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.