Where we receive the bad mother of the year award. again.

This am we are playing in her room as we are getting ready, listening to the AWESOME CD that Natalie, er, Jen made for Malka, dancing, and the like. She's kind of too big for her changing table unless she's REALLY tired or REALLY Distracted, so we have a futon-like sofa thing in her room, which doubles as a snuggle space and guest bed. So I put her on the futon-sofa-thing to get her dressed, change diaper, etc. Music is playing, all is well, Narda comes in the room, I turn around to grab a hair containment device and her brush, Narda screams OH MY G-D! I turn aorund, and we watch in v-e-r-y-s-l-o-w-m-o-t-i-o-n as our baby goes from a sitting position to falling HEAD FIRST to the hard wood floor. Beat beat beat. Cry (phew), run, pick up baby, Narda is flapping her arms in distress, and I'm sitting there calmly (thank you, Lexapro!) hugging my crying baby to make sure there's no bump (so far, none, thank G-d!) and comfort my baby who is now hugging me. (Awwww)

Narda remembers her BIG bonk-a-boo from DC and how we forgot to give her drugs, so she reminds me to give her tylenol, and we go about continuing to get ready for "school." (aka daycare).

She falls asleep in the stroller, but wakes up when we get to daycare, and I tell everyone that she had her bonk-a-boo and to keep an eye on her, that she should be fine, but to please keep watch.

OY, my poor baby - this is her 3rd MAJOR fall in just a year with us - HOW awful are we?

Kinda famous...

OK, so before I became an Eemah and Administrator extraordinaire, I was a stage manager. I worked with such cool folks as The Flaming Idiots, Priscilla Lopez, and the Awesome Folks at Playwrights Horizons; which I still love so dearly, that I stage manage one of their in-house benefits annually.

It was during one of my "PH" adventures that I worked on a show called: Recent Tragic Events. It was with a director that I adore and worked with often, and it was at a venue that I loved. It also starred Heather Graham, and one of my other tasks was escorting her out the back of the theatre to avoid the wackos that wanted her autograph. And not the nice wackos, either. The creepy ones with comb-overs that sell pictures on e-*ay.

I'm sure she doesn't remember me in the least, because, after all, she never returned the Christmas cards I sent, but that's neither here nor there. She's now in a new movie, and on the movie's webpage, it mentions the show! (just click on the "cast" and click on her, and it will take you to her bio. It's mentioned at the very bottom - but it's there!)

Because everyone else was doing it....

Instructions: in bold=have read the book.

in italics=want to read the book

+=own the book (if it in italics, too, Narda owns the book, and I want to read it…)

*=unfamiliar with the book

[]=notes from me

(I feel like I do actually read a lot, but I tend to be a fan of current Social Science, and not so much fiction, unless it's Sci-Fi, hence I appear rather dense in the book department, but if a meme were created showing mostly NON-fiction, I hope I would mostly have a list in bold...)

1. +The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5.+ The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6.+ The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. +The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. *Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. *A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. + Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. +Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. +Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. *A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16.+ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. *Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. +Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. +The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. +The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28.+The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. +Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. +Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35.+ The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley) [and the prequels and Firebrand]
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. * I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. +The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. * The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. *Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. +Bible [English, Hebrew – JTS, Eytz Chaim, etc.]
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. *The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. +Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough) [read other books by same author]
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davies)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70.The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. *Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
81. *Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. *Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. *Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. *The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. *Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. *In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

***Um, can you tell I’m a Sci-Fi fan?***

Because I just love to embarrass myself...

So this week's Photo Friday Theme was "Bad hair." Most of us picked the 80's. Because you know, it was SO easy to find bad hair photos.

I present for you, three of my favorite REALLY bad hair photos. This first one was a VERY happy day for me - it's the day I met Hope from Days Of Our Lives. 1983.




This next one is from 1982, I'm opening my Chanukah gift - it's a record player. The plastic kind - with plastic speakers. My glasses were also part of the early generation progressives. Except they never knew when to be clear. I was very happy about my present.
















This last one is from my 13th birthday party - it was a surprize party my mom threw for me. (which explains why some of the girls were more like acquaintances than friends, but I digress...) It looks like a Farrah Fawcet convention - note the amount of feathered hair.


Oh yeah, I'm the one lying down, head on my arm...

when dishwashers and sippy cup lids collide...

Note to self.

If you put a sippy cup lid in the top rack, UN-protected, THIS is what can happen...

Do not use "heated dry" when drying plastic...

oy.

To know where you're going, you have to know where you've been.

You know, in my joy of what today is, I completely and totally forgot, for a brief moment, what it's like being infertile.

A few folks that I hold dear to my heart didn't comment on my last post. And I don't blame them. When we were in the throes of TTC, it was really, really hard to read any "baby stuff" out there in blog land - I just couldn't deal with reading all of the mommy blogs sometimes. Even when they were my friends, my sisters in the trenches. Because when you are in a position where you feel like your body has failed you, you feel like less of a "real" woman, you hate every pregnant belly you see, you hate reading about all of the cute things "little sparky" did today - it just makes you gag. Even when they are you friends, and you love them dearly. it's just.too.hard.

So I share this to remind myself of the journey We've taken. of the pain I've felt over the past four years of having my body constantly remind me that it can't give me what I've always wanted it to: the experience of pregnancy. 16 donor sperm IUI cycles, 4 different donors, 8 failed adoption "situations." I've been there. I get it. I know. It sucks. Big donkey balls.

So I'm sorry if my previous post was hard to read. Know that I only wish for you to have what your heart and soul desires.

One Year Ago, today...

On January 27th, 2006, we received a call. Little did we know that within a few weeks from that call, our lives would change forever.

All for the best.

Happy anniversary, our dear, sweet, Malka Velma Angel. We love you more than words can describe.

On February 16th, 2006, you were placed into our home, and into our hearts, and both are the better for it.

We are so, so lucky. And every day we happily remind ourselves of that fact.

Your fascination with the world around you has been a constant source of joy for us. Your gentle spirit has been wondrous to behold. Your infectious laugh is music to our ears.

You can be wild, and wonderful, mischievous, and cherubic, all in the matter of a moment.

We love you Malka.

love,

Your eemahot.

fingers and toes

fingers and toes
Originally uploaded by shellipsm.

I totally owe a blog post about our awesome weekend in DC with Jen, Cait and Natalie.

I've been a bit swamped at work, and now with the weather, and wonderng if daycare will be closed, or closing early and what-not, well, I've not had much blogging time.

SOOOO, I leave you with this lovely picture of our adorable girls sharing a bath.

But more splashing and playing was taking place than actual bathing...

I promise to write more soon.

Really.

Enough Said

I couldn't say it any better

It's WHY marriage rights matter. I mean seriously. HOW in he heck do I threaten the institute of marriage. I just don't get it.

It's b'freaking b'freezing!

I don't b'know where it b'started, but at one point when Narda and I were both REALLY sick, more than likely with some random sinus situation (no doubt from daycare), we progressed from "sick as dog" to having "da b'sickness."

So now that it's colder than a witch's tit, it only seems appropriate to say b'freaking b'freezing.

And that's all I have to b'say about b'that.

Da Bears!

go Bears!
Originally uploaded by peggy..

We're a Seahawks family.

But today?

It's ALL about "DA BEARS!"

And in the end...

We felt that Natalie and Malka (as well as their moms) needed some more girl time - so we're off to DC this weekend!

Hopefully, we'll get to see Jenny and Ezra, too! (and meet the SMOOSHABLE new kitten, that's not such a kitten anymore - Malka loves the cats!)

I'm excited for a weekend away, and grateful for Narda acquiescing to it. She's been away a lot, and needs some time at home. I've been at home a lot, and need some time away. So we're going somewhere where we can just be at "at home," but away.

NOT the way I had intended to lose weight...

There's a nasty stomach virus going around. Whenever "aunt flo" comes to visit (friendly terminology for any of my guy readers out there), my immune system re-routes itself, and makes me just a wee more vunerable to whatever is floating about in germ-land. Sadly, this time around, it was some wicked form of who-knows what, but being on a "looking up symptoms on google lockdown," it's hard to self-diagnose this one. I'll just leave it at some nasty rota-virus-type-thingy.

Both Narda and I started feeling yucky Monday morning, so we figured we had some bad sushi Saturday night. MP3 was all giggles and grins, and so she was just fine. I felt a little loopy/nauseous at work Monday, but figured it would pass. Tuesday, I called in sick. I could not be vertical for very long, and spent almost the entire day in bed. Wednesday, I woke up feeling a little better, and even had a cup of coffee, to prevent the NASTY caffiene-withdrawl headache that plagued me on Tuesday. I was being such a good girl - bananas, rice cakes, soup, water, Pepto shots, etc. Thursday wasn't too bad either. I even ventured into some "real" food.

Clearly, that was my downfall. I was up at 3:30am, and the rota-virus-thingy decided that I needed to be taught a lesson, and, um, I'm learning the hard way. Today, I've had diet C*ke, (strictly for the caffiene, in lieu of coffee), rice cakes, and Imm*dium. The imm*dium finally allowed me to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time. Thank goodness for that. I've been working at home, and I have to go get MP3 from daycre in a bit.

One of my e-mail sessions was in regards to some B'nai Mitzvah stuff coming up, and our 'family B'nai Mitzvah coordinator" just so happens to be a Doctor who specializes in gastro-related things. I let it slip that I was home sick, with a stomach thingy, and he said yeah, that's going around, expect 2-3 days of recovery - nasty stuff. I was relieved to hear that, and I was able to get info. w/o resorting to a google search!

So here I am, I missed out on Shoe Week 2007, but all this week? I've just worn my "lesbian-mommy-comfy-ll-bean-shoes-from-sears" so we didn't miss much in that department.

OK, I'm off to go do a last bit of work for work, and then get MP3, and I want to wish you all a good Shabbat, a good Tu b'Shevat, and a loving reminder to WASH YOUR HANDS - all the time. And if anything good comes from this week? My pants better fit a bit looser is all I have to say!

21 is divisible by 7...

For all of us who hoped that book 7 would appear on 7.07.07, it will appear on 7.21.07, which is divisible by 7, at least...

Deathly Hallows Release Date