Rewind.

Whoops! I just realized I haven't gotten around to posting the Easter Pictures!

Olivia, apparently practicing her modeling faces.....

The "Easter Bunny" hides thier baskets.

(Not very well, but eh....s/he tries)

What?

Can it be?

The Henry girls, sitting next to each other?

Not beating the crap out of each other?

And actually Smiling??????

Miracle of miracles....

Um, Mom? Can we wrap this up? It's bright out here. And windy. And cold.

Mom. ENOUGH with the camera.

I'm STARVING!

Can we eat now???

Quite possibly the biggest chocolate strawberry in Maryland.

Olivia's trying to figure out how to eat hers.......

Seriously. Mom. E-NOUGH with the CAMERA!

Liv's Spring Choral Concert.

Singin' her little heart out!

I'm Intolerant of Intolerance......

Yup. I'll admit it. I'm a hypocrite.

I am constantly "preaching" tolerance to my kids, my husband, the postman...

You get the picture.

But I have to say, in this instance, that I am intolerant.

As you know from an earlier post, Frederick County, and specifically Middletown, is dealing with an unspeakable tragedy, the likes of which have never been seen here. A father, suffering from mental illness, has killed his wife and three young children. It's unfathomable to the community. It's unbearable to the family and friends of the family.

I spoke with a friend who grew up near the young mother who was killed. She went to the viewing this evening and afterwards spoke of how amazing this family is....all five family members will be buried together. All FIVE. All FIVE are being honored with a Catholic Mass. The parents of the husband have been a very visible and welcome part of the arrangements, and were there this evening at the viewing. Both families issued a joint statement. Both families realize that he had an illness - that he was a loving husband and father - but he was sick. His parents not only have to deal with the loss of their child, their daughter-in-law and their beloved grandchildren, but they have to come to terms with the fact that their son - their child - was responsible for those deaths. My heart goes out to them.

The most amazing thing to me is that these families stand stand together. Blame is not being thrown to one family over another. They recognize that they are in this together. They recognize that they are grieving together....that they are still a family.

They stand United. They stand in Love. They ARE forgiveness, and understanding and love.

And to me, that is the most fundamental teaching of Christ.

Love one another.

Support one another.

Don't place blame on the undeserving.

Recognize that the weakness of others, isn't an excuse to condemn them.

And this is why, the protest that has been planned by the Westport Baptist Church sickens me.

I am tolerant of all religions. I am offended by those who think that if I don't believe what they believe, then I'm wrong. But I STILL defend their right to the fundamental freedom of their belief. They are entitled to it and it's not my place to say they are wrong.

Until now.

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/displayUpdate.htm?StoryID=89346

I encourage you to read the Press Release. This isn't the teachings of the Lord.

I'm not a "religious" person in the typical sense, but I believe in God. I believe in Good and Evil. I believe in Heaven and Hell.

And this is wrong.

Go home protestors.

Leave the family and the friends, and the community surrounding them, to their grief.

Because they are far closer to God, and far better Christians, than you will ever hope to be.

The Wisdom of Sydney....

The following is a transcript of my conversation with Sydney at 7:00 a.m. this morning as she crawled into bed with me to snuggle before we started our day:

SYDNEY: "Hi Mommy! Guess what? Last night I woked-ed up in the middle of the night."

MOMMY: "You did? Why baby?"

S: "I heard a car go by."

S: "Isn't that crazy? That's cr - azy mommy."

M: (laughing) "Why is that cr - azy?"

S: (rolling her eyes) "Be-CUZ it was the MIDDLE of the NIGHT. Who drives a car in the middle of the night mommy??"

M: "Well, I -"

S: "Was it Miss Bobbi?"

M: " I don't know..."

S: "Was it Mimi? Where did she go?"

M: "I doubt it was Mimi- she was probably sleeping like all of us were."

S: "Except me."

M: "Except you. Because you heard a car go by."

S: "Yup. In the middle of the night."

M: "Right."

S: " Hmmmm. I know what it was. They had to go to Wal- Mart. Wal-Mart is open at the day but it's open at the night too."

M: "Really? Hmmm..."

S: "Yup. They musta gone to Wal-Mart to buy night stuff. Wal-Mart only sells to people night stuff in the middle of the night. If you need stuff sometimes do you go in the middle of the night mommy? When Livvie and me are sleeping? To get night stuff?"

M: "Ummm, no? What exactly is 'night stuff" Sydney?"

S: (again with the eye rolling) "It's STUFF you can only buy at Wal-Mart in the NIGHT. OK?"

M: "Yup. That clears it up."

If anyone knows what "Night Stuff" is, please let me know. I'd prefer not to make a trip to my local Wal-Mart at 3 o'clock in the morning to see what all the fuss is about. And, apparently I'm missing out, since, you know, Wal-Mart only sells this stuff in the middle of the night.

I'm hugging my kids even more than before.

This has been weighing heavily on my mind......

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/18/maryland.family.shot/


I lived in an apartment in Braddock Heights/Middletown Maryland and worked for the only doctors in Middletown for years. Her maiden name sounds very familiar to me and I can only assume it's due to my time working at the doctor's office, where she was surely a patient (as everyone in Middletown was it seemed...)

She was a blogger as well. Her last post gave me chills...

http://www.whatamisupposedtodonow.blogspot.com/


I can only hope they were all asleep when it happened and, if they weren't, that she was gone first and didn't realize what had happened to her children...

Rest in Peace.

Bleh....

The weather here sucks - Bleh. It's been rainy and cold and Bleh.

BUT!!! It's supposed to be BEEEEE-U-TI-FUL this weekend and I can't wait! I'm going to get my veggies started (indoors in pots until it gets a wee bit warmer) and I'm going to play in the yard with the kiddies and open all the windows of house to let out the stale winter air and stand in my family room and feel the breeze and watch the curtains flutter as spring makes its entrance into my home....

I'm very excited.

I have an exam tonight and then I'll be done with Construction. Still have three weeks left of Investments (boo) and since I really do not like that class, these three weeks are sure to drag by slowly until it's time to hand in my final exam at which point I'll be FREAKING OUT as I typically do.

But, after tonight, one more class down, four to go. Plus my Practicum.

I'm almost done.

How can that be?

And what will I do next?

Hmmmm.......

I'm Petunia...meet my husband Porky.

Brian and I are getting fat.

Age has a lot to do with it. Lack of activity probably doesn't help. That and the fact that we love food and drink. Brian has discovered a love for cooking fish and seafood. He is now the designated seafood and fish chef, while I am the everything else chef.

We eat well - lots of fiber, lots of veggies, everything low fat, and not a lot of junk food. However, since I have not been following the Weight Watchers plan as closely as I had been, I have noticed the pounds creeping back on, ounce by ounce. It happens so slowly that you don't really notice it at first. Then one day you get on the scale and think that can't possibly be how much you weigh.

But it is.

I have struggled with my weight my entire life, so I'm used to this game. Brian however, was a string bean who could eat anything and everything and he ate a LOT of junk food (until he met me and I made him eat fresh veggies, broke his salt habit and showed him that gravy isn't technically a side dish). He never gained weight.

Ever.

And then he hit his 30's.

Welcome to my world.

He's absolutely baffled about how this happened and is determined to do something about it. I have been bugging him for years to join a gym with me or get a treadmill in the house - something where we can get some exercise! He's never been interested.

Until now.

Now he's MO-TI-VATED. I am going to strike while the iron is hot and join the Y. We could all use the exercise, they have a fabulous gym, racquetball courts, pools, it's close to us and they have some great kids programs.

I don't expect to look like I should be on the pages of a magazine in designer clothes or a bikini (God Forbid). I'd just like to be comfortable in my own skin. And comfortable in my clothes.

Brian....well, Brian would like to look like a 20 year old studly underwear model.

I'll let you know how it goes....

Easter? Already??

It seems like it was just Christmas. How can it be Easter already? And it was 70 degrees yesterday and tomorrow we're supposed to get snow. Apparently, the world has gone crazy.

Which makes me feel better cuz at least I'm not the only one.

A few weeks ago was the "Spring Dance" at the girls school. I use the term "dance" loosely, since the "dance" consists of the gym with a disco ball, DJ and 200 screaming elementary school kids.

Oh Yeah. It's a great time. Last year I went by myself.

I made Brian go with me this year. He was miserable. That made me feel better.

And here are the girls, all gussied up before we left.

Isn't that a cute picture?

Of course, that was the tenth picture I took of them together.

Here's the first.

Nice, Sydney. (It makes me laugh everytime I look at it....)

Olivia has got the modeling poses down perfectly.

Vogue

Sydney tries....

Poor thing....with both of her top front teeth gone, she looks like "Fang" from "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing"

But she's still so stinking cute I could eat her up!

On Saturday, I went to Baltimore to tour a new building under construction. It was SO COOL.

And I got to wear a hard hat.

And yes, it should have been lower on my head. But then it would have messed up my hair, so......

Then when I got home, I got Liv ready for her dance pictures.

Make up and hair are done and she's posing for mom....

Ever since she started dance lessons 6 years ago, I've wanted to see her in a real, live, pink tutu...

Viola....

And so it continues.....

It's been a busy few weeks and I'm sure it's only going to get busier!

Tonight I get my Finance Mid-Term back - I'm a'scared!

April 15'th is my final exam for the construction class (3 weeks before the actual end of the semester - don't ask - the reason is absolutely ridiculous). This Saturday I have a site visit in Baltimore - also for the construction class. I'm so freaking annoyed that I am required to spend yet ANOTHER weekend day in Baltimore that I think I may protest.

Unless there are hot construction workers hanging around.

Then I'll let it go.

But only if they're REALLY cute.

The girls are gearing up for dance recitals, pictures, Easter and Sydney's birthday (my baby will be six - how is that even remotely possible????) Things are getting ready to kick into high gear around here! This time of year is almost as bad as the holidays for us!

On another note - I have officially quite smoking. I can't quite believe it myself. I had scheduled a physical exam (I've never had one before. The doctor lectured me for quite awhile about that one. I'll be making more regular visits now) and I talked to her about smoking. Although I had weaned myself quite drastically, I was having trouble with those last few cigarettes and I really wanted to quit. She prescribed some medicine and it has been (surprisingly) easier than I anticipated.

So far.

It's early yet, but I'm on my way! The medicine has some pretty yucky side effects (a little dizziness, a lot of stomach issues) but as an added bonus, not only does it suppress your craving for some smokes, it also suppresses your appetite. Bonus!

Unfortunately, it also makes you a "bit more cranky and irritable", which basically means that if you have anyone you would like bitch slapped, bitched out or run over with a bitchin' car, call me.

I'm your girl.

Gaslighting

So remember when I forgot to renew Brian’s tags and he got a ticket? Well, when MY registration renewal came in the mail in January, Brian said to me – “Ha! Bet you won’t forget to renew YOUR tags, will you?” Much hilarity ensued as we both fell to floor in fits of laughter remembering how my neglect in paying the bill resulted in much embarrassment for Brian, another bill for me to pay in the form of a ticket, and me getting teased for the next 20 years over my mistake….Oh yeah. It was funny. Funny guy, my husband.

On February 26’th, I remembered that I had, indeed, forgotten to renew my tags which would expire the following day. No matter, I simply went on line, renewed the tags, printed out a temporary registration, taped it to my back window and smugly waited for the stickers to come in the mail. Brian would never know that I had almost forgotten. Ha!

The stickers and registration arrived just a few days later and I put the envelope on the kitchen counter, telling myself that I would put the sticker on in the next day or so - when it wasn’t raining, when it was a little warmer – you know, basically when I wasn’t being a lazy ass who simply didn’t feel like going downstairs, cleaning the license plate and slapping the freaking sticker on the tag.

Yesterday, as Brian and I were cleaning out drawers, filing old bills (well, Brian did that, I just pulled all the crap out for him to go through) I suddenly realized that I hadn’t seen the stickers for my tags anywhere…..and that my temporary registration had expired the week before…..and I was driving around on dead tags….crap…..

I frantically looked all through the kitchen and casually asked Brian if he had seen the envelope “No big deal or anything – I just thought, you know, I’d go put the stickers on now - I have plenty of time so really if it’s not here it’s no big deal.” He looked at me and said “Honey, did you lose the stickers?” Of course not! I haughtily replied. They were here somewhere. I’m sure I put them in my car or something. No worries.

I searched again – everywhere upstairs I could possibly think of, with Brian sitting at the kitchen table shaking his head, sighing and saying “I can’t believe you don’t know where they are. You should have put them on the car right away. This is what happens when you leave stuff lying around”. Then he grins at me……he KNOWS how much it pisses me off when he talks to me like I’m a naughty 7 year old who left her bike in the driveway to get run over. So, I “gently” punched him in the arm and went downstairs to search through my car.

Not there. I pulled out everything, looked under the seats, and would have looked under the hood if I thought there was even the remotest chance of my registration stickers being there. Now what? Do they even GIVE you replacement stickers? And what was I going to tell them? “I need a new registration renewal and stickers for my tags because I – a college educated, very practical, reasonably intelligent adult woman – had lost them”? The only thing that would make my humiliation even worse would be if Brian went to the MVA with me and watched this all go down…..

I pondered this as I leaned against the trunk of my car. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t realize until I stared at the back window for several minutes that the Temporary Registration that I had taped to it was no longer there. GREAT! And now I’ve lost that!

And that’s when the light bulb went off.

I leaned over to look at my tags.

And found the missing stickers.

SOMEONE had put those stickers on my license plate. Someone put those stickers on God only knows when without telling me. Someone who had been teasing me for the past hour….while wearing that shit eating grin of his……

I screamed his name from the garage “BRIAN!!!!!!”

I can still hear him laughing at me.

What a week!

Olivia had her standardized testing all this week for third grade. She was sooooo stressed about it, the poor thing. It's so sad that, at 8 and 9 years old, they have that much pressure on them. Added to that she came down with pink eye on Tuesday.

OK - here's where I'm going to piss some people off....

She woke up Tuesday morning and her right eye was glassy and red. I figured she might have pink eye and as I debated with myself out loud about what to do, she began to get hysterical about having to miss her testing, thinking she was going to fail. After I assured her that wasn't case, I made the decision to send her to school until 11;30 - so she could at least finish her her test before I pulled her out. Add to this the fact that I had to FIND someone to get her from the school, and then get her to Brian's work so he could take her to the doctor, and then get her back to mom's afterwards, and I was not in a good mood by about 7:30 a.m.

Why didn't I just take the day off you ask? Good question. I had a long standing doctor appointment the next day that I knew would take all morning, thereby causing me to miss work. I also knew that I couldn't send Liv to school on Wednesday once they realized she had pink eye, so I'd miss work completely. I figured I'd take my chances and hope that I didn't have to miss two days in a row. Brian had a crazy week and was shorthanded, so he couldn't miss a day of work either. And we realized there was about a 90% chance that Sydney would get pink eye within the next few days, so we'd have to take time off again.

I put her on the bus, and raced to work, calling the doctor on the way and making an afternoon appointment.

I got a call from the school nurse at about 9:30 a.m. - Come get her, NOW - and don't bring her back until she's been on antibiotics 24 hours.

So, she missed her testing anyway, and the entire office staff will most certainly be giving me the stink eye next time they see me. "There's the mother who sent her daughter to school knowing she had pink eye. Disgraceful!"

Yup, Mother of the Year, right here. Just waitin' for my award to be delivered.

After much scrambling, my friend picked her up at school since I'm a good 45 minutes away , and then delivered her to Brian at the doctor's office a few hours later.

By evening, it was in both eyes...

Poor Baby!!

And then we have Sydney, whose front tooth has been loose

FOR-EV-ER.

She just wouldn't let us near it or pull it out herself. My friends' daughter Emma (who's like another child of my own) was here over the weekend.

Emma clearly thought it was ridiculous that the tooth was still hanging on, so she reached into Sydney's mouth .......

....and pulled the tooth right out.

I was so stunned I didn't quite know what to say.

Maybe Emma's going to be a dentist?

After the tooth extraction, we took some pictures to distract Sydney....

I think I'm in love with this picture. Sydney took it....



Sweet Dreams...

We'll be back right after this short break!

Hey there everyone! Big mid-term project due this week involving determining the viability of a fictitious industrial building here in the great state of Maryland - cash flows, rental amounts, rollover probabilities, retention rates, capital expenses, escalation rates - oh, what a wonderful few weeks it's been......

But after Wednesday - no homework for a whole week! Can I get an "A-MEN?"

I'll see you after Wednesday - wish me luck =)

A day in the life...

OK, well, how about an HOUR in the life?

Weekday mornings are the WORST around here. I mean, really BAD. Brian gets up and leaves the house around 7:15 a.m. or so and the girls don't catch the bus until around 8:05-8:10. Now, keep in mind my girls aren't really "morning" people. Not during the week anyway (much like their mommy).

This is our story....


6:45 Brian wakes me up. Brian wakes up the girls.
6:55 Brian wakes me up again. Brian wakes up the girls again.
7:05 Brian threatens to pull the covers off and roll my lazy ass out of bed if I don't get up. The real motivation comes when he tells me he won't leave me any coffee unless I get up. NOW.
7:07 COFFEE
7:10 Begin calling for the girls to come down and get their breakfast.
7:12 Brian calls up to the girls that he's leaving.
7:13 What sounds like a herd of elephants comes bounding down the stairs and runs to the window to wave good bye to daddy.
7:14 The girls begin fighting over the prime spot at the window. I'm on my second cup of coffee.
7:15 Sydney cries because daddy didn't wave to her. He did, however, wave to her sister who happened to be standing right next to her at the window. Go figure.
7:16 Breakfast is served. I usually make a nice, hot breakfast of homemade pancakes or scrambled eggs with toast and juice. I do this while standing in the kitchen in my apron wearing my pearls and a sunny smile.
7:16 In the real world, breakfast is served. Pop-Tarts or cereal - with milk, if we have it.
7:18 I explain to Sydney that yes, they are packing their lunch today, because I am not made of money.
7:19 I explain to Olivia that No, I don't care whether she eats what I pack her or not, she's not buying lunch.
7:21 I finish packing lunches.
7:22 I begin telling the girls to get a move on and finish up soon.
7:23 I tell the girls that I'm going to get a shower and they better be done with breakfast, and be dressed when I get out.
7:24 I pick out their clothes for the day and hop in the shower.
7:26 I hear a huge "THUMP" somewhere. I have soap in my hair and no one's screaming. So I rinse.
7:27 Sydney comes into the bathroom to ask whether her orange flip flops will match the jeans and sweater I have picked out. I tell her I don't think so since it's only 40 degrees outside and since when is she allowed to wear flip flops to school in ANY weather?
7:27 The bathroom door slams and Sydney stomps away yelling about how unfair her life is.
7:28 Liv comes into the bathroom to scream about how disgusting her sister is and how Sydney got toothpaste all over the place and made a huge mess and Olivia just can't be around her because she is GROSS. Sydney screams in the background that she did it on "accident".
7:28 The bathroom door slams again.
7:29 Sydney comes into the bathroom to tell me that Olivia hit/kicked/slapped/pinched her.
7:29 The bathroom door slams again.
7:30 I hear the girls screaming at each other and a lot of banging.
7:31 I now have a headache. Have you ever tried to yell at your children who were two rooms away while you were in the shower? Very loud. Not good for the ears - or the head.
7:32 I'm out of the shower. I discover the girls aren't dressed, their teeth aren't brushed and they are still arguing.
7:33 I drip into the hallway and tell Sydney to finish brushing her teeth and tell Liv to get dressed.
7:34 There are several comments shouted from the bathroom to Liv's room and vice-versa, which are not very nice.
7:35 I go back into the hallway and tell Sydney to now go get dressed and Liv to now go brush her teeth.
7:37 Sydney has decided she doesn't like the shirt I picked out and has ventured to the laundry room to dig through the baskets for something that suits her fancy.
7:38 Olivia is complaining that she doesn't have ANY clothes and she can't wear what I picked out because everyone will laugh at her. She can't explain why.
7:39 A new outfit for Olivia is chosen and she finally gets dressed.
7:41 I yell for the girls to grab whatever they want in their hair and bring a brush.
7:42 Olivia shows up with my hairbrush, which she got from my purse. I am still not dressed and my hair has only been dried half way.
7:43 Olivia's hair is done. She doesn't like it and proceeds to take it out.
7:44 I call for Sydney again.
7:45 I'm now halfway dressed. But I can't find my shoes.
7:46 WHERE IS SYDNEY???
7:47 Sydney shows up. In her underwear. She can't find the shirt she's been looking for. I try to count to ten. I make it to six before I start yelling. Sydney runs from the room to get dressed in what I picked out.
7:48 Sydney is now dressed.

(are you exhausted yet?)

7:49 Sydney has disappeared again to go get the barrette with the kitty cat on it that she wants to wear in her hair. Olivia begins the morning countdown by telling me that we only have 15 minutes until the bus comes. She will continue this countdown every minute until we get in the car.
7:50 I ask Liv to please go let the dogs out. She rolls her eyes and sighs heavily and complains that she ALWAYS has to let the dogs out. I tell her to get over it.
7:52 WHERE IS SYDNEY!!!!!
7:53 I go downstairs and find Sydney in the downstairs bathroom riffling through the drawers looking for her barrette and singing to herself in the mirror. This time I only make it to four.
7:54 Sydney's hair is hair is done and she is crying. I probably shouldn't do their hair when I'm frustrated.
7:55 I find my shoes. But the girls can't find theirs. Olivia reminds me that we now only have ten minutes until the bus comes. I remind her that her hair still isn't done.
7:56 I give the girls 2 seconds to get shoes on. ANY shoes.
7:57 Sydney comes down in her orange flip flops. I don't even bother to count.
7:58 Sydney has gone back upstairs to get real shoes. Olivia is in the bathroom re-doing her hair.
7:59 Olivia comes out of the bathroom and I take one look at her and tell her there is NO WAY she's going to school with her hair like that. She stomps off to try again.
8:00 GET YOUR BOOKBAGS AND YOUR LUNCHBOXES AND GET IN THE CAR!
8:01 Olivia begins to panic because her hair isn't done, which means she has to start over.
8:02 I call to Sydney to let the dogs in. She apparently feels that she has to do EVERYTHING for me and that I need to start doing things myself.
8:03 Olivia's hair is now done and acceptable and she begins telling me that if we don't hurry up, we'll miss the bus. The irony is lost on her.
8:05 We jump in the car and race up the road to the bus stop, just in time to see the bus pull up - on a good day.
9:00 I get to work and walk into my office and discover, upon looking in the mirror, that I have no make-up on.

The Bath Aftermath

Cue spooky music......

Don't go in there!!

DO NOT LOOK IN THE TUB!!!!

GASP!

SHOCK!!!

DISBELIEF!!!

ree! ree! reee! reee!

AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!

When comes to making messes in the bathtub, Norman Bates has got NOTHIN' on my girls.

The room in which we live....

The family room.

Since the color doesn't convey well on film, I thought I'd show you a few "swatches" of the paint colors...

Behold!

My pants.

The creamy color (please direct your attention to the left pants leg) is on the wall opposite the windows. The light comes in and reflects off the light color and makes the room feel brighter.

In the evening.....

The darker color (which looked like chocolate milk when I picked it out - see right pants leg above) is on the wall where the two big windows are located. It's nice and warm and cozy.

This coffee table was purchased last summer, but we have had the TV on it since then. We finally found a piece of furniture we liked.

So we are now able to use the coffee table as it was intended....

To hold my morning coffee!

I'm still not quite done in here. I need to bring a more little color to the room....Maybe some new window treatments?

Hmmmmm......

Imagine the room with a thick crown molding, some window treatments with just a hint of a nice deep red.....yum......

And here we have a bracelet Liv made for me.





Lots of hearts for lots of love. I love my girls.