Updates

Happy late Christmas and early New Year.

As you might have expected, we accidentally spent some time back North and got to see all the family for the holidays.

The kids are okay for the most part. Hailee has a broken jaw and tons of black stitches on the side of her face (which Uncle Russ told her looked like cat whiskers and she hasn't stopped meowing since), but she is three and will heal in time. She will need a couple plastic surgeries in the future, but for now, she is well enough.

My eleven-year-old nephew was mostly just banged and bruised. He hobbled around pretty well and refused to take his pain medicine while we were there, so I assume the worst is not physical for him.
My sister-in-law is dealing with the loss of her husband in a way only a mother with four young children has the strength to do. The two youngest, ages three and five, know the words (they will stop a stranger on the street to announce loudly, "My daddy is dead!") but they don't fully understand the loss of their father. And although they are running around and playing and yelling like every other child their age with new Christmas presents, they both have reverted a bit and are having issues wetting the bed and sleeping alone. Jordan is acting out a lot. He blames himself (they were driving home from a friend's birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese that he had begged and pleaded his parents to allow them to attend). He is being loud and obnoxious in ways I have never seen before and is basically screaming for attention and comfort. Nine-year-old Hannah is just very, very quite.
I am grateful they have a large support system to help them going forward. There has been a huge outpouring of love and support from family, friends, and co-workers. My thanks to everyone.

So life goes on.

It was nice to get some snow for the holiday season while we were back home. I am rather grumpy now that we are back in SC because the high today is a humid 68 degrees.*

One last unrelated note: Guitar Hero is spectacular. Thanks Mom.

101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #15:
Do get into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Don't fall into a cheese rut. (Mmm, try Gouda or Muenster.)

- lada is the shiniest coin in the fountain

*I know, I know. I complain too often about the weather since moving to the South. Write something interesting and skip the small talk, you rightly say. This is the last time, I promise: Stupid weather.

Dread

The phone call that comes too late at night. From a friend of the family that would never call you unless the rest of your family is too busy at the hospital. To tell you everyone is not okay. He didn't make it. Oh Jesus, the kids. What about the babies? His back and hip might be broken, she is still in surgery. The kids were lucky. They were buckled in car seats. But he didn't make it. He had a new wife. They were starting a new life. A week before Christmas. Thank God the kids are alive. My nieces and nephew.

Yesterday I got annoyed because Russ was being mushy. He told me he loved me about a hundred times and it was driving me crazy. By dinner time I told him that if he felt he had to be in love with something, that he should just say that he loved the spaghetti I had made for dinner. He smiled and told me he loved the spaghetti very, very much. I am a fucking moron.

Tell the people you love that you love them today. Tell them until they are sick of hearing it.

I love you all

- ld

Why I Love My Husband

Russ’s car is back in the shop. The stupid thing is only two years old and this is the third time we have had to take it in for the power steering.
We were driving home this afternoon after dropping off the car at the dealership when the radio announced a major traffic jam on a busy road near our house. A few minutes later, turning onto that road, we saw far up ahead that the hold-up was caused by a stalled SUV stuck in the middle of the street. We crawled along in the traffic until we finally got near the stalled car. Russ pulled off the side of the road and dodging the passing cars, jogged out to the center of the street. I watch him chat with the poor, embarrassed guy in the driver’s seat and make some vague pointing gestures toward the side of the road. After a few minutes conversation, Russ dug in his heels and pushed and prodded the dead SUV through the traffic and off the road onto the shoulder. Without much ado, he reached in and shook the guys hand and jogs back to our car.

lada: Thank you.
Russ: What for?
lada: Being a nice person.
Russ: (grunt)
lada: Umm, did he not get out and help you push?
Russ: Nope
lada: He just sat there and looked at you while you hauled him off the road?
Russ: Well, it actually moved a lot easier than I thought it would for such a big car. But he was a pretty big guy who needs a big car so I had to push all his weight too, along with the car, which didn’t make it easier…
lada: What! He just sat there! Was he elderly?
Russ: Nah, just a fat forty. He did steer though.
lada: What a tool.
Russ: Eh, at least traffic is moving again.

Russ is a nice person.
I got stuck in some mud once and a stranger stopped and offered to help and though I declined the offer, I thought that was awfully friendly. I would never in a million years stop.

101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #14:
Do ride the world’s biggest roller coasters.
Don't use a dangerous can opener.

- lada’d like to buy the world a Coke

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Too Street
Sesame Street has released some of its first episodes from 1969 (Sesame Street - Old School Vol. 1). The DVD features a warning saying "these early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”
These are some of the "issues" and my personal advice to any child whose parents didn't heed the warning:

- In Cookie Monster's parody "Monsterpiece Theater," C.M. is seen smoking a pipe, which he promptly eats.
CHILDREN: Do not gobble pipes. Take small bites to better savor the subtle smokey flavors.

- A little girl walking on the street is befriended by an older male stranger who holds her hand and takes her home. They then share milk and cookies.
CHILDREN: Yell, "NO!" and run away from strangers (especially if you have a nut allergy and the stranger is trying to give you peanut butter cookies and a glass of whole fat milk.)

- Big Bird cross the street - not at a crosswalk - and nearly gets hit by a car.
CHILDREN: If you are going to cross a street, do it in front of a Mercedes so you can sue the driver and pay for your future college tuition to Yale.

- Ernie is in a bath and asks Bert to bring him a bar of soap. Later he is scandalousy talking to Bert wearing only a towel around his waist.
CHILDREN: Take showers.

- For years, Big Bird was the only one who could see Snuffleupagus. None of the other characters believed he even existed outside of Big Bird's mind.
CHILDREN: Follow these suggestions to prevent schizophrenia. Also avoid LSD.

Too Fat
If you are on Disney's "It's a Small World" ride you may get an extended viewing of the Canadian Mounties. It would appear that the extra 25 pounds most Americans are averaging now compared to the 60's when the ride debuted, is causing the boats to grind to a halt. It has happened often enough that they built a platform next to the trouble spots so stranded guests can get out of the grounded boat. Disney is currently renovating the ride, adding an extra inch of water and designing more buoyant boats.

101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #13:
Do meet someone with your own name.
Don't be impressed when a Realtor says "crown molding."

- lada is America (and so can you!)