i have to write this down before the stars lose their perfect alignment.

today was one of those days. those days that you have to write down somewhere. for posterity sake. or somethin'.

the alignment of the stars. oh, i kid. not really.

let me document the perfection of God's Holy Masterpiece that i like to call January 29 2008.

buz gets home from work as i'm cooking dinner.

that should be enough right there.

no, i wasn't wearing an apron, but i should've been. it was that magical. and wonderful.

and rare.

so i'm putting together a pico de gallo rotisserie chicken, some pasta for goo and big h that i knew had a chance, some rice with vegetables, and some steamed asparagus with lime/butter. i'm no pioneer woman, but i was excited. excited about how great it smelled. excited that i fixed a meal, period.

oh, and meanwhile my two children are playing together without any screams of someone "broking my yego hay-uh-caht-tehr!" and no 18-month-old girl screaming to be rescued from underneath her brother's chair or firetruck.

bliss. peace. whatever you want to call it.

i fix dinner and get it put on everyone's plate, knowing full well either big h would pretend vomit in response to at least one item on the plate or goo would look at it, hug pink blankie, and drink milk while continuously saying "ah duh, ah duh," while not touching a single thing.

(side note: since goo has been sick, her appetite has gone in the trash. my sweet girl who devours tomatoes, avocados, grilled chicken, pasta, bread, you name it, has turned to merely sitting at the table with all of us looking as pitiful as she can possibly can. it's a wonder she isn't skin and bones these days. but today, there was not much for breakfast and a staring contest with her lunch. so because i'm a mean mom, i took them both to the grocery store to get our two weeks' worth of groceries and didn't let her have a snack there or when we managed to get home.)

so we sit down, big h blesses the food, in melody nonetheless, and dinner commences. and when i say dinner commences, i mean all four of us ingested food.

it gets better.

goo seems ravenous. buz and i try not to pay any attention to her. she eats two helpings of the pasta right out of the gate. takes bites of the chicken and likes what she tastes and begins to take more. i look over to see big h inhaling the pasta AND the chicken. and while he's doing this, he says very confidently, "mama, i really yike this dinner. will you make it again? if you do, i will eat a lot of it next time too. will you eat a lot of your dinner daddy?" and i kid you not...he says "mama, i yike this dinner a yot" more times than i can count on one hand. i know.

and buz whispers, "look at the goo." i turn my head ever so gently as to not interrupt her apparent progress. when what to my wondering eyes should appear? my goo gnawin' on some asparagus.

Holy is the Lord.

she ended up finishing up her entire plate, including two asparagus spears, and pointed at a banana. polished it off too.

and i will tell you i haven't seen a happier goo in a long time.

until, of course, she wanted to take pink blankie into the bathtub and her mean-as-sin parents wouldn't let her. she lost some of her happiness.

and as we're finishing up with dinner? my brother calls. my brother who lives in another state. my brother who doesn't ever call just to say hi. (my brother who doesn't read this blog.)

then, i am ready to put goo to bed, and i could tell she was so tired. (long day at the grocery store earlier. as God is my witness, i vow never to take both of them to the grocery store again. i know i only have two children, but i SO forgot what it's like to be around an eighteen-month-old. have mercy on my soul and the souls of others with eighteen-month-olds.) so i decided to push the envelope. i got her in her jammies and lathered her bottom with prescription diaper rash ointment. (bff, the rash like you saw at the mall. OUCH.) let her love on pink blankie. turned out the light. and then i rocked her. not to sleep. just rocked her because she put up NO FIGHT WHATSOEVER.

more bliss.

she just lay there in the crevice of my arm that was once too big for her. now, she fits just right. and i sang.

**********screech on the record player**********

no, seriously. i did. and she still didn't put up a fight. i'm telling you. the girl was tired. because to have me sing a little "i love you, Lord. and i lift my voice" would have anyone putting up a fight.

unless they were tired little goo.

it was the best day.

it's time.

really, it is.

time to get my haven'tcleanedmyselfinthreedays a shower.

time to locate my hair dryer and use it.

time to strip off my "sick clothes". you know. the husband's fraternity t-shirt from the early 90s. the elastic waist pants with no elastic anymore. the old man's slippers.

time to make the bed. for the first time in four days.

time to go to the grocery store. for something other than soup, orange juice, and my favorite medicine of all time. real food. food for my family that doesn't come out of a box from the freezer.

don't get me wrong. my soup and sprite diet really worked for me this weekend and all. but i'm tired of it.

i am NOT a good sick person. i'm just not. you people out there that write blog posts while incredibly ill. well, more power to you. because i have 1) no laptop and 2) a major guilty conscience. meaning, i would be mortified if buz came in while i was trying to come up with some cute way of saying, "i'm probably not going to make it" on the internet. meanwhile, he is managing both kiddos and not resting or relaxing at all. oh, and it just happened to be the weekend. when he normally enjoys some rest or relaxation. neither for this guy. oh, and this just happened to be the weekend when my in-laws come to town? the weekend i wanted goo to be well for? irony is a funny thing. luckily, i was well friday night. we had our insanely cute sitter over, and we had a double date with my in-laws. some of you may be cringing. but it was so much fun. we had dinner alone with no kids and had adult conversation. it was great.

saturday came. oh, how saturday came. came and knocked me upside the head. i vaguely telling buz, "i think i really don't feel good." that was about all i remember from saturday. well, other than somehow staying awake during the miss america pageant.

sunday, i stayed in bed until ten in the morning. and remained in my "sick clothes" the entire day. my in-laws came over one more time before they left to go home. they got to watch big h ride his bicycle and goo ride her little roller coaster.

you want to talk trooper? it's spelled b-u-z. the guy cooked and basically did everything for two straight days, while i was deemed totally and completely useless. he'll tell you. i am not good at sick.

but today starts a new week. a new beginning. the meds are kicking, and i am determined to fight it. one productive cough at a time.

posting to post.

catchy title. courtesy of someone rad.

there was discussion of the need to post. anything. just something.

so here. i can't believe i haven't posted bicycle pictures. shame on me. big h is in love with his bicycle almost as much as he was with thomas. people, that is saying something. and the structure side of him requires him to wear every piece of protective gear. he is serious about his game.

and how about we go ahead and mention the hot burley guy fastening the buckle on the helmet. grrr...

i love this kid from the very depth of my soul.

oh and while we're on the subject of my little man, i'll go ahead and mention that today when Goo was taking her nap and i was laying down on my bed, he came in my room, got under my covers with me, and said totally unprompted while touching his FREEZING toes to my leg inside my jeans, "mama, i yuv snuggying with you. my toes are cold, huh?" seriously.

and goo? took her to her "healthy" 18-month checkup only to get a prescription for an antibiotic for her DOUBLE EAR INFECTION. oops. missed that one. so she's sub par. sub par goo is just a pitiful sight. it's sad because grandma and grandpa are coming in tomorrow all the way from new mexico. pray for complete recovery by mid-morning tomorrow.

word has it...

...that buz may or may not have posted.

date with a good looking fella

today big h and i had a date. i mean, it was a date in the sense that it was just the two of us and it involved food.

never mind that it was a trip to the haircut place for him and costco for us to get toilet paper.

for all intents and purposes, it was a date.

i was amazed at so many things while i was out. for the record, i am always amazed at a lot while i'm out. people fascinate me.

first of all, big h has awesome hair. i don't mind bragging. he does. people that know him? come forth. vouch for me. doesn't he? when he gets it cut, i always mourn the loss of the hair beauty. but the fact that we do it all of twice a year makes up for any grieving i might go through. because there was a time big h didn't care so much for the haircut. i know. you're surprised. because he's such an easy going, laid back kind of guy.

or not.

so because we only go twice a year, we get a car from the movie CARS. i know. they sell them. at the haircut place. marketing genius.

big h asks to get his hair cut.

so today, when we left, he said, "mama, you know. i just don't yook anything yike myself. i don't, right?" and he didn't.

because the stylist put so much gel in his hair that i could've held him by his hair and he would've never noticed a thing. not only did she "gel" him, she parted and slicked it down. dennis the menace? i don't even know who i can come up with, but it was so. bad. i can't describe it or do it justice. big h did it justice. "mama, i just don't yook anything yike myself. i don't, right?"

but we got a car out of the deal, which made the day for my little man.

headed to costco. we dined first. have you had their pizza? i have no doubt it is not quite the healthiest option for those of you with new years' resolutions. but wow. it's delicious.

and here is where i noticed something that made me smile. shouldn't have made me smile. but it did. some little boy was having a tantrum. not just some cute, little overlookable (that's my own word) tantrum. we're talking doozie of all doozies. and the poor dad was trying to negotiate with him. trying to talk sweet. trying to find out what he "needed." trying to reason.

bless his heart.

it was so enjoyable because a) i've been there and b) i wasn't there today. so i looked over to my 10-year-old-looking little boy and told him how much i loved him. had to seize the moment.

we made our way to the toilet paper aisle. and had a great time with my little man.

and my little man? who didn't talk until he turned three? hasn't missed a moment. not. a. moment. he gave me rave reviews of every. thing. on. every. aisle. i was well informed by the end of our shopping experience. and so were our fellow patrons.

and then, little man fell asleep. in the car. and there was peace.

until we got home. and saw his best friend. daddy. and there was much information shared re: new cars and pizza and yittle boys crying and toilet paper and haircuts and YOTS MORE STUFF DADDY!

oh, and have i mentioned how easy it was to be with only ONE child? well, it was easy. and fun.

good day all around.

i can't forget to mention the goo. um yeah, this is what she wore to church today.

well, not the hat. i mean, she's a lady and all.

it's called pride. i love this punkin. i can't get enough of her.

and yes, we watched the game yesterday. and yes, we wished we were there. but we're not going to negate the fun time we had two weeks ago.

oh, but the snow................

been away from the computer for a while.

we ended up not celebrating the new year with a little bubbly and nana. we celebrated in the air on the way back from green bay. and not even any peanuts.

after more than several delays, we arrived in the metroplex at two in the morning.

happy new year.

new year's day was tough, getting back into the swing of things. plus, buz caught some funk that he still can't get rid of. though, the z-pack is doing its best to give this little number the boot.

didn't post any pictures of Christmas. our Christmas was good. a little overwhelming for big h. as a four-year-old, it's too much to ask for several things and actually receive all three of them. not to mention presents from grandparents and cousins. so in the spirit of not being a scrooge, here is why i didn't post any Christmas pictures.

see how cute we were all going to be in our little matching jammies and jeans? well, big h wouldn't have any part of the whole jean idea. shocker. and goo? well, weentrab is THE ONLY PERSON to get her to smile. the girl makes you work for it.

and i find it almost comical that buz and i are smiling, like nothing at all is wrong. just life as normal.

but we had a very merry Christmas. had nana and papa over for Christmas pizza. what is Christmas pizza, you might ask? well, i may very well be the ONLY PERSON alive who doesn't like *the holiday meal.* turkey, dressing, potatoes, casserole upon casserole, etc. it's just too much for me. i watched my mom remain in the kitchen for every holiday my whole life, and now that i'm older and more mature (laughing to myself), i don't want to spend the holiday in the kitchen. not to mention that i don't like to cook at all anyway. also, i just don't like the meal. too heavy. so i decided i wanted to have a new tradition...Christmas pizza. buz is not sold on the idea. but we'll see. it was awesome. we had Christmas pizza for lunch, and seven-layer dip for dinner. i loved every minute of it. and talk about relaxing? pretty much perfect.

and now life is back to "normal," whatever that means.

big ace

only child

friend

eagle scout

trombone player

sooner

CPA

husband

vietnam war veteran

accountant

father

auditor

youth ministry finance chairman

deacon

travel guide

father-in-law

grandfather


and now a retiree...

i am so proud of you, dad. your party yesterday was everything we hoped it would be for you. you are so well thought of. i love you. congratulations. you deserve the very best.