Washing dishes on my anniversary

Usually I'm a fairly happy go lucky person ignoring the seriousness of situations around me. When we found out we were having twins, I was not afraid, I was ecstatic. Perhaps I was just too naive to realize the gravity of that situation. At the time I figured two parents, two babies, one for each to hold. When I was on my own with them I still had two hands, one for each securely held little chubby hand. Even breastfeeding did not daunt me, afterall I do have two breasts, one for each tiny baby. While I was pregnant I had a myriad of problems including gestational diabetes, cardiac arrhythmias, a broken ankle, and it ended with being induced for pre-eclampsia and Bell's Palsy. Still, I didn't blink. It was all part of life, part of what makes us who we are, and it got me some pretty cute kids IMHO.

Lately however, many of you may have noticed that I've become a bit sour on life, a bit grumpier, a bit more negative. Amazingly it has nothing to do with my family, or does it? As you all know, our census has been down at work which means we don't need as many nurses which means I have been getting cancelled, A LOT! It also means that I haven't been getting paychecks, or very minimal paychecks for about 2 months now. It's not so much the paycheck I miss as the things I can do for my family with it. Due to this lack of funding, we have had to cancel nearly all extra-curricular activities including vacations which brings me to why I'm washing dishes on my anniversary, and how it's helping to redirect my attitude.

This morning my wonderful hubby let me sleep in. Having cancelled all our anniversary plans this seemed like a good thing to do. I was just moping anyway. Anyhoo, when he woke me up, he said if I would wash the crepe pan, he would go to the store and get some blackberries and make us some crepes. He also mentioned that he was planning to stay off his computer for the day since we should be spending it as a family (because that's what getting married got us.) I figured fair enough, and headed off to wash the crepe pan (which also meant doing a whole load of dishes because I couldn't make my way to the faucet to wash the one pan.) As I stood there washing I had an epiphany. Despite the financial difficulties right now we still have each other, we still have 3 beautiful girls, and we are all fairly healthy. I have a hubby who is making the best of the situation, and trying to make the day nice for both of us. I am also finally going to get his wonderful crepes (he's been promising to make them for me since I met him 16.5 years ago).

Finally, as I stood there washing away and contemplating life, he came home from the store with one of my favorite champagnes (that's a funny story in itself), and a bunch of red roses. He said since we were limited, he was going to get me a small present from everywhere he went today. How sweet is that?

The day is little more than half over, but I'm already smiling about it fondly, and getting ready to meet the coming year with a new found peppy attitude. You over there, yeah, you dark stormy clouds, go away!! You're no longer welcome. The sun is shining, and I'm sure I see a rainbow on the horizon.

Heart of Black

Since I met my hubby approximately 16.5 years ago we have joked about the fact that he's dead inside, has a little black heart, no feelings, etc. I'm telling you right here and now that's not true. He is a sensitive caring tough guy. The reason all this got started was because I never saw him cry, and we were having a conversation about that one day many years ago. Tough guys don't cry, right?

Anyhoo, today we were talking about something totally unrelated, and he says, "Do you want to make me cry?" To which I responded, "Yes, I do." He laughed and muttered something about his shriveled, black heart. Could I leave it at that? Nooooooo. Instead I mentioned that didn't need an entire sensitive muscle, I'd be happy if he could just come up with a sensitive tendon in his body. Again he laughed. Do you see a pattern here?

It's been a long week around here

Last Thursday both girls starting feeling bad, Friday they were pretty lethargic and Riley was complaining that her ear hurt. I put drops in it, gave them both some Tylenol and headed off to work leaving them in Bill's hands. Saturday and Sunday Riley stayed in bed all day voluntarily. Monday we headed to their doctor since they weren't getting any better. The diagnosis? They both had bronchitis and Riley had a bilateral ear infection. In addition to this Bill and Stacey both have sinus infections they're fighting off, and all 4 were on antibiotics, and Bill, Sam, and Riley are on inhalers. Do you know how hard it is to get a 4 year old to use an inhaler properly? Amidst all this I came down with a mild version of whatever plague is going around here.

Fast forward to today. Girls are up and playing, seem to be pretty healthy, Stacey is out and about, I'm feeling much better. Just Bill is still pretty sick, or so I thought. After going to bed tonight Sam came out crying about her ear hurting. Here we go again.

Not like him.

Last week Bill went on a business trip to New York. The girls and I took him to the airport, so the girls could get the idea that he was going away for awhile. "On a plane, just like Hawaii," per Sam and Riley. Of course we had to pick him up too, so I got there nice and early (earlier than planned), parked the car, and took the girls inside. We got a little snack and set ourselves up at the glass so they could see him when he came through the gate.

As we waited, Sam became more and more worried that he wasn't coming, or that he was lost. Finally she asked me if we would know Daddy when we saw him. I told her, "of course we will." This was not enough for her. She very calmly told me, "Mommy, Daddy has black hair and a big head, and he doesn't look like that guy (pointing to a random male passenger)." Now I know.

I heart William Fisher

Rich sent this to me with a, "What the heck" message attached. Not sure why this is on Amazon, but I think it's pretty funny.

Weekend/Hubby update

This was one of my long weekends that I work all night, and sleep 1/2 the day so I can go back to work again. I don't know what got into Bill but he deserves a big thumbs up for productivity this weekend. By my count (and it may be off) he did 2 to 3 loads of dishes, 4 loads of laundry (even put some of it away), made me 2 very thoughtful (and yummy dinners), took the girls to the park, to soccer, and to the store, and to top the weekend off he even brought them and Harrison to my hockey game. We lost 4 - 2 and I was -3 for the game (boo), but it was nice to have them all there. The people on my bench kept commenting on how cute they were and how nice it was to have my family there cheering for us. I agree.

Just like Mom use to do.

Sunday morning I arrived home from work, opened the door, and was met by the fabulous smell of fresh baked bread. That was the best. It was quite tasty too. The girls and I sat down and sliced off several hunks right away. (Thanks Bill.)

"Help" with the laundry.

Last week while I was playing hockey with Andrea the girls were apparently busy "helping" to do the laundry. They took all the clothes out of their drawers and relocated them to the dining room. Why? I don't know. We don't do laundry in the dining room.

In any case, when we came off the ice Andrea received the following IM from Bill.

"Don't bring Susan home. The girls have created a disaster, she will kill me."

Shortly after it was followed by the all clear message saying he and the girls had cleaned up the mess, and indeed they had, because the only evidence that this happened is this photo.

My very belated 4th of July post.

Due to getting Harrison, and having a rather mellow holiday, I have been very lax in getting the 4th of July report out.


This year it was determined that we would got to Sacramento for the 4th so we could light off fireworks. It worked out well since picking up Harrison was on the way. We spent the night, and Bill got up early the next day to go shopping for the required fireworks. I stayed and played with Harrison and the girls, and when Bill got back we all took a little nap. Yep, you heard right. I napped. We hadn't gotten to bed til 3 in the morning, and then were up at 7:00, so I was very tired.

It was far too hot to BBQ (the outside temp was between 104 and 107 that day depending on where you were in the area), so we cooked in the comfort of airconditioning. We did make the requisite homemade ice cream, but in a whole new method. We got one of those contraptions that look like a hamster ball really cheap, filled it, and then the girls and I rolled it around until it was pretty solid. As you can guess, it was a lot of work for very little yield.

Finally it was dark and we had fireworks. We started the girls off with sparklers, but they were totally unimpressed. Then came the bigger fireworks. The girls were waiting, the fuse was lit, the flashes began, the whistling commenced followed by the screams of two little girls. Sadly, they do not share their father's love of fireworks. They quickly retired to the house with their hands over their ears, and we shut down the fireworks display. Maybe next year. Sigh.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day (a day late) to all my friends and family that are fathers. I hope your celebrations were great.

Since Bill doesn't blog, here was his day. He was allowed to sleep in till 10 by his loving wife (that would be me) who had Eggs Benedict waiting for him when he got up. The hollandaise sauce was great if I do say so myself.

After breakfast we packed up the kids and headed to Santa Cruz for a nice day on the beach. It was quite windy when we got there, so made for a chilly day. It seemed to warm up a bit, and the girls had a great day playing in the sand. They did not want to leave, but we were eventually able to lure them off the beach. After beach time we had a very nice dinner at the Crow's Nest. Our table had a lovely view of the harbor so we could see the lighthouse, and watch the boats coming and going. We also shared a delicious strawberry shortcake for dessert. The girls thought it was great, all of us digging into the same dish.

To top off the day, the girls and I stopped in a local shop while Bill got the car. They saw a pirate sign there, declared it was just like the silly pirates (that's what they call Pirates of the Carribean) at Disneyland, and wanted to get it for Bill. How could I say, "No"?

Finally we headed home, the girls went to sleep, and Bill and I watched Logan's Run.

I think it was a nice day for him (and us). The only thing that could have made it better is if Stacey could have been there, but she had to work.

Bill's Birthday Song

A short little diddy with a 90 degree twist just like Bill. ;)

Disneyland and other news...

Last week was Bill's birthday. We had a very nice party attended by many friends and family. The BBQ was great, but the company even better. After the party we hung out with his sister, had a bottle of champagne and went to bed. The next day we got up and headed for the house of the mouse for a few days.

New things about Disneyland.
1. It will not be our last trip with the stroller though I thought it would be. We used it more than ever before on this trip. Don't know why, but the girls were much more in need of being carried, so it's a good thing we had the stroller to put them in.
2. Pirates of the Carribean is constantly changing. Of note this trip is that the crab is missing from the first scene after the waterfalls. The girls were the first to notice this as it is one of the first things they look for. That, and the seagull on the pirates hat. Also, they've added a boat to the scene where Cap'n Jack Sparrow is hiding out in the dress shop. The pirates over the archways have changed too. One is now holding a powder keg and the other two are posed differently though still drinking. The disturbing part is that all the pirates were a bit more dressed up. They were a little too fancy, and not as piratey as they use to be.
3. WE GOT TO RIDE THE NEW NEMO SUBMARINES BEFORE THE GENERAL PUBLIC! Woo hoo! That's right, we got to preview them before their official opening date. We got to do this because as Annual Passholders we entered into a drawing to be one of the first to see it, and we won. It was pretty cool. The submarines are roomier, don't have that diesel smell anymore, and have been spruced up a bit. The ride, while still a submarine ride had a few Disney special effects that were surprising. Bill tells me there is a YouTube video out there with the whole ride posted, but I don't want to link to it as I think that spoils it for when you get to ride it. BTW, it officially opens today.
4. ToonTown has way better pizza than the Pizza Port in Tomorrowland.
5. There is NEVER a time when Peter Pan does not have a line. This is not true for the rest of the rides. Everything else we could time so we didn't have massive line waits.
6. The girls are now tall enough (barely, and only because they had shoes on) to ride the bumper cars over in the bugs life area of California Adventure.
7. Kids meals come with a whole tray of fresh fruit in the picnic area just past the bugs life area whereas in the rest of the park you get a fruit cup with the kids meals for the same price.

I'm sure there's more, but that's it for now.

I'm just not Steve.

Last Sunday Bill and I are watching a television show that I don't really care about. Somewhere in the middle of the show Bill starts laughing, but I do not. He looks over at me and calmly says, "Steve would have laughed at that."

(For those of you who don't know, Steve is a good friend of Bill's who apparently has a much different sense of humor than I do.)