So what IS the going rate for the Tooth Fairy????

Sydney's two front bottom teeth have been loose for quite some time now. As a matter of fact, the "grown up" teeth have already come in behind the baby teeth (Hello Dr. Orthodontist. Shall I just sign over my first born to you now?) and the baby teeth still were loose! The girls went and had sleepovers last night (Liv and Emma at Emma's grandma's house - they made cakes, got manicures and pedicures - what a life!) and Sydney with Emma's brother Bubba at Bubba's house (also known as "Aunt Beth and Uncle Chris's" house - Beth being one of my best friends and our kids are all the same age and have grown up together and are also the best of friends).

Anyway, Sydney's had these loose teeth for quite a while now and they just weren't getting any looser. I checked them before she left yesterday and told her she needed to start working on them - moving them back and forth, making them looser - you know the drill. Apparently she listened to me because she lost one at Beth's house this morning (her first tooth and I wasn't there!!) According to Beth and Chris, it really wasn't loose enough to come out - I think she must have used pliers in her desperation to have the tooth fairy visit. When she showed Beth (who immediately called me) and told Beth the tooth fairy would FINALLY come to her house, Beth asked her how much she thought the tooth fairy would bring. Sydney's answer :

"About twenty dollars"

At which point Beth began to laugh hysterically.

So, the tooth has been up under her pillow in a little purple velvet bag since she got home from their house at about, I'd say, 2:00 this afternoon =)

They fell asleep before I could get a picture of the toothless girl...


But here's the tooth! (I took it out of the bag for the picture and carefully placed it back in) So what is the going rate for a bottom front tooth?

Of course, Olivia told her that sometimes the Tooth Fairy gets too busy and can't make it right away so you have to leave your tooth under the pillow for a night or two until she gets to you.

Yeah, sometimes, the Tooth Fairy forgets about the tooth under the pillow and then has to run around the house looking for change and then run to the neighbors to borrow a dollar bill only to remember, while standing on their porch at 1:00 a.m. (after waking up in a cold sweat and realizing that the child would wake up in the morning and the first thing she would do is check under her pillow only to find the tooth STILL SITTING THERE FORGOTTEN) that the neighbors were on vacation.

The tooth fairy, at that point, was out of options.

In the Tooth Fairy's defense, she's got a lot on her mind, she drinks and quite frankly it's very hard to try to pick up all the teeth in one night and leave cash. I mean, come on! It's a thankless job. How would you like flitting around from house to house picking up stinky, bloody teeth that haven't been brushed since God knows when, from under pillows while trying NOT to wake up the kid whose head is laying RIGHT THERE, all while carrying a sack of teeth, a sack of cash, a scepter and freaking fairy wings? Not me, thankyouverymuch. If I was her, I'd outsource it.

Oh, for the love of.....

...everything that is good and holy in this world!!!

I know I have a lot on my mind. I know I have a lot going on. I KNOW things are falling through the cracks.

But, really. Does it need to be pointed out in such a public manner? And to a member of my immediate FAMILY????

So, my day started with me, getting ready to hop in the shower after waking from the sleep of the dead, feeling like crap, repeating the mantra of "only two more days until the weekend", when the phone rings.

It's Brian. Who left the house 10 minutes before the call. Who never calls me during the day unless:

A) He forgot his glasses/lunch
B) He's giving me a traffic update and telling me NOT to go down the interstate to work because he's stuck in a back up and if the County would just STOP building houses and realize that we have traffic problems, yadda, yadda, yadda (Um, HellllOOOOO? Real Estate Development here - it's my business and it's what I'm going to school for? Don't bite the hand that feeds you Bucko!!)
C) It's an emergency

We aren't "Hey, how you doing? Miss you, Love you" kind of people. I'm working, he's working, I'm busy, he's busy, and frankly, if I have to call my husband ten times a day (or vice-versa) to tell him something that I could just as EASILY tell him when I see him in eight hours, then something's wrong. I'd think he was checking up on me or something. And that would just piss me off. I'd rather talk to face to face anyway.

Anyway, back to the call. I saw him grab his lunch, he was wearing his glasses when he left, I've been watching the traffic on TV, so I know there's nothing out of the ordinary there. So that leaves only one thing - yup, that's right, some kind of emergency.

"Hello?"

"Debbie." (should have been my first clue - he only calls me by my name when he's pissed off at me. Usually it's "Honey" or "Baby")

"Yeah? What's wrong"

"Oh, nothing. So, is there a chance you forgot to pay some bills last month?"

Long silence while I rack my brain trying to figure out where he's going with this - and whether or not I did, in fact, forget something)

"Um, I don't think so? Why? What's going on Brian?" (panic slowly creeping into my voice)

"Oh, nothing much. Just that I'm sitting on the road in front of work, waiting for the TICKET THAT THE COP IS WRITING ME BECAUSE MY TAGS EXPIRED LAST MONTH AND APPARENTLY WERE NOT RENEWED BECAUSE YOU FORGOT TO DO IT!!!" (Brians' voice rising, Debbie panicking on the other end of the phone line).

"UH..... " (again frantically trying to remember if I even SAW an envelope from the MVA and if we had a conversation about it...)

"So, now I guess I'll get a ticket, hope they don't impound the car because the TAGS ARE DEAD and then go to work and yell at all the guys who are standing out front TAKING MY PICTURE WHILE THE COP MAKES ME GET OUT OF THE CAR AND TALK TO ME BECAUSE I GOT STOPPED RIGHT IN FRONT AND EVERYONE CAN SEE WHAT'S GOING ON".

Oh. Well, shit. Quick - "Go on the defensive!" my brain screams to me.

"Well, I don't remember seeing anything from the MVA and I don't remember you telling me to pay it or even mentioning it to me and quite frankly I can't keep track of EVERYTHING and it's your F$^(%ing car, so why is this my fault? If you want to talk about how I can't do anything right...."

"Gotta go - the cop is coming to BRING ME MY TICKET"

Click.

I hop in the shower. Steaming over this. Crying because I feel like things are spinning out of control and yeah, I probably did forget! Take a mental inventory of all other bills, breathe a sigh of relief when I remember paying them (and checking when I get out of the shower to confirm that) and then just get pissed.


And then the phone rings again. Guess who?

"Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is, since it happened right in front of work, I didn't have far to walk. The bad news is, we have to pay to get my car out of the impound lot."

I sit in stunned silence. All this because I forgot to renew the tags? and everyone at Brian's work knows how stupid I am because they watched it all unfold right before their very eyes?

I will never live this down. Never.

"But...but..they can't..just because? I mean seriously..they couldn't..."

"Nah. Only kidding. Got a ticket, I'll renew the tags today. It's all good."

Yeah, it's good. I'm just going to freaking smack you when I see you this evening, loving husband of mine.

"But, honey? You're going to pay for this one." And then he starts laughing like some maniacal character from a horror movie and I know EXACTLY what he has in mind.

Oh but, no my love. After the hell you just put me through? You will pay.

Let the battle of the wills begin.

Family Time

This weekend was the annual Henry Family get together at Bethany Beach. Every year, on the weekend after Father's Day, the Henry brothers (Brian's dad and his four brothers) and their spouses, children, grandchildren, in-laws, aunts, uncles and cousins, descend upon Bethany Beach for a weekend of together time. Typically, the "men" go do their thing, and us "ladies" go to the beach, go shopping, etc., etc. It's not really a weekend of together time for Brian and the girls and I because we usually don't see him very much (off doing the "men" thing). But, we always find time to sit somewhere quiet with his cousins and talk and catch up. It used to be that all of us "young people" would go out for a night on the town. However, almost all of us are now married and the majority of us have young children. So, now we stay and chat at our respective places.

I enjoy getting together with everyone, since I really don't have any cousins of my own and don't come from a very large family. Brian's dad and the brothers are all so close and supportive of each other. It's an amazing thing. It's also a very overwhelming thing, for someone who has never been around such a large, rambunctious, loud and demonstrative family. The brothers love to tease - especially the women and children - and when someone "new" joins us for the weekend, it's like they smell fresh meat in the air and they all get that devilish smile on their faces. Having been that "newby" myself, I pity whoever they have set their sights on. And those of us who have been welcomed into the family with a "Henry Sandwich" (meaning one uncle on one side, another uncle on the opposite of you and you in the middle of a GIANT bear hug) it's our duty to deflect the uncles from the successor "newby" until he or she feels a little more comfortable around the family. It's really a lot of fun and I find myself laughing alot. The only down side is that it takes me several weeks to deprogram my husband when we get home. He tends to turn into a very chauvinistic, old school husband, who feels that, since I am the "woman" and "mommy" of the family, he can pretty much do whatever he wants whenever, without fear of having to worry about whether or not I have plans, or who will be taking care of the girls, packing the car, etc., etc. It's like he gets around his uncles and turns into a different person. We've had many discussions about this (some of which occurred right in front of whatever aunt, uncle or cousin happened to be standing nearby when he finally pushes me over the edge as he inevitably does at some point during the weekend) and he has definitely gotten better, but that underlying chauvinism is still there. sigh. But he's working on it. Although I'm not too sure whether it's because he recognizes what he's doing or because he doesn't want a repeat of one of my outbursts in front of everyone where I cal him out for acting like a jerk and remind him that he doesn't treat me like chattel at home, so why would he act that way in front of other people? I'm not quite sure Brian's family knew what to think of me those first few years.....

This year, my girls (who are now among the oldest of the new generation) had a gaggle of cousins of their own to play with on the beach. There have been LOTS of babies born over the past year or two and it was mind blowing to sit on the beach and realize that ALL THESE KIDS were ours! I got my baby fix, between the twins, Erin and Grace, (8 months old) and Kate (around 9 months old), not to mention Paige (age 2) and Jack (almost 4). And that only includes the cousins that were there. There are a lot more that didn't make to the beach this weekend.

All in all, it was a great time. Unfortunately, I seem to have picked something up while I was there. I'm just so TIRED, I can feel it in my bones and I can't seem to find any energy at all. Maybe the weekend just wore me out - I'm not as young as I used to be!

"Daisy"

Peyton Delaine





A beautiful baby girl who came into this world and left with the angels three years ago today. I am blessed to have been there that day to see her and hold her and even more blessed to have her mom in my life as one of my closest, dearest friends.. She is one of the strongest people I have ever known.

I'm sending you big HUGS and you will always be "Daisy" to me.... =)

Love, Aunt Debbie

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah - I'm late, as usual! I thought it only appropriate to honor all the "dads" the girls and I have in our lives.

First: - Mike - my "biological" father, who I met when I was 18 years old and is such a wonderful man. I so love our talks about life, family, books and POLITICS (how can two people who didn't know each other for so long have the same political views? And be so similar in the type of books they read? Crazy...goes totally against my "nurture versus nature" theory). He's "Grandpa" to the girls and his wife Linda (we share the same birthday- cool huh?) is Grandma. They love my girls and my girls love them. They love me and accept me unconditionally and I love them. We love to visit them at the beach in NC and we hope to see them soon. And we totally need to write that book...

Second: Denny - my "father-in-law", also known as "Pop-Pop" to the girls, who is a loving man, always gives me a hug and a kiss, is there at a moment's notice (even though he lives almost 2 hours away) and who gets the biggest smile on his face whenever he sees the girls.

Third: Ted - Lovingly known as "Mister" to my girls along with Gamma Judi. Long time neighbors of my mom and dad, who moved in the last year (we now live in their house and love it) and probably one one the most wonderful men I know. He and Judi have been a huge source of support and love to me and I am forever grateful to them and love them very much. The girls think they are the "funnest" people they know, who get down on the floor and play with them and give the girls thier undivided attention. We can't wait to see Gamma Judi and Mister this summer.

Fourth: Daddy - my wonderful, incredible father who took me and my brother into his life and into his heart when I was 12 years old. He married my mom, adopted me, made us a family, continues to make my mom happy - which I am so grateful for and which she deserves - and made me his little girl. He's "Poppy" to the girls and they, along with me, adore him. I'm so very lucky and proud to have him as my dad.

(As a side note, how lucky are my girls to have so many grandparents??? They have a Mimi and Poppy, a Grandma and Grandpa, a Gamma Judi and Mister and a Mom-Mom and Pop-pop, not to mention a plethora of "aunts" and "uncles". I guess it does take a village to raise a child. And each of them bring something unique and different into my children's lives. We are incredibly blessed)

And last, but most certainly not least, my incredible husband Brian. There are no words to describe how wonderful he is - as a father, a husband and a person. He takes on parenting as a partnership. He loves his girls so much and when the girls start to talk to him and tell him what happened during their day, or when they go up and give him a hug and a kiss and an "I love you", the look on his face shows me that I am the luckiest woman in the world. Our marriage has had it's rough spots over the past (almost) ten years and we both know there are more to come. But we love each other and we are in love with each other. It's that simple. and we're a family. We can face whatever is thrown at us and we will stand together and make it through. I may doubt this in my head at times, but I know it's true in my heart. To you, my wonderful husband, love of my life, the man who still makes my stomach do flip-flops when you look at me in that certain way, you have my undying devotion and all of my love.

Happy Father's Day.

Crazy Days......

Wow! Things have been absolutely crazy around here! Going to class two nights a week is really taking its toll on the housework, laundry, family time, etc. But, it will all settle down and I'll get into a groove and things will be OK.

My class is going well, but it is going to be a very rough four weeks. I can't believe I'm one-third through this class already! We met on site Thursday night and got information about the group project that makes up most of my grade for this class. Basically, each group in the class has to develop a site plan for a property that's situated on the water. It's a HUGE undertaking - especially with only four weeks to pull it off, no architecture or engineering experience and very little guidance. There aren't a lot of parameters given by the professors and some of my classmates and I feel that this is a little unrealistic - and very overwhelming - given the time constraints. Nevertheless, I am extremely excited about it and have already started to develop some ideas. I think it will turn out OK, but it's going to require a significant amount of time and energy to pull it off.

I more than willing to put everything I can into the project, but at the same time, I can already feel the strain it's putting on my relationship with my husband. He's really trying to be understanding and supportive, but I think he feels a little pushed aside (and rightly so). I just don't know how to fix it. And - I know it's wrong - I don't have the time or mental ability right now to do anything about it.

Tomorrow is Father's Day and I can't believe I have to do this, but I have to go to meet my team on site. It's upsetting to me that I have to do that, but it's the only day that worked for us and at least one of my teammates is missing breakfast in bed from his kids too. Next weekend we will be at the beach for Brian's family's yearly get together. If I could get out of it I would. But, I can't do that to my girls. They won't be getting a vacation this summer, so these little weekend trips will be all they get. And they love the beach and I love the beach. I'm just worried that I'm going to be so worried about what's happening with school and work that I won't be able to enjoy myself. I am looking forward to seeing everyone, but I just can't spare the time right now. So, out of the four weeks I have left to pull this project together with my team, I will be gone for one of the weekends. That's going to make it a lot more difficult.

I'm starting to second guess my choice to plow through these two classes this summer. In the long run, I'll be glad I did it, but right now I'm not so sure it was the right thing to do.

A New "Do" - Part Two!

Well, I couldn't stand it anymore - Sydney's hair was ten different lengths, and while it was long and pretty, her bangs were finally long enough to do this. And again - so much better for summer!!

What a ham =)

Vincent Van Gogh...

Often, we take people for granted. Not just in a "You don't realize what you have until it's gone" kind of way, but also in a "Sometimes I just don't appreciate the person you are" kind of way. This is not some new discovery - everyone knows this. But sometimes you have to be reminded and when that happens, things tend to take on a different perspective.


I haven't been home much this past week, so I really didn't see the kids or Brian too much. This weekend, we all just hung around the house, tried to get some much needed yard work and house work done and took a family trip running errands. This is not something we typically do. Brian hates to shop and quite frankly I like to get in and get out so its easier for me to go alone or just with one of the kids. While we were shopping, we found this:







We originally wanted a bistro set but this was on clearance.


Anyway, Liv helped Brian and I carry it out, put it together and put the pillows on it. My daughter and I sat on the love seat and hung out and talked for a while. Olivia is eight years old now. She's always been very intelligent, but she is now becoming thoughtful, insightful and appreciative of the things and people around her. I loved listening to her. She talked about school, her friends, our upcoming summer plans and generally just filled me in on how life was going for her. It sometimes hurts my heart to think of how fast the girls are growing up. I miss my time with them when I'm in school and even though it's only two evenings a week and I'm home by 9:00 to see them before they go to sleep, it just seems like I never see them. That's why it was so nice to just stop and sit there with Liv, relax and talk about nothing and everything. I suddenly realized that she's becoming her own person now. She has her own opinions, her own interests. As I listened to her I thought to myself - My God - you are incredible. You are suddenly so grown up - when did that happen? But what really made me appreciate how amazing she is was when she looked up at the sky and said...



"Mom - look at the clouds....it looks like they were painted by Vincent Van Gogh. Can you see the brush strokes?"





Wow, actually, I do. Thank you baby girl, for making me stop and appreciate the clouds..and you.

This is very cool...

No, it's not some website I think you should check out - it's my class....It's all about site design and building design and it's taught by two architects. As I read through the five (FIVE!) books for the class and listened to the profs talk about what we would be doing, I could hardly contain myself! I GET TO DRAW!!

Anyone who has known me a long time (Megan - that's you =) can attest to this aspect of my personality. I never - NEVER - look at a house and think "Jeez, that won't work for me because the kitchen/bathroom/den is too small!" No, I look at a house and say - "I can work with that". Then I start making plans and create drawings. Then I argue with my husband about how it's a great idea and it'll work, I promise and it'll be SOOO great.

Then we knock down walls.

Then we rebuild new walls (sometimes).

Our first house looked completely different a few years after we bought it. And now I have a BIGGER house - and lots of plans, my friend, lots of plans. I already drew sketches of what I wanted to do (ask Beth C. from NC - Ha! I rhymed! I e-mailed them to her - I told you I was a geek! But they have changed, so I'll have to send you updated plans). No house is "perfect" for anyone. And if I ever found a house that I didn't want to change in some way or another - I wouldn't buy it. I'd be bored out of my mind! Half the fun is looking at something and trying to make it yours. I know this makes no sense, but I need to ramble a bit.

And now - NOW - I get to do this as a class project and for homework! Not necessarily changing walls and configurations, but I get to DRAW - I am so excited I can't stand it. My books are filled with big colorful site plans, land plan designs and building designs and - Oh, it's just too much! I hope this class lives up to my very high expectations. But, if I learn enough to be able to do some design for my own house (and future houses) I'll be happy =)

Grad School, Part 2

Well, I start my first summer class tonight - it runs for six weeks, two nights a week. I am not nervous in the least this time. In January when I was just starting, I felt like I was going to puke all day long and was so nervous I almost hyperventilated on the way to Baltimore! But, now I know what to expect, I've made some friends with my classmates and I am really looking forward to getting back into this. I miss school when I'm on a break - I'm basically a big geek =) And I am already trying to plan what to do next - maybe law school? I have absolutely no desire to actually practice law, but I'd love to teach at a college and the law has always interested me. So, we'll see!

On another note, our offices are relocating (just next door) on Thursday and Friday so this is going to be one crazy week! My boss and I are still packing up our offices, I need to get everything ready for the movers by 8:00 a.m. Thursday and then we have to coordinate the new phone system, the network installation of the computers, the security system, etc., etc. It's amazing how much work goes into a move like this - and we are literally only moving ten feet! And when I began cleaning out my desk, I was amazed at all the CRAP that I had amassed in the last 13 years. I found stuff that I had never seen before - left overs from my predecessors. The trash men are going to LOVE me.

Well, I'll post after my class this evening - Building and Site Design - I'm pretty stoked!!

Livvie Lou has a new "do"!

She's been wanting to do this for a LONG time - I resisted as long as I could, but finally decided it was her hair and it will always grow back...

It will look even better when we actually style it! (Bed head above) - but she has such thick, heavy hair and this will be so much cooler this summer - and easier to take care of since they will be in the pool every day...I think it's adorable and she loves it!