Someone else's shoes

Well, I found some shoes and they are okay – except that they are leather and they need to be broken-in. Do you know how long it has been since I’ve had to break-in shoes? Breaking in Birkenstocks doesn’t count because there isn’t much to it.

So, tomorrow I will either be wearing the Birkenstocks again (clogs this time) or my jeepers (blue pro-keds). Hmmm…what fabulous professional outfit will that work with?? Haaaaaa! People – realize where I work. Professional outfit?

Speaking of professional…I got my promotion! It’s not official until the Spring, but I got it!!! I think I was in shock when I read the letter. I always doubt myself in a really big way.

I called my Dad to tell him that we were having a girl (we are!) and that we had picked out her name, Emmeline - named after my grandmother (his mom). My Dad got very quiet and I could tell he was crying. He kept saying how beautiful that name was. It is. It’s a very special name. My grandmother was a very special woman. I’m proud to honor my grandmother by naming my daughter after her.

My son is now running around singing, “We hot the hawk!” Which is really supposed to be Parliament Funkadelic’s “We want the funk!” but he doesn’t know the words and thinks that “we hot the hawk” is what they are saying. It was on a commercial that he saw the other day. It’s pretty funny. I love Parliament/Funkadelic because I am originally from the home of P-Funk (Plainfield, NJ) but I haven’t played that when he’s in the car. Unless it’s the Wiggles or Bear in the Big Blue House, we can’t listen to it in a moving vehicle.

This morning, I was listening to the radio at work and the Pretenders’ Talk of the town came on. I just love the way that Chrissy Hynde says, “I made a wish (pronounced Weesh) and said it out loud.” It always makes me think of my cat. Oh, how I love Chrissy Hynde’s voice. I can remember being about fourteen or fifteen listening to Learning to Crawl (on cassette) in my kitchen while making pies for Thanksgiving. Good times, people. Those were good times.

Another thing I did this morning was to pick a name off the Christmas tree at my son’s daycare. The children on the tree are foster children. It’s for a 4 year-old girl. It made me sad because it just listed clothes. Christmas is such a happy time and we always think of children excited because Santa brought so many toys. It’s easy to forget that a pair of shoes might be the only thing some kids get from Santa. It made me appreciate everything just a little more than usual today.

So, go on and appreciate everything today. It’s that time of year where we take stock in where we are, where we’re going, where we’ve been, and appreciate every bit of it.

“We want the funk…gotta have that funk…!”

What I did on my fall vacation

I realized this week that I haven't posted anything here in a long, long, long time. I've been busy. I know...we are all busy. I guess I just let this slip my mind for awhile - which is not hard for me to do.

The NJ trip was great. We had a great time. My dad is doing well and he is so happy. That was important. I didn't get to see my brother and that is a whole other story - but overall, the trip was good. We even rode on the "real Thomas" in North Carolina on the way back. Yes, we live on the edge.

So, if I haven't already told you by email, phone, or in person - we are expecting again. April is when we are due. We won't know if it is a boy or girl until Nov. 20 and I will make sure that I let people know. It has been very hard keeping this quiet - especially since I had been running out of clothes that concealed everything. We made sure that we were well beyond the first three months before we told anyone. We also had a screening with a perinatologist and he said everything looked normal and all the tests came back normal. That was a relief!

Nothing more to really say. I've been wiped out all the time. These days, it seems like work is just enough to exhaust me but my day can't stop as soon as my work day is done. I know if I had some more energy, things would be okay. I'm just not used to being so tired by 8:30 at night! The only reason I'm up now is because I have been searching shoes on the Internet. I'm anticipating my already giant feet turning into swollen versions of Fred Flintstone feet. Gotta prepare for that! Now, why did I do this again? Oh, yes...the angel that is sleeping in the next room. (He really was an angel today and it's days like this when I realize how incredibly lucky I am to have him - even when he throws giant screaming fits in the grocery store.) Geez, I must be tired!

So, there you have it. I'm sure if anything noteworthy pops up - or bloats out - I'll let you all know.