I wish...

I SO wish I had written this...


January 25, 2010
Dis This

Dear Neighborhood Thugs,

Just so you know, flashing gang signs while wearing mittens makes you come across as less of "a stone cold killer" and more like "a sock-puppet performance artist."

Please consider investing in a pair of gloves or waiting until spring to represent.

Best,

Jen

Do you ever read her blog? You should. You really should.

Comment Moderation

Well, I'm sad. I had to turn on the "Moderate Comments" button - seems I'm a spam target. Not new posts, but quite a few of my older posts have icky sex link comments attached to them now. So, for a while at least, I'm going to have to moderate all comments. If it only keeps happening to the older posts I'll change the moderation to any post older than 14 days.

Sorry about this - I guess it was bound to happen eventually.

:)

Robert Downey Jr. is a sexy beast...

I've stated in on Facebook - which is like declaring to the world that I swear my allegiance to his sexiness. But you know why? Not just because he's SO good looking, but watch this speech. This is a fun guy - Really Fun - DANGEROUSLY fun... would-be-awesome-to-be-his-wife-fun.

Best Golden Globe Acceptance Speech EVER click here.

Robert Downey Jr. is a sexy beast.

Books vs. Movies

The book is always better, right?

Not really. I mean, as a rule - yes... the book is generally better than the movie. At least when the story is similar. Sometimes you wonder, other than the topic, is it the same story? Did the screenwriter bother to read the book?

Julie and Julia? Movie was better. In fact, it wasn't even really the same story at all - aside from the main character cooking her way through the 524 recipes in 365 days, and a few anecdotes to tie it all together. The Julie Powell in the book is a very different Julie Powell than we see in the movie. In the movie we love her. She is darling, kind of a goody two shoes, and is usually pretty excited about her project. We want her to triumph. In the book we hear about how there is cat hair all over her kitchen, she ends up with maggots under her dish draining board, she fails at the recipes as often as she succeeds, and she's a lot more whiny than the book version. I'm sure the book version is closer to the truth. Plus? Can you picture the movie version of Julie dropping the F-bomb very often? The book version of Julie swears like a sailor - she's like me, totally out of control as to what comes out of her mouth at times. I get the feeling that if the book version of Julie met the movie version of Julie they wouldn't get on very well, the book version would talk about her behind her back. That said, I think I'd like to go find the blog and read through it. I'm guessing a version a lot closer to the book version resides there, but it will be interesting to find out. Plus, the movie was half Julia and Paul Child... a charming love story that I suspect was almost as glossed over as the "real" Julie Powell was, but charming nonetheless. I think the movie was better, but keep in mind I saw the movie first. I saw the movie when it was in theatres, and I didn't read the book until this weekend. I wonder what my feelings would have been if 'd read the book before seeing the movie?

Anyway, I'm passing the book on to my neighbor (Mrs. Kravitz) because I saw the movie with her. I want to see what she thinks. I think the stories were so very different - aside from the main premise - I'm wondering where the idealized version of Julie Powell came from? However, I like her better.

I like a little gloss to cover up the rougher edges I suppose.

But, I believe that you always walk away from a book with something. In this case? The something has nothing really to do with Julie OR Julia. It is the quote, "All things in moderation, including moderation." She attributes the quote to Jacques Pepin, the on the Internet it states that the author is Mark Twain. Either way? It's a good message.

Take your diamonds, I like pearls

Well, not completely true - I do like diamonds! However, I LOVE pearls. I think they are gorgeous. My wedding dress was scattered with sewn on (fake) pearls, and it was so pretty. My brother, TB, gave me a pair of pearl earrings when I was a teenager - I have no idea where they are today, but I loved them and wore them a lot. I also found a very wee baby pearl in a smoked oyster once. DD1 and I marveled over it, and I have it in my jewelry box. She loves to tell the story.

After my mom passed away (2 years ago this Spring) I received the pearls that Dad gave her on their very first Valentine's Day together. I had loved them since I was a little girl - so much that Mom and Dad gave me my own string of pearls when I graduated from college. I love both sets, and will pass them down to my girls someday.

The cost of real pearls is high. (By "real" I mean saltwater cultured pearls - the cultured pearls are almost always perfectly round because you can control the shape of the irritant that seeds the pearl to begin with - and saltwater pearls have a beautiful lustre. Did you really need this information that I find so fascinating?) Thus, freshwater pearls are more popular. Still beautiful, and more readily available.

My birthday is coming up... I'd love to see a set of these in a box for my gift! I've never owned black pearls before - aren't they gorgeous! (They are freshwater pearls.) The site where I found those earrings is full of beautiful pearl jewelry... and I would have LOVED it in my 20's - when it was all about me me me, and pearls could be worn every day without regard to children grabbing them, household cleaners splashing on them, or general impracticality. But someday my friends I will be the older lady whose signature look includes a double strand of pearls, and expensive shoes. Like Barbara Bush - but with better hair!

My husband's fear

Husband and DD1 were having a conversation about a month ago, while folding laundry, about reincarnation.

DD1: "I think I'd like to come back as a (female) deer."

Husband: "Oh? Why is that?" (Thinking she was going to make some profound statement about the freedom of being a deer, or recognizing something wonderful that only a nine year old can still see in wonder...)

DD1: "Well, you know how the male deer fight over the does? I think that would be pretty cool."

When my husband tells this story, this is where his palm hits his forehead as he exclaims, "Oh no, please tell me I'm not raising 'that girl'."

Oh, to be the father of a daughter. Completely different worries. He's been the teen aged boy that girls manipulated and played with... he's been on the other side of heartbreak. The side I can't see or ever know about. The boy side. I've had a few big heart breaks in my life - but I've never seen his side of that dance.

This parenthood thing? More every year I marvel at it and exponentially add to the statement, "This? Is going to be an interesting ride."

Yesterday...

DD2 didn't walk until she was almost two years old. She has had gross motor delays her whole life, which are complicated by some sensory issues. It's been tough as a mom to watch her struggle, watch her be scared to walk down steps, watch her question her abilities, and to watch her fall, and fall, and fall... breaking her arm, visiting the ER for scary head crashes, having my heart skip a beat every time she trips hoping she won't get hurt again.

Yesterday at after school pick up she yelled over to me, "Mom, wanna see how fast I can run?"

And right then my daughter took off and ran down a hill. Not a gently sloping hill, a hill that would make a pretty good sledding hill. She pounded down that hill with confidence, long strides, and good speed.

She didn't hesitate.
She didn't stop to think about it.
She just ran. Like it had never been a problem.

And when she turned around and smiled at me from the bottom of the hill my heart skipped a beat... but for an entirely different reason.

Heeerrree's JOHNNNY!

(OK, you have to be old enough to remember Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show for that to be relevent.)

Date Night

Husband has been out of town all week, so we had a Date Night last night. (Conveniently, Husband also has a ticket package for DU Hockey - so we had tickets for Saturday night's game.) I wasn't sure it was all going to work out, because our regular babysitter was booked. However, I have a friend in our neighborhood with a 15 year old daughter! She came through for us and it all worked out. Date Night was a go.

So we decide on Sushi Den. (Yum. Actually? Double Yum.) They don't take reservations for two, but we were there early enough that we had no problem getting a table. Husband even sat on the same side of the table with me, so we could people watch and whisper (that wasn't why he sat next to me, just a really good by product of the decision). Directly across from us was the poor couple we concentrated on for our people watching of the evening. They had already eaten when we saw them... I think. They were engrossed in their drinks by the time we noticed them. Husband said, "We have a first date situation right over there" and indicated the direction with his sake cup. I whip my head around to check it out, and we watch them for a few minutes. "Correction," I said, "THAT is a second or third date... might be the crucial 'wanna go back to my place' date?" He was leaning forward, asking her something and teasing her. She was leaning back, being coy and shaking her head while smiling. Husband agreed, and we noticed she was very drunk for 6:15pm. We kept an eye on things, glancing over every once in a while during our conversation and dinner to see how they were doing. "I wonder if she'll give up the goods tonight?" was my question. The laughing response was, "If she doesn't get sick first, she's looking like that might be a possibility."

Sometime in the middle of our sushi rolls, we both happened to look up at them at the same time, and he was trying to feed her some dessert while reaching for her hand. She's all demure, but smiling. Husband looked at me and said, "There it is, the full court press!" He's a guy, he knows. I laughed.

(The couple left shortly after. Sadly we'll never know how the love story panned out. As it was so early and she was already so drunk... my guess is no. Maybe another night, but not last night. They were quickly replaced at the table with two couples out for an evening without the kids. Not nearly so much fun to speculate over, as their stories were probably remarkably similar to ours.)

After dinner we saw DU play CC over at Magness. It was an awesome game, and there were fun people around us. Lots of cheering, some good "boo"ing over the officiating, great plays, even a fight at the very end. So much fun.

I forget how much fun my husband can be, how much I enjoy his company, how we make each other laugh. I forget until Date Night. Then I remember, and I smile.

SMA Friday

Ahhh, the young SMA... le sigh.

Seven

Today you turn seven. Holy cow - how on earth did that happen?

Seven is being so excited about a specific wish that you can't contain yourself.
Seven is sassy - finding that "no" is worth a try, and slamming your door when your sister gets in your face.
Seven is smiles and giggles and holding hands with a best friend named Ruthie.
Seven is first grade and confidence and finding out that you ARE a good reader, even if you don't love books.
Seven is happiness, because you still believe in the good.
Seven is Minnie Mouse - who you love and is your dear friend. (You? Have the pictures to prove it!)
Seven is being the little sister - and realizing now that you will always be the little sister. Seven doesn't love that very much.
Seven is knowing in your heart that Santa is going to deliver the Zhu Zhu pet and play set that you want more than any other present for Christmas.
Seven is assuring your mom that you will still be her baby, that the end of Six won't ruin this place you have in my heart.
Seven is happiest snuggled up to her daddy watching cartoons.

I love you at Seven even more than I loved you at One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six. How is that possible? I love you more each and every day. You are our Peach. You are our Baby. You are the humor, the thoughtfulness, the quiet, the silly, the wonderful, and the beautiful that completes our family.

Today you are Seven.

There was a get together at our house this week...

A house full of kids, Drama (not the kind you'd expect from my family - the kind where my husband notices that the pot he's already poured the oil in for the deep frying of the turkeys is split), happiness at seeing out of town relatives, tension (yes, the kind you'd expect), togetherness, avoidance, "Who wants more wine?", eye rolling, teasing, sarcasm, "Can I get anyone another beer?", laughter, being all in the same room for the blessing (since my mom passed this seems to have worked itself out... in the 'olden days' dad started the blessing while mom was still in the kitchen dishing up the gravy), the men all hanging out outside to supervise Husband while he fried up those birds (it was a beautiful day), "Who wants Baileys in their coffee?", compliments on our home improvements... it all went off without any major hitches once the new cooking pot was procured from Walmart (LAST one on the shelf).

In a nutshell? Thanksgiving.

Next week...

I'm back to blogging. (It's my Thanksgiving Resolution - because New Years just doesn't seem to do it for me.) I'm going to post about our home improvements next week. Can't wait to show you how it's going!

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends and family, and to those 50+ random people who (every single day) click on the May 2009 post of Hugh and his wife.* Most of you in the latter group are European - so I'm not sure that my wishing you a happy day on what is exclusively an American holiday is appropriate. However, since you never see anything on my blog except that one post? I'm not too worried.

*Seriously, it's STILL going on. Some days it's only 20 or so people, sometimes 75 foreigners come looking for Hugh and Deb. I think the highest one day number of people that landed on that post was 77... and it's hardly ever Americans. I told my kids that I was a world famous blogger, and tried showing them my counter that has the flags of the different countries that people are from... but they aren't buying it. DD2 believed me for a while - but that went down the drain when DD1 said, "Mom, people land there by accident. You're not famous." How in the world does she know that?

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday, because - again - thats how I roll)

This? Hilarious.

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2009/11/flow_chart_helps_you_determine.html

SMA Friday (brought to you on Sunday... because that's how I roll)

Ahhh, our new SMA! It's gonna be a good year - not the same as Hugh, though. Only Colin Firth could have come close to being "that guy." Johnny is more like the edgy, sexy, musician, bad boy in high school or college you'd like to date but wouldn't dare. (...and by bad? I mean good.)


The boy you would never bring home to mom.
The guy that would give your dad a heart attack.
That boy? Is our SMA.

Yes!

People Magazine did not cave to the Twihards.


Johnny Depp? The right choice. It was going to have to be someone pretty amazing to follow after Hugh - and Johnny is it.

For good or bad, the tradition of SMA Friday continues with the hotness that is Johnny Depp.

Sigh.
Yum.

Hugh must surrender the crown...

It's almost time. November is when People Magazine announces their Sexiest Man Alive - and since no one yet has manged back to back victory we can assume that Hugh will be displaced this month.

Sexiest Man Alive (SMA) has been a long standing People Magazine feature. For reasons not known to me, they didn't announce winners in 1993 or 1994 (I've only really noticed these guys since the late 90's)... but every other year since 1985 has had a SMA. Not always a strong choice, but a crown was issued nonetheless. Here is a list of the past winners:

1985: Mel Gibson (Really, back then? So hot!)
1986: Mark Harmon (?)
1987: Harry Hamlin (The 80's were strange, no?)
1988: JFK, Jr. (No argument here.)
1989: Sean Connery (Yes, in agreement.)
1990: Tom Cruise (No doubt the gays loved this choice
1991: Patrick Swayze (Sigh, he was a hottie back then.)
1992: Nick Nolte (No, no, no! Revolting choice. I'm betting that they didn't sell more than 100 magazines with this choice - and that is why SMA disappeared for two years.)
1993: People didn't name a sexiest man, they did name a sexiest couple... Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford.
1995: Brad Pitt
1996: Denzel Washington
1997: George Clooney
1998: Harrison Ford (No. Just no.)
1999: Richard Gere (This doesn't count as a second, since he didn't actually get sexiest man in 1993)
2000: Brad Pitt (First man to double.)
2001: Pierce Brosnan (ummm, well I guess if you really go for that type.)
2002: Ben Affleck (Would have been better as Sexiest Fraternity Type Man That You Might Beer Kiss Alive, but cute enough.)
2003: Johnny Depp (One of their strongest choices ever.)
2004: Jude Law (He looks better on film.)
2005: Matthew McConaughey (I agreed with this one fully - until I found out that deodorant wasn't part of the whole "Matthew" package. Then it fell off for me
2006: George Clooney (Nine years after his first honor he gets SMA again.)
2007: Matt Damon (SO right!)
2008: Hugh Jackman (Perhaps the sexiest SMA ever.)

Rumors of this years nominees include Robert Pattison (NO!), Bradley Cooper (Like Harrison Ford... is "cute" necessarily "sexy"?), Justin Timberlake (uh, no), George Clooney (he IS sexy), Jon Hamm (this would work), Brad Pitt (I don't know, he's sort of over isn't he?), Ryan Reynolds (super nice to look at, rumor has it he's a jerk), Will Smith (cute, funny, could work), Gerard Butler (no), JayZ (say what you will, but power is sexy), Colin Firth (hands down should be the winner - love him and would gladly post SMA Fridays for him), and a handful of others that don't really warrant inclusion.

There has been no mention anywhere of Robert Downey Jr., Edward Norton, Matt Damon, or Johnny Depp - all of whom would warrant a continuation of SMA Friday.

Winner will be announced soon... and, unfortunately, People is more interested in selling magazines then pleasing an unknown blogger. I fear Edward Cullen for the win.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

SMA Friday

In the midst of chaos I must stop, and remember the sexiness that is Hugh.

Sigh.

We will miss our SMA!

Not really "sick" sick...

Icky sick. That sick where you aren't sick enough to really say, "I'm sick." I'm not sick enough to call in sick to work - not that I do. Work, that is.

You know how you feel when you are up really high and look down? You get that sort of vertiginous, "fally" feeling? That's what I feel like.

Right now.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is fun. It's just fun.

I wonder who doesn't have fun memories of Halloween as a child?

Dad taking us out trick-or-treating. A big THANKS to my mom, as this has carried on to my kids - and I've stayed nice and toasty warm because of this "tradition". Plus? My kids love that this is a "tradition" in our family. In this day and age, when cultures have mixed and family traditions are few and far between we grasp on to our own families "traditions". I have no doubt that my daughters' children will trick-or-treat with their dads, too.

Planning costumes and changing costumes the day of Halloween itself. Who didn't decide at that last minute that being a hobo would be more fun than being an M&M... only to discover that coffee ground were itchy when stuck to the face with Vaseline? (Not at first, mind you, but once you had been out about half and hour you were an itchy, gooey, slimy mess. Fun!)

Your mom MAKING your costume - as the only costumes you could buy were those plastic apron and mask combinations. (Where the back of that plastic mask got wet from all that pesky breathing you had to do?) Oh, didn't we feel sorry for the kid in the store bought Batman costume the day of the school parade? His mom didn't even make him a costume! (For the record, I've made only one costume for my kids. Not even one each, just one. Julia was a "peach" for her first Halloween. Now you can buy fairly elaborate costumes for less than the cost of making them - which doesn't seem right.)

Planning our routes once we got older to maximize our candy haul. Because in the 'olden days' we could trick-or-treat unattended by 3rd or 4th grade, and end up miles from home... with no cell phone to keep in contact. Mom didn't worry - it was Halloween!

That one scary house in every neighborhood that you stayed away from?

Cleaning out and carving pumpkins? Well, cleaning out pumpkins and then drawing the faces that your parents would carve with huge knives. I don't think I carved my own pumpkin until 7th grade.

Remember the parade at school? With the other grades marching before you, and your class joined on the end, and then once around the outside of the school (or gymnasium in bad weather) so the moms could get pictures? Cookies and apple cider provided by the room mothers afterwards, maybe some candy corn. I hear that still happens in some schools, but my daughters' school doesn't do that anymore.

Wearing costumes under winter coats, hats, mittens, and snow boots. The age old question of "who do we have here?" literally needed to be answered... NOBODY could tell I was Raggedy Ann under all those layers!

I remember the last time I went out Trick-or-Treating was with my neighborhood friend Christine. We planned our route for weeks in advance, and had a blast. It was all about quantity - and carrying your candy in a pillowcase because other containers would fill up too fast! I think we each got half a pillowcase full that night. We didn't eat all of it, though, as some of it was thrown out because it was candy we didn't like, and it was raided by our older brothers and sisters (we were both the youngest kids in the family), because going trick-or-treating was, for them, too babyish.

When my youngest daughter woke up today she shouted, "It's Halloween!"
Yes. It is!

Not Martha Stewart

Suppose ole Martha ever suffered a blistered finger from boiling caramel just to see her daughter smile? I have it in my head that she is above that... not that she wouldn't make a caramel apple to see her daughter smile - quite the opposite. I'm betting her daughter practically got sick on all the goodies her mom made for her. No, I'm betting she never ended up with a blister from that stupid, sticky, hot caramel that leaps out at you as you are dipping the apples.

It really is much trickier than you might think.

Also, Martha's apples look like this:



Ours? Well, these are ours:

To quote a famous fun loving chef - Bon Appétit!

SMA Friday

Almost forgot again... I keep seeing the same Hugh pictures over and over and over again, and frankly I've forgotten half of what I've posted already! Enjoy this candid Hugh.

Cougar Crush

See? All it took was one really good snarky post and I feel like I'm back on the blogging wagon. Lindsay might be a train wreck, but it's like she's a go to girl when I'm feeling a little mean coming on. Is that wrong? (Don't answer that.)

Anyway, lets talk about Cougars for a moment. Not the animal, the women. I personally find this to be a ridiculous moniker - and so embarrassing for those to whom the word is applied. Finding out that you are attracted to a someone 10-15 years younger than yourself certainly isn't new. And it certainly shouldn't be NEWS. Do you know what they call a men who are attracted to someone significantly younger than themselves? Men. Women deserve better.

That said, even though I loathe the term "Cougar", I have to admit that I have a "Cougar Crush". I generally mock my friends who develop these crushes on young men - and now I shamefully join their ranks.

Do you watch GLEE? (If you are a facebook friend you already know how I adore this show.) There is a young man on that show that is so darling. His name is Mark Salling, and he plays Puck. A mean bully who has knocked up the head cheerleader - who also happens to be his best friend's girl. (Yes, I too had thought these story lines had been done to death, until I watched this show. Comes off as totally original, go figure.) LOVE this character.

To my friends, who I have mocked endlessly for their love of Zac and Corbin...well, I will never apologize for that - because I still find those crushes to be completely ridiculous. But now you can openly mock me in return. I GLEEfully acquiesce.

Ahhh, so I do remember how to blog after all!

But only because I saw THIS today, and had to comment:

If those scary Meth commercials on late night television don't scare your kids? Show them this photo.

Then remind them that this girl is 23 years old.

Twenty three.

This? Would have scared the crap out of me. It's taken Donatella Versace a lifetime of cigarettes and celebrity drug culture to achieve this look - and Linds did it by the time she was only 23. Bravo child stardom and the life of fame. Isn't it beautiful?

We're BAAACCCKKKKKK!

I posted these on Facebook, but wanted to share them on the blog also. Some of my friends don't use facebook! We are back from WDW, the Happiest Place on Earth! Our time there was magical... I'd go back in a heartbeat! I have to get the pictures all in order, but here are some from the day the girls visited the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. DD1 was Rosetta (a flower fairy friend of Tinkerbelle's), and DD2 was - naturally - Minnie Mouse. They LOVED the special attention they got from everyone that day - but especially from Minnie herself, and Rosetta doesn't get too many other Rosetta's in to visit her. She was wonderful.

DD1 and her twin:
DD2 posing in the entry to Fairyland:

She really did look magical and glittery:

Minnie, showing her best friend how to pose for a picture. Pure happiness for DD2:

We are so happy to have taken the girls to someplace so magical. They had a great time, we had a great time... and the memories will make us smile for a lifetime! (Can't wait to go back!)

SMA Friday

Ha Ha Ha! Don't I WISH!!

Happy Friday from the Happiest Place on Earth!

I'll give you a topic...

...and you can talk amongst yourselves.

"Why do children get sick on Friday nights?"

This question goes hand in hand with, "How come the stomach flu hits children at 2am?"

Which might beget the question, "How much medicine is appropriate to bring on vacation?"

Not kidding when I tell you that DD1 has a knack for getting sick on Friday nights, and that vacations bring out the sickness in her. She has had two throat cultures at that Little Clinic (up at King Soopers) on Saturdays - yes, they worked... she had strep, and two years ago had to take her to a clinic at Walmart on the Saturday before Easter because she came down with a raging ear infection. (The child who NEVER gets an ear infection!) Once in Atlanta she got a stomach virus and threw up 27 times in 24 hours. (Had we been here I would have had her hospitalized for dehydration.) The child came down with a HORRIBLE cough on the second night of a two night trip with her Brownie Troop last Spring - and the mothers there called me about what could they give her? (Her entire cabin lost sleep that night.)

Why am I bringing this up now?

We are leaving for our WDW vacation on Monday morning. Cue DD1 coming down with the flu on FRIDAY NIGHT. I could have put money on it. She's off of school all of Friday. (side note: we aren't able to do anything fun because my car decided that it needed to have some expensive repairs done NOW and it took two days to be fixed.) She wasn't feeling punk until that afternoon. Late that afternoon. Certainly too late for me to process, "Oh, perhaps I'd better run her to the peds office for a quick check to make sure we're not dealing with anything awful." Directly before dinner she gets her fever. The peds office is now closed until after we are to depart on Monday.

Great.

Turns out we don't know FOR SURE if she has the flu. The urgent care clinics are swamped today, but the nurse at Children's hospital (don't you love that Children's has a concerned parent line) said they were seeing all kinds of the illness I had described, and it's most likely Type A or Swine flu - they're different. Good news? The flu they are seeing lasts 3-5 days and is only dangerous if patients are having difficulty breathing. Does my daughter have any breathing difficulty? "No." Well, they say, you can call your pediatrician to see if they'll prescribe anything like Tamiflu, but we won't prescribe it through the hospital unless the child is hospitalized. OK, I'll call the on-call pediatrician.

Now, I should probably mention that we picked our pediatric practice before DD1 was born - and really liked this one because they have an integrated health care philosophy. (Husband in particular liked this.) They are proponents of using homeopathic supports in combination with western medicine. I wasn't surprised that the on-call doctor wouldn't give us a tamiflu script - disappointed but not surprised. His reasoning was that there is now a shortage as it's been prescribed for entire families at a time (which- incidentally - is exactly what I was wanting), and this particular flu seems to be short enough in duration that the effectiveness is in question. (Still, would like to have it in my hot little hands... but I had known before I spoke to him that I wouldn't be getting any. Or, I would have started there!)

Husband is out getting Echinacea, Vitamin C, Zinc, and BHI Inflammation. I'm also taking Motrin, mucinex, delsym, benedryl, ocean spray and vicks vapo rub with us.

I'm not worried about getting the flu. If I get it Husband can take the girls to the parks. I'm not worried about our activity level, as we have 6 1/2 days in the parks and we can take it slow if we need to. I'm worried about two things: 1) DD2 getting it and 2) DD1 being run down and getting a different seasonal virus from the airplane air.

It is what it is. As of right now we're not cancelling our trip.
If she's worse tomorrow we'll re-evaluate.

Cross your fingers, send good thoughts... all prayers are appreciated.
Mom? Are you listening?

SMA Friday - they're back!

Can't tell you when my last SMA Friday post was.... well I CAN, but I'm not going to. To make up for it, here are a couple different faces of Hugh. Sigh.

Thumbs up for a Happy Hugh:

This next Hugh is what I picture he looks like when his mother-in-law is talking:

Hugh about to profess his love and/or anxiety... but looking totally cute while doing so:

FBI Hugh, it would have come in handy to have him in our neck of the woods last week:

Wordless Wednesday

(I haven't posted a wordless wednesday in a while but my friend, Laurie, sent this to me and I have to share!)