Isn’t she beautiful? I got to sit and hold her and she was just so beautiful. There’s just nothing quite like worshipping at the alter of New Baby.

ACD and Tamara are going to see a lot more of me *blink* Hopefully they’ll be so sleep deprived that they won’t be annoyed by my continual presence and need to hold their new baby.

Leia and her Auntie Carolyn

Tamara and Andrew welcomed their daughter into the world last night. I kept calling and bugging them all day and offered to post updates on her site. She sent msged me some pictures, which I also posted – you can see it all over on Tamara’s LJ.

I can’t wait to go meet her! Maybe today after work!

I can’t beleive the ONE DAY I forget lug my camera into work with me I may actually have a USE for it!

time: early early this morning.

the scene: both still in bed. no words have yet been spoken, but we’re both kind of awake (alarm has gone off a few times).

me: i have to tell you something
james: mmmm.
me: it’s important.
james: ok. tell me.
me: it’s big news. you need to open your eyes for this.
james opens his eyes.
james looks at me.
james: you’re fired?
me: no.
james: Susie is fired?
me: yes. but that’s not the big news.
james: you’re pregnant?
me: no.
james: you need to pee?
me: yes. but that’s not big news.
james: You–
me: let me just tell you.
james: ok. tell me.
me: I have gotten. Past.
james starts to get that knowing look in his eyes.
me: The pretzel. Level.
james grins.
me: In Ms. Pacman.
james: This is huge.
me: This is huge.
james: Wow.
me: THAT’S NOT ALL!
james: there’s more?
me: THERE’S MORE!
me: I have also set. A new. High. Score.
james is stunned into silence.
the end.

New banner, people.

Wilfred and Virginia

James‘ grandmother (Nana) passed away a few weeks ago on January 9, 2007, joining her husband (Pop-pop) who passed over a year ago. It was hard to imagine Nana all alone after Pop-pop died.

I never met James’ mother, who died while he was in college, but I met Nana and Pop-pop several times over the years. I like to think of the time we stayed with them for a few days one Thanksgiving, before Ethan was born. They both showed me over their home, the house that James visited in the summer when he was a little boy. Pop-pop took me to his woodworking shop, where the tools he had amassed during his lifetime were placed carefully on the pegboards lining the walls, every one in it’s place. Nana showed me over her kitchen and informed me proudly how she designed the layout herself. I exclaimed over the spice rack hanging inside her pantry door, and Pop-pop disappeared and came back with 2 more identical racks, which we took home with us. One we left in our old house when we moved, the other hangs in my pantry now. My efforts to get some family dinner recipes didn’t go over so well. There weren’t that many to be had. However, desserts and cookies, I came away with a notebook full. (Some of which I still can’t get “just right.“) They talked to us and each other with a sharp wit that was a bit unexpected, on my part. They made me laugh, and they made me feel loved and welcome.

There was no funeral for either grandparent. I think in the abstract, this idea always sort of appealed to me, but no longer. It would have been nice to go up and see family that we haven’t seen in a long time. It would have been nice to sit with them and reminisce about the lives of these two wonderful people. It would have been nice to hear more of the stories, collect more of the family recipes, sit and soak in more of the history of James’ family. It would have been nice to say goodbye and have some closure. I guess that is what this post is for me now.

I think of the pain they must have suffered when they lost their daughter, and I can’t even imagine going through it. I hope I never have to. Parents are supposed to go before their children.

I like to think of them together now, and reunited with their daughter, who is likewise reunited with James’ father.

May they rest in peace.

Screen shot from google calendar.

Tonight and tomorrow is the big day for Andrew, Tamara and Adora. Good luck! We’ll be thinking of you, and we can’t wait to meet the little wee lady!

Can you make it out? Because I can’t really.

James and I saw it last Friday night.

Loved it.

Wish I hadn’t read any summary/synopsis of the movie.. it ruined it a little bit for me. The summary always stated something about the girl’s imaginary world, but I think it could have been viewed as “real” events, and I would have done so, if I hadn’t read those and been predisposed to thinking “this is all in her head.”

Other complaint.. “EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO”

Does anyone else see a mention of “Pan” in there? This obviously says, “The Faun’s Labyrinth” .. and there was no mention of Pan anywhere else in the movie that I could see. The faun was never named as Pan. Isn’t Pan a pretty important mythical character? Am I wrong to feel like I was mislead by the “Pan” in the title? THERE WAS NO PAN! DON’T TRY TO FOOL ME WITH THAT TITLE!

Anyway. For some reason I feel kind of righteously indignant about this translated title.

Oh, but the movie was beautiful. It appealed to the fairy tale lover in me. It felt right, and it was not just the icing of a fairy tale that happens in so many versions. It had real horror and life and death situations (which real fairy tales have), which was mirrored in the physical (“real”) world going on around the girl. It did not leave the taste of sacharin in one’s mouth, as so many modern/updated fairy tales do.

Highly recommended. Hope it wins all the awards it was nominated for.

our power went out friday evening. I was on my way home, and James called me to tell me. He was halfway through nuking some hot dogs in the microwave for the kids when it went out. He requested I stop by BK for some dinner.

The power came back on about 5 minutes before I got home.

However, now, mysteriously.. our microwave does not heat food. It sounds like it’s working. It LOOKS like it’s working. The light is on, the turn table is spinning, but the food does not get hot.

This is a little inconvenient but no big deal.

Big Deal: Our heat on the main level is not working. We have tried peering intelligently at the furnace in the basement. I flipped the switch for it on, and off, and it seemed to start up and make noise. But warm air does not blow out of our vents. James went outside and peered intelligently at the blower units sitting next to the house. He informed me that one unit has a green flashy light, and the other unit has no light. This seemed to be pretty definitive information, until suddenly the unit lacking any blinking light turned on and made noise.

We kerflommuxed.

And chilly.

I laid down for 20 minutes in front of our gas fireplace, which we never ran again after seeing the gas bill the month after we moved in, and got the pilot light started. The entire thing even light up briefly when the switch was turned on, but then faded back down to solely pilot light.

We are continually thwarted in efforts to heat our home.

We’ll be upstairs.. until the service people get here.

-amy is CHILLY.

I can’t remember if I’ve talkeda bout this yet, so if I have, I’m sorry.

Jocelyn is huge. Late December we realized that she’s outgrown all her 3T shirts. The shirts I had to buy her in late sept/early oct because she’d outgrown all the fall 2T stuff I’d gotten her in early August.

She is now wearing a 4T.

FOUR TEE!

HER BROTHER WEARS A 4T!

…

SHE IS ONLY TWO! YEARS! OLD!

…

I’M FREAKING OUT HERE! AND I’VE HAD A MONTH TO GET USED TO IT!

So this does mean that my mom and I got to buy all sorts of darling cute clothes for her around Christmas, while she was visiting.

And the whole point of this post is to show you my very very favoritest item of them all.

Picked it up at Target. I love love love this fabric. I would buy bolts and bolts of it and paper our house with it, inside and outside, if i could.

However, whoever dressed her on the day this picture was taken, needed to be hit with the fashion stick.

Can you guess which parent it was?

PARENT DADDY????

Or PARENT MOMMY!?

Post YOUR guess in the comments!

Regardless. Aren’t we lucky to have such a sweet girl? 🙂

“how does a frosted mini wheat go to the bathroom?”

“how?”

“with it’s frosted mini wheat penis!!”