Hurricane Earl is throwing a wrench into my end-of-summer plans...cutting the whole exercise a little bit short. Rather than sit through a day of rain and foul wind, with a pretty good chance of losing power, we are gonna pack up the girls and head home today before the storm hits.

I am kinda bummed, just because I hate the end of summer, and anything that accelerates it is a crying shame in my book. But I probably would have headed back with Munchkin and Frenchie on Saturday afternoon anyway, so I guess I am not missing that much. And this will at least give me a couple extra days to get settled back in at home.

Speaking of Munchkin...her two pretend sisters and I are launching a full-scale effort to avoid a complete meltdown next week. Recognizing that the end of summer means saying good-bye to her jobs and her friends down here, combined with saying goodbye to Frenchie for at least a couple of months and the general sadness that comes with the end of summer...we are fully anticipating one emotionally wrecked girl this week. Add in the first week of High School and there is just a lot going on at once for her.

Hence, the following plan: give her less than five minutes to herself to think:-). Starting Tuesday, she will be in school, and then have soccer practice until about 5:00 every day. Smoking Hot Roommate is gonna be with her just about all day on Monday (Fantasy Football Draft, of course, combined with some shopping) and is taking her to the Red Sox on Wednesday night. On Tuesday, she and Big Sis have a date and I am bringing her to a back-to-school function for me on Thursday night. She and SHR and another of our friends are leaving on Friday night because they are running a road race on Saturday morning, and they will probably end up staying Saturday night as well.

The idea is to keep her occupied and make sure she is so tired when she gets home every night that she simply falls into bed before she realizes she is sad...plan?

And while we are at it...who could possibly have better big sisters than her?

Dreams

I had a very lengthy, very vivid dream last night about my Mother.

We were sitting at a restaurant having a perfectly normal, adult conversation about my sister, my daughters and all sorts of other family-related things.

Seeing as I never once had a normal, adult conversation with my Mother, I am not totally sure where that came from. I would also like to note that, in my dream, she was much more put together than she ever really was. I dreamed her prettier than she was.

And nicer, too.

Things that make me laugh for days

A couple of friends were down at the beach this weekend visiting...one of whom just broke up with a guy that she started dating at the beginning of the summer. While it was a little surprising (they seemed like they should have been a really good fit) it hardly qualifies as a tragedy.

So, we had a good-natured discussion (over cocktails, of course) about what went wrong. She ticked off his various flaws...finally getting to the real crux of the issue. "The sex was crappy, too. It wasn't in the beginning, but then he got really lazy and it got to be a total chore for me. It turns out that his favorite thing was for me to blow him while he read my Victoria's Secret catalogs. Seriously, it's like he wanted to have a kinky sex life, but he was too lazy and he was too much of a pussy to even buy any actual porn."

Five years (The most important thing I will ever do)

[I started writing this two weeks ago, so it could actually be five years and two weeks...but just pretend it was then and we will all be cool, OK?]

In the course of everyone's life, there are moments...days, hours, minutes...that remain as fresh in the mind as when they occurred. Whether traumatic, joyous, shocking, alarming, exciting or otherwise noteworthy, these moments...these defining moments...stay with you. They leave an indelible print on the mind and the soul, changing you, for better or for worse, in a way you may have never seen coming.

Often, they blindside you; a sudden death, terrible news, a shock break-up. Sometimes, you may not even recognize them when they happen; only hindsight shows them in their true light. Other times, there is plenty of advance warning; weddings and babies and graduations and such.

I had plenty of warning. For three months I knew it was a possibility, and for at least a month I knew exactly how it would go down. The time helped get the planning out of the way, but it also contributed to the anxiety. A month's worth of worrying. A month's worth of fear. A month's worth of sweaty, sleepless nights, stomach pains and edginess.

I didn't really even wonder if I could do it...I almost knew that I couldn't. The questions seemed so daunting and so unanswerable. Emotionally and financially I was capable of taking care of myself...barely...but a psychologically damaged, homesick 10 year-old orphan? The absurdity of it all was completely apparent. I can't even tell you that I know what made me decide to even try, other than maybe a heavy feeling that I absolutely had to. That not doing it would have been easier but would have ended up being so much harder. Not fair to me, and not fair to her. And fuck the rest of them.

So when the day came, it was almost exactly as I imagined it. I drank too much the night before, partially in hopes it would help me sleep. Which didn't work. I spent most of the night staring at the alarm clock, thinking of the 1,001 reasons why this was an incredibly stupid idea. Who did I think I was and why did I think this would work? But staying was just as bad, and at least going was different.

I stared at the clock until the alarm went off at 5:30. Getting out of bed before that would have accomplished nothing. It was a blistering hot August, and the morning was already oppressive. But I was shivering. I picked at an English muffin in the dawn light, my stomach tied in too many knots to fit any food. I had packed the car the evening before as a means of calming my nerves, which just meant nothing to do in the morning to accomplish the same feat.

At 6:00, I woke her up...although she wasn't sleeping, either. She dressed immediately and ate even less than I had. A more controlled person would have tried to calm her nerves, but I was way beyond that point...this was just gonna be hard no matter what.

She said good-bye. I didn't. I couldn't. My composure was stretched as thin as it could be. I couldn't even watch her say good-bye without a complete collapse. One friendly face, knowing my state of mind, was in the driveway at 6:15 to send me off. One last hug and whispered message that it would all be OK and to call her as much as I needed to on the way and once I got there. I couldn't even say thank you out loud. Fortunately I didn't have to. She knew me, and knows me, well enough to understand what I was thinking. A single word would have burst the dam and allowed the tears to flow.

Tears of...what...of fear? I think so. Not sadness. Of hope and possibility. And terror.

I could barely turn the key in the ignition. I was shaking harder than was healthy to drive a car. To drive a car for an entire day. I know that she was standing on the porch waving to us. I couldn't look. It was all too much. I was having trouble breathing, and trouble operating the pedals.

I was OK as we got started. She wasn't talking much, which is unusual and worrisome. But she fell asleep when we got to the highway. To this day, she sleeps in cars better than anyone I know. And it always reminds me of that moment. Thankful that she could rest. Thankful that there would be no awkward silence. Thankful that I didn't have to try and talk through a cracking voice.

Thankful that I could finally cry. And cry. And cry. Silently, but heavily. The tears poured out for nearly and hour, I think.

And then they stopped. Eyes bloodshot, cheeks salt-stained, it was time to face the future. Crying wasn't gonna do me any good after that, so it didn't make any sense to keep it up.

It was a whole new world.

And oh, what a world.

Because I am not quite THAT crazy...

For like five minutes today, I really thought it would be a good idea to take level 1 of the CFA this December. Thankfully, even I can recognize that maybe that qualifies as a little bit over-ambitious.

But that doesn't mean I won't take it in June, or that failing, next December...

What is this wet stuff falling from the sky?

I feel like I should blog today, and I have some time while the girls are napping...but I really have absolutely nothing to say:-) We are having our first rainy weather since...oh, May or so? It has really been a remarkable hot and sunny summer, which is all good by me! I have also been conveniently away from the heat, which is nice...

My biggest regret of the summer is that Tinkerbelle never got a chance to come and visit. We could just never get the timing right, and to be honest I am not sure she would have enjoyed it as much, since I would have been pretty occupied with other things. However, her Mom is gonna bring her out to visit for a couple of days in mid-September, which should be really nice! And she is old enough to travel by herself, too, so once the girls are a little older she can come out more often for weekends and such. So, I have that to look forward to!

Munchkin is in better spirits this week. She had a great time at soccer camp and is really excited for the upcoming season...she is going to start the season with the Varsity team, and has pretty high hopes of playing a lot as well. The coach has told her that she won't keep her on the team if she can't play regularly because she would rather she played all the time on the JV team than sit on the bench for the Varsity...but she thinks she can be a regular player. That would make me very proud:-)

Mostly though, she is in better spirits because Frenchie is coming to visit:-) I am like 99% looking forward to it, but just a little concerned about her state of mind when he leaves...I am feeling like she is a touch more fragile these days than she has usually been. So, stay tuned...

Back at the beach

Good morning, dearies:-) Seems awful quiet in blog-land these days, and unfortunately I don't have a whole lot to liven anything up with!

Our trip back home went very well...the girls had a very good night with Grandma and Grandpa, and The Boy and I had a wonderful time to ourselves. It involved drinks, dinner, friends and then a whole lot of sexy time. That makes this girl very happy!

Results from their doctor's appointment were pretty good. It was a bit of a shit show, because they were both cranky and tired and hungry and had to get shots and just basically didn't want any part of being at the Doctor's office. So, they had a pretty serious two-way fit that made it hard to have much of a conversation with the Doctor.

MA is progressing very nicely...she weighs almost 15 pounds and has been pretty steady on the height/weight charts since she was born. She is a really good eater and pretty much sleeps through the night at this point (most nights, at least). She spits up more than I would like, but not enough to be considered any sort of a problem.

LK is kind of a peanut, though:-) She is more like 13 pounds and has fallen to the lower levels of the weight charts. The problem is that she doesn't eat nearly as well as her sister. She has some pretty bad acid reflux that makes it really uncomfortable, and makes feeding her kind of a chore. She gets medicine for it and the medicine works, but it doesn't totally work, and she is already at the maximum dose so we can't give her any more of it. We have already tried two different medicines, and cutting dairy out of my diet (not fun!) and elevating her when she sleeps and all kinds of stuff and none of it solves the problem. If it doesn't get better we are going to have to take her to the GI clinic at Childrens Hospital and see if they have any ideas to help.

Other than that, though, they are doing great. They have gotten much better about going to sleep and rarely fight it anymore like they used to. They also giggle a lot, which is just about the cutest thing in the world. And they really love to be tucked in to bed with Mommy in the morning to take a nap after Daddy gets up:-) Sometimes, if one of them is awake, the other likes to take a little snooze with Auntie Munchkin if she is around, too.

Speaking of Munchkin, she gets back from soccer camp Sunday and then Frenchie is coming next weekend to stay for a week before school starts. And that, my friends, will be the end of the summer.

Where the heck did it go?

Boys boys boys

Back in Boston for a couple of days...the girls have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, and The Boy has a couple of meetings today and tomorrow so we are staying in town until Wednesday. And...the girls are having their very first overnight at Grandma and Grandpa's house tonight, too! I am a little nervous, but also looking forward to the quiet and happy that Grandma is so excited! She obviously doesn't get to see them as much as she used to:-)

So...I have kind of an issue. Not really, but sort of. It is a Munchkin, boy-related problem.

Here is the issue: I am worried that her relationships with boys are regressing. A couple of years ago, I felt like she had a lot of really good, really healthy relationships that were with boys as friends. Like all kids her age, she "dated" some of them for like two weeks at a time and then they all moved on. But mostly, I just really liked that she got along very well with boys and interacted with them in a healthy manner.

But lately, I feel like she is losing that. It is sort of hard to explain, but I feel like she is more reserved around boys now than she used to be. As far as I know, there are a couple of incidents that have contributed to this...and likely some more I don't know about.

She used to have one boy that was one of her very best friends. He is a super sweet kid and I know that she adores him, but he wanted to be more than that, and she didn't. He hasn't reacted well to the existence of Frenchie, and really just to the idea that she doesn't like him the way he likes her. To complicate things, he has had a couple of girlfriends who figured out pretty quickly that he likes Munchkin more than them, which led to some additional difficulties.

So, the net result is that they have really sort of fallen out. I don't think there was ever any sort of a blowup, but she doesn't talk to him much anymore, and he never came to the beach this summer (he usually comes a couple of times at least). I know she misses him, but I feel like maybe they have just grown apart permanently.

Another incident from more recently, but related...one her very best (girl) friends has not-so-conveniently had something of a crush on that boy for a while. She keeps it mostly to herself, but Munchkin has known about it from the beginning, and I think maybe some of that contributed to her falling out with the boy. She has a hard time opening up to her best friend about him, knowing the way she feels about him (do you follow?).

Sometime last spring, Munchkin and her friend met some boys from a school that is sort of an athletic rival of theirs. They hung out in a group a bunch, and all seemed well. Munchkin has been at the beach all summer, but her friend continued to hang out with these boys at home and developed quite the crush on one of them. So, several weeks ago she got up the nerve to tell him, and his response was "Is you friend Munchkin single yet?" (OK, he was not nearly that mean...but that was the gist of his message).

So now Munchkin feels like she has done something to make her friend upset (her friend is not mad at her, I don't think) and wonders why this boy that she met a couple of times four months ago would still be thinking about her. (Oh, I can answer that...) Add in a couple of other confessions of unrequited love, and I feel like she is just becoming very leery of the interactions that she has with boys.

Anyway...I'm kinda stumped. If she asked for help, I could probably talk her though it, but I can't bring it up unless she does, and she hasn't yet. She is away at soccer camp for the week with mostly older girls, and maybe some of them will have some advice for her, but I would rather she not shut out the whole gender...

Actually, maybe that wouldn't be the worst thing!

This is why the terrorists hate us...

Levi Johnston is running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. Actually, he and a partner are pitching a reality dating show where Levi will simultaneously court some (I am sure) lovely and charming potential mates, run for mayor and serve as Bristol Palin's baby daddy.

If we just sort of ignore the obvious illegality of someone being paid to run for office, and the unethical practice of launching a sham campaign... is this not the best story ever?

New Houses

Good morning, peeps!

I just had a vision of like 1,000 little pink and yellow sugar bunnies lined up together on the floor...you know, peeps. I am fairly certain that everyone in America has had at least on peep overdose in their lives (where you eat so many that you get sick).

Anyway...to discuss things other than Easter candy...

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned moving, which led to a couple of questions via email and instant message. We don't have any imminent plans to move, but I think we are going to probably look into it maybe next spring. While we can certainly manage in our current place, it would be ideal if we had a little more space, and maybe a dedicated play room for the girls (read: a place to pile all of their toys, of which they already have tons, despite not really being able to do anything other than waves their arms and legs around a lot).

There are a couple of problems with this:
1) Moving is a pain in the ass. Period.
2) I am emotionally quite attached to our current condo for reasons that I spelled out here. And here.
3) Anything bigger in the same area is going to cost a boatload of money. And not a small boat. A really, really big boat.

So, I am far from committed to this, but I think we have to start looking around to figure out what we want to do. We could certainly stay where we are, and if we can't find something in the immediate area, there are other parts of the city that might be fractionally cheaper (the South End...Jenny's Hood...would be acceptable and possibly just a tad less outrageous).

And there is always the prospect of moving out of the city (or, I could just stab myself through the temple with a letter opener...)

So, that is kinda the whole story...probably need more space, not sure whether that is financially feasible, and I don't love the idea of moving anyway...

And...um...have a great weekend!

JT ain't got nothing on me

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like the record to show that, after almost four months of fits and starts and not feeling totally myself...

I am pretty sure that I have all of my sexy back:-)

Pretty happy about that.

Happy Friday

I have absolutely nothing of note to say today...but I have some time and felt like blogging:-) Judging by the broad silence, I am assuming that most of you think that I am, in fact, crazy for going back to work in September. Or, just a bad mother for not staying home with the girls. But I certainly appreciate those of you that told me I am not nuts...even if you are just being nice:-)

Or, maybe everyone just stopped reading because I wrote like four posts in five months:-P That is also a possibility...

Would it help sway you if I told you that I get an office when I go back? To be honest, I will sorta miss my cube, which was nicely tucked in the corner over by the window to keep me out of the traffic flow in the office and afforded me a wonderful view of the harbor. But having my own office makes me feel special, and I will get to decorate it, too. And while I don't have water views any more, I do have a view of the city out through the Bay Back towards Brookline and Newton. So, it's not all bad:-)

Anyway, that is all I have for you...a brief note that they are cleaning out my new office and moving some new furniture in for me (a special desk that sits low enough that I can use it and still have my feet reach the floor maybe:-)?)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

In case you didn't know, I am completely crazy

We have all established that I am, indeed, kinda nuts. If we skip over the parts about running away from home and adopting a 10 year old, we can focus more recently on my thinking that it was a good idea to plow through the first year of business school while pregnant with and then eventually delivering twins. Throw in a couple of months of bed rest and you have a wonderfully easy time period.

So now, with the second year approaching (which, for the uninitiated, is MUCH easier) you would probably think that this girl is looking forward to a little more relaxing schedule that doesn't run her completely ragged. You know...half days of school work combined with half days of hanging with the girls, with a healthy dose of Daughter #1 mixed in as well.

You, of course, would be wrong about that...

I'm going back to work in September. Probably two days a week (maybe not quite full days, TBD).

I know, I know, it's probably not my best idea ever...and I will curse myself for it on a whole bunch of occasions (so you have that to look forward to!) but I really can't stand the idea of being out of the work force for an entire year more.

It is hard to justify financially as well. By the simple measure of making the monthly budget add up, we could probably put the girls in day care five days a week and still be fine, even without any salary from me (and they wouldn't need nearly that much time in day care). So in that sense, I don't really need to work, but it is still leaving a whole lot of money on the table by not working at all. We certainly have a lot of good things we can do with the extra income (like...I think we may move next year, but don't mention it because I will cry.)

And mostly, I just want to get back to it. I like working, I like my job and I like to think of it as a career. I feel like I am a little bit on the sidelines and want to get back into it sooner rather than later.

So, unless I get talked out of it...starting after Labor Day, things will look like this:
Monday: AM at school all day, girls in day care
Tuesday: AM at work all day, girls in day care
Wednesday: AM at home with the girls
Thursday: AM at school all day, girls at home with Grandma
Friday: AM at work all day, girls in day care

Bliss

I went out with some friends last night...which is a pretty rare event these days:-). We were in Boston because the girls had a doctor's appointment and The Boy had a meeting he had to go to, so we decided to just stay overnight rather than drive back. I took that opportunity to meet up with some friends to catch up, enjoy some time off the leash and take advantage of my ability to get totally hammered from one drink.

So, I pumped at 7:00 and then jetted out to meet them as soon as I can...I would have to be home by 10:30 to pump again at the latest, and the further before then that I can have my one drink, the better. So, things went totally according to plan, I had a really nice chat with some friends and got back home at about 10:15...

What did I find? The Boy had gotten both girls to sleep by himself AND had time to clean up the kitchen, run the dishwasher and finish the laundry.

I have never been so in love in my entire life:-)

FX

It's funny how different phrases can mean different things...like Foreign Exchange, which can either be a currency transaction, or can be a student experience.

That, however, is neither here nor there...

A couple of people yesterday raised the idea of Munchkin doing a semester or a year abroad to allow her to be closer to the boyfriend, and I probably should have addressed this yesterday, because the idea has come up between me and several of her other quasi-parents (if she has entertained the idea, she hasn't asked me about it). Unfortunately, I don't really love the idea, at least not for this purpose.

I think the idea of spending a semester or a year abroad, either in high school or college or both, is really wonderful, and if she wanted to do it, I would help her as much as I could. It is a great chance to immerse in a culture in a way that a vacation simply doesn't allow for...and as was pointed out, would sharpen her language skills a lot. Her French is already alarmingly good, and would likely be downright perfect after that much immersion.

What I don't like is the idea that she would be doing it largely to spend more time with a boyfriend. That is just a little bit too serious for her age, and would be too little supervision for me to really feel good about it...at least not now. As she gets older, I would obviously feel differently about it. I also feel like it would be hard to go backwards from that kind of a relationship step...would either of them be happy not seeing each other much after being around each other for that much time?

It could also potentially put a host family in a somewhat awkward position as well, having to determine what is appropriate and inappropriate right off the bat. I know that if an exchange student came to live with me, I wouldn't be totally comfortable right off the bat if she asked to spend a weekend with her boyfriend and his family...

Likewise, I wouldn't be completely thrilled if he announced that he was coming here for the same reason. I would be happy, but I would have some reservations about how the whole thing would work out. It just feels too much like making a major life decision at age 15 (or, in his case, 16)...I am genuinely heartbroken that she misses him as much as she does, I am just not sure that this is the answer.

So, the long and short of it is that spending a year going to school in Paris is not gonna happen anytime soon. Eventually? I wouldn't rule it out, but I have my reservations.

Love can be a cruel bitch

LPEG asked after my last post about my dinner with Munchkin...and I have been meaning to post about that. Truth be told, I just don't know how to solve this or even to make it better...any ideas would be greatly appreciated:-)

She hasn't broken down any more lately, and seems to have stepped back from any other romantic interests. She is also back to thoroughly enjoying her summer...working a ton, making gobs of money, hanging on the beach with her friends and playing with her nieces. Still, there is a very subtle and permanent sadness about her: she just really misses Frenchie, and I think that the reality of their situation has settled in more than it maybe had previously.

He is going to come and stay for a week at the end of the summer, which she is obviously greatly looking forward to...but that doesn't really address the over-arching issues. They are still completely bonkers over each other, and they still live an awfully long ways apart. What's more...there is not even a remote prospect of that changing. I feel like they are at the point that a couple of week long visits over the course of a year is just not enough. At the same time, they just plain like each other too much to write the whole thing off as a bad turn of fate.

So, you see, it has turned into something of a pickle...and this big sister just doesn't have an easy answer for her:-(

Ahh yes, babies.

I can't believe how fast the summer is going...although I guess that makes sense, all things considered. If I could my summer break from Memorial Day until Labor Day, then I am basically half way through it and have barely had a moment to even enjoy it!

OK, that is not entirely true, as I have been hanging out at the beach with my husband, baby girls, sister and best friends...but those two baby girls seem to make the whole thing a bit less relaxing than it used to be!

I guess I should give you some updates on them!

Let's see...LK was bigger when she was born, but she is now smaller...at last check, she weighs about 12 pounds, while MA weighs closer to 14. There are two reasons for this...one, LK has had some reflux issues that made it tough for her to eat for a while; and two, MA eats everything she can get her hands on!!! Seriously, she is an eater, there is no doubt about that. MA has been in size 2 diapers and 6 month clothes for almost a month now...

I haven't breast fed either of them, really, although I have been a diligent pumper so they have eaten very little formula. Not sure how long I will keep that up, as it is a colossal pain in the ass. Maybe, as they start eating solids next month, I will be able to cut back and only pump every 4-6 hours instead of every 3...that would be a big improvement. I will miss my giant boobs, that's for sure!

They are pretty good sleepers, although it is a battle to get them to actually go to bed. But once they go down, they have been good about sleeping 4-5 hours at a time overnight and only waking up to eat and go right back to bed. Last night may have been a breakthrough for MA, as she fell asleep at 8:45 and slept until 4:45. Of course, she ate no less than 13 ounces of milk in the four hours before she went to bed, so I guess she had a lot to sleep off.

We have them in separate cribs now, after they shared one for the first 10 weeks or so. They had gotten too big to sleep sideways in there, and were waking each other up sometimes...so we split them up and it has gone pretty well. They actually don't interact at all, really...and I have been told that they won't start to notice each other until they are at least a year old. That is sort of a bummer, as I am really looking forward to that, but I suppose I will have to wait.

They don't go back to the doctor for another month, so I won't get an official measurement on them until then...and that is also when we are going to start their transition into day care. That will be rough (on me, not them!) but will hopefully not be too painful.

Well, gotta run...it's feeding time!!! Toodles:-)

Checking in

I have been told by some very reliable sources that it is absurdly hot back in the city, which makes me feel much better about being here at the lovely, temperate beach. Unfortunately, I have been feeling a little bit lonely of late...and sort of longing for being home.

Which is silly, as I am not remotely alone...Munchkin is here and there are plenty of other quasi-family members around, all of whom have been of huge assistance with the little nuggets. But The Boy has been at home for the week, as have Smoking Hot Roommate and Big Sis, and I have just felt a wee bit isolated. I will get over it;-) The Boy is back Friday night, and that will make me feel much better!

Munchkin is having sort of a rough couple of days, too. I say "sort of" because she is still living a life that everyone I have ever met is jealous of;-). But she has some boy issues...mostly around really, really missing Frenchie. There is another boy that likes her a whole lot that she sorta likes and is at least moderately interested in.

This ended up leading to a very tearful breakdown last weekend about her conflicted feelings and her confusion over her current boyfriend situation. In the end, she told me that, were Frenchie closer, there is no way on Earth that she would have any serious interest in the other boy. And that sorta broke my heart just a little bit:-( She has been a little bit not herself all week, too, and I really wish that I had more time for her than I do...I feel like I am not being a good big sister. I am hoping that I can get my pretend Aunt and Cousin to watch the girls for an hour tonight so I can take her out to dinner and talk about it. And SHR is going to bring one of her friends down to stay for the weekend, which should cheer her up, too.

Beyond that, not a whole lot to report! Each day I feed, burp, change and repeat, with intermittent efforts to get some sleep in there as well:-) If I am really lucky, I can get them to nap in their pack and play just inside the door to the back deck so that I can lay out and get some sun. Not terribly exciting, eh?