At Last...

What a fabulous day for our country! I am always so proud to be an American in Innauguration Day. I have lived places and visited places where a peaceful transfer of power is not even a dream. And here - whether the one you voted for won or not - we all acknowledge, accept, honor and move on with the rule of law. Just amazing. Add to that the fact that I can now look at my daughter and say with absolute conviction that yes - anyone can be president and that our country really does have government that is a reflection of the immensely diverse country we are lucky enough to call home.

I ran home at lunch and got to see the swearing in - and suprised myself when I teared up. Lilly - dressed in red white & blue - watched it at "school," and got to wave the flag and say "Barack Obama" over an over again.

Tonight she got to stay up late to watch their first dance. I hope to make that moment cemented in my mind...curled up with my daughter, listening to Beyonce sing "At Last" while teh Obamas danced their first dance...and we were both studying the crowd trying to spot Maren who has a spot ON THE STAGE! She got to go the swearing in & the Neighborhood Ball...so fun!! Can't wait for pics & stories! But, holding Lilly (and Didgy) in my arms to the words "at last, my love has come along, my lonely days are over, and you are mine at last..." was the priceless moment.

Enjoy the pics...

Best Possible Terrible Weekend

I had been looking forward to Friday night for WEEKS. Lilly was going to stay at my mom & dad's house for the night, and I was going to get a massage and then sleep all night long. It was fabulous. And Saturday I did laundry and worked on pulling some finance stuff together (thinking of refinancing the house). It wasn't until the last load of laundry was done around 3 that I realized my hot water wasn't working...and it wasn't just that it was cold - there just wasn't any water coming out. It was also about that time I realized I still heard water running even though nothing was turned on. Oh yeah...did I forget to mention? Coldest night of the year (actually - probably the coldest night in the 10 years that I lived in Virginia).

You guessed it...BURST PIPE! YUCK! I knew it was burst, but I couldn't figure out where it was. I stuck my head in the crawl space under the house & couldn't see any water anywhere. I called Rhonda & she called Jerry her superhero husband, and he came to the immediate rescue. We eventually found the problem - water gushing from the garage gave it away. The pipe leading out to my newly rennovated garage had burst and there was water everywhere. Well, actually - there was ice everywhere too, as the water that had pooled in the driveway outside of the garage had already frozen into a sheet of ice.

Well, Jerry got the water turned off (which since I have radiator heat, means the heat was also turned off) and got the stuff to fix it. Problem was, since it was so stinking cold outside, the glue to bond the pipes would take. So, after a failed attempt, we eventually were able to just cap it off (we of course meaning Jerry with Rhonda and I watching supportively). However, the hot water still wasn't working. We were worried that one of those pipes were frozen so superhero Jerry crawled into my very tight crawl space to check on things and rig up a lamp to keep the pipes warm. But, he evetually concluded the problem was simultaneous though unrelated - and I had a broken valve in my furnace. So, the radiator heat worked, but no hot water.

Luckily Lilly was still at mom& dad's & stayed there an extra night. And, Jerry came on Sunday and fixed the hot water too (yes - ehr is actually a superhero). And, since superheros don't accept tips, all I could do was make chocolate chip cookies.

So...I am sick as a dog (I am sure standing on ice Sat night trying to drain the pipes by duct taping a turkey baster to a wet vac - yes it worked - didn't help the cold) - and Lilly is sick too (though hers has turned into a sinus infection & is now on antibiotics after green snot oozed from her eyes), but I have AMAZING friends who jumped in and helped at a moments notice in the freezing cold. And, they fixed the problem & I didn't have to pay a plumber a bazillion dollars to do it. And, if the hot water hadn't broken, I would never have noticed the burst pipe & there would have been some significant damage (vs just a small amount of dry wall to patch).

So...it was the best possible terrible weekend a girl could have.

2 funnies...

On Sunday,, my Dad came over to help w/ Lilly, and we watched the NFL Playoff game while we ate dinner. Lilly was not very excited about the football game and kept trying to get us to turn it off. Finally...she came in and announced that Baby Jesus was having a party in the living room and I had to attend. I mean really - you can't say no to that!

Yesterday my mom picked her up from school. You have to sign them out on this clipboard, and usually Lil's name has been at the bottom of the page thanks to alphabetical order. Recently more kids have joined the class, soon Monday she is on the second page - took me a minute to find it. Well, apparently my mom had the same issue yesterday. Lilly asked her what she was doing, and mom said "looking for your name so I can sign you out," to which Lilly replied in her teenage eye-rolling voice, "Mae Mae, it starts with an L!"

Pics from New Years...

ENjoy...

Happy New Year!

Had a fun New Year's Eve "Party" with Jackson & his parents coming to dinner...pics to follow another day, haven't downloaded them off the camera yet. It was fun - complete with traditional Brithish crackers (well - traditional for my family anyway), noisemakers, balloons for Lilly & Jackson, and "Champagne" (aka sparkling cider) in lovely glasses for all 5 of us. The kids got a kick out of the fancy champagne flutes. Jackson liked the cider...but Lilly was not such a fan. We counted down to around 7:45 or so...

I looked back at my post from last New Year's...and saw that I had said 07 was about bringing her home, 08 was about getting her to sleep through the night & potty trained. I guess I am only batting 500. So...renewing the resolution...09 will be about finding healthy & PERMANENT sleep schedules for the TWO of us...same going to bed & getting up times EVERY DAY starting this Sunday. I don't need her to sleep through the night...but I do need her to go to bed smoothly without it taking 3 hours each night, and if she gets up at night, its up to her to come to me. That's the goal...I'll keep you posted on our progress.