My little problem solver...

So we're expected at a birthday party this Saturday. Avery saw the invitation and got all excited at the prospect of cake and games and 3-year-old mayhem. I explained to her that there might be a chance that we could have to go to the hospital if my SIL is having her baby that day and we wouldn't be able to go to the party. Here's the exchange that resulted from this heartbreaking news:

Avery: "But Mom, I want to go to Jacob's birthday party!"

Me: "Well, Avery, I do too, but if Auntie Jodi is having her baby, we will want to go visit him that day at the hospital."

Avery: "But I don't want to go to the hospital, I want to go to the birthday party instead!"

Me: "Avery, I'm sure we'll be able to go to the party, I was just letting you know that there might be a chance we'll go to the hospital if Auntie Jodi's baby is coming."

Avery: "Mom, can't Auntie Jodi have her baby at Jacob's party?"

Me: Hysterical Laughter

I'm sure Auntie Jodi would much rather be surrounded by Labor and Delivery nurses than Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey and a Dora Pinata. I'll be sure to suggest Avery's brilliant solution to our problem to her, though.

Blog move, again...

My poor blog has gone through too many moves in its lifetime. If you're still with me, thanks for sticking around :)

Amazing...

It's amazing how something I thought was impossible way back when could affect me so deeply. Years ago I joined a couple of "Trying To Conceive" type forums and 'met' several people who ended up getting pregnant the same month that I did. I could never have imagined that I would become such close friends with some of them. Many of them I have met along the way, many of them I probably never will. I don't think I could explain this to anyone who has never been a part of a community like this.

In many cases, I tell them things that I don't tell most of my "real" friends. I am a part of such a community for Ainsley, and we found out that one of our fellow moms was stabbed to death by her husband this past weekend. You cam imagine right now we're sort of in that "can we do anything" phase. I suspect as the days go on it will really sink in. I was reading a news report about it this morning and got so choked up Avery looked at me with great concern and wanted to comfort me.

I can't imagine how I would feel if someone in my group of women with babies born around when Avery was born was hurt or killed. Those women are some of my closest friends, crazy I know. Some of us became friends way back when we were posting on Fertility Friend and now our kids are all starting preschool and picking out their own clothes in the morning.

Sorry for the sappy post, I'm just kind of sick over this. This woman was really trying to put her life together and leave her abusive husband. What a complete and total tragedy.

Sometimes...

I dream about wearing these around the house all day. It'd really help block out the "mommy mommy mommy mommy mommy" and the "wah wah wah wah wah" and the whine whine whine whine whine from the dogs.

Can you tell I woke up on the wrong side of the bed?

So I Live Next to an Ax Murderer

A few days ago, my beloved and gorgeous and vivacious and beautiful, intelligent, witty, and weird friend Anna called to tell me that someone on my street had been arrested for taping up his wife with duct tape, threatening her with an ax, and then chopping up random things around their house in an attempt to show her how serious he was. The wife managed to call 911, but got disconnected somehow, and then the son got through again after his dad sent him to go get a gun. Apparently the guy is in jail right now and they have removed several guns from the house. Not really a funny story at all, but here's what kills me about the whole thing.

We have a "Neighborhood Watch." I've lived in neighborhoods with this system before, and I've never really seen much except for the signs saying the neighborhood was involved in it. Not this neighborhood. This neighborhood has meetings, we have phone lists, and an organized phone tree for emergencies.

From time to time, we'll get calls on our organized phone tree to let us know that so-and-so had his mail stolen or somebody's welcome mat disappeared from their front porch. I think a few times someone has reported a lost dog, and maybe even someone had a pie stolen off of their kitchen windowsill once. These are the things that have warranted mass hysteria and every single household on the street was notified about it.

But I have to get a phone call from a friend whose husband's dad's coworkers notified him that some wacko had moved in for the winter and tried to pull a "Here's Johnny" on his wife in broad daylight.

I wonder what the lady who called to report a stolen pie thinks about that?

1/366

So I decided that I am going to do this 365 project thing, only I think it's really 366 since 2008 is a leap year. Since I've been suffering from the stomach flu since yesterday (lots better today...) I thought it'd be fitting to incorporate how I've spent my new year so far.

Happy 2008!