Kids in Candy Stores

Every year, tax season roll around and thanks to have three kids - we get a nice refund back. This year's was particularly nice due to the taxes paid on Robby's bonus money coming back to us. And when the refund rolls in, Robby and I generally set aside a chunk for savings (or last year it was for the minivan) and then designate a bit of "free-for-all" spending money for each of us. This year I spent mine on photography stuff! I now have a background stand, 6 different colors of backgrounds and a shiny new lens coming my way! I'm so excited! Shopping the B&H site, I was like a kid in a candy shop trying to figure out what colors and what lens I wanted. I can't wait for it all to get here so I can play! Look forward to new pictures in a couple weeks!

I tried to teach the girls (or at least Jadzia) about Hide-and-seek since they were stampeding around my kitchen playing tag or something. I explained the idea of one person counting while the others were supposed to hide and to demonstrate, I started counting and told Jadzia to go hide. When I said "Ready or not, here I come!" Jadzia shrieked and came running back into the kitchen where I was....hmm, I think she missed a vital element of the game. So then she wanted to counted and wanted Inara to go hide. So we started counting and Inara stood there laughing. Then she started running around the living room shrieking and so not hiding. Jadzia finished counting, immediately tagged Inara and apparently had "found her". Yeah, I don't think they really grasped the fundamentals to the game.

Later, we went to Costco because we needed dog food. Dog food was the only real item on my list and yet somehow I still walked out with a basket full of stuff. There's something sinister about that store - it sucks you in.

The "I wants..."

I have this conversation with Jadzia about 12 times a day...

Jadzia: "Mommy, I want you to...." (fill in blank with some random activity)
Me: "Okay, in a couple minutes"
Jadzia: (3 seconds later) "Mommy, I want you to..."
Me: "Jadzia, I told you - in a couple minutes, you have to wait"
Jadzia: "Okay" (20 seconds passes) "Mommy, I want you to..."
Me: *deep breath* "Not right now, I will in a few minutes."
Jadzia: "Please?"
Me: *another deep breath* "No"
Jadzia: "Yes. Please?"
Me: *squinches eyes closes, deep breaths, looks stern* "Jadzia, no"
Jadzia: *laughs* "Please?"
Me: *bangs head on desk repeatedly* "Not.....right....now....."
Jadzia: *laughs more* "Mommy, I want you to...Please?"
Me: *raises voice and octive to impress seriousness* "I....said....no, not...right...now."
Jadzia: *starts to laugh again, stops amd finally walks away*

Of course, the reason that I tell her to wait is usually because I'm in the middle of something with Anya or something and can't get up to heed her call. If she'd let me finish, she would have gotten what she wanted much sooner. Another, similar, conversation goes something like this:

Jadzia: "Mommy I want to... (either play with something she shouldn't or do something she shouldn't)"
Me: "No, Jadzia, you can't do..."
Jadzia: *smiles* "Yes"
Me: "No"
Jadzia: *laughs* "Yes"
Me: "I said No"
Jadzia: "Yes"
Me: *deep breath* "I...said...no"
Jadzia: "I say yes" *smiles sweetly*
Me: "Well what Mommy says goes, no"
Jadzia: *laughs* "I'm in charge, yes!"
Me: *really really deep breathing* "Jadzia...Lynn...Nnnnnnn-Ooooooo"
Jadzia: "Please?"
Me: *shakes head* No.
Jadzia: *stomps away in a huff*
Me: *bangs head on desk*

Chores

Jadzia is almost 4 and a half now and she's generally very helpful. Until recently, she didn't have specific chores but I'd ask her to do things to help me and because she liked doing it. She also went through a phase where she'd insist on doing things so as long as she was capable, who was I to argue. Her one chore now is to clean up the playroom before bedtime. The first week or so, I stayed in the room with her, pointing out things that needed to be done and trying to get Inara to help out as well. She was quick and seemed to enjoy it then. Then I started just telling her it was almost time for bed so she needed to clean up. After she said she was done, I'd go in to "inspect" and point out the things that needed to be finished up. At that time, she usually got about 80% of it without instruction from me. Another week passes and she's started to slip, she was taking longer and not really getting much clean at all until I came in and drill sgted her butt into gear. So I went back to hovering and supervising. After she was done, we'd talk about everything she'd cleaned up and I'd remind her what the tasks were (pick up movies, straighten books, put away toys, etc). It seemed to be drilled into her head...

Then last week, I gave her the bedtime warning about 20-30 minutes before bed and she started cleaning. Except she brought me half the toys to show me, or she sat and fiddled with the toys, or she flipped through the books. An hour and a half later, after sending her back to clean up countless times and having to point out all the things she'd missed when she said she was done, I finally put them to bed frustrated beyond belief.

Now I know that toys are appealing and all, but she's had these toys for ages, they're always there so it's not like they're new to her! Same with the books! Tonight almost started out like one of those nights - she was doing really well at first and then I started hearing her play more than clean so I went in to watch. Me standing there made her get going again. It still took her 30 minutes to get the playroom to about 60% clean and another 15 minutes with me pointing out a dozen or so toys while trying to bounce a tired Anya on my knee.

The only reason I implemented this one chore is because I was tired of 1) toys being spread from the playroom to the living room when they went to bed, 2) Bluto chewing up most wayward toys and 3) having to pick it all up myself. I figured she was old enough to learn to clean up her own toys. And she is - the problem is the focus. She seems to get distracted easily some nights.

Love and Marriage

Jadzia has decided that she is going to marry Inara. Now explaining that 1) it's simply not socially acceptable to marry your own sister and 2) that gay marriage is not currently legal in most states is a little beyond her comprehension. Besides, where's the fun in that?

So she spent much of the day chasing Inara around professing her love and trying desperately to drag her over to me (apparently the officiant) so they could get married. Fifty percent of the time, Inara ran away or hid from Jadzia before Jadzia even got close. While it's a little young to determine that she's afraid of committment, it could be a sign - or maybe she just didn't want her sister bugging her. Another thirty percent of the time, Jadzia would manage to get her over to me and I would recite the "vows" (more on the wording later). Inara would either try to get away mid-ceremony ala Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride OR she'd refuse the kiss. The remaining twenty percent of the time, we'd make it through the entire ceremony, even get a kiss. Considering this game was played at least ten times today - they got married successfully twice.

As to the vows, they went something like this:
"Jadzia, do you take Inara to be your lawfully wedded sister? Forever and ever (and ever), for as long as you both shall live?" (Here Jadzia nods or says "uh huh!")

"Inara do you take Jadzia...Inara! Hey Inara! Do you take Jadzia to be your lawfully wedded sister? Forever and ever (and ever), for as long as you both shall live?" (Here Inara looks at us like we've lost our minds and stays dutifully silent - or once says "kay")

"Then by the power vested in me by the state of mommyhood, I now pronounce you sister and sister" (Usually by now Inara has run off but if she's still there...) "You may kiss your sister" (Jadzia struggles to land a kiss remotely close to Inara's lips and generally fails)

Imitation

Nothing like kids to show you what you do to much of. Today, Jadzia found a box that something had come in and she proceeded to put some books in it and wanted to tape it closed. Then she filled another box the same way. She told me she was taking them to the post office to mail them and she carried them to the play room. While she was in there I heard her talking so I crept over toward the playroom to try and listen in. She stood on one side of her princess table and had put the boxes down on the table. She was talking to some imaginary postal employee on the other side and I distinctly heard something that sounded like "media mail".

As I returned to the living room, she heard me and smiled. When I asked what she was doing she replied "nothing" like she often does when she catches me watching her play. I merely shook my head and laughed then.

I mail a lot of books for my book swapping site. The postal employees at the base post office know me and the girls pretty well by now - obviously Jadzia has picked up on a few things while watching me.

I Can't Just Browse...

As I mentioned in my all to brief post earlier - Anya seems to be sleeping better in the evenings. This week, she has slept 7-8 hours straight most nights and the nights she woke up, she woke up only to eat and then went right back to sleep. I don't consider anything a "trend" until it's happened for a full week or so because usually around day 4-5, things revert back to the previous trend. So I won't consciously say she is sleeping through the night yet BUT I'm hoping it's just around the corner. Man do I hope so! It seems crazy to think that she could have two major breakthroughs in one week - first the solid food, now this? Of course, there's a chance the two are related. Anyway, fingers crossed that sleep filled nights are on the horizon!

We went to the Post Office today and generally the same three people work there every day. All three now know the girls and I because I'm usually mailing something at least once a week. I don't even have to give them instructions on how I want to mail my packages now because they usually know I want first class if possible, otherwise media mail on 90% of what I mail. The only difference is if I'm mailing something to Robby or if I want delivery confirmation. They always say hi to the girls and give them smiles or chat with them. Thankfully today's trip was in and out and dry.

We followed up with a trip to the PX where I went in not really NEEDING anything. This is not a good way to enter a store because it ensures you browse around and before you know it, your cart is full of stuff you never needed in the first place. I wanted to look for a couple pairs of pajamas for Jadzia because many of her older sets are too small or too short. Shopping for clothes for Jadzia is now a bizarre experience for me because she's no longer in the toddler sizes and is in little girl sizes. Unfortunately she's right at the in between area where it's not always easy to find her size in either department. 5T would fit her, as would a 5/6 in little girls but not everything goes up to 5T and not everything has a 5/6. So we walked out with only one pair of pajamas - and new Hawaiian dresses for Jadzia and Inara. That's the other problem with shopping for Jadzia - it usually prompts me to shop for Inara and Anya who hardly need any new clothes. Yet it feels weird to buy something for one and not get something for the others, especially since Inara is into Big Sister Idol Worship and anything Jadzia does or has, she wants to do or have.

Jadzia was kind enough to remind me that I'd mentioned wanting more bibs for Anya now that she was hand feeding herself. Even though I give her mostly dry finger foods, she likes to slobber them up and then stick some too her clothes - which is just nasty. We bypassed the movies and books as we have more than enough of those around here. I did buy a new webcam for the desktop since my laptop is still out of commission. As we meander up to the front, I resisted the urge to grab much else but the damage had already been done at that point.

Once home, with new webcam I was able to talk with Robby on IM and he managed to get his webcam working at least long enough for the girls and I to see him. The girls were excited and waved and blew him kisses, it was awesome. It completely made my day to see his face, even briefly.

Knock on Wood

Anya has been sleeping longer...let 8+ hours...a night. Oh please let it be a turning point! Now if only I could make myself go to bed at a good time instead of staying up late reading.

I miss my hubby!

Really, really miss him. That's all I have to say for now. ;)

Inara the Bully

Compared to other children, Jadzia has really been very easy and well behaved. She certainly has her moments that drive me nutty but she's a good kid and always has been. Inara, on the other hand, seems to be payback for the easy first one. She pinches, she hits, she throws stuff - 90% of the time laughing or happy when she does it making me think she's playing. The other 10% mostly consists of her throwing something on the ground when she gets frustrated.

Today she smacked Jadzia in the face with a wooden recorder. She laughed as she did it and was perfectly happy at the time. She was scolded, hugged Jadzia to apologize and was sent to time out while I made sure Jadzia was okay.

Later she was playing near where Anya was on the floor and started covering Anya with a blanket and pushing on her - like rough housing. She and Jadzia will chase each other around and play on the floor together so I know she didn't mean Anya any harm and Anya was perfectly fine aside from being startled by Inara. Again I let her know that she couldn't play like that and redirected her to something else that didn't involve smothering her sister.

Then still later she picked up a plastic piece that occasionally comes off the bottom of the fridge and threw it - cracking herself up. No one was in the line of fire and nothing was broken but we don't throw things in this house. Even balls are rolled while inside the house! That was when all the screws that were previously secured became loose (get it: a screw loose?). Sadly there was still a couple hours until bedtime even then!

I think she has all this energy and is also still adjusting to the no nap thing so it's like pent up over tired energy coming out in bizarre ways. Oh yeah, and she's two and is a total daddy's girl but daddy isn't here - I'm sure that's not helping either. Unfortunately I'm not sure what the best course of action is to fix it or channel it. Some days she's perfectly sweet and awesome - then days like today happen and my head starts spinning..

Milestones

This will be a blog that covers lots of little updates so be warned.

Remember my reading challenge? I challenged myself to read 80 books in 2009. I read 12 in January. Today I finished book 21 so I'm over a quarter of the way to completing my challenge and February isn't even over! I may need to up my challenge number a bit? Ya think? In case you're curious these are my 2009 reads:

1) Sex and the Psychic Witch by Annette Blair
2) Don't Talk Back to Your Vampire by Michele Bardsley
3) Because Your Vampire Said So by Michele Bardsley
4) Wait till Your Vampire Gets Home by Michele Bardsley
5) Hex Appeal by Linda Wisdom
6) The Kitchen Witch by Annette Blair
7) Charmed and Dangerous by Candace Havens
8) Gone with the Witch by Annette Blair
9) Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
10) Charmed and Ready by Candace Havens
11) Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
12) Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine
13) Real Vampires Get Lucky by Gerry Bartlett
14) The Host by Stephenie Meyer
15) Competition's a Witch by Kelly McClymer
16) She's a Witch Girl by Kelly McClymer
17) Real Vampires Don't Diet by Gerry Bartlett
18) Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber
19) Kissing Coffins by Ellen Schreiber
20) Vampireville by Ellen Schreiber
21) Dance with a Vampire by Ellen Schreiber

I also started hosting my very first game on paperbackswap.com. If you don't frequent PBS, this really doesn't matter to you but it made me happy to do it.

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A couple weeks ago, I decided to stop fighting Inara on her naps. While I felt she still "needed" the midday nap, she was getting more and more resistant to it and I'd usually find her playing instead of sleeping. So one day I just didn't put her down for one. She got irritable about an hour or so before bedtime but she made it. The first week or so was the hardest but she's adjusted well and I think she sleeps more soundly at night. She used to wake up a lot crying a bit then would go right back to sleep - while that still happens, it's not as frequent. She also goes to bed easier most nights now since she's more tired. While some days she could probably use a quick recharge nap, I think it was the right decision - although I miss those times when both she and Anya would be napping so it was just Jadzia and I playing.

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Anya is spending more and more time on the floor and out of my arms! As a result she enjoys being on her tummy more and playing. She's also started to roll, wiggle and move some. While she has not started crawling yet, she seems to be thinking about it - today she even attempted to get to her knees like she was going to but couldn't pull it off. Despite the lack of crawling she can get a good three feet from where I put her down on her mat! I put her down on the mat in the living room today and found her almost to the trashcan in the kitchen area! Some time I'll have to stare at her to see how she does it exactly. She's surprisingly mobile for a "non-mobile" baby.

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Okay, that's all my updates for tonight! Have a great day!

I figured it out!

Anya is a booby baby. She turns her nose up at any bottle, even if it has breast milk in it. She looks at me like I've lost my mind if I try to feed her mushy baby food on a spoon and MAYBE a small spoonful makes it in her mouth that doesn't get spit back out. At almost 8 months old, she's barely had any solid foods because she won't eat them...

Today I figured it out - with Inara's help. Inara, trying to be a super helpful big sister, decided to share her fruit loops with Anya by giving her one - and she ate it!! And then she ate more and more. She just wanted to be able to feed herself!! So I set her up in the highchair, spread some totally nutritionally defiecient fruit loops on her tray and let her go to town! And she's thrilled about it.

Now when I go to the store I'll have to try to find some more nutritional finger foods for her and maybe we'll be on our way! Can you tell I'm excited by this?!

What's for dinner?

I went outside to talk to my neighbor for a couple minutes last night while my darling children were SUPPOSED to be cleaning the play room up before bed. I came back to this.

It looks like Inara was trying to prepare Anya as a roast for dinner. And Anya is not to keen on the idea of being served up.

Do It the Inara Way

Yesterday I bought two pairs of kiddie scissors to start teaching Jadzia how to use them. Of course anything that Jadzia does, Inara wants to do - which is why I bought two. I figured she could fiddle with them as long as I was RIGHT THERE (this is the girl who colored on the wall and herself). So I handed a pair to Jadzia and showed her what to do. Then I handed a pair to Inara and showed her. Jadzia had the idea of cutting (in a not so straight line) right away - Inara couldn't really operate the scissors but I got her started and tried to help her.

In the middle of my helping her cut, she took the paper and ripped it in two. Then she raised her little arms and shouted "Good girl!"

After I finished cracking up, she proceeded to put the scissors in her mouth and that was the end of Scissors 101 for her.

Mission Accomplished!

We successfully faced down the enemy horde (read: one bug) this afternoon to get out of the house! He laid in wait for us to emerge but we were able to sneak past him unharmed (read: he was no where to be seen).....yeah, he was gone this morning. Haven't seen the yellow jacket since last night thankfully.

My mission today was to assemble and mail Robby's first care package from us. Is it bad that he got packages from my dad (yes that is packages as multiples) before he got one from me? Ah well, now he has two incoming. As we left the house there was a faint hint of rain in the air but it was dry so we took our chances. I headed for the PX first in order to fluff up his package a bit and get him a camera (one of his requests). Before going I'd scoured the internet looking for "Care package ideas" because Robby wasn't giving me much to go on with his "surprise me" attitude. So I hit the PX with a list of ideas, some well rested and supposed to be happy kids and started shopping. Anya - the one who is almost 8 months old and would have every reason to be irritable and cranky (because she's a baby and that's what they do) - was the best behaved of the bunch. I got one of the carts with a car on the front and within moments Inara was trying to climb out of the car while the cart was in motion no less. After being told to sit her butt down more than a few times, she started to get upset with me. As we waited...and waited....for the attendant in the electronics department to become available she got cranky. When the lady finally was able to help us only to find out the camera I wanted was sold out, she got crankier. So while we waited and waited for her to be available again to get the back up camera, she got even crankier. And the camera was only the first part of our shopping experience - there was more to get. Before we could go much further, I bent down and had a small meeting with Inara about her behavior and she was quiet the rest of the way.

As we checked out, I was asked the routine question "did you find everything you were looking for?" Um yeah...and then some. Why is that always the way it happens? I didn't go in there for this, that and the other thing - I was just looking for "this"! By I digress, I ended up with this, that, the other thing and oh that too. Our weather luck held from the PX to the post office as we all remained dry. Normally I refuse to go to the post office without having everything packed and ready to go. I'm dragging 3 kids along after all and can't afford to be packing a box while two of those kids weave in and out of people in line and the third looks at me and screams to be picked up. But today I didn't have much choice. For one, I didn't have any flat rate priority boxes at home and for another, I hadn't done the customs form before - but mostly I didn't have the boxes. When I started this experiement, I intended to fill one large flat rate box as much as I could and send it on it's merry way with tidings and insurance. Somehow the PX trip swelled that to two large flat rate boxes. It took me awhile to get them both packed and tightly taped before I sat down to fill out the addresses and customs forms. Then it took a few to do all that by which time the line that was empty when arrived was stocked with people rushing to get done before the post office closed - oops! So we moved to the line - or Anya and I did and Jadzia and Inara continued to run around like the monkeys they are. Mind you I tried to keep them in check and I even got Jadzia to come stand near me but Inara wasn't having it. The best I could do with her is keep eye contact to make her stand still a few arm lengths away - not that I had much use of my arms with the stroller, Anya and packages. She took off her shoes, much to my dismay, but stayed rooted in her spot otherwise.

When we got to the window, I loaded the small workspace with two packages for Robby, some books for Kisha and a book for someone else and tried to tell the worker what I needed for each one while keeping one eye on her, one on Anya who was starting to lose it with this whole experience, my third eye on Inara who was still staying out of arms reach for the time being and my fourth eye on Jadzia who was almost too quiet because I'd thought she'd disappear - yes I have four eyes, don't you? Somehow everything managed to get safely (I hope) into the hands of the postal worker and I got the kids in line with each other - Jadzia held Inara's hand, Inara held my hand and I pushed the double stroller with my other hand. When we got to the ramp I realized not only was it raining but it was POURING down rain. So I put Inara in the empty spot in the stroller and drapped Anya's blanket over both of them to try and keep them mostly dry. I took Jadzia's hand and we made a mad dash for the car. Jadzia and I were soaked but Inara and Anya were spared (although the blanket was very wet). Jadzia got in first to save her anymore rain and then I loaded the rest up. Somehow it's not fair that I got the most wet in all this.

Before long we were home and once again the rain had stopped so we were spared anymore wet - like I even would have noticed getting more wet than I already was. All in all, mission accomplished (times two really since he's getting two packages). I just hope they make it there fine.

There's a bug out to get me!

I have a nasty looking yellow jacket camped out on my back door! Apparently he was displeased when I started spraying off some of the spider webs on the porch earlier, guess I got him wet in the process? Now he's been camped on the glass for at least the last two hours! I was afraid to open the door to let the dog out lest he come flying in the house. Thankfully he didn't move as I opened the door either time but I don't think he likes me. Eek! He has, temporarily moved off the glass and onto the actual wood of the door - CLOSER to the opening side, which just squigs me out! At least on the glass I can see him and watch what he does when I open the door. Hopefully he moves on by morning because I need to leave the house with the girls and the car is out that way - if I have to I can go around front and walk all the way around but I'd rather not have to go to such lengths to get out my house.

Onto non-creepy, crawly things now - Inara threw the mother of all tantrums today!! She was laying on the floor and covering up with a big blanket of mine I have out to put Anya down on and Jadzia came over to play too. Obviously this is an adult sized blanket so more than enough to cover both of them and then some but Inara didn't want to share. She grabbed on to the blanket with all her might and start trying to walk away with it. Jadzia held tight to her portion and when I asked Inara to share she started pulling harder and screaming and crying. This went on for about 20 minutes before I snatched the blanket from both of them and then proceeded to calm them down. I was able to get them to sit next to each other AND be covered together. They happily sat there snacking for awhile after that but boy that girl has some lungs on her!

Tom Hanks Movie Marathon

Sometimes I get the itch to watch a specific actor or specific types of movies over the course of a day. Tom Hanks is one of my favorite male actors and I recently ordered That Thing You Do and Sleepless in Seattle from Amazon because I like the movies. So when they arrived yesterday I started a Tom Hanks movie marathon. Yesterday I watched That Thing You Do, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail and Apollo 13. Today I watched Cast Away and Saving Private Ryan. Tomorrow I will continue my President's Day weekend Tom Hanks movie marathon with A League of the Their Own, The Green Mile and Forrest Gump.

I'm gonna assume you all know who Tom Hanks is and also know how to use IMDB (or at least google) and spare you the details of his life. Instead I'll give you quick blurbs on each of my marathon movies.

That Thing You Do is about the rise and fall of a band in 1964. Due to their first drummer breaking his arm, the guys approach Guy Paterson (played by Tom Everett Scott) to play with them for a gig. Guy decides, without consulting the rest of the band, to speed up the song which was supposed to be a ballad. From that gig, they're approached by a restaurant owner, from their a manager, from a gig set up by the manager they're approached by Play-tone Records (represented by Tom Hanks) and their song "That Thing You Do" races up the Billboard charts. For the rest you'll have to watch the movie!

In Sleepless in Seattle, Tom co-stars with Meg Ryan. Hanks plays a widow who chooses to move with his son from Chicago to Seattle in order to get a fresh start. The movie picks up at the funeral of his wife but they are quickly moved to Seattle and approximately a year and a half after the death. Jonah, Hank's son in the movie, calls a evening talk radio station and manages to get his dad on the phone with Dr Marsha Fieldstone. He spends the time talking about his wife and suddenly he is known as "Sleepless in Seattle". Letters start pouring in from across the country from women willing to help him - most of which he ignores. Annie, Meg Ryan, having caught the show in her car is inexplicably drawn to him and begins researching him (she works for the Baltimore Sun newspaper). Attracted to the romance of An Affair to Remember, she writes a letter suggesting they meet at the top of the Empire State Building on Valentines Day. She throws the letter away before every sending it but her best friend sends it to Seattle for her. By then Sam (Hanks) has started dating someone who Jonah doesn't like. When Annie's letter arrives - Jonah wants to meet her but Sam disagrees. For the rest you'll have to watch the movie!

Hanks and Ryan join together again in You've Got Mail. In this movie, the two have formed an online friendship care of America Online. They purposely reveal no personal information about themselves and talk about lots of random things. Meg Ryan runs a small childrens' book store in New York and Hanks is part of the "and Sons" of Fox and Sons Books - a major bookstore chain. When Fox Books arrives just around the corner from Ryan's shop - Joe Fox (Hanks) and Kathleen Kelly (Ryan) meet each other and seem to instantly dislike each other due to business and competition. Kelly turns to NY152, her online friend, for business advice. He suggest to "go to the mattresses" (The Godfather). Little do they know that NY152 is Joe Fox and Shopgirl is Kathleen Kelly! A fun romantic comedy you should watch to see how offline dislike for each other and online friendship reconcile!

I'll spare you the rest for now as I'm tired and want to read BUT I MAY give you the rest over the rest of the week - especially if I have a particularly slow day and nothing else to blog about. More than likely I'll just do one at the end of each post or something. In case you didn't know - we didn't do much today - we went to the playground for a bit but I haven't uploaded those pictures yet. Which is why you get a play by play on Tom Hanks movies.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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On another note, my kid is a vending machine....or maybe ATM would be a better description. I found a surprise in the form of a penny today in Inara's diaper! Eek! I have no idea 1) when she swallowed it, 2) how she got it or 3) where she got it....but it came out okay obviously.

Costco

We went to Costco yesterday for diapers. That was ALL I was going for - diapers for Inara and Anya. Now in Costco size boxes, those are enough diapers to last like 2 months. The only other thing I usually *need* from Costco is dog food. Once giant bag of Costco dog food will usually last us 6-8 weeks. Anyway, there's a reason I only go to Costco about once every 6 weeks or so - because I see all this other stuff that I just have to have. Well maybe not HAVE to but I end up with it in my basket anyway.

The first thing I saw were big foam play mats for the kids. I bought a set to put in the play room since we have hard floors downstairs. Then we got to the diapers, each box (one in size 3, one in size 5) was like 43$. Those were necessary so I had no problems put them in the basket. I also picked up a huge pack of AA batteries since we seem to go through them like candy. Again, more or less needed. After that it got a little dicey. We walked through the clothes like we always do and Jadzia found an outfit she liked for $7. My dad sent each of the girls five dollars for Valentines Day and she said that's what she wanted to spend her money on so in it went. Then we walked through the books and I saw several educational workbooks that I wanted to use for Jadzia and eventually Inara so in they went. Plus a giant bag of pretzels that we will still have when the world ends probably and a few other items.

Somehow a trip for diapers ended up with a whole lot more...

I shouldn't go to Costco without an escort to keep me focused....oh wait, my neighbor came with me, unfortunately the same thing happened to her that happened to me.

Pepsi vs Laptop

Can you imagine that the laptop seems to have lost?!

Yesterday Jadzia knocked over a glass of soda near my laptop. The majority of the soda seemed to have gone AROUND the laptop which I snatched away as quickly as possible. The laptop seemed to be work just fine despite it's perilous run in with the pepsi until a few hours later. Suddenly the surely plugged in laptop was showing as not plugged in. I can tell the charger is working and I know the battery is working. But where the charger meets the battery seems to be fried!

So while the laptop still works - the battery only has a few hours of life in it. So I'll be calling HP first to see what it will take to get it fixed, if it's possible etc.

Until then I'm desktop bound. But never fear, I can still blog from here. :)

Honolulu Zoo Photos

I could put dozens of pictures here individually which would make this blog post massive. I could try to pick out just a few and then mourn not sharing ALL of them. I could not share any of them and feel like I was making y'all suffer from being deprived of my fabulous photos (okay not really but two options didn't feel like enough). So, the best case scenario is to share them all BUT in the form of a slideshow (maybe - if this works)!

Operation Defunk Part Deux

I did it! I went to the zoo! And I actually filled up the gas tank for the first time since Robby left. In case you don't remember - he left on January 3rd - so over a month ago. On one tank of gas. Is that a testament to how far we DON'T drive?

Anyway, after we all got up, fed, dressed, etc - I called my neighbor to see if she still wanted to join us and we all get ready to go. It took a little while to get 4 kids (my 3 plus hers) dressed, packed, loaded, into the van along with tending to the dogs, loading the strollers, the stuff, the kitchen sink - er no we left that at home. You get the idea. Taking ONE toddler anywhere for more than a couple hours usually requires a small armament of "just in case" items (which is why moms carry around bulging diaper bags even after their kid is no longer in diapers). Now multiply that by 3 (Jadzia, thankfully, doesn't require too much extra anymore) and you're taking half of Babies R Us "just in case".

Getting to the zoo was quick, we even found free parking which is almost impossible in the Waikiki area. Even better it was free parking close to the zoo entrance. SCORE! Almost as soon as we were inside the gates, Anya started fussing to be fed. A kind zoo employee told us about a nice secluded and shady spot near the tigers so we made a beeline for that, zipping by a lot of chattery birds, the elephants and some monkeys (don't worry we stopped by to see them on the way back out later). We found the place she indicated which would have been secluded if one of the 3 tiger cubs hadn't curled up to sleep near the fence right there thus drawing a small crowd of on lookers. But I'm not bothered by nursing in public so I was discreet as possible (despite Anya trying to rip the blanket off my shoulder constantly) and fed her in front of the tigers. Jadzia and Inara were perfectly happy with this turn of events because it meant they could watch the tigers for awhile.

After the tigers we looped around into the African Savannah where we saw all sorts of your favorite zoo inhabitant. While we were looking at the cheetahs from a small cave like viewing area, Inara made a friend with a little Japanese girl about her age. We left the cave before them and Inara was walking right behind me as we made our way onward. I turned to check a few moments later and was a kid short! I left Jadzia and Anya with our neighbor and darted back to the cave to find Inara hand in hand with her new friend trying to bring them with us apparently. When I tried to urge Inara to say goodbye, she handed her friend the flower she was carrying who then handed it back in an instance of international sharing. It took several moments to make the formal goodbyes between the young ambassadors but everyone went about their way finally. After the momentary panic, it was a very sweet and funny moment.

As we made our way to the Keiki Zoo, we crossed the paths of several free roaming peacocks. They were beautiful and allowed us to get pretty close for some pictures. This would have been especially neat if Jadzia and Inara didn't have an intense desire to touch every bird they see - which means they run up to said birds, who then walk or fly away. They my kids chased the poor peacocks. And it didn't even get them to spread their tail feathers. But, be assured, all the birds at the zoo remained unsullied by my devious munchkins. After petting some livestock, we made a pit stop for drinks and a snack. Anya had fallen asleep so I parked her in the shade and we all rested our feet and recharged.

We didn't make it too far before Anya was up and ready to eat again (once again back near the tigers as we'd completed that loop of the zoo and were heading back). I actually fed her in a very shady tree grove of sorts while the kids played on the branches and got good kid dirty. Finally we were able to back track to see all the things we'd rushed by on the way inside including the lemurs, monkeys, tortoises, elephants, etc. One particular monkey was so busy swinging around his exhibit I could barely get a picture of him. He was probably one of the most active animals we saw, he definitely looked like he was having a good time.

Most of the day, Inara was walking behind on her slow little 2 year old legs but once we hit the elephants it was like she suddenly got bit by a speed bug because she was off and running with Jadzia trying to keep up. Since the zoo wasn't crowded I kept pace with them but let them get some good running in as we wound our way back to the front. We made a quick stop by the gift shop (of course!) and then returned to the car. We managed to hit the highway with intense traffic so it took us almost 40 minutes to go about 8 miles. After that initial snails pace though, it picked up and the rest of the drive home was quick. All four kids fell asleep AFTER we got through the traffic (so the last 20 minutes or so of the drive).

All in all it was a fun day! I have a couple of pictures of the kids edited to share tonight. Tomorrow I should have the rest edited so look for a photo blog tomorrow!

Congratulations Robby!

We knew it was coming because they told him BUT Robby officially got promoted to E-4! Yay!

So congrats to my wonderful, fabulous, terrific, hard working, super awesome hubby who I know reads this blog periodically.

Love you honey!!

Operation Defunk

In an earlier post, I mentioned the blah, funk I seem to be in. Part of getting out of that funk is to get out of the house - or more specifically off base - more often. I plan to go to the zoo tomorrow or Wednesday (if I don't blog about it by Wednesday night, feel free to virtual smack me upside the head).

Today we only went to the commissary which was surprisingly uneventful. Inara didn't even try to steal anything this time. On advice from a friend I bought multiple gallons of milk this time since the girls drink milk like every cow in America is going to dry up tomorrow. We usually go through a gallon every two to two and a half days. Which means going back to the store often if I only one or two gallons at a time. Now I have a shelf in my fridge dedicated to milk which will all be gone well before they come close to expiring. I'll still need to go to the store for other things in there but at least if I choose to put it off a day I should have milk for the kidlets.

When we went to check the mail this afternoon, I took the kids over to the playground for a bit. No it's not off the base but it's out of the ordinary so that was nice. I still remember being that mom that hovered over her kid when Jadzia was a toddler. At the time I was barely a foot away from her at all times because I was a first time mom and was convinced she'd walk right off the playscape. As it turns out my notions were almost right as today Inara tried to WALK down the slide. If you've ever gone down a slide, you probably know this is challenging even to a balanced person, let alone an unbalanced two year old. She started out okay and then the slope and speed caught up with her and she started to fall. She thankfully fell mostly on her butt and slid the last little bit down more shocked than anything. Meanwhile Mommy looked around for someone to restart her heart. Until that point, I was rather proud of Inara because she almost seemed afraid of the big slide every time we came to the playscape. She'd never go down it on her own, though she'd climb up to the top of the scape to be with Jadzia. She'd just climb back down instead of sliding. Today, with little encouragement from me, she finally put her legs over and slid down the big slide all by herself. The first time she let out a little shriek of shock I think and looked a little dazed when she got to the bottom but then she laughed and ran to climb back up and do it over and over and over.

So while today wasn't a ground breaking movement to defunk the mommy person, it was a start and I do feel a little better. Tomorrow - weather permitting - the zoo! Even have my camera all charged up!

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

I've talked about the point of no return in books before. Seems they usually hit me when I'm already up late as it is, which makes sense considering the bulk of my reading time is done at night once I have all the kids asleep. Well Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, seems to be really good at hitting that point where there's still a good 100 or more pages to read. Last night I thought I would be safe around 1AM when I was ready to put the book down - no so. I didn't go to sleep until 3AM because I HAD to finish. So since, I deprived myself of sleep on account of the book, I figure it deserves a blog post to encourage all of you to go out and deprive yourselves of sleep.

In The Host, Earth has been invaded by a parasitic species called souls that must take a host body. The majority of the time, the soul completely takes over the mind and body of the host, generally erasing or muting the mind of the host. While they can skip from host to host before a natural life span is completely, they generally live in the host until the body dies and then they are implanted into a new host.

The souls believe that they are making each planet and species they take over better by bringing peace and harmony. Most souls are unable to lie so there is no deception and very little violence. They don't intentionally harm others and since they've rarely met resistance from the host mind, they don't consider themselves parasites.

By the time the story opens, Earth has almost entirely been taken over by the souls and only small pockets of rebels humans exist in hiding. Melanie Stryder is one of these rebels and the story opens with her losing the fight. The Wanderer (later known as Wanda) is implanted in Mel's body but unlike the majority of humans, Mel is able to fight back against Wanda. She keeps secrets from Wanda and eventually the two must learn to co-exist together in order to survive against a common enemy.

I won't tell you anymore plot than that - where would be the fun in that?

I found the book thought provoking and enjoyed watching the characters develop. Seeing Mel and Wanda struggle against each other gave new meaning to the idea of an internal struggle. For the last half of the book I knew what ending I hoped for and kept thinking I'd seen the path towards it before something would throw me off course so Meyer certainly kept me guessing. The struggle over the "violent" humans and the "peaceful" souls presented a struggle of the best and worst of human society and trying to find the middle ground.

The books ends with an "open door" so to speak allowing for a continuation of the plot in a sequel or new series for Meyer.

The Adventures of Rin Tin Gimli

Gimli has been in solitary confinement for a couple weeks now. He seems to have injured his back and keeping him isolated from Bluto, the kids, etc for a few weeks is the safest for him until he's completely healed. The first couple of days, when he was still hurting, he took it tolerably well - almost like a relief to be away from the chaos in the house. But after that he no longer understood the need to be confined. He started whining more, scratching at the door, refusing to eat unless I was in the room with him. I've made an effort to go up and sit with him for a little bit a couple times a day if I can get away from the kids (and trust that they won't spill bood or something). It's not the same as being constantly around us but it's honestly for his own good.

A few months ago, Gimli was constantly sneaking under the fence since it's not flush with the ground. More than once we found him in a neighbors yard, down the street, etc. We got some white garden fence pieces to cover the biggest gaps and his most frequent routes and the escape attempts stopped. Well, the last couple days when I would bring Gimli out, when I went to retrieve him he was gone. Thankfully those times he showed back up before I had to go dog hunting.

This time, however, he didn't return right away. I left the kids inside the house and started hunting up and down the street and calling his name. I tried for about twenty minutes with no luck before I finally went inside. I'd decided to load the kids in the car and try to hunt for him on wheels as he'd probably gone beyond the street by then I wasn't willing to leave the kids home alone for that extensive of a neighborhood search. I'd gotten them all loaded and was buckling Inara into her seat when who should appear trotting down the street with nary a care in the world? Gimli.

I left the kids stuck in the van (doors open) and jogged over and snatched him up. I scolded him and then juggled him in one arm while trying to release the kids from their seats with the other. After everyone was back inside, I returned Gimli to his cell and now have started standing in the yard with him when he gets yard time.

Restless

Some might call it island fever, others might call it boredom, most days I just call it the blahs. I'm not depressed or sad, which is the conclusion most people seem to jump too - I'm just "eh".

One moment I think I want (or need) to get out of the house to do something. But the more I tried to figure out what that something is, the less I want to actually get out and do it. I make plans to go to the beach with the kids or go to the zoo or something and when it comes down to it end up making excuses or just ignoring those plans. I'm just "eh".

I think part of the problem is how I'm handling the deployment. I almost feel like I'm coping TOO well if that's possible. I expected to be sad and unfit for humanity for at least the first couple weeks but after the first day I've been pretty okay. Yeah I miss him, yeah I worry for him and yeah I'd love for him to be home right now but he's not and it's just how it is. I keep thinking I should be feeling more or maybe that I'm repressing the feelings or something. I don't know - maybe I am just handling it well. I felt worse when he left for basic training and then I knew he was safe. What's with that?

Also when he left for basic, I wrote him letters every day. I found cards to send him and was constantly trying to find little things to make the mail more exciting like ordering him Star Wars stamps or stamps from Zazzle.com with the kids' pictures on them. It took me three weeks to sit down and write him a single letter this time (of course it was like 6 pages long but still!). Granted this time I generally get to talk to him more often than we got to talk in basic but it still seems like I'm just not ... right. I don't even know how to explain it exactly because I keep coming back to just being "eh".

I think I really need to get out of the house and off base - do something different. Obviously my choices are limited given that I live on an island but considering we don't generally go anywhere beside the commissary or PX lately, anything would be a change of pace. For now though, I'm gonna go read my book! The "ehs", island fever, restlessness will pass sooner or later (though I'm hoping for sooner).

"I don't know"

Months ago, we went through a stage with Jadzia where if we asked her a question and she didn't know the answer or didn't want to answer for whatever reason, she wouldn't say anything at all and would just remain quiet and try to slip away without answering. This frustrated Robby and I so we started teaching her that it was okay to say "I don't know" if she didn't know the answer. And it is usually.

This little lesson has come back to bite me in the butt though. Now, at least 75% of the time, she says "I don't know" immediately without thinking about it. Much of the time I know she knows the answer and can usually turn it back on her to answer me. But sometimes all she says is "I don't know" which drives me crazy.

A particular instance is when she'll start to cry about something. For one, I need to know why she's crying because if she's hurt, I want to check what hurts, etc. For another, if she's not hurt or has a reason (doesn't even have to be a good reason really) to be crying, then she doesn't need to be crying now does she?

I don't want to discourage her from admitting when she really doesn't know and needs real help with an answer (like when she's learning something and truly doesn't know) but I realize now that she says "I don't know" before really thinking about whatever I'm asking - like it's her knee jerk response which isn't acceptable either. Somehow I need to find a balance between the two.

25 Things About Me

This tag game has been passing around facebook lately and I was tagged by about 10 people before I finally decided to do it and be done with it. I figured it would make good content for a slow day, so here you go - 25 random little things about me that I'm sure you're all dying to know. The only one altered from my facebook note is number 25 (which linked to this blog on facebook).

1) I broke my ankle when I was 10 months old. I walked off a small stage at an amusement park. My parents didn't realize it was broken until hours later.

2) I love looking at and buying earrings - I only wear them once or twice a year. Same with other jewelry, I rarely wear anything beyond my ring but I like having it.

3) In junior high, I was officer for Speech and Drama Club. The three years at Strack were far more fun than high school.

4) In junior high I wanted to be president of the United States - I suppose there's still time but I just don't see it happening. lol

5) I love to read. 7 or 8 months ago I had no pile of to be read books and now I have over 50 with many more on my wishlist.

6) I don't remember much of my childhood before age 11.

7) I used to swim on summer swim team and loved it. I wanted to be an Olympic swimmer - I wasn't that good but it was fun. Now I don't have the stamina to swim more than a couple laps.

8) I hang the kids clothes in outfits as much for mt benefit (speed) as Robby's (knowing what goes together). Plus then I know the kids will be dressed "right".

9) I like to do digital scrapbooking but haven't done any in awhile. I did annual albums for Jadzia the first couple of years and haven't done anything for Inara or Anya. Seriously need to catch up.

10) Jadzia was born on my mom's birthday, the one day I didn't want her to be born at the time.

11) Inara was born between Robby's birthday and our Anniversary. She was a week late and at that point I didn't really care WHEN she was born.

12) I wanted Anya to be born on my dad's birthday but she wasn't.

13) Anya was named the same name as a cat we had. She was NOT named AFTER the cat but the name came from the same place for both. lol

14) I miss my hubby (okay that's a given but my mind is starting to wander lol)

15) Robby called a couple days ago and he was sick as well - at the same time as me - on the other side of the world. That just seemed weird. lol

16) I don't really like living in Hawaii. It's okay but it was only paradise for about 3 months. Now it's like the longest vacation ever (and that's not in a good way). I don't DISLIKE it, I just don't like it too much either. Maybe I'm just over it.

17) I was an English major in college - I almost never turned in a paper that wasn't a first draft (or a just barely edited second draft).

18) I think Inara's "Terrible twos" are punishment or revenge for Jadzia's being relatively easy. I shudder to think what Anya's will be like. I think Inara is more and more like my brother in law everyday and that terrifies me.

19) I hate mustard because Outback put too much on my burger once, I also dislike Outback as a result. It was a one time occurrence but it stuck. I hate tuna because my mom's girlfriend made me a tuna sandwich once with just tuna and bread, I was a kid and it also stuck. I don't like bananas either but I don't remember why. lol

20) I can trace my dad's side of the family to the early 1600s; they came to America before America was America. They settled in Pennsylvania at the time. There is a town in PA called Royersford that was named for the family who owned the land where the town bloomed. I have no idea if they're related but my maiden name is Royer....

21) I want to live somewhere with snow and seasons and winter. Y'all might think I'm crazy but I hail from Texas - no real winter. And now I'm in Hawaii - again with the no winter.

22) When I was a kid/teenager, my mom let me pick any other month to celebrate my birthday since it was so close to Christmas. I picked August. For my 13th "birthday", my friends kidnapped me and took me horse back riding. I haven't been riding in so long and I want to go again soon. Jadzia is almost old enough if I can find a babysitter for the other two.

23) Anya won't take a bottle so I can't leave her with anyone. She isn't on a schedule or routine yet so I can't even try to leave her with someone for 30 minutes that she "should" be happy or sleeping.

24) I've very particular about who I have watch the kids - which is why we haven't gone out much since Jadzia was born and they go with me everywhere - even if it's crazy.

25) I love my husband but on the rare occasion he drives me crazy. I love my girls but sometimes they drive me nutty. I love my dogs but often they drive me batty. I'm a Crazy Nutty Bat. ;)

One Year Ago

One year ago today the girls and I arrived in Hawaii. Robby got here in December but it took us a couple months to follow along. My mom, Julye and my mother-in-law drove us to the airport and helped us get checked in. Gimli whined the whole way through the airport while in his carrier. We checked in the humans first and then took Gimli over to the oversize baggage area to check him in. we had to take him out of the carrier so they could check out the carrier for any security risks. That made him excited that he was going to get freed - unfortunately then I had to put him back in the carrier and send him on his way. Aside from the 9 hour flight ahead of him, he also had a 4 month quarantine when we landed in Hawaii.

Because we were traveling on orders, we were able to get security passes for our escorts which was a huge help. I had decided to check Jadzia's carseat but was bringing Inara's on the flight with us. Dragging it, our carry on luggage and two kids would have probably been more than I could handle alone. Security didn't take long to get through so we still had a few hours to kill before boarding the flight. We all had lunch at one of the airport restraunts together. After lunch my mother-in-law left because she had things to do. Mom and Julye escorted us to the gate and stayed with us until they called for us to board. Unfortnately they couldn't help us on the plane itself but a nice man behind us volunteered to carry the carseat for me.

I was doing okay emotionally until I boarded the plane. Then the fact that I was leaving Texas, leaving my friends and family, leaving everything familiar -even to be with Robby - hit me like a ton of bricks and I started to tear up. I managed to hold it back in order to get the kids settled and our luggage stowed but when my mom called to make sure we'd got on board and I could hear HER getting choked up, I was ready to lose it. I was also 5 months pregnant which probably didn't help my emotional stability at the time. It didn't take long to calm down and get back to the excited "being a whole family" again state. Since Robby left for basic in June we'd been apart for 8 months with only a few short visits in between. Moving to Hawaii meant we'd be together again even if everything else was left behind.

While I miss my friends and my parents and Texas - I would follow him anywhere the Army let's families go. All that being said, I can't wait to get back to the mainland. Hawaii isn't paradise for long - after awhile it's just Hawaii.

On a side note - we're one month out of twelve down. Robby left one month ago today.

It's Groundhog Day

And once again I live in a place where it doesn't really matter whether he sees his shadow or not. We don't have winter in Hawaii - at least not in the sense that the weather is THAT different from the summer.

For the record, the great groundhog predicts 6 more weeks of winter for those snowed in somewhere, so bundle up and stay warm. And then send me some snow to play with.

Anya, in her own version of Groundhog Day, slept from 10PM until 630AM. I hope the change is a prediction of things to come. Maybe a season of sleep is on the horizon - less than 6 weeks away....I can hope right?

---------

Well we went to the Commissary today and Inara attempted to steal a candy bar again. The same candy bar type as last time actually. It really must be the placement of that particular bar that attracts her. I have a budding little klepto on my hands actually. She tried to take a pear in the produce department as well. Jadzia, a budding tattle-tale, was quick to alert me to both these steal instances thankfully. Sometimes I find Jadzia's tattling helpful but it's not exactly a trait I'd like to encourage either.

I haven't found the cart cover yet - well I haven't actually looked for it either though. I took one of the carts with extra attached seats for kids and put Anya in the normal seat, Jadzia and Inara in the kid seats and strapped everyone in. Anya was okay for about two minutes before she started fussing. She made it to the pear stealing incident before I picked her up. Considering we hit the produce department first, she didn't make it far. I tried balancing her against the cart handles while pushing but that was problematic at best.

The next aisle over, Jadzia wanted to walk so I let her down. Another aisle over and the balancing act was becoming a major challenge. I decided to try putting her in the seat vacated by Jadzia and tightening the straps as far as they'd go. Surprisingly she not alone stayed put but seemed content. I can't imagine it was that comfortable given that it was designed for toddlers or big kids NOT infants but she stayed content for awhile.

We made it to the dairy section - which is one of the last stops before she started to get fussy again. Of course, that's also when I thought of several things I forgot - a couple of which were in the produce section on the other side of the store. I found she'd stay calm if we were keeping a good pace so I practically jogged across the store with Jadzia running along side. Then I thought of something else back in the frozen food section which is over by the dairy....yeah on the other side of the store. So we jogged back.

By the time we were safely in line I was exhausted, Jadzia was ready to go home and even the need for speed was not keeping Anya happy. That's when Inara pulled klepto act number 2 and the cashier asked me how I was. Er....tired! As always, the car keys shimmied to the bottom of the diaper bag but once it was found, I secured all the kids and was thrilled to get home.

On a completely different note, I'm happy to announce that Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland have not been watched for a few days now. The Land Before Time has taken their place - between Jadzia and Inara, it was watched three times today I think.

By the time we got to the checkout, I was exhausted and that's when Inara did her klepto bit with the chocolate bar. I paid quickly and got us back to the car - as usual the car keys shimmied down to the very bottom of the diaper bag so I was digging for a few moments before I could get everyone into the car.

One month.

It's one month into 2009.

In a couple days Robby will have been gone for one month out of twelve.

I have made 40 blog posts in the month of January!

I read 12 books and started number 13 in the month of January!


And I haven't filled up the gas tank in the van since Robby left. On the one hand, I'm saving money, on the other hand it's a sign that I don't go anywhere.