Not a Great Dream... but at least not a nightmare.

This morning I had a very vivid dream.

There was a spaceship going to another planet. We all decided that it was the best thing to go on the spaceship and live on the new planet, and were given a rendezvous point and a time to meet. We met the first one, but I decided that I couldn't go on that one because I /needed/ to see Tristan before I left. So Stephen went, and Ashley stayed with me. Our rendezvous was rescheduled.

I went to see Tristan, and when it was time to leave, he didn't want me to go. He clung to me, saying he wanted to go with me, but was being pulled back into the house away from me. I stayed with him until I was so late that I couldn't be sure that I would make the rendezvous, and left him screaming my name. I could hear it all the way to pick up my stuff.

I woke up before finding out if I made it to the rendezvous point on time, but I felt bitter and sick inside. I know what my brain is trying to sort through. But I would like it much better if it would not do it right when I have to get up and thus set up my day to start by feeling a bit dead inside. Just sayin'.

At least it wasn't a nightmare - unlike the time when Tristan was 1 that I dreamt I cut the head off a cow with a pair of scissors (it was a mercy killing) and then discovered that it wasn't a cow, it was Tristan - and I held his head telling him I loved him and was sorry over and over until he died. I woke myself up crying with that one. Nice one, brain. Nice.

A Tristan Report!

This is a video of Tristan's Dr. Seuss Program at school last week. His favourite song was 'The Things You Can Think'. I think he is so big, and so gorgeous. I am so proud.

Here is what Tristan says about it. "A lot of people got hurt and cried. They did a song for Mrs. Hardy because she is leaving. I did not cry about Mrs. Hardy. She is our music teacher that read the story in the video. I was scared because there was kindergardners and other kids and Mom's and Dad's. I was scared because there were so many people. We had to do it two times, and the first time Sherrie and Mama Kim went and the second time Sherrie had to go on a field trip so Chris my brother came and watched me."

Be warned that this video is set to be viewed only 25 times, so if you try to watch and it won't, that's why.


He also went to a live performance of 'The Vagina Monologues'. While there, he had a snack. Says he," I had a chocolate vagina. It hurt my mouth."

Dear me, I about to died laughing.
The plan is for a catch-up post tomorrow. So talk to you then!

Blog, Beards, and Barak...

Blog

It used to be that my blog posts were interesting. I spoke of politics, and thoughtful insights, and other such things. I sounded young and vibrant and intelligent. I don't know if time has mellowed me or if I am just being too careful about not being offensive. But now, I think I might be boring to read.

Granted, this blog is not really the place for me to go all soap-boxy. However, if I had wanted to play it ultra-safe I wouldn't have made this blog public.

I am not really sure what I'm saying. Perhaps I think about being more risqué, but I worry about what family will think if I am too risqué. I think about stating my position and going all activist, but I can imagine how many people might get annoyed. Possibly this is not yet something that I have thought through enough to decide what I want to do.

Beards

The cold weather is upon us, and the dark of winter is here. (Even though technically it is not yet winter.) I can now say that there is a pattern: Stephen likes a beard when it gets cold. It is not yet as long as it was when he shaved it last year, but I am delighting in it.

I was pondering why it is that I like his beard so much. I know it is a little unusual: I haven't even met anyone that I can think of that enjoys the idea of their partner having facial hair. I know that partly it is a feeling safe thing. My daddy had a beard, and part of it is the feeling of being little and loving daddy. Part of it goes hand in hand with my idea of what an intelligent man looks like.

Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci.

Last but not least, a huge part of it goes hand in hand with my love of hippie culture. All hippie men, at least in my mind's eye, have beards, and I just find it extremely attractive. Yes, I suppose that means I have a 'thing' for hippie men. No, Stephen is not one. But he floats my boat when he rubs my cheek with his beard.

John Lennon, Jerry Garcia, Jim Morrison.

Part of me doesn't like to admit that I have such levels of fascination and identification with hippie culture. It feels somewhat silly, in today's modern age. But I look at my life thus far and it seems pretty obvious that it has always been that way. My mother told me, when I was a teenager and borrowing my daddy's shirts because I liked them far better than I did girl clothes, that I was her polar opposite. She spent the 60's and early 70's resisting and fighting against everything that being a hippie stood for, while I spent the 80's and 90's trying desperately to be one.

(One of my absolute favourite shirts is one I stole from my daddy way back when. It is blue, long sleeves, with mother of pearl snaps at the wrists and a pocket on the chest. I call it my "70's National Geographic photographer" shirt. It looks just like you imagine. Google Image it, too. Someone is wearing one.)

Since being an adult I have struggled to try to find the commune of my dreams. Reading about The Farm in Tennessee made me desperately want to go and live there. I always had a house full of people, and living with Dar and George was pretty much a happy commune situation. Sometimes I miss so many people around.

Barak

This election has been quite an interesting one for me. I thought it best explained when I responded to a friend's blog.

Hear, hear, and Huzzah!

I find it particularly interesting that so many people that I personally know feel profoundly affected by not only the physical act of voting, but also the results of said election. I have no previous memories of people crying for sheer exhilaration and joy, but that is what I see and hear happening. And, truth be told, I am feeling it too. I don't think it is Obama per say, at least for me it is not, but more the possibility of coming out of what has been seen as a very dark time. The glimmer of light in the tunnel ahead effect, I suppose.

While I have always been proud to be an American, the last year of living in a foreign country and seeing what the world thinks of us has been quite an eye opener. We made a huge difference this election. It might even make it so Americans don't have to hide their heads when leaving the country.

What I am saying is that I'm right there with you, my friend.

While I chose not to use the blog as a place to push my own personal politics, I am going to say that I am really quite happy with who won the election. Stephen stayed up late the night of. He let me sleep until it got exciting, then woke me up. We cuddled in bed and watched until the BBC called the election for Obama.

The next day, Tristan asked me while I was on the phone with him who I voted for. When I told him, he told me that it was a good thing I voted the way I did, because if I hadn't he would have been angry with me. Silly boy.

The Post-Trip Update (A Long Time Coming...)

Well, it is about time that I catch you all up on what is going on in my neck of the woods.

The trip to the States was nice. I enjoyed seeing my family. I enjoyed spending time with Tristan. I enjoyed the weather and driving on the right side of the road. Tristan’s birthday was wonderful, and I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that he is 7 years old. That is practically grown up.

Boo had a bit of a hard time with the amount of time he was with me. It is so hard for kids to transition back and forth, and he was very homesick. I understood: I was homesick too. I didn’t expect to be, but I was.

We did quite a bit of shopping, and Ashley should be all set up with new clothes and new glasses for the year. Tristan got a lot of new clothes too, and I even splurged and ended up with some new work clothes and a few tops. I stocked up on things I can’t get in the United Kingdom; things like Malt o’Meal, corn syrup, and green chiles. To be honest, I didn’t foresee that packing two empty suitcases wouldn’t be enough, but after I left Ashley 3 boxes of Malt o’Meal to bring back with her, I only had ½ lb. to spare in 1 suitcase. The other was packed up tight and exactly as heavy as it was allowed to be without paying extra.

There is a story to go along with the topic of suitcases: in London before I left Stephen and I discovered that one of the wheels on my large suitcase was almost broken. We readjusted the packing, and the plan was for me to have it repaired in El Paso. Well, El Paso does have a repair shop that does not service my type of luggage under warranty, so I had to pay for it myself. Plus, they couldn’t give me a time line because they had never worked with that company before and were not sure how it all was going to happen. 3 days before my flight home I called them to find that they had sent a wheel, and it was the wrong side, then sent another one that did not fit. The put a different brand's wheel on it as a stopgap for me.That wheel didn’t even make it to my landing in London, for when I got the luggage off the luggage rack, the wheel was completely gone. So the 2 hour trip home from Gatwick airport involved a 50 pound huge suitcase with an essential wheel missing, and another 50 pound suitcase, plus a backpack and a laptop bag. By the time Stephen met me in Canterbury, 2/3 of the way home, I was exhausted and sore, and the wheel on the smaller bag was broken. By the time we actually got home, it was trashed. There is a lesson here:Pierre Cardin luggage is rubbish.I hope Ashley does not have the problems getting back that I did.

There is an ending to the computer story from an earlier post also. My computer did not arrive back in time, though it was en route. (A few more days and it would have made it back in time.) They allowed me to exchange it, and I had the amount of money that I originally paid for the old laptop. Since laptop prices have gone down significantly in the last few years,I have a new high-end laptop, and I only had to pay the amount of the 3 year extended warranty that even covers accidents.It was a small investment for a new laptop. I ended up with a Sony Vaio, which apparently Sarah and some other family members also have. Stephen approved, and is happy with the choice.He occasionally putters on it and seems content.

Let’s see… what else. For my birthday, Dan and Christie gave me a Palm Pilot, and it is being put to good use. Stephen was quite happy to find 300 or so games to put on it. It is synched with our home computer, and he is still looking into ways to connect it with my Google calendar. There is time yet to figure it out. The airline didn’t care at all about my birthday, and actually didn’t even look closely enough at my passport to discover that I was flying on my actual birthday. The man at airport security noticed, though, and told me to have a nice day because of it. I got lucky in sitting on the plane, too. The first short flight from El Paso to Houston, the man who was sitting in MY aisle seat told me that he was ‘packing heat’ and then showed me his gun. He was a federal marshal. He didn’t give up my aisle seat, so I sat in the window. Thank goodness for scopolamine, because otherwise I would not have been able to get to the toilet. The flight from Houston to London I was sitting next to a very nice gentleman flying to Dubai for a skiing trip. He was very friendly… but took off his shoes thus releasing intense foot smell, had severe body odor, and snored emphatically the entire flight. He must have slept very well. I didn’t.

Jet lag has been kicking my tush. I am still having a hard time falling asleep at night and waking up in the morning.

The house unpacking thing is coming along, slowly but surely. Poor Stephen must have been just drowning in boxes. I am not yet comfortable posting pictures of the new house, but I intend to eventually.

Ashley should be getting her A-level results in the next few days. I’ll let you know how she did.

I cut my hair. It ended up being between 8 and 10 inches chopped off. To be honest, no one has noticed.

Stephen left yesterday for his 10 day family holiday in Austria. I have to be honest and state that the biggest reason I didn’t prioritise an ‘I’m home’ post was because of wanting to cram in as much time as possible in the 5 days that we were both home together. Being in the house completely alone is a little nerve wracking, but I am surviving. I know things will get done around the house because there is just nothing else to do. And work is nice because it means that I have something to do during the day rather than just sit at home and mope. I have been invited to a BBQ this weekend, and may go. Plus, as of today there is a first aid class I am being sent on in another city.

So Stephen comes home on the 25th or so, Ashley comes home a few days after that, and then we all gear up for school again. Fun fun, I tell you. But being my last year of school for a little while, I can suck it up.

Dear god

I do not know how to let him go. And my heart is already being torn out of my chest thinking about it.

Computer Adventures, Among Other Things

So, yesterday was a busy/good day.

I went to lunch with Chris and Marianna at a Thai place in El Paso. I had green prawn curry (though they didn't know what prawns were, and I forgot to just say shrimp.) It was HOT. Way hot. So hot I wasn't able to finish it and I'm not sure that I want to touch it today. Yum... but ow! We went to their favourite bakery afterwards for empanadas, and I had their 4 year old Ciara in the car. And wouldn't you know that I left my phone behind.

Since I had Ciara and didn't know where we were going, I couldn't turn around when I figured it out (almost immediately.) So I drove all the way to the bakery before turning around to go and get it. The people in the restaurant had it... but there is a funny story that I didn't know about until later. While my phone was AWOL, the people who found my phone called my sister Anna to ask if she knew who my phone belonged to. She said that she did (thank goodness this was not one of those times that she disowned me!) and asked them to leave it with the Thai restaurant people. She then sent my nephew Pat to go and fetch it. I beat him to the phone.

We still can't figure out how they called Anna's number. It was not the top number, nor was it in my called list. Strange.

So, back to the bakery for pumpkin empanadas, which are my favourite. I think I will have to make some at Samhain this year. I'm guessing that Stephen and Ash both will enjoy them. I brought home apple ones too, but not pineapple, because Anna is "allergic" (meaning she hates them.) Mom was upset at the lack of pineapple. They are her favourite. I can't win for losing with the empanadas. ;)

In the afternoon Anna and I went to Best Buy (to deal with broken laptop stuff before my warranty expires on the 25th of August) and Barnes and Noble. (They are right next door, and Anna goes gaga over books. Not me, of course. Never me.) The lines were long at Best Buy but to make a long story short, they took my laptop to repair it. It is not due back until the 24th... BUT since I fly back to the UK on the 7th, if it is not back by the 5th then they will give me a brand new one, free. I will be able to buy an extended warranty on it also. It may not be the best that they have, but they agreed that none of the specs will be less than what I had on the old laptop. They can, and most likely will, be better. I also found out that, if need be, they can make repairs overseas.

The downside is this: I couldn't lose my documents folder, and had no way to back it up at home, being that it was about 27 Gigabytes large. The least expensive external hard drive they had was more expensive than it would have cost for me to have Best Buy back up the folder, and the offer they extended to me was not going to happen if I didn't leave my computer then, so I felt that I had to pay them to back up my documents. It is money I didn't count on spending, nor is the money that I will spend for the extended warranty on a new computer (if it works out that way,) but I think both were/will be vital.

Barnes and Noble afterwards was nice because it was the first time I have gotten time to spend /with/ Anna. We browsed; she bought a whole lot of books. I ended up with two. This trip has been heavy on the reading, and I am really enjoying being able to read for pleasure rather than reading to learn. Perhaps another post I'll give you the lowdown on what I have read and what I think of them.

Tristan and I are really enjoying our time together. I am starting to dream of packing him into my suitcase and taking him home with me. I have dreamed things along those lines every night for the past 4 nights. I don't need a dream interpreter to know what that means. I am really going to hate leaving him.

Enough for now.
*kisses*

Welcome to America - Where Violence Starts Young.

Tristan's birthday party was yesterday, and much fun was had by all. As in every birthday party he has ever had, the crowning glory of the party (besides the awesome bubble-wrap party game: and whoever thought of THAT was absolutely brilliant) was the piñata.

I have never given piñatas much thought. Everyone has them. They are standard fare in the borderlands at birthday parties and other special occasions. But, holy cow, they really teach kids how to be violent.

Child approaches effigy of choice.


Child is handed a baseball bat or a stick.


Crowd screams in what can only be called blood lust, "Hit it! Kill it! Knock it around! Harder! Hit it harder!"

Parents and adults comment on the ability of the child to destruct the effigy. The more powerful the blows, the better. You hear things like, "She's a little spitfire, she is" or "Look at how he hits it, he will be strong when he grows up."

To challenge older children, they can be blindfolded and spun around, thus ensuring that they are capable of violence in difficult situations.

Children take turns hitting until said effigy is in bad enough shape to let out its insides, which happens to be some sort of sweet or toy. There is the mad rush of children to fill bags with goodies fallen to the ground, and a real 'each to his own' mentality. Those who get the most win. Those who don't, cry.

Upon thinking about it, this innate violence is not limited to this culture and the occurrences of piñatas (which may have originated in China and traveled across the world to Spain, and by extensions, Mexican culture.) The world has many types of similar things.

The ancient concept of the sacred king, who is sacrificed for the fertility of the fields at the end of his reign, transmuted into the sacrifice of an effigy. England's Bonfire Night sees children throwing effigies of the traitor Guy Fawkes they have been carrying around onto the bonfire and screaming in delight as it burns.

Historically effigies have represented powerful figures, and even today the destruction of an effigy may be a political statement of discontent.

It is not that I am against piñatas. I have grown up with them, as have my children. But it interests me that there is such a violent undercurrent to them that we don't even really notice. Perhaps violence is in our nature the world over.

References:

Sacred King:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_king

The Piñata:
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/wdevlin/wdpinatahistory.html

Bonfire Night:
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/guy/history.htm

Political Effigies:
http://cultureandcommunication.org/deadmedia/index.php/Political_Effigies

Effigies as political statements:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/sep/16/catholicism.religion
http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/12225

The Truth is... Heavenly Hell

The truth of the last 36 hours is that they have been extremely difficult, but all for a good reason. I am in El Paso, I have Boo in my arms, and I never want to let him go. I have had little sleep, I cried more than once (actually, once in each airport) and I discovered that 1. I really hate traveling, especially alone, and 2. I think of England as home. I didn't realise that.

The reason that I am posting this little tidbit of truth is that I am going to use this blog to write to my kids at school about the trip. So you will see the gooshey everything-is-nice version, including pictures. But you all deserve the truth, too.

People so far have been difficult for me. I guess that I developed some sort of larger personal space rules, because everyone seems too close and too loud. Family has been wonderful, though. It is the random strangers that I am talking about. I didn't actually have a decent cup of tea until I got to Mom's house, and I needed it. My body hasn't adjusted to the time at all - I was exhausted and went to bed in El Paso by midnight. I was up at 3. Could not sleep. Because in my head that was 10 and I just couldn't bear to lie abed any longer. So I'm up. Now it is 5 am and I feel like my day is half over. Part of me wants to wake Tristan up and go and do stuff - but it is not exactly fair to make a kid change his schedule just because mine is out of whack.

So, enough truth. Onto the gloss!

Deja vu.

Happy Midsummer!

Today's Sunrise: 4:36:58 BST
Today's Sunset: 21:18:12 BST

(BST = British Summer Time. Subtract 7 hours to equal Mountain Daylight Savings Time.)

I think it is a good thing that I have people like Dan around to keep me motivated to write on this blog. He says:

Hi Amy,

I've been checking your blog to see an updated health post. How are you doing? Are you getting psyched to come back to the States?

The sick thing is an interesting tidbit right now. No, I am not healthy. Yes, I am sick. But I am sick again rather than still. Which I suppose is better. My chest is not full of gunk, though I go in for an x-ray on Monday just to be sure. I, however, have come to the conclusion that whoever told me that it takes 5 to 7 years to develop allergies in a new place LIED. (And I say that with venomous emphasis, just in case you were wondering.)

I had seasonal allergies in the states: mulberry pollen got to me just like it did everyone else. There must be something here, though, that I am really allergic to in the air. I have been hacking and sneezing repeatedly and strongly, and glad for doing it as it itches my throat when I do. (When I am not sneezing to itch my throat, I am rubbing my tongue as far down it as I can to try and itch it that way.) My nose is running, my throat is sore from the nastiness draining down it, AND my eyes and the inside of my ears are so itchy that I seriously consider scratching them out.

These allergies don't feel like allergies from mulberry pollen. They feel like the allergies I get when I roll in the Bermuda grass and my eyes swell up and I break out in hives. So today Stephen and I took a trip to the local chemist (pharmacy) and I found the anti-histimine Loratadine. I hope it is my friend. I am really tired of being sick.

The weather here has been about 65 to 70 degrees F. The other day a colleague was telling me that it was obvious that summer was here. I hesitated to ask. She told me that this was about as hot as it gets in the summer. Egad! I feel like an icicle. My sweater is still my best friend, and I never leave home without it.

As far as being excited to head back to the States, I am! I can't wait for the heat. I can't wait to see my family. I can't wait to hold and kiss Tristan and read him books. Still waiting on the inventor to show up with my portal for instant travel.

There is news going on in our world too. We are house hunting again. Our lease is up at the end of July. The rent is going up, and we can spend less fairly easily. So the weeks before my trip to the States will be filled with work and packing. Woohoo fun.

Remember the job Stephen applied for? Well, just the other day we were sitting in our favourite coffee shop talking about it. We decided that it had been too long without hearing anything, and that must mean that he had not been called back for an interview. We get home and Stephen finds an invitation to interview in his email inbox. It is July 10. We will let you know what happens.

Ashley leaves the country on Tuesday. She will be flying internationally all by herself. She is almost adult-like. She will have her old cell phone when she flies into Houston, and will be staying the night with her Uncle Jim.

That's the current scenario. We will keep you posted!

The Long Silence... an Explanation.

Yo ho ho friends and family. It has obviously been quite awhile since I have last spoken to you all. Last you heard I had many papers left to go. As of right now, I have one left for the year.

So, the quick update and explanation of my distance. Lots of papers to write, and a new job to boot. I am working at a 'nursery' (aka daycare) here. It is a daily experience. There are many things that I would change, but it is a lesson instead in keeping my opinions to myself. It makes me often miss Christi. I daydream about an early childhood center with her...

Anyway, on top of that, I have been really really sick. I am still not entirely over it. It started with the flu (or so I'm told) and happily moved into my chest and made a home there. I still hack and cough things up, and I still feel like there is a tight band around my chest. I make it through the night without coughing, which is an improvement. For a while, I thought I was fighting off pneumonia.



And while all of this has been going on, Kelley came for a visit. We had grand plans to post blogs while she was here; you can see how well that worked out. I am hoping that she still will help me post at least 1 blog. Until then, enjoy the few pics.


I don't want to post too many on the off chance that she will still post a blog with me here about her trip. She and Stephen spent most of their time together, as I still had school and I still had to work while she was here. (Insert sappy face sucking here...)


She and Stephen spent lots of time exploring London: she now has seen more of it than I have. Lucky for me she took lots of pictures, so I could see things too. She saw awesome changing of the guard stuff... I hope she tells all of you about it.

Mother's Day came and went, and it was a hard day for me. I feel it on a daily basis not being closer to Tristan. It doesn't get any easier the longer it has been. It just aches in my chest all the time. (And no, it ISN'T the cough!) I'm sure some of you will say that I brought it on myself. I'm not looking for sympathy, just commenting on the falsity of the 'it gets better with time' statement.

Related to this, it is definite that I am coming home for a visit this summer. My plane flies into El Paso at 10:45 pm on the 17th of July, and I leave to come back at 10:45 on the morning of the 7th. I'm grateful for the chance to spend time with Boo. And I will spend my entire 34th birthday on a plane. I won't even get home until the day after my birthday. Lucky Stephen... he can forget the day and it won't be a big deal at all.

While I am in the States, Tristan and I will be staying at Mom Holen's house. The plan is to go crazy with seeing everyone. I am not going anywhere or doing anything that doesn't involve spending time with the people I love. And Tristan's 7th birthday. I'll have my old cell phone number while I am there, at least until the beginning of August. I would love to see everyone. I am really looking forward to seeing people. But most of all, I can't wait to hug my little boy (who is not so little and graduated from 1st grade yesterday.)

Hope this fills everyone in on what is going on in my world. I hope to get back into the swing of posting, especially as there is so much I could be telling to you. One more paper to go, and then it is just the day to day things. Hopefully there will be a post from Kelley soon, and I intend to force Ashley onto the computer to fill you all in on what is going on in her world too. She has been a busy little beaver lately too.

kisses, and missing every one of you...

In Which Amy Turns Heads... (Myspace Blog)

Tonight was...interesting. Let me preface this by saying that I love local music. You should check out my friends list to find some of the local bands that I enjoy. This list is growing, so keep checking as I add more. Anyway, Worm-Hole, The Third Edge, and The Dirty Clydes were playing at Q-Time, and mi hija was really quite interested in going. This week has been hellacious (mid-terms... ewie.) and I thought, "What the hell", so off we went. Here is the catch - my 5 year old went too. Granted, it was an all-ages show, and outdoors; so we could stay far back and avoid the drinking and smoke, but it was still an interesting experience. Kristin went also, and she took her 4 year old daughter along. Both little ones were so excited - before we left we were sitting in the living room listening to them play in the back bedroom and hearing things like, "I want to see the Rocker boys" and "I hope they play the drums". We couldn't help but giggle and agree that they were excited. When we arrived, we had to walk through the bar in order to get to the patio where the concert was being held. Both little ones chattering and wiggling excitedly, we dragged them as quickly as possible through the bar, but the people in our path grew silent, stopped what they were doing, and stared. Some of them in open-mouthed wonder at our audacity, some of them in outright anger. The trip through the bar felt as though it were two miles long, as Kristin and I glanced at each other with wide eyes. Neither of us expected the response of the crowd. I think, had we slowed our trek even a bit, we might have been lynched. The rest of the evening was better; the kids excited to watch the band setting up, my small one acting shy in front of the people that he knew, then turning to me excitedly and saying, "I can't wait to hear his guitar!" But still, every time a person entered the patio, there was the moment of double take, the second of, "Is that a kid in her lap?!" Neither kid actually made it through the first of the three bands, but that was ok. The experience of being a part of something larger than them, the ability to watch as something that affects so many is created right in front of them, is priceless.

In Which Amy Spouts Randomness... (Myspace Blog)

It is 5 o'clock in the morning. I am awoken by a tiny voice in my ear - "Momma-there is a starfish in the window." What? A what? "A starfish, Momma, look. A starfish. In the window. There is a starfish in the window." When I finally manage to pry my eyes open and get to the bedside lamp, I see that my son is asleep, in his bed, talking. "Momma, the starfish needs to come in, open the window. No!! DON'T OPEN THE WINDOW!!!" This screaming wakes him up and he blinks at me, then tells me that I woke HIM up, and to turn off the light. Whatever, wacky child. Off goes the light. 10 minutes later, I have just had enough time to get back to sleep, when I hear a tiny voice in my ear - "Spiderman, spiderman, does whatever a spider can..." He is singing. And THAT was the beginning of my day... On an entirely unrelated note, today it is official that more people have read my blog than have looked at my site. I am not entirely sure how that is possible, but it is true. What a shame that so few of those 93 people that have read my blog say anything about it. Especially since most of them are my family... On another unrelated note, I just have to say that I hate studying. Especially for midterms. And at 2 o'clock in the morning. And ALL the time (which is how it feels...) Anyone want to study for me? I promise that I will not mind.