I have promised to have all manner of sticky food available for the freshly un-braced boy, this evening. Sour Patch Kids and gum and whatever else he'd like. Nevermind that Halloween is in a little over a week; he's spent two years unable to eat "anything delicious," and he has a lot of catching up to do. As he skipped out of the orthodontist this morning, still running his tongue endlessly over the unfamiliar, smooth surface of his teeth, I asked him how he felt. "GREAT!" he answered. "I feel like today is the first day of the REST OF MY LIFE!" I do, too. Thanks to everyone for your kind...
I'll tell you the truth: This past week I really began to despair of us ever finding the right dog. I mean, I knew it would happen, intellectually, but emotionally I was feeling like an unfit mother. (Thank goodness I'm not melodramatic or anything, right?) If only things had gone better with Super! If only the right dog hadn't already been promised to someone else! If only I was just a better person! Have I mentioned about how I'm a joy to live with...? I kept telling the kids that when we found the right dog, we would all know it. So when a little 3-year-old shih tzu mix popped up on the...
Excuse me for a moment, but I feel the need to share this because I'm just so darn excited about it. With all of the moaning and groaning in the blogosphere about ethics and integrity and "blogola," I feel like it's an old refrain that everyone is in charge of their own choices and knowing what allows them to sleep at night, etc. I get offered a lot of stuff I don't take. Last time I checked, there was no law stating you were obligated to accept everything offered to you. On the other hand, sometimes amazing opportunities come along. And I just finished up doing some (paid, yes---and fully...
Good morning! Today we're pulling up camp and leaving Lake Placid. It's been mostly dark and dreary with a few brief periods of sunshine, but even with the black clouds, I have to admit that the scenery up here is rather fantastic. Yesterday we took a gondola ride to the top of Whiteface Mountain. (Photo by Otto, king of capturing Jesus Light.) Today is a landmark day for my family, not just because it marks the end of our first extremely soggy camping adventure. (This is me being convinced that the next leg will be drier. I know, it's weird to see me trying out the positive thinking thing.)...
The invaders on my tomatoes were so horrible, I decided to run away from home. Actually, I'd decided to go before that particular discovery, but nonetheless, yesterday afternoon I got myself to the airport and got on a plane and crossed the country to check out the Rockies. Oh, and also to hang out with my darling Kira. And snoogle her baby. And pick up all three of her boys and tuck them into my pockets. (Note to self: Get bigger pockets.) Shortly before I left, we received word that Otto's mom had been taken into transplant surgery overnight; when my plane took off, she'd already gotten a...
I'm sitting in a state campground, in a folding nylon camp chair, typing fireside, while Chickadee and Swan sit inside the trailer playing Rummikub. They are understandably tired, having talked non-stop on the drive up here, eaten their weight in snacks, dinner, and popsicles, and then run off to the nearby playground to roll in the mud. Okay, technically they may not have rolled in the mud. Their clothes just look like they did. I would love to tell you that they're having the time of their lives, the greatest time I've ever seen two people have, except that I think it's possible that Otto...
Happy Mother's Day! The thing I love about Mother's Day is that it really is (or should be) for everyone. Everyone had a mother. Everyone knows an awesome mother (or two or twelve). Today I celebrate the great moms in my life as well as the kids who made me a mom, and that is just plain cool. As I said to Chickadee this morning---after I put sunscreen on her back and then she began to cover my back---"You are so helpful. How did I ever manage before you came along?" And she replied, "You didn't. There was nothing before me, clearly." Clearly. I've had a lovely breakfast, sparkly trinkets,...
I honestly don't remember how or when it started, but I know that it was not too long after I began blogging, so about five years ago. Somehow, Kira and I found each other. We read each other's blogs, we emailed, and---eventually---started chatting via Instant Messenger. Every night. There I was on the East coast, and Kira in Colorado. By the time she would get her boys into bed, I'd be thinking about going to sleep, myself. But she'd appear online and I'd vow to just chat with her for a few minutes, and three hours later---stomach sore from laughing or crying or (often) both---I would tell...
I did get some chocolate today. In a heart-shaped box, even. And it's very nice, and all. But I also got my kids giving my husband a card onto which they had recorded a "WE LOVE YOU OTTOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" message that prefaced a recording of "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge. And then I got to disco-dance with my family while it played. (P.S. We are family, and we are also extremely bad dancers.) Happy Valentine's Day!
