Pet Names

No, I don't mean cute things I call my kids, I mean the names the kids give their pets. Did I mention the menagerie? We are allergic to cats (alas), but not to catfish. We are also allergic to dogs, but I draw the line at dogfish. We currently have 17 live (non robotic) pets: 8 fish, 5 finches, 2 gerbils and 2 hermit crabs.

My favorite name is Leena's name for her frog. The frog is not alive, strictly speaking. It is a life sized bullfrog aerator. In other words, it sits in her fish tank and belches bubbles at intervals. Since he shares a tank with Princess (a very pretty male Betta) and Love (a catfish with spots and stripes), I thought he should be called "the Frog Prince." "No!" Leena protested, "His name is Mr. Juicy Frog!"

Readability

Initially it tested as "Genius", but the last two Oob posts brought it down to postgrad. Boy, aren't I smart!

Except... as The Queen of Carrots pointed out, it doesn't mean that at all.

It's not saying I'm that smart, it's saying that you're that smart if you can read this blog. I'm not sure exactly how these things are calculated, but I think it means I am merely abstruse, excessively devoted to multisyllabic meanderings, and am entrenched in the habit of composing sentences that proceed for exorbitant lengths.

In other words, I don't write well... Sorry.

On the bright side, now you're a genius again!

Gratuitous Cute Baby Post

You know, I have had a baby before, but there are all these things I rediscover with each one.

Top Ten things I forget about this age:
10. It is just so cute when they eat their toes!
9. Every time I pick him up he gets his hands into my hair, tries to eat my hair, then settles for giving me a big wet baby kiss on whatever part of my face he can pull close enough.
8.When he nurses, he sticks his fingers in my mouth.
7.He likes to try nursing on my chin.
6. He thinks Daddy's chin is weird!
5. He knows anything small on the floor must be good to eat because Mommy will wrestle him for it.
4. Dancing will always get a laugh, dancing with him gets extra laughs.
3. If he can move, he can move more quickly than you think (baby gate the first time he wiggles backward).
2.His head is warm and fuzzy and smells good.
1. A wiggling, giggling baby reaching out to you is irresistible!

Oob is on the Move!

He wiggles! He wriggles! He flips over! He turns on his tummy!

Watch out, little bits of stuff on the carpet, here he comes!

He's a big baby! sniff.

Great News and Not So Great News

Great news: The ever delightful Queen of Carrots is expecting her third duckling! Go congratulate her!
Not so great: she's "morning" sick! We all know this does not mean she feels better after noon, right? Go offer solace and support!

How about offering a prayer and/or making a small sacrifice for her today? I remember so well the 2 toddler and constant nausea thing. If you've missed out on the experience, try wallpapering a room without using your arms while having a splitting headache. For three months.

I guess that misses the nice parts: 2 amazing and wonderful small people and the delight of knowing another new little one is nestled in secret beneath your heart. Plus experiencing God's love and Providence at new levels through your spouse, family and friends... but I mean it's physically really difficult!

Let It Go

There was this guy who worked in the lab across the hall. One day I happened to be over there running some lengthy assays on their equipment and we started talking. This happens a lot in a lab. Experiments often take great gobs of time where you are either standing around watching or doing some brainless work that takes forever. So you talk a lot and you get to know your colleagues really well. One of my favorite things about the job.

Anyway, this is what the guy told me: His elementary school gave out awards at the end of the year, you know the type: most improved, perfect attendance, most trips to the nurse, whatever. He decided, at the end of second grade, to go for perfect attendance the next year.

The boy had a goal and he never wavered. No matter how sick he was, no matter what vacation his family wanted to take, no matter how nice the day, he was bound and determined to have Perfect Attendance. His eye was on the prize and he made it! Perfect Attendance! That fateful Last Day of School he sat on the edge of his seat as they handed out the prizes... he waited... he waited... They forgot the Perfect Attendance prize. They just forgot. No one had noticed his Perfect Attendance.

Unbelievable! Outrageous! It's a rotten, stupid, unfair thing to have happen... when you are 8. This guy was an MD and a PhD at one of the most prestigious institutions in the world. He was happily married to a lovely woman and they had two beautiful children. He was young and healthy. He had everything going right in his life and he was still genuinely mad about not getting that Perfect Attendance certificate when he was 8!

That's when it hit me: those rotten, stupid, unfair things that I was mad about from my childhood, I was never going to stop being mad about them until I made the decision to forgive the people and LET IT GO.

Thankful for:

A full house, full hands, a full life. Packed down, shaken together, overflowing.
Thanks be to God!

Gingerbread: Oops! Wrong Holiday!

This was Mxyl's entry and he won 3rd place in the child division!!! He did a great job!

Notice the sharks in the pool and the octopus hanging out of the attic!

Gingerbread: Bethlehem Means House of Bread

This was my entry! Incidentally, this was the first year entering the contest for each of us. Zorg wanted to try, but was too young for the contest so he will be doing one this week just for us. Last I heard he wants to do the Pyramids.

Gingerbread: Plutarch's Temple to Apollo

This is Klenda's entry. Totally her idea! She explained that there were lots of fish in the stream because they were using them to sacrifice.

I love her Plutarch and Timoxena (Plutarch's wife)! They really look like little old people! I totally can not believe she didn't win a ribbon!