This Week

Okay. It's Friday and though I have quite a bit to get accomplished today, I thought I would take a minute to review the week with all of you good people.

For starters, congratulate Marley on going to day care in panties the whole week with only 2 accidents! Of course, we don't know what today will hold, but so far so good. She's not nearly as excited as I am, but I think she senses that we have reached a milestone here. This is a bittersweet moment really. Like every new accomplishment the girls make, it's one step further from their babyhood. No matter how hard you try to hold on to those sweet cuddly tiny little miracles, they still grow up. This is not to say that I wish to hold them back in any way. I just know that the road is different now from what it was when they were smaller--in some ways more rocky, in others, much more smooth and straight.

Marley has been asking about going back to the water park all week. I think we will probably take her tomorrow as a treat for doing well with the potty. She's such a Daddy's girl. She keeps saying she wants to ride with him on a float (the lazy river). I treasure that she thinks so much of him. I don't blame her.

Last night while we were eating supper, Laney stopped eating and started crying for "kessup." She didn't stop until I had gotten the ketchup bottle from the counter and given her some. She then preceded to try a little of everything on her plate dipped in it and finally decided that she like the way it tasted on her fingers the best. This is a new word for her, but then she's learned so many new words lately it's hard to keep up.

Several people recently have asked me when I'm going to start potty training Laney. (I endured this last year with Marley too.) Laney is just not ready yet. (That's the same answer I had about Marley last year). Laney has a "do or die" personality. She is willing to undergo the consequences of whatever she makes up her mind to do. There's no stopping her before she carries it through most of the time. So I know that for the most part, going to the potty will be her decision and on her schedule, not mine.

My friends, Clayton & Meredith, are already asking us when their new baby (two weeks old) will sleep through the night. I tell them, "I'll let you know when it happens for us. " Laney has really been tough every night this week. It's hard to calm her down for bed time and she wakes up several times a night. I don't know if she's teething or what but it's frustrating. I wish I had more patience with her at 3:oo a.m. but lack of sleep tends to rob me of that. Thankfully, Lewis is as patient in the middle of the night as he is in day. So when I get to the end of my rope, he lets me swing over to his for awhile. I turned night duty over to him a couple of times this week and he's come through like a champ.

I've been thinking alot lately about what a blessing a good marriage can be. I honestly don't know how a single parent copes. In raising these girls, our marriage is one of our biggest assets. We keep each other balanced. I know, I'm very blessed to have that. I'd say lucky, but it's not luck. It's divine providence.

That's all the news for this week. See ya'll Monday!

The Result of Honesty

Mark, over at www.leftfieldperspectives.blogspot.com, posed an interesting question in his post yesterday. He asked how different the world would be if politicians always upheld the truth. Well, I have to say, I'm having a hard time with this one. But I'll try.

First, I believe that our major difference would be in the ability to trust the motives of those in public office. There would be none of this argument about whether the president lied to us about his motives for the war, or for anything else he does. Now, who knows if there would even be a war under these conditions. If we could have trusted Saddam in the first place, we never would have had to go there. (I'm not sure if Mark's query applies to other nations as well though). I'm pretty sure that honesty could have prevented a great number of wars in history, but I'm not sure how to support that. I'd have to do more research than my tired brain has time for.

I'm not even sure that the president would be president. I'm not sure that the last hundred years of presidents would be the same. I'm convinced that most politicians (at least during my lifetime) have had something to hide at one time or another that would have prevented their election. Of course, if you remove the capacity for lies, you also remove the ability to mud-sling. If honesty is our policy, there is nothing to hide, right? If it's all on the table, no one can really call you on it.

This also would take care of all scandals. That's it. No Monica Lewinsky. No Watergate. No wondering about Ted Kennedy's responsibility in the death of his secretary. No wondering if President Kennedy slept with Marilyn Monroe. This list is endless.

Congress would be more effective, because there would be less time spent covering their own behinds and making themselves look good. There would be less division between the parties because political gain would not be the motivation of those in power. After all, no one could tell the public that world domination was their aim and still get elected, right? We would have a government that truly cared for and looked out for the needs and freedoms of the people they served. Who can really say how much difference that would make?

Of course, I could be wrong. This kind of question can go either way. Honesty could save us, or it could usher in the apocalypse. It's impossible to tell. It kind of reminds me of those science fiction movies where the hero goes back in time. You know the scenario-- you move one rock in the past and the future is forever altered.

A Few Pictures of My Kids

Vacation Log

Now that I've answered the tag about my reading list, I'll tell everyone about my vacation.

My husband's step-grandfather, Finn, died Friday, July 1st after about a month of suffering in the last stages of cancer. The funeral was last Sunday. It's always interesting to spend time with my husband's family. They are an interesting collection of people. I have tons of respect for many of them and some of them, well let's just say the best comment I can come up with is YIKES!

My husband's family is from a little tee-tiny place called Davy, West Virginia. His grandmother divorced his grandfather when his dad was 12 and so his father has (let's see if I can tally this up right) one full brother, 4 full sisters (one deceased), a step-brother (deceased), three
step-sisters (one deceased), three half-sisters, and one adopted brother (who is also a nephew). Can you see why West Virginians get accused on in-breeding? No one can keep track of who is related to who.

None of these people were blood relatives of Finn's and few of them were ever very close to him, even before he became a heavy drinker, so it kind of felt like burying a goldfish. I'm not trying to trivialize his death, it was just an odd feeling.

The rest of the week was basically spent at home with my girls. Marley wore panties the entire week, with few accidents. I hope we're turning the potty-training corner. She's in panties at day-care for the first time today.

I discovered that my favorite time of day to play with Laney is right after her nap, before Marley is awake. She is truly a sweet little creature when she doesn't have to compete for my attention. She's a bit mommy-obsessed otherwise. She also loves instant Cheese Grits. Of course, you almost have to take a bath with her to clean up the mess she makes with them.

I am allergic to wasp stings. I was stung last Wednesday afternoon and my thigh literally looked like a hamburger patty by Wednesday night. I'm glad to say that it is healing, but I was really worried about it for awhile.

We also discovered that Marley is a big fan of the Water Park. My sister-in-law and I took our children there last Thursday. While Laney clung to Mommy and took quite a while to get used to the water, Marley was full-steam ahead. I almost had to drag her out of the place when it was time to go home.

Saturday night, my in-laws kept the kids overnight. Lewis and I had a chance to spend some time at home together and it was nice. It was kind of like the old days before the kids came along--except for all the baby pictures on the living room walls. It's weird how much you look forward to times like that alone, and then miss the kids so much when the moment actually comes. We rushed back to pick them up on Sunday and enjoyed time in the pool with them during the afternoon.

Now I have to get back to work. Have a nice day!

Tag . . .

Well, back from vacation and after trying to plow through the posts and comments on my favorite blogs, I'm having to respond to this tag thing.

Okay, 1st--Number of books I own--
Not sure as to the actual specific number--I'll just say alot. I was an English major in college and I kept all the books relating to my major. (Please forgive any grammatical errors on my part. That was a long time ago and I have two children that were born in the same year. I don't have half my brain anymore.) I'll just say that I have hundreds of books, although I don't know where they all are.

2nd--The last book I read--
I'm actually working on The Last of How it Was by T. R. Pearson. This is the third in a series by the same author. These are lighthearted novels, basically focusing on the quirks of small Southern towns, except for the second in this series which is a Bonnie and Clyde kind of story.

3rd--The last book I purchased--
I ordered The Lord of the Rings trilogy from Amazon awhile back, along with some books on philosophy of the same.

4th--My 5 favorite fiction books (in no particular order)
1. Animal Farm
2. A Short History of A Small Place (The first in the series by Pearson)
3. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Does this count as one or three?)
4. The Cider House Rules or The World According To Garp (I don't agree with his politics but I have a load of respect for John Irving's talent).
5. Til We Have Faces (Thanks Diana, for reminding me.)

5th--I'm supposed to tag 5 more people. But I think I'll just be "It" for awhile.