avoidance

election avoidance
The next few days will be an exercise in avoiding all news sites and TV coverage of the election. I can't stand to see headlines where Obama's winning (don't want to get my hopes up) or where he's losing (don't want to deal with the pain if he loses until it happens). So I am just avoiding it all. None of it is as bad as it was last time around when I was so very emotionally invested in the outcome. Plus, there's no Sarah Palin in the race and that makes all the difference. I still loathe her to the core of my being.

I told D that Tuesday we'd not have the TV on for election coverage when I was in the room. That's when he reminded me that he'll be on a plane then. And then I remembered Avery and I leave to join him in NYC on Wednesday (D was originally scheduled to fly with us on Wednesday, but had to change his flight to leave a day earlier).

guy fawkes party
We hosted about 80 people for D's annual Guy Fawkes party. In reality this event has nothing to do with Guy Fawkes except that it's British holiday and D's British. The party went well, I think. I had a good time when I did interact. When the number of people overwhelmed me, I hid in my bedroom for a bit, then came back out. I did this a few times until hitting the sack at a respectable time (if you're 80). There was lots of laughter until the last people left around 1:30.

I just sorted through all the trash from the party so I could pull out recyclables and compostables. It left us with surprisingly little trash all things considered. We still have the tent set up on the back deck and tables and chairs from the rental company scattered on the deck, in the garage, and in the house, but overall the house is in a livable state. Rental stuff will be picked up tomorrow, so no big deal.

My hostess gift for the evening: two boxes of fruit rollups. Perfection. I suspect someone reads my blog.

nyc
Our trip is still on as long as we have a hotel room. We have a reservation, but given that the city's hotel rooms seem to be bursting at the seams, I'm wondering if they will bump us or something.

Ten!

Tenth wedding anniversary
D and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary yesterday. We had a nice dinner at Nostrana - an ironic choice given D is allergic to tomatoes and I can't eat gluten - then hit a movie after that. Avery had a sleepover at the G's house, so we didn't have to pick her up after date night making that 9:30 movie possible - thanks RHG!

At dinner, D and I tried to remember where we had spent each anniversary and what we got each other. Turns out, he and I both suck at remembering such things. Then I thought to check my blog. Turns out that I suck at documenting these things, too. So this year, I'll document our gifts. It was the aluminum/tin year. I found an arty coat rack made of aluminum that I loved, but there's only one place in our house where it would make sense to hang it and it is too big for that space. So I decided to make him something out of aluminum. Poor D. He must bear the burden that is my current (and not yet waning) Silhouette obsession. I decided to etch one of D's favorite pictures of Avery in aluminum, then I had it framed. The bad part is that it's kind of difficult to see in certain lights. I also made him a card including the top ten moments of our marriage which I thought was rather clever, tyvm.

My photography skills leave a bit to be desired, I know.

D looked in about six different arty/crafty stores to find something made of aluminum for me. When that failed (it's a surprisingly difficult metal to find in artwork), he decided that there must be some aluminum or tin inside of a serger. So I got a serger! I dropped many, many subtle and not-so-subtle hints that I wanted a serger. Now I just need to figure out what a serger does and how to use it.

The movie we ended up seeing was Searching for Sugarman. To save you the trouble of clicking through to read the description of the movie, here it is:

Searching for Sugar Man tells the incredible true story of Rodriguez, the greatest '70s rock icon who never was. Discovered in a Detroit bar in the late '60s by two celebrated producers struck by his soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics, they recorded an album which they believed would secure his reputation as the greatest recording artist of his generation. In fact, the album bombed and the singer disappeared into obscurity amid rumors of a gruesome on-stage suicide. But a bootleg recording found its way into apartheid South Africa and, over the next two decades, he became a phenomenon. The film follows the story of two South African fans who set out to find out what really happened to their hero. Their investigation leads them to a story more extraordinary than any of the existing myths about the artist known as Rodriguez. -- (C) Sony Pictures Classics

It was excellent. I smiled through almost all of it. I cried during bits of it, but only out of joy. I'm always shocked when a documentary or movie about music moves me because I simply am not one to be moved by music. And I wasn't moved by his music (though even I could tell his music is amazing) so much as I was by the entire story. I highly recommend anyone who likes documentaries or music or stranger-than-fiction movies see this one.

To top off our celebration of making it to double-digits, we went to brunch at Tasty N Sons this morning. Delicious. [I neglected to mention in my original posting of this that going to Tasty N Sons was made possible by the babysitting efforts of Nain - thanks Mom!]

Oh, and when the flowers from D arrived yesterday morning, Avery saw them, put her hands on her cheek and exclaimed, "Roses! They're gorgeous!"

Closet

Paint!Today is the first day Mom and I will be painting in her new house*. We have thrown up some paint samples, but haven't painted anything for good yet. Today we're going to paint a closet. We move slowly but surely. 

For a housewarming gift, D and I are giving Mom professional painting. So those painters will do the main parts of the house and all ceilings next week. Mom and I will take care of painting the bedrooms upstairs, as well as the bathroom walls. I'm actually looking forward to painting since it's been a long time since I've painted. I gained a lot of experience that time RHG made me paint her new kitchen in Denver, not once, but twice.

I think Mom has decided on her bedroom and office colors. She's still thinking through the guest bedroom and is very close to deciding the kitchen color. It's all very exciting and a bit exhausting.

*It's a townhome, not a stand-alone house, but I'm going to call it a house from here on out because it's easier to type. 

Shooting
When I heard about the shooting at the theater in Colorado, I heard it was in Aurora, but for some reason placed Aurora in Arvada (another suburb) in my mind. Later that day I realized that the shooting happened at the same theater D and I frequented twice a week for a couple of years.

There's really not much to say about something so senseless and horrific, so I'll leave commentary to those more articulate about such matters.

Partiamo
D's annual company getaway is called Partiamo (the same name every year, regardless of the theme). Last year the theme was hipsters. This year it's the 20's. I ordered my dress, via Etsy, the other day. We'll see how it fits. Please let it be more flattering than last year's horror. At least out of last year's dress, Avery got a great dress for playing dress-up.

Anyway, here's the dress I bought. Fingers crossed that it'll look OK.

Dress up
Avery's interest in my high heels is at a peak at the moment. She found the pair I wore to RHG's wedding and is currently clunking around the house in those. They remind me of my childhood because my best friend had a pair the exact same shape and height, only hers were covered in a horrible blue floral print whereas mine are just cork.

Nightshades

Sad, sad day
D has gone through the five stages of grief, so I feel like it's OK for me to blog about this now. Brace yourselves for the bad news: D is allergic/sensitive to nightshades. He's still reintroducing foods so it may not be the only thing, but his eczema and psoriasis have improved vastly without the nightshades and when he reintroduced them, the itching immediately resumed. D was pretty devastated with this discovery. Nightshades include tomatoes, white potatoes, yams, eggplant, peppers and a type of cherry. On the surface, it doesn't sound like a bad allergy/sensitivity to have, but D loves spicy food. How do most people get heat into spicy food? Peppers. Most curries have red pepper in them. Most Thai food has peppers. Most Mexican food has peppers. And tomatoes are in almost everything.

So it's a tough one. And it makes us to the single most difficult household ever to cook for. Between D's chosen exclusions (pig, lobster, shrimp) and his forced exclusions (nightshades) and my forced exclusion (gluten), I'm pretty sure we'll never be invited to dinner ever again. On the bright side, a nightshade sensitivity doesn't really change much of my cooking. I made a few dishes with tomatoes, but in general I don't cook with any nightshades. I don't like spicy food, I would much rather eat rice than potatoes, and who cares about eggplant?

My diet
I've limited my added sugar intake dramatically since last weekend's PPC binge. It's improved my mood, but I'm still having headaches and nausea at times, with the headaches being the more frequent of the two. Yesterday I did well all day, but after I ate at Pastini for dinner, I got a slight stomachache and headache.  Damn it!

Loose ends
I'm going to tie up some loose ends on topics that I've talked about on the blog, but then never followed up.

• Moving and/or downsizing. I think this is ship that has sailed. I've accepted and embraced that this will be our house* until we downsize for retirement. I know that I'll still get the moving itch every once in a while, but we're here. I do love this house, and I do love many things about where we live. It's not where I would choose to live if I could pick right now, but I'm content and D is, too. (* assuming & hoping the economy doesn't go off the deep end and something goes horribly, horribly wrong)
• Avery & sleeping. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we'd had some regression with Avery's sleeping. What I meant was that she'd started coming into bed with us around 1 am or so. D sleeps horribly when she's in the bed, I sleep only slightly better, Avery sleeps just dandy. The rule now is that if she comes into our bed before 6 am, then she cannot watch her morning TV show. I thought that would clear it right up, and it does help immensely, but she still comes in maybe 1-2 nights per week. We could tell her no when she comes in, but that would involve crying and less sleep for me. I just don't have it in me to disrupt my sleep anymore than I have to, so I just scoot over and let her into bed. 
• Mom's moving plan. People often ask about Mom's move and what the plan is for when she moves. As of now, she'll be here around March 26th. She'll live with us for several months, then decide what to do. Her options are: live with us for longer; rent; buy. 
• Others? Now's your time to ask, oh-so-many readers. 

Invitations

Avery's Birthday Invitations

I'm working on Avery's birthday invitations as I type this post. I didn't really have a plan going into them, nor did I buy any special supplies, so each invitation will be a bit unique as I piece each together. My Silhouette is getting a workout. 

Flowers

Some "just because" flowers just arrived from Damian. The card says they're for Avery and me. I'm appreciative of them, but I'm so excited for when Avery sees them. I'm going to wait to take them out of the box until Avery gets home so she can help. Avery absolutely loves to get people flowers. She's always suggesting to me or to D that we should get the other one flowers. That's why, for the first time, I got D flowers on his birthday this year. A few days later he said he finally got why women like flowers. That it's not so much that they're something pretty as much as it is each time you see them, you feel that special "oh, my spouse thought about me!" feeling inside. Sometimes D doesn't need a handyman to hit the nail on the head!

Prime

Amazon finally did it
I've had Amazon Prime for a year now from a promotional program in which I participated. I've been wavering about renewing Prime. They've had various benefits of Prime membership that have come close to swaying me, but I was still on the edge until tonight. I just signed up for Prime after seeing the Kindle Owners' Lending Library where I can borrow books for free from Amazon. We buy a lot of books for our Kindles, so I think we'll save a chunk from that. We'll also save it on shipping.  It's still a luxury, but it's a luxury I know I'll appreciate.

Guy Fawkes Night
We're hosting our annual Guy Fawkes Night for D's colleagues at our house tomorrow night. I made a poster for the occasion. It didn't turn out quite as fabulous as it was planned to be in my head, but hey, it's another use for my Silhouette.

I made the mask using the trace tool, then cut it out in vinyl.  I bought the images for Big Ben and the Tower Bridge. I also bought the fireworks images. I cut them out and then applied glitter to make them more realistic. And I downloaded (for free) an old English font. D's company's name is in the upper right corner, but I airbrushed that out of the picture.  

Famous
RHG called me the other night and said she didn't know we were famous. I said, "huh?" A friend of hers was reading the most recent issue of NW Kids Magazine and recognized our picture. A few weeks ago, the magazine interviewed our adoption agency for a story on open adoption. Our agency gave them our picture. They emailed us and asked us if they could use it.  I said sure and figured it would be a little picture off to the side. Turns out that it's THE picture of the story. If you want to read the story, click on the link to the magazine above, then click on the picture under the "Current Issue" link on the right side. The story on open adoption is on pages 20 & 21. There's also a glimpse of Avery in the table of contents.

Houses

---

Activities of the last week

• Driving - Mom landed last Wednesday, so she's been here almost a week.  It's hard to believe.  In that time, I think we've driven 1,000 miles in that time.  Between all the driving I do to get Avery to her various activities, extra driving done to move G kids around (which isn't all that much, but has been a little), and looking at houses for Mom, we have had our butts in the car much of her time here. 
• Crafting - sort of.  I have finished part of my fabric boxes.  I have more to do, but they're looking decent so far.  I also made Avery a Tiana blanket (in other words, I hemmed some flannel fabric) and I altered the 80's prom dress I wore for the hispter dress up so that Avery can wear it around the house.  I'm going to make a few more changes, but I am very impressed with myself.  Avery LOVES it.  She thinks it's the most beautiful dress ever.  Mom said she calls it her wedding dress.  

---

Houses


We continue to look at potential houses for Mom when she moves here.  The nice part is that since she's not moving out for another six months, we aren't under any pressure to get something.  And we're still not under pressure if she sells her house in Colorado before moving out because she can always live with us for an open-ended period of time.

Many continue to ask me what is going on with the short sale house.  The answer is the same as always: nothing.  We are one of four offers, including an offer made by the former tenant (who moved out a few days ago). The house was not pre-approved as a short sale by the bank when the seller put it on the market, so the ball is now in the bank's court where it's been for the past four months.  So there you go.  In the meantime, we're looking at other houses in the same neighborhood, as well as other areas.  I have a pretty good idea of what Mom likes and doesn't like, and what she wants and needs, even though some of those aren't what I would want or need in her situation.

We've looked at two houses that I absolutely loved.  One house was utterly ridiculous.  It would have a terrible time with resale, it was small and oddly laid out, it was not in an ideal location, it was a true one bedroom ... and I loved it!  Know why I loved it?  Because it had an oversized mouse hole between the living room and the bedroom.  Remember the mouse hole in Tom & Jerry?  That shape?  Well, make that big enough for a cat to get through, then carve it into a wall between two rooms and this is what was there!  On purpose!  I was obsessed with it.  Clearly this is no reason to buy a house.  In fact, it's probably a reason to not buy a house, but all I could think about was how fun it would be to drive a remote control car between the two rooms!  I could sense the moment we walked in the house that Mom was not digging the space.  The other house that I really loved was one Mom also loved.  The problem is that it's tiny and overpriced, but it's the cutest, most adorable house I've ever seen.  And it was built in 1899, but is so level and fixed up that you can't tell.  I seriously couldn't find a crack or anything broken or slightly askew.

Today we'll look at a few houses in a neighborhood we've not explored yet, so that will be interesting.  Since D is joining us, we'll also go back to the three houses that are on the 'yes' list, though one of those is the adorable, overpriced tiny house, and the other is the short sale we have an offer in on already.

---

Hood to Coast

Mom and I volunteered for Hood to Coast on Friday.  D's team had to provide three volunteers.  Mom and I were two of them.  It was a hot, hot day for the run.  Mom and I got so very lucky to be posted where we were.  There was shade the entire shift, it was quiet, and we could easily take turns sitting on the one chair we brought without a problem.  Overall, it was a boring stint.  I think it would have been a lot more interesting if we'd been there during a different time, but the teams going through the point were all walking teams at that point.  Our job was to direct the runners and vans down the correct road.  Encouraging the walkers and runners seemed a natural offshoot of that.  Well, if you start clapping for a walker too early, you clap a looooonnnng time.  Plus, there's that awkward moment after you yell out good job!  If it's a runner, they're off and running and it's not awkward.  If it's a walker, they're still there.  It's simply fraught with awkwardness.

D was in a world of hurt when he got home on Saturday night, but so was everyone else in his van.  He said they felt a little better when they went to Dairy Queen after the race and saw a team sponsored by Nike there.  This team was clearly very fit.  Every one of them groaned when walking down the steps, too.  So I guess the race takes a toll on you regardless of how fit you are.

---

Dogsitting

Kerry (mother of Lily, neighbor, friend) asked me to watch her dog, Princess, while they're on vacation next week.  I, of course, said sure!  I'm quite excited because Princess is a little dog.  I've never watched a little dog.  I've never been around a little dog for any extended period of time.  It'll be a good test as to whether it's still like having a dog, or if it's more like a cat to me.

Avery's not a big fan of Princess because Princess sometimes jumps on her.  However, overall, Princess is very well behaved and does not have a Napoleon complex as many small dogs do.

Pottery

9 years = pottery

Yesterday was our ninth wedding anniversary.  Nine years.  Very cool.  We're almost into double digits and numbers I don't know in foreign languages.  Even cooler.   

We always give each other something from the traditional anniversary gift list.  Nine years is pottery/ceramics.  We both waited until yesterday to go shopping for gifts.  Around 11:30, I went into a store near D's office to look for pottery, The Real Mother Goose.  I'm not even sure where else one would go in Portland to get pottery because I'm far from a pottery seeker.  After browsing aimlessly for about 20 minutes, the clerk asks me if she can help me.  I said, "Well, it's my ninth wedding anniversary and that is pottery and well, my husband and I aren't pottery people."  She then says, "That's funny.  There was a man in her earlier today who said that same thing."  Immediately I knew it had to be D.  Fast forward to our gift exchange later in the day and sure enough, it was D.  We missed each other by probably 15 minutes or so.  Anyway, I got him a bowl and he got me a chicken and a piece of art. But, then he got me another gift that was delivered today: a new iMac!  Woohoo!  Now that's how to celebrate nine years.  So, in terms of presents, D wins the 9 year wedding anniversary battle. Of course, when he wins, I win. 

Weekend away

In other news, D and I are heading away for the weekend for his company's retreat.  Originally we were just going to be gone on Saturday night.  However, after Amber offered to take Avery on Friday night, too, we realized we could stay Friday night up there, too.  This is important because it gives me the opportunity to sleep in before my oh-so-difficult afternoon of spa-ing.
In the evening we have a party where the dress code is hipsters.  I'm wearing a purple 80's style prom dress, a green cummerbund, green and black striped tights, a purple vest/shrug, and blue rimmed Ray-Ban knock off glasses topped off with black hiking boots.   

On Sunday, there's apparently a very popular brunch at the lodge where we're staying (Skamania), so I'm looking forward to that, too! 

Meanwhile, Avery is talking non-stop of her coming sleep over with Josie.  And she's talking a lot about Cayden.  I think she might have some sort of platonic crush on Cayden.  We hardly ever see Cayden, yet when I have gum, Avery will ask me, "Can Cayden have gum?" She does the same thing at other random times.  She wants to know what jammies Cayden will be wearing and whether they'll be scary.  The mind of a 3yo fascinates me. 

Pong

---

Company Party

Today we hosted a party for D's office.  The original picnic was reschedule and moved to our house after the original date landed on a cold, rainy day.  Let's face it, who wants to spend a weekend day in the drizzly rain with coworkers.  I don't know what others thought, but I thought we had a pretty good time today.  Any time you have a party that degenerates to playing beer pong in the garage with loud music blaring and little kids playing with bicycle pumps and dancing to inappropriate music gets a thumbs up in my book.  Plus, I nailed D with not one, but two water balloons.  Awesome.

As a bonus, Avery was dog tired after a day of running around with the other kids, so she fell asleep immediately after reading books.  Awesome.  

---

Ignorant

Somewhere in the last 1.5 years, I stopped following all political news because it just made me so mad.  That's been a blessing.  Then I just kind of stopped following all news, I guess because avoiding political news diverts attention from other news, too.  To be honest, it's been blissful.  However, it also means I'm not up on much of anything.  Everything comes as a bit of a surprise to me.  I understand there's a bit of a debt crisis going on (kidding, even that story penetrates my self-imposed ignorance).  Anyway, I have heard about a drought in East Africa, but I haven't thought much of it beyond the headlines. The Big Picture of The Boston Globe did a post on the crisis.  If those pictures don't make you click over the WFP and donate $100 ...   I find the pull to donate to such causes so much stronger now that I'm a mother.  I cannot imagine what it is like to watch your child suffer that way.  Suffering yourself is one thing.  Watching your child suffer must be the absolutely worst feeling in the world.

Bucket

---

Vegas trip bullets

• Vegas was great.  We didn't do much other than lounge, eat, sleep, and eat.  For the first time, we rented a poolside cabana.  That is on my "must do" list for Vegas from now on.  It made all the difference in my enjoyment of the pool.  Guaranteed shade - check. Misters - check. Personal cabana attendant - check. Plenty of room to leave my stuff laying around - check.  Since I don't actually ever go in the pool, lounging accommodations are key for me. 
• We didn't make reservations at any fancy places this time, but did eat at a nice tapas place, Julian Serrano, in Aria couple of times.  I'm not a huge fan of mushroom risotto normally, but I absolutely loved it there.  It was perfect.
• Vic was quite pregnant looking.  She's due on Labor Day.  She and Mike haven't gone all sappy with the pregnancy.  That's the hardest thing about friends having babies, imho - are they going to completely change and go all sappy?  So far, we're looking good. 
• Avery did great while we were gone.  She apparently said twice that she missed us: once the day we left, then once on Sunday.  When she said it on Sunday, RHG explained we'd be back the next day and this was an acceptable answer for her.  When we went to pick her up at school on Monday afternoon, she ran towards me fast and furious and looked like she was about to cry, but just ended up hugging me tightly and saying "mommy" over and over.  It was so wonderful to get back for that hug. 
• We didn't pack until the morning of our outbound 9:30 flight to Vegas.  In case you're wondering, that's not a good idea.  In case you're wondering, I'm sure I'll still do it the next time we have a 9:30 flight.  
• We hit In N Out twice.  Each time I ordered my burger protein style.  I am very pleased to report it really didn't diminish my enjoyment of the burger!  In N Out uses such high quality lettuce that it does substitute as a bun in function.  Ordering a Burgerville burger protein style (i.e. bunless and wrapped in lettuce) is less successful since they use a less rigid lettuce.  It makes it much harder to eat.
• I paid $8.65 for 1 liter of water in the hotel.  I'm still floored by that.  Still. 

---

Patience Bucket & Eddie 2005

I've been thinking a lot about my feelings during this post-Eddie time.  I bawled like a baby during the actual euthanasia session, however, I haven't cried since then.  I haven't even felt much more than wistful. In fact, it feels like a gigantic weight has been lifted from my shoulders.  It feels like I have a spring in my step.  Like I'm not trudging through mud everyday.  While I was aware that Eddie and his deterioration were weighing on me, I didn't realize the extent to which it was affecting me. 

I think many years ago, the loss of a pet didn't elicit much empathy from others. It was more a shrug of the shoulders type thing from what I've read.  That is definitely not the case now.  In fact, the empathy was almost too much because I felt somewhat emotionally inadequate in that I dealt with his death so well.  Thinking about it, I believe it's because I grieved Eddie's death during the last years of his life, rather than after his death.  For the previous two years, I would occasionally start crying on a walk when I'd think about Eddie not being able to do the trail walk anymore.  Or I'd start crying when I thought about losing him.  Each time I cleaned up yet another pile of poop, I'd remind myself to be patient and kind to Eddie because there would soon be a time when he wasn't around.  This type of grieving took a toll on me.  I don't have an infinite patience bucket.  When my patience bucket is empty, I feel overwhelmed and irritable.  And much of my patience bucket was being used during the first morning accident with Eddie.  Trying to replenish the bucket throughout the day as more and more accidents were happening, and my 3yo was acting like a 3yo, just wasn't working.

At the time, I kept thinking, "It's just poop.  You clean it up and move on with you day.  Why am I finding this so difficult?"  The patience bucket concept hadn't entered my mind.  But it's really hard to run the day's race when you come out of the starting gate and trip into a pile of shit.

Eddie was a terrific dog.  I miss the Eddie of 2005.  I miss his spirit and his love.  I miss his happiness and enthusiasm for life.  I miss Eddie 2005. 

---

Avery & Sleep

It's been a while since I've documented Avery's new nighttime habits.  I like to go back and see how we progressed or regressed, so here goes.  One recent change is nice and holding somewhat strong.  For the past couple of months, around 6:15 or 6:30, Avery will ask insist on going to bed.  Normally we start the bedtime routine around 7:30 and wrap up with it about 8:00 or 8:15.  On these nights when she insists on starting early, we wrap up about 7:00.  She does not usually go to sleep any earlier on these nights, but rather chooses to play in her room or on her picnic blanket (i.e. a blanket placed on the floor at the threshold of her door).  She plays dress up, makes patterns using her bibs, plays with cars, puts her babies to sleep, whatever.  Sometimes she does her best to get out of her room.  The only thing that releases her from her room is going potty, but she's trying a few other things.  For example, last night, first she said she needed her bibs that she'd left in the living room.  We granted permission because her bibs are always important to her (meaning, this isn't a made up thing that she really wants).  A while later she said she wanted to go potty.  That was obviously granted.  The next time she announced she needed to come downstairs because she wanted to show us the hole in her bib.  To that both D and I answered an emphatic, "No!" and Avery ceased her tricks to escape her room for the evening.

For the most part, we still take the approach that she chooses when to go to sleep once we leave her room, but she must be somewhat quiet and in her room once we leave.  For the most part, this results in an extra 30 minutes or so of quiet playing (sometimes more, usually less) before she finally decides to go to sleep.  It works for us too because it takes the power struggle out of bed time since she never actually protests starting the nighttime routine.  I'm consistently and eternally grateful* she doesn't protest at all when we announce it's time to go to bed.  We have all sorts of other battles during the day (combing her hair, brushing her teeth properly, getting dressed, etc), so a battle for bedtime when I'm most tired is not one that I want.

For the past, man, I don't know how long ... 6 months?  More? Less?  Anyway, for a long period of time now, she's been sleeping in our bed for anywhere from 1-6 hours in the early morning hours, depending upon her arrival time.  D has pondered whether we should do something about it, as have I.  I have landed in the camp of it doesn't bother me, she goes to sleep in her own bed/floor alone without a fuss, and I like having her sleep with us for a bit, so what's the harm?  I think I might have a different reaction if she wasn't able to fall asleep on her own, or insisted that she fall asleep in our bed, but I don't know.  All I know is that since it doesn't keep me awake like it did when she was a baby, I don't mind having her sleep with us.  I actually really like it most of the time.  The other night she wandered into our room on the early side of the night and D and I were still awake reading.  She opened the door and paused when she saw our lights on.  Her hair was all tousled, she was very sleepy looking and she was "sneaking" quietly into the room.  We said it was OK for her to come in, at which point she woke up completely and started jabbering away about coming into our room and how she just needed to bring in a bunch of bibs.  After fetching about 20 bibs and placing them in our bed, she climbed up and proceeded to fall asleep within a minute with D and I smiling at each other the whole time.  

---

Offspring Goggles

Talking about the smile between D and I when Avery joins us in our room, or when she's just talking and talking and talking about something, reminds me of a post Heather did called Shared Sight.

I can't speak for all parents, but I know Todd and I see our children with biased eyes. When we spout the clichés about Eddie and Mari being the two most interesting, captivating children we've ever met, we actually mean it. We delight in learning more about therm. And I'm perfectly aware that others don't think they're as amazing as Todd and I do. Even their grandparents don't have quite the same fascination. It's a parent thing.

While Heather was addressing this shared sight in terms of open adoption, I see it similar to what I call Offspring Goggles - like beer goggles, only with children.  The goggles don't eliminate my ability to see Avery's misbehavior or offenses towards other children - as if she has any ;) - but they definitely enhance her infinitely in our eyes.  One of the greatest gifts of parenthood, to me, is the shared love D and I have for Avery.  No matter what, I can go on and on and on about how cute and how smart and how everything Avery is to D, and he always sees it the same way.  Because, damn it, we just adore that little girl so very much.  She's just perfect to us.  Even her imperfections are perfect to us.  We both know, as I think all parents do, that others don't see her the same way we do.  We know that what is adorable and amazing to us is usually just another skill most kids acquire at some point, yet we still get to experience this elation together.  And that we get to do that because we are still married and both still alive and still happy together is something for which I'm eternally grateful*. 

* Don't ask me to compare these two things for which I'm eternally grateful since I cannot think logically when sleep is involved. Also asterisked because I wanted to note that yes, I do know I used this sappy phrase twice in one post, but I meant it both times. 

Funk

---

Funky funkity funk

My lack of blogging is the usual: a sort of funk.  I spent all day on Thursday - and I mean ALL DAY - laying in bed staring at the ceiling or sleeping or watching TV.  All day.  What a waste.  Meanwhile, the house was filthy and I hadn't caught up on laundry since returning from Seattle.  I actually resorted to using a black Sharpie to fix some bleach stains on a pair black pants so I had some clean pants to wear.  At least the pants were clean.  And the Sharpie actually did quite a good job, so this really isn't the sob story it started out to be.

Yesterday, I had a much better day.  I took Avery to school earlier than usual simply because we were both ready. When I got home, I got laundry going, then took the dogs out for a walk.  Eddie just made it around the block before his back paw started dragging, so I then dropped him off at home, then took Turtle out for a big walk.  This morning, it's Turtle's paw that is bleeding.  She isn't limping and won't let me look at the paw.  Sigh. Another potential trip to the vet. 

---

The Eddie Situation

Speaking of trips to the vet, Eddie's visit yielded an answer as to what we should do about Eddie, but the answer still leaves us in limbo.  The short answer is the vet said now is an appropriate time to put Eddie to sleep.  He's in constant discomfort.  However, he's not in excessive pain.  Pain, yes.  Excessive pain, probably not.  So, we can choose to wait until he reaches the point where he is in excessive pain or when he can no longer go up and down the stairs, etc.  Or we can do it before he reaches that point.  He's got weeks to 3 (ish) months before we hit the excessive pain point, the vet thinks.  I'm ready to put him to sleep; D is not there quite yet.  That I'm ready is partly because I'm just ready to be done picking up poop in the house everyday, and I'm ready to have one less being looking to me to care for him all the time.  This part of me feels immense guilt for these feelings. The not guilty part of me is ready because I don't want to see him get to excessive pain, nor do I think his quality of life is very good right now.  He can't go on daily walks.  He can only go a short distance before we come back.  He spends most of his day moving from room to room, following me, trying to get in a comfortable position.  He pants and pants and pants, which can't be restful.  Since the latter two behaviors are really annoying, both D and I often snap at him.  He's also sleeping in the garage, rather than in the house with Turtle and us; however, I don't actually think he minds that at all, so I can't really list that as a bad quality of life.

Anyway, the vet did give us some more medication for him, but not for pain.  This is an antidepressant for people that he says sometimes helps dogs with anxiety (excessive panting, following from room to room).  It's definitely working on the panting.  He still follows me around, but perhaps it's not quite as bad as it was - I'm not sure on that one.  Either way, I'm less annoyed, so I feel better able to handle the time between now and when D reaches the point where he's also ready.  After discussing it this afternoon, D has decided he'd like to wait until the end of summer so Eddie can enjoy being out on the deck and enjoy the summer.  This assumes, of course, that the pain doesn't ramp up.  Right now, I think he'll be able to handle it since he's taking his pain medication more regularly.

D talked to Avery the other night about the fact that Eddie's going to die.  Avery understands he'll die and he'll be gone, but she says it's for a "long, long, long time."  Then she says, "but that's OK, because we have Turtle Girlie!"  She doesn't seem to show any true sadness about it yet.  I think she does somewhat get death because, since that conversation took place, she'll say things like, "I don't want you ever to die, Mommy," or, "I won't let you die, Mommy."  Yesterday, she said something about not wanting Daddy to die.  I keep assuring her we're not going to die for a very long time. As with most of these topics when they're merely speculation, I'm very far removed from emotion with them.  I don't cry about Eddie unless I'm actually thinking through the process of putting him to sleep and what that means.  I did end up bawling in the vet's office, but I think that's to be expected.  

---

Motorcycle

D bought his motorcycle today.  It turned into an all day affair.  He ended up going with a Kawasaki Ninja after reading that it was a good bike for new riders. It's apple green, so I approve of the color.

---

Date Nights

The G kids just left.  Tomorrow will be our date night since we Friday night was my book club meeting.  There are many movies I want to see.  This could be a difficult decision.

Stationery

Adventures in embossing

When I mentioned at dinner with girlfriends that I love embossing, yet have little use for it since I don't scrapbook, Stacey mentioned that her daughter would love personalized stationery.  Well, it took me three months, but I finally got around to actually doing it.  I thought about just making a bunch with the same design, but different colors, but instead went with a smattering of random.  I also made envelopes to match each one.  As per my usual, pictures are taken with my cell phone and in crappy light.   Considering I'm a one trick pony*, I'm fairly happy with the results.  Though, I can tell you that perhaps this isn't the hobby for me since I can point out flaws on every.single.one that drive me batty. I finally just had to say, "They're for a 4yo who will likely just scribble on it and toss it aside.  Get over it.  A few extra bits of embossing powder is not the end of the world."

* My one trick is embossing. I don't do any other embellishments (hey! I know a scrapbooking term!), though I guess use of punches might be considered an embellishment. Regardless, I am a one trick pony at the moment. I might look to add a few more tricks, but as I'm simple at heart, there won't be too many of them.

Inside it says, "From the desk of Maddie ____" (where ___ = her last name)

The first time I made this card, I thought I'd be clever and put the lion on the inside then punch a hole in the front so you could see him through it.  Yeah, that doesn't work if you actually want to have space to write on the card.

Too formal for a kid and the border on the side is a bit messed up, but hey, butterflies are cute.

Drives me crazy that the red balloon is so imperfect.  However, I love the envelope.

Simple card, envelope too big and is not lined on the inside.  Not my favorite one.

I don't like the color of her name, but I do like that's it's small and simple.

Way too formal, but I still like it.

I edited the picture to remove her last name, but this is an example of the personalization on the inside of most of the cards. 

---

Unexpected night alone

Tonight was our date night.  We went to see Cedar Rapids (very funny).  While out, RHG texted and pointed out that we have brunch at their house in the morning anyway, so why don't we just leave Avery there overnight.  I quickly replied, "OK!" but then noted we needed Avery's approval because I do have the daughter who WILL remember that I specifically said we'd come get her in the few hours.  Apparently, Avery was just dandy with the idea of an impromtu sleepover, so D and I have the luxury of a night at home sans kid.  Of course, I'm blogging and he's researching motorcycle classes...

---

Pounce

...which leads to my next topic.  I have always forbid D to get a motorcycle.  Tonight as we're walking along in the Pearl District, I said off hand that I guess it would be fine as long as he always wore a helmet (duh) and didn't drive crazy.  That was the extent of our conversation.  D is signed up to take a class to get his license already.  I have never seen him move so quickly in planning something in my life.  One moment of weakness on my part and poof! he's signed up for a class and scoping out bikes.  Lesson learned.

---

Energy and diet and all that jazz

After that awful few days last week, my mood is back to good and my energy is, well, I guess it's good (relative to me).  The best way I can think to describe it is that I'm more awake during my awake hours, but my need/desire for a lot of sleep has not yet diminished.  For example, after brunch today, we got home and I took a, wait for it, 3 hour nap.  Yes, three.  And I slept 7 hours last night, so it's not as if I was sleep deprived.  However, this is the key difference the diet seems to be making: after I woke up, I was almost immediately refreshed and had energy to get Turtle walked, do some laundry and dishes, and take care of other things before we headed out for date night.  Were this pre-diet, I would have still taken the 3 hour nap, but I would have been worthless after the nap, too.  So there you go.  Now that I'm tracking almost everything, I do find it difficult to accept that I sleep on average, 9.7 hours per day.  That's a lot.  I knew I slept a lot, but seeing the actual number makes me sad.

After my call with Andrea last week, I am now thinking that this is going to be a longer process than I thought/hoped.  My theory right now is that I'm not sensitive to any category of foods, but that I have had such poor kidney and liver functions for so long that I'm going to have to keep eating this way until things get back into whack.  And when I say this way, I don't mean staying on the diet, but rather sticking to Andrea's general guidelines as much as possible at home, then allowing myself indulgences when I go out.  I don't know if I'm strong enough to resist once I taste the Good Stuff again (butter, white flour, sugar, etc).  While I have very little craving for any of it, I know once I taste it again, that could go out the window.  We'll see how strict I have to be with myself to keep myself from sliding back to how I was.

I asked Andrea if she ate out at fine dining restaurants (I care about fine dining - I don't care if I never can eat at McDonald's or Red Robin or places like that again), or if she ate "normal person food" ever.  She said absolutely.  She just eats a vast majority of her food at home, then doesn't sweat it when she goes out or eats non-macrobiotic food.  She basically promotes a macrobiotic diet, though she never actually used this term during our discussions.  Also, reading about the macrobiotic diet, I don't see much about red meat.  Andrea isn't against red meat or a little dairy.  She seems more to promote the listening to your body philosophy of that way of eating. And that is where I connect with what she believes.  Obviously, what I've been doing isn't working and I need to change it.  That's as far as my personal eating belief has progressed.

Update

Diet

I am still on my elimination diet.  It's going very well from a difficulty standpoint.  That is to say, it's not been difficult at all to stay on it.  I'm now confident I can make it all 21 days. For this, I'm am so very grateful.  Attempt 1 felt like I was white knuckling my way through for the three short days I was on the diet.  This time it feels natural and unforced.

One of the changes I've noticed is my hair.  My hair is so freakin' soft.  D was even stunned when I told him to feel it.  Other than that, I haven't noticed significant physical changes with the diet.  I do believe have more energy when I am awake, but again, it's hard to judge since I've also been sick since day 3.

Speaking of sick, the explanation I got from the acupuncturist* is that most people get sick around day three of the diet.  According to her, your body is working at eliminating all the toxins that have built up in your body.  I'm not sure I wholly believe this view, but I do know that I got sick on day three for both diets.

The other thing I find interesting is acupuncture and how it's effect has changed while I've been on the diet.  I've been twice recently.  The first visit I was off Diet Coke and eating very close to the diet, though not officially on the diet.  The point being that I was eating very healthfully.  The second visit was day 6 of the diet.  For both of these visits, after acupuncture, I had so much energy all day.  I'd heard that it's not uncommon for people to experience a sort of high after acupuncture.  I had never experienced that.  For me it was more of a build up over time where I attributed changes to ongoing acupuncture treatments.  Damned if these last two times I haven't gotten that high (of sorts - it's not like a buzz - for me it's just like before the appointment, I'm wearing blinders and slogging around, but after the appointment, the blinders are off and I have a ton of energy).  Anyway, I haven't asked my acupuncturist or naturopath about this, so I have no idea if it means anything, but it's worth noting.

* My naturopath also sometimes does my acupuncture, but since most of my visits are solely for acupuncture, I see another woman who does a vast majority of the acupuncture on me.  Which is good because her needle sticks hurt way less than his.  And for those who've heard acupuncture doesn't hurt, it often doesn't.  It's just that the points that I need done tend to be in my finger tips, wrist, toes, and ankles.  Those points hurt, for me, when the needles first go in.  Once they're in, it doesn't hurt anymore.  

Tea

I went out with The 38* on Wednesday night.  It was just Stacey and Rachele and me.  I decided to eat dinner beforehand so I wouldn't be hungry.  It turned out to be a good thing because I couldn't have eaten even the salads on the menu.  So I went out to dinner and had tea.  It cost me $5 for the whole evening.  And it wasn't difficult to watch the other two eat.  It was a non-issue. Again, I'm so very grateful for that.

* The Yummy Group has officially been renamed The 38. No one in the group was ever fond of the name "The Yummy Group," so when a list of the 38 essential PDX restaurants we published online recently, we decided to rename ourselves The 38.

Busy

D has been working what feels like non-stop in 2011. If he's not at a Trailblazers game with clients, he's at a dinner.  If he's not at dinner, he's working late.  If it's the weekend, he's typically working all day on at least one of the days.  It was starting to wear on him, so he mentioned he just needed a day where he was completely off.  I decided the easiest way to give that to him would be for Avery and I to come over to the G's house on their date night and have me do the sitting for the G's date night by myself. Currently, I'm sitting in RHG's office after the three kids went down oh-so-easily tonight (again, so grateful).  I'll also spend the night and most of the day here tomorrow.  This way D has all night tonight to go out with friends, then can sleep peacefully with no Avery in bed (a common occurence again afte a brief 3-week (ish) hiatus where she just slept in her bed all night), then can sleep in tomorrow morning. 

Dance

Avery is signed up for another month of her hip hop dance class, as well as a pre-ballet class.  She's really, really looking forward to pre-ballet.  She's also doing twice-a-week swimming lessons, so she and I are driving all over the place and keeping busy.  I am not intentionally scheduling a lot of activities, but I think our schedule is now full with the scheduled activities.

School

Bad news: Avery is the fifth girl on the wait list for the preschool we would really like her to go to.  I'd say it's a 50/50 chance she'll get in.  I called the admissions director to ask what, based on her experience, she thinks Avery's odds are at getting in - that's where the 50/50 guess comes from.  There's really no way to predict it.  She said last year, all the boys on the wait list got in, but only two of the girls.  Hopefully it's the reverse this year.

In the meantime, I'm going to refocus my efforts and find a backup school so we're all set in September regardless of what happens with our first choice.  I asked the admin director for a few references.  One of those she gave is the preschool Elise currently attends.  Elise won't necessarily stay in that school next year (for a variety of reasons I'll leave to RHG to blog or not - none are bad or secretive - just logistical and practical), but it would be fun for those two to play together at recess.  If Elise were to stay, and if Avery were to attend that school, I'm not sure what my thoughts are about them being in the same class.  I'm not sure I would even have any say in that, but if I did, I lean toward requesting they be in different classes just because their bond is so tight that I wouldn't want it to throw Elise off her path (she's doing great at school) or to distract Avery.  Maybe that's not even something I should be thinking about for a three-year-old?  Maybe three-year-olds should be distracted by their friends?  I don't know.

Anyway, I'm not too thrown that Avery is on the wait list.  I suppose this is because it's preschool and there are lots of good preschools where I think she'll thrive.  Also, I can't do anything about it.  It is what it is. There's no use getting my panties in a bunch about something I can't change.  I'll just ramp up efforts to find a backup school.

Birthday

Happy Birthday, Damian!

First, a big, huge happy birthday to Damian!  Avery was quite keen to open D's presents this morning; D was kind enough to let her open them.  We are now an iPad family!  I got D a few other things, too, but that was his main gift.  Tonight we'll celebrate by going to Tabla for dinner.

D's dad gave him a gift of dinner at Paley's Place.  That is a damn cool present.  We'll probably go there in November. 

Birthday Patterns

When Avery arrived, I immediately noticed that her birthday is exactly one week after my brother's and exactly one week before my birthday.  This year they all land on Sundays.

D's dad's birthday and my dad's birthday are on the same day in October (this Friday).

My mom's birthday is in late September.  Exactly a week later, today, is D's birthday.  The following week is my brother's wife's birthday. This year they all land on Wednesdays.

We have a few outliers in this pattern since I clearly have not mentioned all family members, but I am amazed by the patterns.  Perhaps all families have these sorts of patterns.  I don't know.  I just find it cool.

Voteeasy

The Oregon candidates are online now.  My best matches are Ron Wyden (D) for The Senate and Michael Meo (Pacific Green, Progressive) for The House.  I haven't heard of Meo before now.  While I wouldn't vote for him (see my stance on "Ralph Nader" voters from yesterday's post), this site did make me research him a bit more, so that is a good thing even if it doesn't result in my vote changing. 

Eye Doctor

We have a follow-up appointment at the eye doctor for Avery this morning.  I think we'll also need to get her a pair of prescription sunglasses for Mexico.  Neither of her current frames have sunglasses that be put on top (at least I don't think they do).  I think she'd lose any attachments anyway.  She's good at keeping her glasses on, but if there is a piece that comes off, she'll most definitely want to play with it.  Seems crazy to buy a preschooler (she seems too mature to call a toddler any more) prescription sunglasses, but I'm not sure how else to protect her eyes from the sun, particularly if she's in a refusing to wear a hat mode. 

Cat

Letters and Words

Avery is starting to develop more of an interest in the spelling of words.  She knows her letters very well and mixes up only a few (e.g. B and D, especially the lower case ones).  Today we were in the Apple store because I needed to get a new phone (free for me because the battery in mine wouldn't hold the charge and I am within the warranty period).  As we were waiting for our appointment, Avery and I played with one of the iPads.  We played a spelling game in which the narrator would say the word to spell, then make the sound of the first letter in the word, then give the user a choice between four letters.  I was not overly surprised that Avery knew the first letter of the word "cat" is C.  She picked that one almost immediately after the narrator made the sound for C.  Then the narrator made the sound for A.  Avery hesitated a little, but still picked the correct letter.  She did the same for the last letter.

Also impressive to me is that when she was playing a game on one of the computers in the store, it said to spell her name.  She was able to find each letter on the keyboard to spell Avery.  I was feeding her the letters because she's not quite ready to process both spelling her name and finding the letter on the keyboard.  It was still cool to see her type her name, though.   She can spell her name correctly about 75% of the time.  The other 25% she leaves out the 'e.'

Necklace

As we were walking through the mall, Avery spied Claire's.  I have not been a Claire's since middle school.  Clearly, as a person who wears only two pieces of jewelry (engagement ring & wedding ring), I have no need for such a store.  Avery was so into that store.  It is, of course, junk central.  She walked through fingering each item and noting how pretty it was.  It was like she was savoring the moment versus giddy about seeing cool stuff.  Originally, I said we weren't going to buy anything if we went in.  Avery didn't ask for anything, but I realized this was an opportunity to have her pick out her next sleeping reward and it would be relatively cheap.  She picked out the weirdest necklace ever.  I never would have thought she'd pick that.  I thought she'd go for girly, shiny, and colorful.  It has a dark colored chain and a heart pendant and some other objects. 

I admit I have trouble stepping away and letting Avery make her own decisions about these sorts of things.  I know I need to let her because these are things that don't matter and it gives a sense of control and independence.  However, it's so against my nature to let her pick out jewelry, and crappy jewelry at that.  I just have to remember she will have different tastes to mine and that is fine.  I've even started to like some of her girly outfits since she looks so darn cute in them. 

Sick Husband

Poor D is now sick with what I've had.  He hasn't gotten laryngitis, but I think I only got it because I happened to be talking a lot during the early stages of the virus.  In any case, he's napping now.  I'm hoping he'll feel well enough for date night.  I need to go out.  We didn't have a date night last week and I feel like it's been forever.  I need our date nights.  It doesn't help that D has been working and out often recently, so between my sickness and his schedule, we haven't seen much of each other.

Craptastic

Drama

We had a little family drama (extended family, not family with D, Avery, and me) around here yesterday.  It sucked.  Majorly.  I don't feel it's appropriate to blog about it since I don't really have that type of blog, nor do I feel like rehashing it.  However, I will say it has completely drained me of the energy reserves I seem to have been building.  Damn it.  The good news, though, is that my mood - which tends to plummet for days with this type of emotional thing - is very stable.  I'm just exhausted.  But what's new there?  Thank goodness tonight is dinner out with friends. 

Wow

A colleague forwarded D an email from the Trailblazers.  It's a standard marketing email, in this case advertising pre-sale tickets.  Check out the picture.  See anyone familiar?  Considering D hardly goes to any sporting events, I find it quite astonishing that he'd end up in a picture used for marketing of one.

Streak

Reading Streak

In hopes that I'll continue with my reading streak, I added the Good Reads widget to the side bar of this blog.  It's below the blog list.  Reading a good book is effortless for me in that I will typically choose reading a good book over doing most other things.  What snags me is that if I hit a book I'm less than thrilled with, I have trouble moving on to a new book and don't want to finish the book I don't like, so I decide I've read all possible good books out there and stop reading.  Ridiculous.  Anyway, I'm hopeful this latest streak will be aided by the recommendations in Amazon, Kindle, Good Reads, and other sources that compare my tastes to others.

Vy and RHG will undoubtedly be less than shocked that the friend on Good Reads with whom I have most similar tastes thus far (excluding, Lauren, with whom I have only one book in common) is none other than Vy.  The next friend with most similar taste is Heather, from whose blog I just read a recommendation for The Girl Who Fell From the Sky.  I downloaded and read the sample of it on my Kindle, then quickly purchased it for my next read.

I just finished The Long Walk today. I didn't find the first chapter as difficult to read as Mom did.  I have to have an emotional attachment to a character in order to find it difficult to read whatever horrible fate is befalling the character, so the descriptions of torture in The Long Walk were easier to read than the abuse suffered by some of the characters in A Thousand Splendid Suns. 

Daddy

Avery is now starting to ask for D at various points in the day.  We just chatted via Google Chat, though we can't get the volume to work so we still incur the cost of a phone call, but at least she can see him and it makes more sense to her.  On this phone call, she told daddy about the boat trip, the sea lions, the whales (corrected to be dolphins), sunblock and how we wear it to not get burned, and about the meat we ate for lunch.  And she told him she loved him several times and that she missed him.  So very sweet.

Cupboard

The first section was written on Thursday; the rest was written on Friday.

Avery's New Cupboard

One blessing of being someone who constantly feels the need to reorganize the kitchen is that I don't hesitate to move things around to accommodate Avery's new skills. I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier, but I realized that Avery is more than capable of setting her own place at the table.  As such, I cleared out one of my lower cabinets and put her cups, silverware, plates, bowls, some napkins, and some tissues in it (the tissues just being there so they are some place she can reach them, not because we set the table with tissues.)

When we got home from school yesterday, I explained to Avery that she had a new cupboard and that now she could get her own utensils, etc.  She was so excited and raced back and forth between the cupboard and the table to put each thing needed for dinner in its spot on the table.  We did the same thing again for breakfast and then again for dinner tonight.  I also am asking her to get her own sippy cup with lid for milk requests.

Tonight's table-setting-chore was more successful than last night.  At one point, I told her to get her knife, fork, spoon, and napkin.  I assumed I'd need to repeat the list several times until she got all items, however, there she was with each of the items I listed. 

Hike

Today, we went on a hike with Henry and Christie.  I managed to convince Avery to wear something other than the same dress she wore to school all three days this week. Her favorite dress ("I want to wear the pretty dress, Mommy!") is a hand-me-down from Alexandra.  I emailed Sara to tell her the dress was getting good use.  Sara said that was also Alexandra's favorite dress.

Following the hike, we grabbed some lunch, then hit the Hanna Andersson outlet.  Avery scored many a plain white t-shirt and some very cute shorts and skirts. 

Mid-morning Megan Screws Over Morning Megan

A couple of weeks ago, Morning Megan shook off her stupor and started to feel human, thereby transforming herself into Mid-morning Megan. Then Mid-morning Megan turned around betrayed Morning Megan in a way still unfathomable to any Megan other than Mid-morning Megan: she told D that she decided it would be more fair for Morning Megan to get up both weekend mornings with Avery rather than just on Sundays.  D and I have taken turns sleeping in on the weekends since Avery joined our family.

The logic behind the decision: with Avery being in school two days per week, I now have about 16 hours per week without Avery.  Of those 16 hours, I spend about half doing housework, errands, other things that are harder to get done when Avery is around.  The other half I spend piddling, napping, watching TV, swearing really loudly, running with scissors in the house since no one is there to witness the act and copy it, etc.  So, given that situation, it seemed wrong for me to still take a weekend morning to sleep in.  I should have explained that if Avery ever switches to go to school only a few hours in the morning vs going all day, then the deal is off.  Ah well, D, here's your official notice: this deal is in play as long as the current situation remains.  When it changes, we renegotiate.  Doesn't everyone use their blog to communicate these things with their spouses?

Lots

Dylan!
The newest member of our family has arrived. A huge welcome to Dylan! Avery's cousin is the son of my brother and his wife. He was born via c-section yesterday around 9 PM and weighed in at 8 lb 12 oz and is 21" long. I still haven't seen a picture yet, but I understand he has a little bit of dark hair. I just added Dylan's BD to my Google calendar and set it to repeat yearly as I do with all BD's. There's something so satisfying about adding a new birthday.


****************

Livestrong Challenge
In other news, D will be running in the 2008 LIVESTRONG Challenge this weekend. He is hoping to raise money for a good cause, so if you are able to spare a few bucks, please donate! Here's the message he sent out via Facebook:

Partly as a result of my new found passion for running as a result of the fat loss competition at work, and partly because it’s a great cause, I have signed up at the last minute to run in the Livestrong Challenge 5K at the Nike campus this weekend. Apart from being another great run, this event is designed to raise awareness and funds to help fight cancer and support the people undergoing treatment.

As many of you know, when I was 18 I was diagnosed with cancer and spent 9 months of my life enduring surgery, in-patient chemotherapy, out-patient chemotherapy, incredible nausea, hair loss, weight loss and yet more surgery. Needless to say, it was not a fun time, especially at a point in my life when I was supposed to be partying hard…don’t worry, I made up for it later. The good news is that I survived and have been cancer free for over 20 years. As the doctors kept telling me at the time, if I’d been diagnosed even 10 years earlier I would have died because the treatments that saved me didn’t exist back then. Since I got sick, treatments have improved even more, but still far too many people die from cancer and endure some fairly horrendous and invasive procedures, including way too many children.

So, if you have a few extra bucks this month and are looking for a good cause, please click on the link below to sponsor me in the run and donate to the Lance Armstrong Livestrong Foundation.

Donate

****************

Meme
I have been tagged for my first meme! I have done many a meme in my time, but I have never been tagged for it via my blog. I am officially part of the blogosphere! Thanks, Christie! So, without further ado, I present to you 6 random things about me:

1. I am particular about my feet. I absolutely cannot wear socks to bed, but I must wear socks in my house at all other times. I cannot stand to have dirty feet. If I get them dirty, I spend the entire time thinking about how and when I will be able to clean them. I don't like to have long toenails. In fact, I prefer to have very short toenails. This presents a problem during the summer months and/or vacations in hot climates as I try to look a bit more presentable in terms of my feet and paint my toenails, however, stubby toenails are not attractive. So I actually have to work at growing out my toenails. I also cannot walk barefoot or in just socks for any period of time. I need arch supports and they must be good. Even my slippers have arch supports. I have been known to wash my feet several times a day during the summer sandal wearing season.
   
2. When I was in second grade, I decided that my book collection was too disorderly. Not aware yet that the Dewey Decimal system existed, I set about numbering my books. I took pieces of paper and, with my grandmother's help, numbered my 100+ books. I taped the number to the side of each book and then lined them up in my bookcase. A few years later, not yet aware of the Readers' Guide to Periodicals, I set about writing down and cross-referencing each topic listed on the side of each of our National Geographic magazines. We had about 10 feet of these magazines if you lined them, so I'm not sure how many years worth that was. I thought this was a perfectly dandy summer activity, but I do remember my friend asking if we could do something else and me just sitting at my little table writing down each of the topics for each magazine on the proper index cards.
   
3. It was around the time I was in fifth grade when the Lebanon Hostage Crisis was going on. I clearly remember thinking how difficult it must be to be a hostage because I was sure that it was quite dry in the Middle East and I was also quite sure that the hostage takers wouldn't give their hostages lotion. That they could be tortured was of little concern to me, but that they might not be given lotion in such a dry climate was absolutely unbearable for me to think about. Obviously, growing up in dry, dry Colorado took its toll on me.
   
4. I almost never watch the local TV news. My life rocks as a result.
   
5. I have gotten better sleep in the past six months with Avery than I did for the previous 2-4 years before her. I also have more energy since having her, and I'm much neater in the house. It's like being a parent has had the opposite effect on me.
   
6. I'm almost always cold. I need a sweater in 70 degree weather. The thought of going into a movie theater at any time of year in shorts or a short-sleeved shirt is absurd to me. I also get very cold immediately after I start eating (which is likely due to the blood rushing to my stomach). I rarely go into a restaurant without a sweater. The only time I am ever hot is when I am lying in bed and then I'm roasting. There is something that happens to my body temperature when I lay down to go to sleep, but if I'm just laying down, I'm cold. It has to be to sleep.
   

Clearly, I am a very complicated person. As I tell D when he's just about had it with my quirks, "If you think you're annoyed listening to my quirks, just trying BEING me!" That usually shuts him up, though mostly just so he can stew about what a weirdo he married.

Since I don't know that many people who blog, I am not going to tag anyone. That must be #7 - I make up my own rules!

****************

Passport
So, if you're wondering whether a court order and an official adoption certificate can get a passport for a baby, the answer would be a big fat no. After waiting in line for about 30 minutes, and reading carefully all the instructions, it turns out we cannot get Avery a passport until we have her birth certificate. When you adopt a child, the state reissues a new birth certificate once the adoption is finalized, so we have never had a birth certificate for her. We thought the court order granting us permission to get a passport was sufficient, but apparently judges and lawyers know nothing and the postal clerk knows all. We also thought that since we have a court order granting us permission, and it just says you need a birth certificate OR proof of citizenship, that proving she was born in the US would be enough. Nope. You need a birth certificate.

Anyway, this could very well put a damper on our England trip. So, in summary here's the status:

• We cannot apply for her passport until we have her birth certificate
• We got a letter with her adoption finalization papers that said the birth certificate would be sent in about three months, but I recall them telling me the state was backlogged by five months - if it's five months, we'll have to cancel our trip to England I will be a seething ball of rage at the stupidity of this situation
  
• Then there's the delay in getting the passport, so regardless of when we get the birth certificate, we'll have to pay for the expedited service

Groundhog Day

Our typical night time routine:

• 9:00 - 11:00: D and I go upstairs to watch the TiVo and chill before bedtime
• 11 ish - I head downstairs to let the dogs out and put them downstairs to sleep for the night
• 11:15 - I return upstairs and D will have selected his "go to sleep" show ... kind of like a baby needs his blanket to sleep, he claims to need TV.
• 11:20 - D falls asleep immediately
• 11:25 - I confirm snoring, then get up to turn off the TV and shut the doors of the armoire (I can't stand the hum of the TiVo or TV when they're off)
• 11:25:15 - D wakes up and claims he's not asleep
• 11:25:16 - I tell D to stuff it and go back to snoring

Last night, I head upstairs only to hear the same show that he's been trying to watch for about five nights now ... I admit I yelled an expletive in frustration. *I* have watched this thing five times. D, on the other hand, makes it about five minutes into the show and then falls asleep each night. Then, because he doesn't really remember those last sleepy minutes from the previous night, he starts it with a little repeat each night. He's making no progress, yet insists he really wants to watch the show. I'm now a total expert on Edward R. Murrow.

He's got another 2 days and then I'm just going to accidentally delete that damn show!