18 years. We are an adult.

January 29th marked the anniversary of our first date. We have been together for 18 years. Maybe not a long time in some of your minds, but considering my family history and the series of unhealthy relationships and divorce...18 years means a lot to me.

If you are interested, read on. Here is how it all started. I was working in a physical therapy office in Santa Ana as a medical biller/front office person/admin assistant. It was a small group. Lenny came in one day in October of 1988 for the first time. And, even though the thought of dating him or anything like that never occurred to me, I still remember the details of what he was wearing, what he said and what I thought of him. We chatted here and there for the next 3 months off and on when he would come in. Sometime in January, Wendy, the Office Manager, suggested that I go out with Lenny. Now, mind you, I hadn't even thought of that not had he ever mentioned anything like that or even given me any hint that he might interested. Besides, I was 19 and I THOUGHT that he was about 26. Too old for me.

That month my grandmother became increasing ill and required hospitalization. She was admitted to Doctor's Hospital in Lakewood. I started driving to Lakewood each evening to visit with her and family. One morning, when Lenny came in to the office, he inquired about my weekend. I told him about Granny and the happenings of late. I asked about his weekend too. He said that he had taken his mother to a play at Long Beach Community Playhouse.

For some reason, I blurted out that I had never been to a play. TOTAL LIE. And then I realized right then and there that I thought this guy was awesome and I wanted to know him more. He was stunned that I said that. Not the boldness but the fact that I had never been to a play. He went into the workout room, did his routine, and came out and asked me if I would like to go with him to a play on Sunday. Whhhattttt? I am doing backflips in my mind absolutely ecstatic over this but I say to him "Sunday hmmm. Let me check and let you know." Oh the games we play. Mind you, before he even walked into the office that morning, I didn't give him a second thought. But in an instant that all changed. Weird, huh?

Ok, so plans are finalized and we agree to meet on Sunday. I had a beater 1970 gold Nova that embarrassed me to no end. I borrowed my friend Trudy's brand new Rabbit to drive. There was no way I wanted him to see that car. I pull up to his house, he is outside and says to me "nice car." Guess what I say? "Thanks" as if I owned it (more lies).

We go to the play named "There Goes the Bride." It was great. Later we go to Seal Beach pier to walk around. It was freezing cold out there. But, dumb young stupid me does not bring a jacket. Lenny being the ever suave and prepared dater...brings two. (Later I found out that he always kept a second one for dates. PIG). And because I felt so stupid for forgetting one, I refuse his. Don't know why. Just did. Then the more times he asked me, the stupider I felt and the more I refused. Finally he admits that he is cold and he is going to put his on. You should have seen us. He is all bundled up and I am shivering in my short sleeved cotton pink blouse. People probably thought he was a schmo for not offering the jacket to me.

After the date, I drive to Drs. Hosp to see Granny. I walked into the room that I had been to for the previous two weeks. Fully expecting to see a couple of aunts, probably my dad and an assortment of other people. What I saw was a neatly made up bed, no flowers, no people, no sign of Daisy Marie Bingham. No equipment beeping, no respirator humming. Nothing. I walk over to the nurses station to ask. She tells me that "Daisy expired an hour ago." She expired????? Who says that to family members?

I drive over to my aunts house and find everyone there. Some crying, most of them just chatting. Funeral arrangements, details of her passing, Jesus, long lost sister Maxine, etc. It was weird. I went from one high day to one very low evening in a second.

The next day I go to work. Lenny asks how Gran is doing. I blurt out again "she died while we were on the pier." Oh my gosh, what did I just say??? No tact, no warning, no nothing. He just stares at me not knowing what to say. He of course offers condolences but I am sure that he is feeling somewhat bad that I was not there because I was with him.

Ok, so many more details but that was the jist of our first date. Obviously, he asked me out again and the rest is history. By the way, it took about 2 or 3 weeks before we realized just how old we both were. I was 19 and thought he about 26. He was 31 and thought I was about 24. When we both realized the 12 year gap...we were already hooked. There wasn't much that we wanted to do about it.

Here are a few pics from our first year together.

Oh, and I stopped lying tohim. :) .... except when I made him propose marriage. That is a story for June 2.

Check out these pictures

One blog that I frequently visit is Michelle's. Her most recent post has some really amazing pictures caught at just the right angle. Check them out... mlasch.blogspot.com.

Family Night

Friday night here at our house is Family Night. We started this long ago and have made it a priority. We almost always have pizza and often we rent a great movie. But with Lenny's schedule, obviously he is not always home on Fridays. The kids and I will always have pizza but we wait for Saturday to do something as a family. Such was the case this evening.

But instead of a movie, we were creative. Didn't plan to be...it just happened. Jacob had to paint his little wood car for the Pinewood Derby next weekend and Sarah had to get her Star of the Week poster ready for next week also. So, Lenny went to work with Jacob and I with Sarah. We were all sitting at the dining room table doing our thing together. Chatting away about our projects. It was really neat to hear Sarah say "Oh your car looks hot Jacob" or him to her "I like your pictures Sarah."

After a while, I noticed that Lenny was intently painting his car and I was taping letters to the poster. The kids were, well, they weren't at the table. They were on the floor playing hockey while we did their projects. Oh well, at least we were still together in the same room. hehehee

Here are their cars unfinished.... then finished. And too, the Star of the Week poster. I am going to put that picture on her poster. Thanks for lookin'.

Such a great night

Last night, we celebrated Lenny's 50th again with some very special people.

Ken and Jackie came to dinner. Ken is Lenny's oldest (in terms of duration and length of friendship, not age) friend from childhood. They lived in the same neighborhood, they grew up together, went to church together, went to HS together, even went to CSUDH at the same time. And there was a healthy dose of mischief and most amazing experiences together. They are friends to the end and they love each other with a brotherly love that is palpable.

I love being with them when they do what they do. The laughter and stories and "shut ups" (bad word in our house) can't help but make me envious of the bond that they share.

And Jackie is his very cool wife. She is adorable, sweet and so comfortable to be with. When they walk in the door it is like having a cool breeze on a hot day. The bring instant comaraderie.

And we learned something absolutely wonderful about Jackie last night. When we sat down to dinner, Ken said that Jackie should pray since she is now "one of us." Whhhaaat? He said that she was Christian. Forks drop, and so do our jaws. What did you say? I ask. Jackie proceeds to tell us that she now knows that God is real and she is indeed has a personal relationship with him. RIGHT ON!!!!!!!!!!!! She knows that she is going to Heaven and she is eager to show Christ's love to her family.

Now for you to realize why the jaws were dropped you must know that Jackie was born and raised a Buddhist. I want to give you more details but for her privacy sake, I will keep them untyped. Anyway, she WAS, and I say WAS most empatically, one of the people that a lot of us think would never come to know Christ. Happily, God does not lower himself to my meager standards. He set up the people, the places and her heart to be open to him right when he planned. And to hear her share her story is so uplifting. She is attending a Community Bible Study, eagerly studing I Corinthians and sharing with us about Paul and what is letter is all about to the Corinths.

Her story is amazing and I am sooooooo thrilled to share this with you.

HRC is running for President of the United States. Is anyone other than me thinking bad thoughts??? It doesn't help that this is the pic I saw of her when I read the news. Scary

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070120/ids_photos_ts/r246397752.jpg

FIRE SAFETY

What happens in Life Group, stays in Life Group, RIGHT???? Had a typical, somewhat quiet night of Life Group tonight. Not quite as loud as normal because Ben, Greg and Lenny were all elsewhere this evening. The evening got off to a great start when Pam announced that I was leaving my undies in view. I look over at her and she has my pink bra which was on the little red bench. Whhhaaat? How in the world did it get there? Oh I remember, that "precious" little furry wiener (sounds gross, I know) grabbed it earlier in the day and started gnawin' on it. Sarah took it from him but instead of putting back in the bedroom, put it on the little red bench in the middle of the living room. That's how Pam found it. THANK GOD Greg did not find it because who knows what scene would have ensued. Hey, it's all about being transparent in Life Group, right?

Then a few minutes later the smoke detector starts wailing. I go check the one in the front hallway that regularly beeps because of my cooking. That's not the one beeping. It is the one in bedroom hallway. Whhhaatt? (I seem to be perplexed more and more these days, hence the WWWHHHaaaaaattt?s) I had left a candle in on the bathroom counter. A hand towel was thrown back onto the counter too close to the candle. It had caught fire and started smokin'. Less than a quarter of the towel was even burned, but that is all it took to get our attention. Thankfully. we were home and it really was no big deal. But it was a HUGE reminder to make sure that there are working smoke detectors in the home.

The smell is still lingering. It isn't bad at all but I can not help but think how close it was to becoming a major problem. And too bad, the fireman of the house wasn't home. He was off being a hero.

Check this out about fire safety. Comes from a great source, I believe :)

SO PLEASE PLEASE CHECK ALL OF YOUR SMOKE DETECTORS TONIGHT!!!

Beware!

Lenny and I (well Lenny really) are the Neighborhood Watch captains for our neighborhood. It is something that we like to do and it gives us an opportunity to speak with and get to know many more neighbors. Last week, the kids and I passed out the monthly newsletter for our city to our neighbors. We leave our phone number on there so that people can call us if necessary.

Last night a neighbor that we had never met called to introduce himself. In the conversation, he shared with Lenny a website similar to the Megans Law site that lists and tracks predators in a given area. I checked it out this morning and found it to be very insightful and most alarming. You see, even in our neighborhood, there are people listed. Scary, frightening, but empowering to know their names, faces and addresses.

Thought you might like to check them out too.

familywatchdog.us This site enables you to sign up for weekly notifications and also tells which people may have moved in the past 7 days.

meganslaw.ca.gov

Here are a couple of stats they provide.....

The sad facts about sex offenses and those that perpetrate them.
Impact on Society
1 of 5 girls will be sexually molested before her 18th birthday.
1 of 6 boys will be sexually molested before his 18th birthday.
1 of 5 children has been propositioned for sex over the Internet.
2 of 3 sexual abuses are perpetrated against teenagers or younger children.
90% of sexual assaults are committed against someone the perpetrator knows.
The median age for male molestation victims under 18 is 9.8 years old.
The median age for female molestation victims under 18 is 9.6 years old.
There are new 400,000 victims of sexual assault every year.
There are over 550,000 registered sex offenders in the US.
There are over 100,000 sex offenders that fail to register in the US.
76% of serial rapists claim they were molested as children.
Over 40% of male juvenile delinquents were molested as children

It gets even better

This is my day today. Mind you it is only noon right now. There is still much more left to experience before bedtime.

Last night I put the dog in his crate. He happily and completely unexpectedly marches right in, curls up and closes his eyes. Cool. He won't whine. Thank you Lord. I was wiped out from the toilet/poop adventure earlier that all I wanted to do was crawl in bed and cry. That was at 9pm. At 3:30 this morning, that dog made such a fuss that I swear someone was torturing him. I didn't move right away seeing if he would stop. Thankfully he did. Crisis averted.

I wake this morning to take him outside. No need to because he used his crate for his toilet. GROSS. It was like one of those horror stories of the toddler who smears his poo all over his crib and the wall. The parent comes in and the kid is giggling. I swear that dog was giggling at me. I clean it all up and then get the kids up for school. Poor kids, they are awake for 2 seconds before they realize that mom is ticked off.

Everyone gets going and we are all out the door. I had to meet Chloe Reid at my mother-in-laws house to have her do a blood draw on Toni. I am already mad from the whole pooping thing yesterday and today. Now I have to witness needles, blood and rubber torture bands around the arm. I don't think I can take it.

Her veins are apparently uncooperative and Chloe has to work to make it happen. Every once in a while she would say what she was doing and I would feel the bottom drop out from below me. I HATE THIS. Now I have to hold Toni's arm because she is sleeping. Chloe is concerned that she will be startled and move her arm. I am now inches away from the gruesome event. She gets the needle in and Toni says OUCH a few times. Woozy is an understatement. I feel faint. Chloe is saying something about it not working then all of sudden she says "I got it, it's flowin'" Oh Chloe keep your comments to yourself. This is too much. I can feel a wave of heat rush over me and my bangs are now sticking to my forehead. Chloe is now more concerned about me than Toni.

Then it happened. Chloe said something like "ok" or "there" I can not remember. I think she is done and I look up. I saw it all. I saw the needle in her blue vein, I saw the blood flowing, I saw the vials, I saw the rubber glove and I swear I was going to puke. I didn't ..

Then get this, she hands me the vials and asks me to keep them turning to help the blood from coagulating. I am now TOUCHING the red vials containing my mother-in-law's blood. Too much. I am shaking right now recalling it. I am so traumatized that when she takes the vials from me, I am still shaking them. I have to tell myself to stop because I am not holding anything.

All done. Then she asks me to hold the gauze on Toni's arm. I swear to you right now that I felt it pulsating. I tel that to her and she laughs. This is nothing for her. For me, it is too much. And the whole time this is happening, Toni is sleeping. The only time she would rouse was when Chloe touched her with her cool hands. Other than that and her "ouch" she never opened her eyes. Un stinking believable. I need therapy for the ordeal and she snoozes through it all.

So, I get home and Lenny is home. He checks the toilet from last night and deems it ok. He uses it and flushes it. A few minutes later I see the dog in the bathroom sniffing. I look down and see that there is another flood in the bathroom. It is right at the threshold of our bedroom. I call him, throw down more towels and proceed with a repeat of last night. Thankfully though today is was all just water coming in through the pipe. Fresh water. Thank you God. But, gee whiz it is a mess and we are flooded. More shoes are wet but can be dried in the sun because it is just water. No poopy this time. We must have used 8 towels to mop it up. Oh my gosh.

I go outside to put the shoes on the table. The dog is out there gnawing on a moldy orange from our tree. I go to get the orange and he grabs it and runs. Then the orange gets caught in his mouth. Big orange Little wiener dog puppy mouth. He won't let me come near him because he knows that I will take it away. I say fine to him and let him go for it. Then Lenny comes out and gets it from him.

Mind you, it is only lunchtime. The kids aren't even home from school yet. There is still a great possibly of more adventures in this house.

AAARRRRRRRRRRggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I should've been happy

It all started with me feeling a bit peeved about Jack's little "surprise" on the kitchen floor this morning. I walked into the kitchen ready to be revived with my wonderful first cup of coffee. I was lost in thought about what needed to be accomplished today, thinking about having the day off from school today and just happy to be in cozy jammies on a cold morning. Life is really great.

Then I saw Jack's black. His little black turd staring at me, waiting to greet me, mocking me. OOOOhhh I hate this part of parenting a little dog. Oh, I hate it. I did say a short muttering of thanks that it wasn't too soft or gooey (eeeuuwww that is gross) and that clean up would be simple. I cleaned the floor and went about the day.

But wait, the day gets even more interesting. Earlier in the morning, someone whose name will not be mentioned here, used the back bathroom. Apparently the deposit made was too large to make it down the toilet in the flushing process. The now relieved person went about the day oblivious to the plumbing obstacle. That was this morning. Throughout the day, we must have all used the front toilet because nobody ever commented on the situation in the back bathroom (our bathroom in our bedroom right next to my closet).

So later this evening, I go into that bathroom and look down at the bowl. It is now a swirling brown site that looks like it had been fermenting for several days. It smells ....bad. Like a dank, damp, rotting sewer. So what do I do? I gross out and flush it. Guess what happens? You guessed it. It fills up and completely overflows ALL OVER THE BATHROOM FLOOR AND INTO MY CLOSET. OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remember the color of the water?? Well now there is a nice caramel color sweeping over the floor.

I throw four beach towels on the mess knowing that I won't get it all but hoping that I can at least stop the madness from travelling to the outer reaches of the bedroom. I stop the flow but the towels are quickly becoming full. I realize that the toilet did not just overflow but won't stop filling with water. You know how sometimes you gotta jiggle the handle to get it to stop running? Well, it happened today. Again, I ask you, what did I do? I go stomping through that disgusting foul water to find the lever at the back of the toilet to stop it. Got it. Suddenly the quietness calms me...for a moment.

I have no where to go because I am sitting on the toilet lid holding my feet up surrounded by a lake of sulfur. Where do I go? I find a towel, throw it down, jump out of the way and assess the situation.

I start mopping it all up. Oh, the vileness of it all is too overwhelming. I am starting to regret the stir-fry I had for dinner. My stomach doesn't feel to good. I wish I wish I wish I wish I wish that I were back in the kitchen this morning using one paper towel cleaning up Jack's teeny tiny turd.

I get out the bleach, the Pine-Sol, Clorox disinfecting wipes, Lysol spray and anything else containing a warning label. I just started cleaning the floor when I notice that 5 pairs of my shoes were flooded in the .... flood of poopy water. There was nothing else to do but throw them away. My favorite pair of black suede boots went in the trash this evening. Booo hoooo. My closet smells like a sewer now. Oh this is bad.

I get the floor cleaned up and then I start to get a little light headed. I start to get dizzy and feel myself falling down. I am able to catch myself and walk out of the room. I think those warning labels are there for a reason. I open the bathroom window to get some ventilation.

So right now our bedroom smells like sewer cleaned up with too-overpowering chemicals and is freezing cold. You know how cold it is right now. The window is wide open and needs to stay that way. Oh it is going to be a long night.

The best part of it all, you ask??? Hottie Husband is at work right now and has no idea what has happened. So Lover if you read this before I get to tell you in person....we may need a new bathroom floor before those granite countertops in the kitchen.

I miss him already

This morning Lenny left for work. His normal shift is a 24-hour shift. This is one of the aspects that I don't like/like about being married to a fireman. I don't like it because he is gone until the next day. No dinner with him, kids can't kiss him goodnight. He is simply not here in the evenings...or the mornings. We miss many special days together such as birthdays, Christmas, etc. I DO like the schedule because when he is home...he is home for 24 hours, not just a few hours in the evening. He is home all day, can pick the kids up at school, see their friends, teacher and school life. He is rested and ready for them by the end of the school day. He and I get time together during the school hours. That is usually when we have our dates.

And, one of the "curses" of the schedule - extra shifts. So that makes a 24-hour shift usually into a 48-hour or more shift. Such is the case today. Today (Thursday) is normal workday and Saturday is normal. BUT tomorrow he is working an extra shift. Which means this.....he is working a 72. He will get off of work on SUNDAY morning. Last night, he pulled out a shirt. He said he was getting his church clothes together. Whhhattt?????? Today is Wednesday I tell myself. He is getting ready to go to work for a few days and leave Sunday morning. So all of you church friends that read this, when you see him come into church that morning, that will be the first time I see him too in 3 days.

All of that blah blah blah to say ... I miss him already and he has only been gone for 45 minutes. His shift hasn't even started yet...8:00am. whhhaaaaa.

I HATE BLOGGER

Ok, I am going to lose it. Hold on because it is coming. I HATE BLOGGER. Finally after weeks of trying to get into my own account, I do. Yipppeeeeeee.

Now, I can not upload pics. I was trying to share pics of Lenny's birthday last night. I got one picture there but the other two that I wanted to use, won't work. I can upload them but the upload screen should have a DONE button, in fact the instructions say to use the DONE button. Guess what? There is NO DONE button there. It was there 5 minutes earlier when I used the first pic but somehow magically escaped into the vortex of the mysterious.

Am I crazy? Really I want to know. I know the puppy is making me nuts but really, a DONE button. Is this the thing that is going to do me in? This is the straw I think :) HELP.

So if you read my post about his birthday you see taht at the end I mention a picture from last night. It isn't there because, ...well you know why.

Am I the only one with these issues? If you can help me, please do. My sanity is at stake.

Then and Now...Lenny is 50

Lenny 7 Joe 8 Jacqueline 10/11?

Today is Lenny's birthday. And not just any birthday. It is a biggie. He is 50 years old today. Wow, even as I type "50" I still can not believe it. Can't believe it because he just doesn't seem to fit the age. Really he doesn't. Not in his face, not that he looks 20 but to me he doesn't look 50. And, well, his behavior, need I say more?

We got this cute little "scrapbook" page in the mail the other day. A longtime friend of Lenny's parents, Lucille, died last year. Her son, Ken, came across this picture while going through his mother's things. He sent this to Lenny in a Christmas card.

Lenny and Jacqueline had fun checking this out and marveling that Lucille had kept it all of these years. And, not only kept it but "scrapbooked" it. I use that term loosely, however, she did mount the photos and label them. Cool, huh? She was ahead of her time.

So that was Lenny at age 8 and here he is at 50... 42 years later. Has he changed much? And Jacob??? Can you see Jacob in the young picture of Lenny? This is why I love photos.

EDIT - Thursday, Jan 11.- I am not kidding. You all really need to pray for me. So BLOGGER apparently fixed the DONE button thing so I am now able to post more pics. BUT, this one that is all cockeyed...I rotated it to appear , you know, normal, but it keeps posting this way. So, just turn your head and take a look at the photo. Sorry.

And the two shall become one

This afternoon Lenny told me something that has been bothering him for some time now. I didn't know this - or maybe I did but didn't think much about it. Well he pointed it out to me today. Slowly, over time - could have been months or years, I have used the phrases "my", "mine", and "I" instead of "ours", "our", "us", and "we". Obviously, if I am talking about my big fat....behind, then I would most certainly use "my". But when I speak of Jacob and Sarah as my children, it bothers him. He prefers "our" children. Now he is certainly no egomaniac or chauvanistic machismo brute, but he is me and I am him and we are we.

He said that, for him, using "mine" feels like separate checking accounts. Like we aren't sharing things or in it together. Using "ours" and "we" sounds and feels more like a family, like we all inclusive of one another and belong together. I agreed.

I know that at one point in our marriage I did do that. I remember telling people that "we" were pregnant. Some people chuckled, some people even commended me on that. I clearly remember defending that usage as though Lenny and I were in it together. It was our choice to be pregnant, our baby and our family. Why would I be so selfish to say "my" baby?

BUT, over time, I guess I let life and the little selfish thoughts to enter my heart and mind. Perhaps those thoughts started to change the way I viewed things. Only God truly knows. But, one thing is for sure, we are in this together and there is no one that I would rather be in it with than Lenny. I love him more today than I ever have. Even when life seems harder, more challenging, and sometimes too much to handle.

The puppy is making me crazy

Remember what I said about the puppy being perfect???? He's not. I lied. He is crazy and whiny and chews everything. For me, potty training is of the utmost importance. For Jack, he could care less. He hates it outside. He doesn't like the cold concrete and he whines and shivers everytime he is taken outside. We put him on the ground to go and he just runs back to between our shoes. He has no interest at all in peeing on schedule. He prefers to do it in the microsecond that I look away from him when he is in the kitchen. Oh our new hardwood floors.

Right now as I type this he is howling away like a coyote at the moon. Really. He is so loud and obnoxious that I even went outside to see what the neighbors could here. Those gagillion dollar dualpaned windows do not keep all of the noise inside. He is going to go hoarse I just know it. Or maybe I hope it. He sounds like a dying seal right now. Or maybe a maimed horse in agony waiting for the merciful last shot to put him out of his misery.

I think I need someone to put me out of my misery. What in the world was I thinking? Oh, I remember. "How much is that puppy in the window?" I fell for my own tricks. Stupid me.

Can a puppy take Nyquil???? Please let me know :)

Common Sense

I saw this "obituary " in the Lakewood Community News last week. Thought you might like it.

Obituary

The Death of an Old Friend

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend by the name of Common Sense who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such value lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm and that life isn’t always fair.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not kids, are in charge). His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, she spilled a bit on her lap, and was awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his two stepbrothers, My Rights and Ima Whiner. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

Captain Jack Sparrow

So I took Michelle Lasch's suggestion and went to see Night at the Museum at the IMAX. WOW was that a great movie. And what was so great about it was - well if I go into detail about what was great for us and you haven't seen it then it might ruin it for you. Ok, everyone knows that Robin Williams is in it. No secret, right? Well the part that he played completely intrigued Jacob. We came home and researched a bit about that person. It was inspiring to us. We had planned on seeing it last Tuesday anyway, but at the IMAX it was awesome. Thanks Michelle for the idea.



Ok, so later on the way home, we stopped to pick up our new puppy. Surprised? So are we. Ecstatic? Yes, we are. He is soooooo sweet. He is a little dachshund dapple male. Since we have been without Pierre for over a year, we have always known that we would get another dog, just not so sure when. I love the wiener dogs. They are so silly looking but oh my goodness are they fun and loving. We didn't want a big dog, and I wanted a dog that could snuggle during a movie on my lap. This is the one.



As far as the name.... well what else would we call our new dog? Captain Jack Sparrow. Jack for short. It was obvious to all four of us. I thought that was the coolest name and it was so appropriate for our family. But, when I called the vet to make his first appointment, she asked what the pet's name was. I blurt out "Ca....." then stopped. I could not say it. I felt so goofy. I am giggling now and I ask the receptionist if she saw "Pirates of the Caribbean". She says "yes, is his name Jack Sparrow?" I answer, "CAPTAIN..Jack Sparrow". She laughed and said that they have many patients named Jack Sparrow. Ok, then I don't feel so weird. Then she asks me "does he go by Captain or just Jack?" I lost it. I could not stop laughing. We are talking about a 5 pound hairy wiener dog (eeeuh that sounded gross) and she is trying to get the appropriate title. I told her that "Jack is fine".

He is cute, he is adorable, he chews, he poops when we don't want him to (too bad we lost the 36 rolls of TP when our van was stolen), he whines, he snuggles, and he likes his head on my shoulder. He is perfect. Except the pooping part. We are working on that.

Happy New Year

So happy new year to all of you. I would like to say the usual - "wow, I can not believe it is already 2007," or "time flies," or " here are my resolutions for 2007." BUT I won't. Because it is 2007 and whether I resist or embrace it, the new year is here and time is flying by (evidenced by the rapid growth of my kids). I love the idea of a new year, a new start and clean calendar, just an overall freshness. But, on a more bittersweet note, it also means that Jacob and Sarah are growing, maturing and eventually readying themselves for adulthood. Yeah I know that is still several years off, but TIME FLIES and the day will come when there will be no more Hello Kitty slippers, Hot Wheels, crayons, GameCube games and Bubble Gum flavored toothpaste to clean up.

Just tonight, both kids wanted to take a bath instead of a shower and they wanted to take a bubble bath together. I filled the water as high as it would go. With the enormous amount of bubble bath I poured in, the whole thing looked like a gigantic cappuccino. They laughed and screamed and made the biggest mess in the bathroom. Then Jacob took the rubber fish that are supposed to go on the bottom of the tub to prevent slipping. He stood up and threw them one by one until they were all stuck on the ceiling. They were dripping on their heads and one of them fell and splashed bubbles right out of the tub. Totally and completely fun. It hit me...not the fish, that they won't be able to bathe together much longer. They won't be able to fit in there together one day, and also the whole he's-a-boy/she's-a-girl thing. It seems like, well yesterday, that they were both tiny little babies needing most everything from Lenny and I. Not so much anymore.

So I guess something that I hope to remember this year is just that. That time flies quicker than a bird does. That time stops for no man and certainly not for any mother's aching heart. I hope that this year is the year the I embrace every little detail of parenting, of homework, of giggles, of bedtime postponements, the last drink of water, the sweatshirt left in the rain, spilled milk, "she/he started it" and the never ending supply of kisses and hugs.

And I ask you, my friends and family, when I might dwell on the dirty handprints or underwear on the floor, would you please remind me of this post?

I can not believe I actually signed in.

For literally over two weeks I have been trying to sign into blogger. Can not do it. I was able to on the 30th but as soon as I logged out...I was shut out. I have been trying each day for probably 20 times each day to sign in but it is painful to use blogger. And not to mention frustrating.

Anyone else out there blog???? What do you use and would you recommend it?