Good morning

This morning I discovered the most incredible, enlightening way to start the day... ... you rescue your 2 year old from his crib and then listen, surprised, as he tells you: "You're the best mommy ever!" Addendum: That evening, I was telling him how happy it made me to hear him say I was the best mommy. Then the next morning, he told his daddy that he was "the best daddy ever." He then finished up with "I make you happy."

Just Sharin'

By that look, I'd say we're in trouble...

Let Us Give Thanks

Naturally, this time of year makes me take stock of things for which I'm thankful. And I find that my list is seemingly endless. I just keep adding and adding to it; my sons, my husband, family, generous and helpful parents/sister, friends, good in-laws, a roof over my head, nature's glorious beauty, computers to fight over, Starbucks' Green Tea Frappucino, freedom, nice preschool, hand-me-down clothes, brave and competent men in our military... the list goes on and on. Then I realized something. I am thankful that I am thankful. Sounds strange, I know, but I mean it. I am so glad that I am not one of those bitter, unhappy souls who often have a wonderful life, but fail to see it. Or maybe they see it, but refuse to be grateful. I can not imagine going through life always feeling disappointed and angry. Why can't they focus on the good? Kind of sad, really. Life is good. And I am thankful for it.

TV

As I mentioned earlier, HL is becoming proficient in using the computer, even to the point of opening and choosing the TV programs he wants to watch. Now, you have to understand that this is no easy task at our house. Our living room computer is our also our TV, meaning that one must choose the correct icon, then select "My TV" from a list of options, and choose either live or recorded TV. Once in recorded TV, one has to pinpoint which show to watch, then pick the actual episode as well. HL can do this. It was a complete surprise to both me and Hubby. AW told us one morning that he wanted to watch Backyardigans. I explained that I needed just a moment to get something done and left the room. When I returned a few minutes later, the boys were already watching a recorded Backyardigans show! Huh? How could that be? I asked Hubby later if he had taught his son to do that, but he had not. Nope. Neither of us showed him how to do this. Apparently, he just figured it out himself from watching us do it! Now, my first reaction was pride that my boy was so smart and able to do this himself. But then the fear set in- how incredibly careful must we be so that HL does not inadvertently pick up the wrong lessons in life? Yikes.

We have a little problem...

Being the son of a computer geek, HL already knows his way around the computer (somewhat, anyway). He "searches" the internet- we set up a folder in his name with appropriate bookmarks and he chooses from there. Internet games (ie on pbskids or disney) are fast becoming a favorite past time of his. That is all well and good- it not only gives him practice on the computer but also teaches him quite a bit. Except that now, there are three of us fighting for computer time. I thought it was annoying battling with Hubby, but this is getting ridiculous! Thank goodness we do have three computers ( I did say computer geek earlier) placed around our house, albeit two inconveniently, but at least Hubby can go somewhere and get his homework done in peace. I'm afraid we have created a computer-junkie beast...... Aach! Watch out!

Ain't that true!

Lovebug

My eldest, HL, has really been the sweetest little lovebug lately. I was afraid that now that he's a self-proclaimed "big boy" that mommy would lose all her cuddle privileges. On the contrary, it seems to have created a need in him to do just that. It used to be that I would lay in bed with him at night and we would just lay next to each other, silent. But now? Now, he snuggles right up to me, rests his head on my shoulder, puts his arm around me. It's heaven. Pure heaven, I tell you. A couple nights ago, as he snuggled back into me, he said "Mommy, I just love you so much. I want to get soo close to you." Does it get any better than that? I think not. Tonight, he asked me to sing a lullaby then cuddled up to me with his head on my shoulder. My cheek then rested on the top of his head. The heat from his head warmed me to my very soul. The wife in me could not forget the things she had to accomplish yet tonight, but the mommy in me refused to move. I stayed there and relished my son's love and warmth until he finally rolled away in sleepful bliss.

I am alive and well....

So sorry for my delay in posting- I have been terribly busy lately and have lacked the leftover energy to post. Why have I been so busy, you ask? The animal hospital where I work is moving to a new building!! It's been a bit of a rushed decision due to opportunity knocking unexpectantly and my life has been filled with extra work hours preparing business plans, marketing designs, changing addresses, etc...... But oh, this is so exciting!!! This new building is very literally that- new. Brand new. It just opened in March of this year. The doctor who built it has decided that he bit off a little more than he wanted and has since made the decision to retire from general practice. How fortunate for us, eh? Anyway, this building has all the state of the art technology available to animal hospitals today, with lots of room to grow. (For anyone who has never seen where I work, we are cramped. Actually, cramped is a gross understatement.) The best part? The upstairs employee lounge has a balcony with an unobstructed view of the Mountains. I can't wait til we actually move in the end of December. Even though I know that the next two or three months are going to be excrutiatingly busy for me. It will be worth it. Here is a picture of the front of my new work building.....

Under the Covers of Darkness

The other night, me and The Wife were watching a movie in the basement, when I heard the creaking of Our Eldest walking about upstairs. It was past bedtime so I went up to see why he was awake. He’s usually great about staying in bed and falling asleep, but that day, he had had a nap. Our Eldest has sworn off naps for some time now and doesn't miss ‘em. Occasionally however, he lays himself down and takes a nap in the afternoon. Since he does it on his own, I usually let him; I figure he must need a nap, so why force the issue. On the days he has had a nap, he gets to stay up a little latter and that typically works fine. That night however, I had forgotten to mention the nap to The Wife before heading off to class. Our Eldest went to bed with His Brother. Or Rather he didn’t. Well, anyway, I went up to see what he was up to. He wanted someone to lay down with him. Since we were watching a movie, I wasn’t inclined to accede to his wishes. I had to think of a plan. I knew that since he had a nap and went to bed early, he might be up for a while. He has also recently shown interest in reading and has taken to looking at books by himself. Hmmm, let’s try the flashlight in bed to look at books trick. I handed him a flash light, and told him that he needed to be quiet. He said, ‘Yeah, I know dad.’ I then told him he needed to keep the light out of His Brothers eyes. Pointing at his comforter, he said, ‘Yep dad, I’m headed under there.’ He got up in bed with his book, pulled his comforter over his head and started to ‘read’. It looked right out of the movies. Sure wish I had a movie camera. A picture‘ll have to do. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

From the Bowels of The Earth

Whew, finally in Moms arms. We went on a journey into the Earth last weekend. I lobbied pretty heavily to go; I love caves and being down in the earth. Apparently, My Youngest disagrees. Hopefully I’ve not made him claustrophobic. His favorite word of the journey was no, heard almost in an uninterruptible stream, especially when they turned out the lights. I was in the very back of the crowd in a long corridor; I had an inkling of what was about to happen. I wanted to distance myself from the others as best I could. It got a little darker as they turned on the simulated lanterns used in the old days and turned off the modern lighting. “No, no lights off. No lights off.” Then, it got under the Earth dark. “NO NOO NOOOOOOOO! NO LIGHTS OFF!” I tried my best to calm him to no avail. Our Youngest kept yelling. I couldn’t hear a thing the tour guide said. Though she tried valiantly, picking her volume up over the sound of my child, I only heard her when he was taking a breath to fill his lungs for more no’s. Suck it in! You can't tell, but I am carryng Yoda through this narrow opening. Not once did his feet touch the ground durring the hour long tour. Thanks for keeping an eye on me. Fortunately, we went with some cousins of ours that live near the cave. They kept an eye on Our Eldest, so I didn’t have to worry about him too. Despite having to carry Our Youngest through the whole cave system I enjoyed myself a lot. The best part for the kids was the souvenir shop. Hopefully that will be the memory Our Youngest takes away from our excursion into the Earth, or it may be a while before I get to go back and see the buried treasure in the bowels of the Earth…

You Want My Vote?

I'm an Independent, albeit a conservative independent. I am registered as an independent, have been for years. I am as dissatisfied with our current government as the next and would love nothing more than to see the entire lot thrown out. I also pride myself on not being a single issue voter; there are too many issues. That is, until we were attacked on 9/11. I'm a single issue voter now. You want my vote? You better be serious about the War on Terror. Unfortunately, that includes Iraq. For better or worse, we opened up a front in the War on Terror inside Iraq and to yield the field to the enemy is unacceptable. You want my vote? Don't talk about withdraw, don't talk about time lines, don't tell me how our brave soldiers are slaughtering innocent civilians. Tell me how you are going to win the battle. Tell me how you are going to combat enemy propaganda. Tell me how you are going to deal with Iran meddling in Iraqi politics. Tell me you want to stay in Iraq for years 'cause several large military bases in a stable Iraq would give pause to the Iranian mullahs. We created the battlefield in Iraq. If you want my vote, you better take ownership. You want my vote? Don't tell me how we are distracted from the "real" threat in Afghanistan. This is a multi-front war. Tell how you are going to deal with the tribal regions of Pakistan. What are you going to do about the training bases we can't get at? What's the plan if Perez Musharraf 's regime is toppled by Islamists? How you are going to secure Pakistani nuclear weapons? Tell me what you are going to do about the growing threat posed by the Union of Islamic Courts in Somalia. Tell me how you are going to prevent the U.N. from handcuffing our efforts. Tell me how, despite world opinion, you are going to take the gloves off and prosecute this war like we want to win. Lastly, tell me how you are going to unite this country. The only way we are going to lose is by tearing ourselves apart and that is just what we are doing. The current partisan political environment is very poisonous to our efforts. Name calling and finger pointing are not very productive and the terrorists’ best weapon is our own self loathing. How will you unite this country?