The Annual Birthday Post - Ode to Keaton

Did you know that birthdays come annually? Let me explain.

Last year, I wished Keaton a Happy Wednesday Birthday with a cute little song on this post. Keaton then left me a comment that said: "I'm glad you wished me a happy Wednesday birthday on my Tuesday birthday. Thanks, mom. That song will be awesome...next year..."

Well, guess what buddy? It's now THIS year! So my birthday wish for you is now ditto. Song and all. And I'm wishing you a Happy Thursday Birthday for really real. Now that you are a math teacher and you have reached the square root of 576 years {if you don't speak math speak, Keaton says that would be 24}, then you are qualified to have a Thursday Birthday. I give you an "A+". Moral of the story: Mom's have a good memory.

Keaton, you have grown to be a man who thinks freely and gives kindly. You are a thirsty learner and a leader and a man of your word. May you always remember how lucky you are and support those less fortunate. May you always nurture the love of your family and keep them close. Continue to be bold, ask questions, and face your life with courage and integrity. May you see in yourself what I saw in you at a very early age. I love you and I always will.

Don't wait to make your son a great man - make him a great boy.

Dan the Man

Dan the Man came through! He sent me these gorgeous pics and I lahahahave them! Have you ever seen a little girl look just like her daddy AND just like her mommy? I mean, for real? Rosalie unmistakeably favors her daddy! And Rosalie unmistakeably has mommy's blond bouncy curls! Funny how that works, huh? Enough from me. I decided to let Rosalie herself make this blog entry.

FROM ROSALIE:

• My life is very complex as a toddler. Sometimes, my parents just don't understand how hard it is to be a perfect angel, but I do it very well. Just take a look at my schedule.
• I wake up and bother my parents first thing in the morning. That's a prerequisite, every toddler knows you have to do that. On some mornings, my mommy packs up my lunch and takes me to school. Whoa baby, school has fun stuff like colors and circle time and - well, time out. Not that I know anything about time out, I'm too cute.
• Then again, on some mornings it's time for the greatest entertainer on earth -- Elmooooooo! Who did you think I was gonna say ... Barney? He is so last year for lil' kids.
• Some mornings I go to Grandma & Grandpa's house. Now THIS really rocks my socks! Recently, I shared my cold with Grandma. We play and eat and laugh (Grandpa slips me a bite of candy, but don't tell mom). Sometimes I sit on Grandpa's lap and we do this Internet thing. I'm not really sure how it works.
• I haven't quite got the potty thing down. Come on, accidents happen. But it's fun going giddy when something really does happen in the potty.
• Naptime. Toddlers really need their sleep, but I can't understand on the weekends. I have to look more into this work thing so I can get weekends off.
• I have things to do during the day, like lunch time and play time and get my hair done. Oh yes, and bath time. But I'd really rather wear my cutie patootie rain boots and stomp puddles!
• At the end of the day, sometimes I have to go into my grumpy routine. You know, cry and start a fight with my dog. Then it's off to bed. Which is cool, so we can read a good book!
• I have to get my beauty rest because I have to do all this over again tomorrow. I love being a toddler.

Where ya been, Kay? Part 3

And who made this visit so much fun? My partner in crime - sister Joyce! Currently, we share a love of scrapbooking and card-making, but before that it was cross-stitch and before that it was Boyds Bears and before that it was Longaberger Baskets, and before that .... you get the picture? We just share a love - plain and simple! Click here to visit my "other blog" for pictures of our Atlanta girls card-swap weekend! Caution = yellow light = if you don't want to be bored with craft talk, then you won't enjoy the blog-hop! But oh - go ahead, we're SO much fun!

And here's the King of the Castle, Larry (pictured with Lark). I sent this guy to Kroger for yogurt and he did it with a smile! Ya can't beat that! I had more fun watching him double-talk Joyce, literally, because she has a double ear infection and just looks at ya and says "huh?"

Where ya been, Kay, Part 2

Look who else I visited! Lark & Traci, who were home for the weekend because lucky Traci was going to the theater with her girlfriends to see "Wicked" {color me jealous} These two are so much fun to talk with ... good kids they are! Miles of smiles.

Lark's goal was to spend the day in his chair, and spend it he did! This is called "chair day" and if your girlfriend is going to the theater with girlfriends to see "Wicked" then you can exercise your right to it! Power to the chair, baby!

And THIS is what chair day is all about. Need I say more?

Where ya been, Kay? Part 1

You're gonna be jealous ... I've been to 2-year old land, to visit Rosalie and her bouncy blond curls! She loves cheese. She loves her building blocks. She loves to color and paint. She runs around on tippy toes everywhere she goes. And yes, she sits on the potty chair! I told her that Princess Rhegan and I were going to visit her sometime soon!

Gee, I wonder where she got all those curls? Mommy! Yes, I also visited with Dan the Man (Daddy of bouncy blond curl girl) but I didn't get his picture and I'll never live that one down! Hey Dan the Man - send me a picture of you!

Go ahead - ask me ... how much fun is it to be a kid again? Now, if only I could get those bouncy blond curls - now THAT would really be something! And yes, Rosalie can now say "Aunt Kay". I knew you were gonna be jealous ....

Get a load of those boots, baby! This is rain gear at its finest! Splish splash in style!

In the Wink of an Eye

EYE CATCHING: Sarah Palin winked at least 6 times in her vice-presidential debate with Joe Biden. She's a winker. She winks on rope lines and at rallies. In front of 70 million viewers, she winked her way through the talking points while Joe grinned like a yard gnome. You don't want to miss Sarah's wink at the Indianapolis rally, do ya?

I've been reading about this wink thing. A honk from her armpit might have generated less buzz. But not nice. Sarah plays nice. A wink is ambiguous, rich like buttah... and hard to miss.

Go ahead - join the Indy Rally - and wink away!

Say it ain't so, I can't go!

Oh my heck, Indiana is now important. Very important. Very very important. Say it ain't so!

This Friday, Sarah Palin is going to be in the Indianapolis area at the Verizon Music Center for a Road to Victory Rally. More specifically, she is going to be 4.5 minutes away from my very own house, and guess who will be 600 miles away at that time? You betcha! That would be me, myself, and I. Say it ain't so!

Oh, how I wish me and my lipstick were going to be here to support the McCain-Palin ticket! Folks, this is a case of "I would if I could, but I can't" for real. Once a year, my sister & I enjoy a spendiferous time with our card-swapping girlfriends from Atlanta. Palin or not, my electric bird (i.e. airplane) is leaving and I will be on it.

• To my McCain-Palin friends here in Indy --- I hope you go!


• To my undecided voter friends here in Indy --- I hope you go!


• To my decided democrat friends here in Indy --- go take a listen!

Help make history! Click here for ticket info. Voter-2-Voter -- Securing a Victory - One Voter at a time.

A List

5 things I am going to do today:

• Get to work earlier.
• Remind my husband he's the best.
• Pay bills.
• Go to Beef-n-Boards with my sister.
• Return a friends phone message (Hi Kay, it's Deanna. Okay, bye.)?!?!?

4 things that I'm looking forward to:

• This Sunday's Colts Game - in the hood party.
• Going to Atlanta next week for our annual scrap-a-thon.
• Getting my house clean.
• Downloading a new song on my IPod.

3 things I am praying about lately:

• Debbie - working through the loss of Janet
• My kids.
• Time management.

2 things I will eat today:

• Salad
• Diet Coke

1 thing I need:

• Sleep.

Here's the thing ...

Sometimes my head spins all day long. THIS was one of those days. I can't decipher whether to blame it on pre-menopause (oh puleese!) or just plain lack of focus (I vote for #2), but today I accomplished one thing and one thing only ... I am farther behind at work than I was yesterday.

Okey-dokey then! But here's the thing (yes, we are back to the thing). As I was getting into my car today, it hit me. "I really need to email Martha Stewart and tell her she needs a blog team." She's got the budget. I want the job. Enough said.

So speaking of kids, I, like any good mother, have been thinking about ours. Here's the thing. I think about them all the time! Not obsessive-compulsive think about them, like I did when they were very small. I mean, really think about 'em as adults. A much harder task, but a potentially more rewarding task I believe. The thing is - we do not, can not, and will not live our children's lives for them. They must live their own, thankfully, else my head would spin even more. Here's how this works best: If you are a parent, ask God to convict you of your child's needs. And then pray.

And speaking about politics, here's the thing. I work in an overwhelmingly democrat law firm. A few of us wear the big "R" on our forehead, but we are definitely out-numbered. And let's face it, I earn my paycheck by participating in state-level politics in a non-partisan fashion, i.e. let's get the votes and advance our cause. I get that. The thing is this. If I open mouth, insert foot and it gains one political vote for the McCain-Palin team, color me happy. You DO want me happy, yes?

I lunched with an old friend today. How old? Pretty. Brandt was named for Debbie Brandt. But here's the thing. Let me just say that we (Debbie & I) have aged beautifully! Fun is fun, folks. If you lunch with an old friend, you'll get better looking too! And younger.

And then there's the thing about blogs. Oh my heck! A friend of mine had a rough day with her blog post and a heated exchange of comments. Words. They are just words on paper - strike that - words in cyberspace. And it's next to impossible to read between the lines. Want a better take on something? Face-to-face meetings work best. Not possible? Back to my first point -- words. They are just words.

I'm not done ranting. But here's the thing ... I'm gonna show you the love and stop. And besides, I need to figure out how to email Martha Stewart.

Jumping for joy is great exercise!

How about them COLTS!

I used to think it was all about lucky socks. I stand corrected! It's all about the plastic football bowls! Here's the instant replay:

• We hosted the "Colts in the Hood" rally for today's game. 4 neighborhood couples, food, fun, laughter ... you get the picture.


• For the most part, the game was lousy. So we spent more time on point #1 -- food, fun, laughter.


• Guilt set in. The ladies thought better of scrapbooking talk and joined the sad, sorry, TV coverage of the lousy game. (point #2 - lousy game).


• Root root root. Yell, scream, hope. See point #3 - guilt set in.


• That's when I remembered the plastic football bowls.

"Oh -- silly me! Now I know why we are not winning. I forgot to get out the plastic football bowls!" Kay said, as she tossed a handful of M&M's into each bowl and handed them out to the hood.

And .... immediately ... it went like this:

• 2.10 left on the clock.
• Intercept.
• Touchdown.
• Kick is good.
• Manning's magic pass.
• Touchdown.
• Kick is good.
• W-I-N!

Oh - did I mention the plastic football bowls? See ya at the Super Bowl.

VP Debate - Game On!

First off, Sarah Palin wore black. Good choice. Don't tell me you don't wear it too! Governor Palin and Senator Biden walked out to the platform. "Nice to meet you," Palin said as the two shook hands on stage. "Hey, can I call you Joe?" THIS is one of the many reasons I believe in Sarah Palin. It's like saying to your neighbor, "Hey, come on over to my house and let's sit around the kitchen table and talk this thing out." She immediately pulls you in. Did I mention she immediately pulls you in?

While Palin was under ginormous pressure to prove herself as a knowledgeable and articulate speaker, Biden had to dodge the gaffs he's known for. I'd rather be in Sarah Palin's shoes. You want change? McCain-Palin will bring it! Politics as usual? Ain't gonna happen! Sarah Palin IS mainstream America, with a boss that listens to her! Make no mistake about it, she is taking her boss to the white house and she is taking her lipstick to congress.

Oh yeah - and remember a few weeks ago when I asked that waitress to wear a McCain-Palin button? She's now got a MCain-Palin campaign sheet in her waitress notebook. I love it!

A picture of Sarah as she awaits her call on stage. This is a good, faithful, public servant, my friends.