Funny stuff!

I hate to draw attention away from my two children who are pictured below inside dog carriers, but blogging must go on . . . !! :-)

Much thanks to all of you who responded to my "mommy guilt" post. You, also, have raised some valuable questions for me and offered insight from your own experiences as mothers and employees--that kind of wisdom is priceless. I haven't ditched the guilt yet (yes, Sarah, it does seem to be a mama "accessory"), but I will take your advice to live in the present and continue to love my children in every way that I
know how. Special thanks to my mother-in-law, Barbara, for the encouragement and the compliment; that meant a lot to me.

Now on to some funny things:

Grace apparently does not like humming. I sing to her every night (we have quite a repertoire of songs going), but last night I was really sleepy and the songs trailed off into a stream of humming. In the darkness, my quiet and almost asleep daughter YELLED, "Sing wif yous mouth! Singn wif yous mouth!" I cracked up, and quickly re-entered the world of lyrics.

Rob and I went out ON A DATE Friday night to celebrate our 13th anniversary. (If you're freaked out about the #13, it has always been a lucky number for me. Remember, my mailbox address at ACU was Box 6666, so clearly I am not afraid of "bad" numbers! :-)) Anyway, we try to go out once a year, whether we need to or not, so because of the infrequency of our dates, we don't really have the rules down--like how to prepare the babysitter, remembering to make reservations so all or our time isn't eroded in a crowded waiting area, etc.

Since we already messed up with the reservations thing, we decided to throw caution to the wind and try a new restaurant, hoping for some place quiet and dimly lit, and lo and behold, we enter a place that looks like a cross between the inside of campground lodge (complete with wood paneling and pine-topped tables) and Cheers, with the bar taking up over half of the sitting area, and beer and LOUD talking obscuring the sound of lumberjacks chopping down trees nearby (ok, just kidding there). We had to wait for our table for almost 45 minutes, which would have been a great time to visit with each other, except for the fact that we had to SHOUT over the noise to be heard.

I didn't, however, have any problem hearing the conversation of the man & wife nearby, who were loudly talking to each other and periodically, into her cell phone. I know about his workman's compensation claim, her daughter's facial tumor, the bad economy, what's wrong with the world at large, and her general disgust with just about everything. I felt really sorry for them--first, because between the two of them, they might have had enough teeth for one good set, and secondly, because they were both drinking alcohol from two of the biggest goblets I have ever seen, which seemed to sour their moods with every watery sip. Anyway, the wait and the above-mentioned conversation really set the mood for romance.

And on that note:
Happy belated anniversary, Rob! Thanks for the flowers and the date and for being my friend and my one and only for the last 13 years. I love you!
Jana