Things Not to Get Your Sweetie for Valentine’s Day (from an e-mail)

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us. For help navigating the chaos, we went to those smart, witty and oh-so-cute girls at DailyCandy.com who keep us in the know on all things fashion, food, and fun. Dany Levy, founder of the free daily email delivering the insider scoop on the latest and greatest in 12 cities nationwide, shares her thoughts on what NOT to get her this season. 
 
For Him:

1. Avoid soaps, lotions, potions, anything that smells like candy. Unless it’s actually candy.

2. Flowers. He just doesn’t understand why you would buy him something that he has to a) nurture and b) nurture. If you simply must, a cactus might pass - but remember, he wants a gift that can take care of itself.

3. Unfun tools. Yeah, he gets it. You want him to shovel the snow. Do not buy him a shovel to drive the point home. (Large noisemaking power tools excluded.)

4. Dinner. It’s a blatant cop-out. Saving him the 80 bucks does not a romantic gesture make. A gift should come in a box. (Unless it is a kitty or a pup, which are other things you should not get him. See rule 2).

5. An electric razor. If he wanted one, he would have bought it for himself (and of all the gadgets, this is not likely one he’s coveting). Ask yourself: Do you want him to buy you a razor?

6. Boxer shorts. To men, they’re truly utilitarian. No frills. No styles. (Same goes for socks.)

7. A tie. Dude, he’s not your dad. So unless you plan to tie him up with it and give him his real present, ditch the old standard.

For Her:

1. Anything that even remotely implies that she is not physically perfect: gym memberships, Botox, diet plan subscriptions, self help books and the like.

2. A bathing suit. Unless it comes with a trip to the Bahamas, she does not want your input on this personal matter. What’s more, you’re likely to give her an anxiety attack when she thinks about trying it on (especially after the great binge/food fest with the in-laws that were the Holidays 2007).

3. Toys. Women usually do not want video games. We might occasionally like to kick your butt in Wii, but that does not mean we want Street Fighter II (or whatever game it is you’re playing). Also, your avatar is lame.

4. Homemade coupons. Whether they’re for dish duty, garbage duty, dinner, or something else, she’s not likely to be impressed. Did your high school girlfriend even use hers?

5. A gift certificate. Step it up with something a little more personal - unless it’s for $300 and you can’t wait to take her to the store and shop. All. Day.

6. Food. Unless you’re the Iron Chef or Francois Payard, skip anything home-baked.  When her friends ask what you got her for V-day, she does not want to have to regurgitate. Literally.

7. A magazine subscription. Bo-ring.

8. Tickets to the “big game.” Hate to break it to you, but when she said she loved football, she was lying. Save the sports stuff for your buddies.

9. A DVD box set of your favorite show. You’ve both already seen every episode. It will just accumulate dust with the rest of the collection.

10. Same goes for CDs. Hello, iTunes.

11. Appliances. Every man has made this guffaw. Just because she says, “I need a new vacuum” does not mean you should buy her a vacuum.

12. Any gift you once bought for an ex-girlfriend. She will find out - and punish you.

Does that sound like a Happy Valentine’s Day to you?

Love/Hate/Etc

01. Is real love indescribable? It can be, especially if it’s complicated.

02. Have you ever been in love? Many times I thought I was, but I was extremely naïve at the time.

03. What feelings do you get when you know you love someone? Well, I can only describe the love I have for my kids, so here goes: It’s a warm fuzzy feeling that surrounds me and my kids and I feel a calming peace in my soul. Most of the time I’ll get tears of joy and gratitude in my eyes too.

04. Ever get sick to your stomach because you love someone so much? Not really… I’ll lose my appetite, but mostly because I’m so focused on my thoughts and feelings of them that I forget to eat.

05. Describe in 3-5 words what your description of love is? Perfect trust, loyalty and adoration.

06. Is love sometimes misunderstood for care? It can be, depending on the situation.

07. If you could make someone fall in love with you, who would it be? No one… if they fall in love with me, that is their choice to make. Forcing someone to feel one way or the other about you does not equate as “true love” to me.

08. If love was a potion what ingredients would it compose of? Equal and infinite amounts of trust, loyalty, compassion and adoration.

09. Do you tend to enjoy the game of getting someone to love you back? See answer to #7, and to add to that: Love is not and should not be a game to be taken lightly.

10. What age were you when you had your first kiss? I was 17.

11. Is love worth dying for? I don’t know how to answer that question, but in the reference of my love for my kids… I love them so completely, equally and infinitely that I would lay my life down to save theirs without a second thought.

12. Is love worth losing everything you currently own? Yes, I would give up everything for my kids.

13. Is love always enough in a relationship? Not exactly… there has to be a common understanding and acceptance of each others’ faults.

14. What item you own do you love the most and why? My kids… although I don’t really own them ~ they own me.

15. Is the love for your pets same as the love for your family? I don’t have any pets.

16. A food you love? I don’t “love” food in that way, but I do enjoy a variety of foods, especially salads.

17. Someone you love for making life so much easier? My best friends… they are always there (in spirit and otherwise) to uplift me and remind me that life doesn’t always have to suck.

18. Would life be better or easier if we were all emotionless? Not really. Emotions are what separates us from the rest of the inhabitants of the world.

19. Someone that makes you sick? WTF-Chuck.

20. Something about life that you hate? I don’t “hate” things or people… that’s too strong of a word. But I do dislike the fact that nothing & nobody ever lasts forever.

21. Something a family member gives you on the holidays that you hate? I sometimes get a good dose of harassment when dealing with my FIL and his side of the family. *sigh*

22. Something about your bf/gf that drives you crazy? The way Jon insists on being right about every damn thing and/or will be willing to argue a point to death, even if I’m agreeing with him!

23. The happiest moment of your life? The moments both my kids were born and I looked into their eyes for the first time.

24. The funniest thing that happened to you with your friends? Um… too many to count or recall right now.

25. The best gift someone has ever given you? My kids.

26. Do you get migraines? Yes, but thankfully not very often.

27. Ever accidentally caught something on fire in your home? Not this home, but once in BT I accidentally set fire to a pizza in the oven… I had tried to scoop it off of the rack when it flipped and landed upside-down on the heating coil on the bottom of the oven. LOL

28. Ever watched a loved one die before your eyes? No, I think that would torment me.

29. Have you ever cheated or been cheated on? Yes, and yes.

30. Would you consider a one night stand? I have been there and done that… it’s not that bad ~ as long as you take the necessary precautions beforehand.

31. Are you straight, gay or bisexual? I am decidedly straight.

32. Should sex be all about emotion and passion? Eh, emotions are not really necessary… but there definitely has to be some passion and/or attraction there.

America’s Most Lustful Cities (news article from Forbes.com)

Denver and San Antonio top the list for most condoms sold, study says 

Forget Paris or Rome. If you’re desperately seeking sex, head to San Antonio or Cincinnati instead.

Residents of these metros enjoy vigorous sex lives - at least their condom and contraceptive purchases at grocery and drug stores indicate as much. These purchases placed them in the top 10 of a survey of America’s Most Lustful Cities.

In the absence of government or academic research on the sexual practices of Americans in the country’s 50 largest cities, the market proved to be the best place to provide answers. Research firm ACNielsen provided a per-capita index of over-the-counter contraceptive purchases in major U.S. markets for the past 52 weeks. The average index was 100.

Denver topped the list with an index of 289, which translates into 189% more contraceptives sales than normally expected for a market its size. Other cities that ranked in the top 10 were Seattle, Washington, D.C. and Salt Lake City. Metropolitan areas one might expect to see ranked, like New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, had average or below average indexes.

Though condom and contraceptive sales are an imperfect way of measuring sexual desire - this is especially true for monogamous couples and those in same-sex relationships - they do provide a broad picture of sexual activity in each city.

Dr. Kees Rietmeijer, director for the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Program at the Public Health Department in Denver, says higher-than-average purchases of condoms in the Mile-High City could be the result of demographics. A younger consumer might be more apt to buy protection consistently, for example, and Denver is crawling with young professionals. On the other hand, Rietmeijer says public health officials have been proactive about education and STD screening since the mid-90s.

Condom capital of U.S.?

“I would love for Denver to be the condom capital of the U.S.,” Rietmeijer says. “We do have campaigns to educate the public about avoiding unwanted pregnancy and STDs.” Those outreach efforts recently included a highly visible billboard featuring a man wearing a quizzical look and the tag line: “Who brought syphilis to the party?” The ad was prompted by a spike in the number of local syphilis cases.

While Denver’s numbers are encouraging, condom maker Trojan has found that, though condom use has kept apace with population growth, single Americans between 18 and 54 use condoms during only one in four of the two billion sex acts they engage in yearly. In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control found that, on average, 40% of men 15 to 44 had used a condom during their most recent sexual experience.

This is troubling news for public health experts, who blame a recent “mainstreaming of sex” for higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) nationwide.

Indeed, Americans’ sex lives are thriving in private, but also in ever-present images on TV, billboards, the Internet, song lyrics and in the movies. A prime example: The turning point for the sex toy industry, says Anne Semans, marketing director for the adult retail company Babeland, was the 1998 episode of “Sex and the City” in which the normally demure Charlotte became obsessed with a vibrator called the Rabbit. Sales of the device skyrocketed.

The added endorsement of sex toys from celebrities like Eva Longoria, who has discussed her purchases publicly, emboldened more women and couples to be open about their sexual practices and preferences.

“For years, the people who bought our sex toys were women trying to learn how to orgasm or masturbate, and they did it in private,” says Semans. “In the last [few] years, it was a noticeable change that women were buying and using sex toys with their partners. It’s reached a level of acceptance it hadn’t before.”

Semans says vibrators comprise about 75% of Babeland’s in-store sales and 90% of its online sales, and that overall sales have consistently grown in recent years. In order to develop new products and services, the company frequently surveys its customers about their intimacy habits. It has also compiled data on the location of Babeland’s online customers.

From Jan. 1 through Nov. 30, 2007, New Yorkers frequented the site more than residents of any other city, comprising 22%  of its total traffic. Seattle, the third most lustful city on our list, was second to New York, making up 9% of the site’s visitors. Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C., were two other cities in our top 10 that also contributed a significant portion of Babeland’s online traffic.

STIs still on the rise

But while the mainstreaming of sex might be good for business, some say, without “sexual literacy,” STIs are sure to follow.

Dr. Michael Reece, director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University, says that we are still woefully undereducated about the consequences of sexual contact. He notes that rising cases of STIs, including chlamydia and the human papillomavirus (HPV), reflect a costly ignorance. About half of all STIs occur in young people between the ages of 15 and 24.

According to the CDC, chlamydia cases rose from 50.8 to 347.8 cases per 100,000 population between 1987 and 2006. From 2000 to 2006, the number of cases of genital warts nearly doubled. The CDC attributes the higher numbers to better screening and detection.

“We have an amazingly low sexual health literacy,” says Reece, who notes that students receive inconsistent education and sometimes aren’t instructed in basic reproductive anatomy. “We’re at a time where individuals’ lives are being saturated with the message that sex is OK, but we’re really not doing our jobs to educate people.”

(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22507910/?GT1=10755)

My Kidlets (Survey Snagged from Melissa)

01. WAS YOUR FIRST BABY PLANNED? Nope.
02. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? No, I got married 1 month, 1 week & 5 days later.
03. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? My initial reaction was shocked fear, then the very next day I was online researching all I could about pregnancy and watched shows like Birth Story and such on the Discovery Channel in lieu of taking childbirth classes. LOL
04. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? Not in the slightest.
05. HOW OLD WERE YOU? I was 22 when I found out, 23 when he was born.
06. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Charles, Jon, Tim, James & I were sitting around talking when it somehow came up in the convo that I was “late” ~ I shrugged it off at first, but Charles insisted that I take a test. So Jon went down to the Rite Aid down the street and bought me a 2-pack of EPT tests. I immediately went into the bathroom and took the test… with Charles’ nosy ass watching me the whole time. As soon as 2 lines showed up on the lil screen, Charles ran out to crow out the results to everyone. In shock, I wandered to my bedroom where I sat there, staring at my belly and talking to “Baby” (introducing myself and stuff). LOL
07. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Charles told everyone in the house right afterwards, then called his parents. I think my dad was the last one to find out because I was initially afraid of his reaction to the news.
08. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? I wanted to make sure it was healthy first, then I wanted to know the gender.
09. DUE DATE? November 29, 2003.
10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? I had mild nausea that came and went throughout the whole pregnancy (it got worse when I was stressed out, which was a near constant occurance), and only threw up once… outside on some poor schmuck’s lawn. I must’ve looked like I was drunk! LOL
11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Pineapple, PB & J sandwiches (on toasted wheat bread), orange juice, seafood, grilled cheese sandwhiches, mild cheddar cheese slices on saltines w/ V8 on ice.
12. WHO IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Charles and Kevin.
13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD’S SEX? Male.
14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? No, but I did have a dream about holding a lil baby girl not long after I found out I was pregnant, so I assumed he was going to be a girl. Later I was relieved that he was going to be a boy, but Charles was disappointed, to say the least. =/
15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 25-30 pounds.
16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? No, Charles and Kevin blew that for me. Don’t ask. =/
17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? N/A
18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Stress, anemia and a misdiagnosis of HPV.
19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Lakewood Hospital.
20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? Um… I was induced at around 4pm (I think) so about 8 hours or so.
21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Charles’ aunt Pat drove me to my prenatal appointment (on December 1st) at the clinic and then we walked over across the street to the hospital to check into the birthing center.
22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Charles, Pat, some nurses, the midwife (a really dumb cunt). My dad came in to see me, but as soon as it was announced that it was time for me to start pushing, he ran back out to wait in the lobby.
23. WAS IT VAGINAL OR C-SECTION? Vaginal.
24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? I had an epidural for the labor and delivery, then the next day the afterbirth cramping was so painful that a nurse injected Nubain into my IV. Holy shit, that stuff is awful ~ I began hallucinating something fierce… panicking to the nurse that “the lines on the floor were moving up to my bed” and begged her (and the janitor who came in to tidy up the room) to “please, fix the fucking floor!” LMAO
25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7 pounds, 4 ounces (19½ inches long).
26. DID YOUR CHILD HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS? There was slight meconium staining discovered when the midwife broke my water, so they whisked him away right after he came out (I didn’t get to see him until the next morning) but he was just fine… just a lil bit congested.
27. WHAT DAY WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ON? December 2, 2003 at 12:43am.
28. WHAT DID YOU NAME THE CHILD? Nathaniel Caleb Sean (”God has given his devotion and grace.”)
29. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 4 years and 1 month old.
30. WAS YOUR SECOND BABY PLANNED? No, but she sure planned her arrival! =)
31. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yeah, but not to her father.
32. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? I went into shock so bad that my regular doctor was paged to come over from the hospital ASAP to talk to me.
33. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? About 2 weeks after I found out, my doctor asked me if I “wanted to keep the pregnancy” ~ which offended and startled me, but I now understood that he was just making sure I was able to handle being pregnant at the time.
34. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 25 when I found out, 26 when she was born.
35. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? I had been getting signs and symptoms that I was for about 3 weeks, then I lit a ciggie and instantly felt sick to my stomach. I knew deep down that I was, but I was in denial until I went to an emergency doctor’s appointment on Christmas Eve of 2005, where an intern had to tell me the news.
36. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Jon kinda already knew when I confirmed it, but we told his mom together when she called later that night.
37. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? I wanted to make sure she was healthy first, then I wanted to know her gender.
38. DUE DATE? August 6, 2006.
39. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? I had mild nausea for the first trimester, but after that, I was fine (except for the heartburn that started towards the middle of the second trimester and got worse towards the end - thank Jeebus for Zantac! LOL).
40. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Salads, chocolate, ice cream, mustard (on sandwiches), spicy food, cranberry juice, seafood.
41. WHO IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Charles (and Kevin).
42. WHAT WAS YOUR SECOND CHILD’S SEX? Female.
43. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Nope, I was happy to finally have one of each… and was looking forward to getting fixed as soon as she was born. =)
44. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? About 50-60, I think.
45. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Nah, I didn’t really need or want one.
46. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? N/A
47. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Just heartburn. LOL
48. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Fairview Hospital.
49. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? I was induced naturally after a routine prenatal appointment (I was already dialated to at least 4cm and was pretty much at full-term anyway). So I went into labor right away and I think it was a total of 5 hours (2 hours of hard labor though).
50. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Jon’s uncle Kenny drove Natey & I to my prenatal appointment, but Jon drove me (in Mr. D’s van) from Walgreens back to Fairview.
51. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Jon, Dr. Drazdik and the attending nurse.
52. WAS IT VAGINAL OR C-SECTION? Vaginal.
53. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Nope… only a lil bit of Tylenol the next morning for the afterbirth cramping.
54. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 6 pounds, 6½ ounces (18 inches long).
55. DID YOUR CHILD HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS? Nope.
56. WHAT DAY WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ON? July 24, 2006 at 8:39pm.
57. WHAT DID YOU NAME YOUR CHILD? Katelyn Christine Louise (”A pure & beautiful Christ-like warrior” ~ named after her Great Aunt Christina and her Great Grandmother Louise)
58. HOW OLD IS YOUR SECOND BORN TODAY? 1 year, 5 months, 1 week and 2 days old.

A Handful of Random Quotes

A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip. ~ Caskie Stinnett, Out of the Red (1960)

Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae. ~ Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)

Bore, n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen. ~ Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) (from The Devil’s Dictionary)

I am a deeply superficial person. ~ Andy Warhol (1928-1987)

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. ~ Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

I don’t really trust a sane person. ~ Lyle Alzado (1949-1992)

I felt like poisoning a monk. ~ Umberto Eco (1932-) (Why he wrote the novel The Name of the Rose.)

Reason has always existed, but not always in a reasonable form. ~ Karl Marx (1818-1883)

The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory. ~ Paul Fix

The reason there are so few female politicians is that it is too much trouble to put makeup on two faces. ~ Maureen Murphy

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. ~ Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool. ~ Richard Feynman (1918-198 (from the Commencement Address at Caltech in 1974)

The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy. ~ Sam Levenson (1911-1980)

Aristotle was famous for knowing everything. He taught that the brain exists merely to cool the blood and is not involved in the process of thinking. This is true only of certain persons. ~ Will Cuppy

Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons. ~ Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees. ~ David Letterman (1947-)

I’m just a person trapped inside a woman’s body. ~ Elayne Boosler

It’s a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn’t want to hear. ~ Dick Cavett (1936-)

A kleptomaniac is a person who helps himself because he can’t help himself. ~ Henry Morgan

A hypocrite is a person who… but who isn’t? ~ Don Marquis (1878-1937)

Middle age is when you’ve met so many people that every new person you meet reminds you of someone else. ~ Ogden Nash (1902-1971)

The world is full of women blindsided by the unceasing demands of motherhood, still flabbergasted by how a job can be terrific and torturous. ~ Anna Quindlen (1953-) (from O Magazine, May 2003)

This is part of the essence of motherhood, watching your kid grow into her own person and not being able to do anything about it. Otherwise children would be nothing more than pets. ~ Heather Armstrong (from Dooce, 11/15/2005)

Can women imagine anything finer than to experience centuries and millennia with the beloved husband in a cozy home in reverent attention to the inner workings of creative motherhood? ~ Curt Rosten (from The ABCs of National Socialism,” 1933)

However motherhood comes to you, it’s a miracle. ~ Valerie Harper

My Reflections: My Last 10 Christmases

Holidays are an expensive trial of strength. The only satisfaction comes from survival. ~ Jonathan Miller

  

Let the minor genius go his light way and enjoy his life - the great nature cannot so live, he is never really in holiday mood, even though he often plucks flowers by the wayside and ties them into knots and garlands like little children and lays out on a sunny morning. ~ W. B. Yeats

—

Wow… it’s actually quiet in my house right now. Nice.

This time of year always forces me to reflect on years past and what I hope for in the years ahead.

So… for the last 10 years, so much has changed in my life, especially during the holiday season.

Christmas 1997 - I was still in high school, but this season I was on campus, working at my off-campus job and trying not to be depressed about not being able to visit my family for the holidays. Little did I know at the time, this was going to be the last Christmas my aunt Joanne would be alive.

Christmas 1998 - I don’t remember much… it was holiday break from Job Corps and I spent the holidays with my high school sweetheart and his family. It was really nice, and I have fond and happy feelings when I think back to that time. I was a lil depressed over losing my aunt, but I was thankful to be able to celebrate the holidays with such nice, wonderful people. 

Christmas 1999 - Holiday break from Job Corps again… this time I spent it at Boys Town. I remember Nancy reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve, going to Fr. Peter’s house for Christmas dinner and receiving the movie Yellow Submarine and other really gr00vy gifts from Nancy (and also from The Franks). It was a pretty good holiday.

Christmas 2000 - Um, I think I was enjoying holiday break from college, but little did I know at the time that I would have to drop out after the end of the semester.

Christmas 2001 - OMFG… the lousiest freakin’ holiday I’ve ever had in my life. The day before Christmas Eve, Gus ditched me at a truck stop in York, Nebraska and I ended up spending the holidays with one of the truck stop cashiers and her family. They were nice to me and I was thankful for their generosity and hospitality, but nothing they did could cheer me up at all.

Christmas 2002 - I spent this holiday with Charles, his mom and his brothers. It was really nice to be a part of such a interesting family.

Christmas 2003 - This was a bittersweet holiday. My son was 22 days old and I was pretty much exhausted from being severely anemic. But I love my son, and I was thankful for my & my son’s health. And Pat & Kenny opening their home and hearts to us helped me feel a lil bit better about my predicament with Charles.

Christmas 2004 - This was just depressing… Natey did get gifts for his birthday and Christmas, but all from other people (which was sweet and I totally appreciated), but Charles wasn’t working at all so we couldn’t even throw Natey a birthday party, much less get him anything for either his birthday or Christmas.

Christmas 2005 - I was still in shock over finding out the day before that I was pregnant, but it was still a nice holiday. Natey was starting to realize what all the “fuss” was about. And Natey finally had a birthday party… complete with cake and presents! =) And Christmas was peaceful and nice too.

Christmas 2006 - This was another nice one… I remember reflecting on how much I was so happy to finally have a lil family of my own to pass down traditions and happy memories to. Katey was 5 months old, so she had no clue what all the “fuss” was about… but I remember holding her and Natey and telling both of them that they were both “the best Christmas presents ever.” And they still are.

This Christmas… I plan on cooking dinner (hopefully I’ll be more organized and focused… Turkey Day this year was insane! LOL) - I gotta plan my menu soon! - and trying to teach Natey some Christmas songs. He’s very much into Christmas this year too… wanting to “go see Santa” and telling me that he wants to “be a good boy” to make me & Santa happy.

(10:07) 

Turkey Day 2007 (Part 3 of ?)

Teh Menu

Appetizers

* Crudités (green bell pepper strips, radishes, celery stix, carrot stix & cucumber slices) with Sour Cream & Onion Dip

Main Meal

* Roasted Turkey Breast
* Mashed Potatoes (with sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, milk, butter and caramelized onions & garlic)
* Sweet Potatoes (baked whole then whipped with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and put into casserole dish, topped with mini-marshmallows and baked again)
* Homemade Stuffing
* Homemade Cranberry sauce
* Garlicky Carrots
* Turkey Gravy
* Crescent Rolls

Dessert

* Pumpkin Pie (with Cool Whip)
* (Jon wants to make a pie or something, but he won’t tell me what he’s got in mind)

Turkey Day 2007 (Part 1 of ?)

Teh Menu (so far)

Appetizers

* Crudités (red, yellow & green bell pepper strips, sliced radishes, celery stix & cucumber slices) with Dips (Sour Cream & Onion / Ranch)
* Pasta Salad (tri-color rotini, chopped broccoli & cauliflower, grated carrots, roasted sweet red pepper, sliced black olives with Italian Dressing (or a vinaigrette))

Main Meal

* Turkey
* Mashed Potatoes (with sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, milk, butter and caramelized onions & garlic)
* Sweet Potatoes (baked whole then whipped with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and put into casserole dish, topped with mini-marshmallows and baked again)
* Homemade Stuffing
* Homemade Cranberry sauce
* Garlicky Carrots
* Turkey Gravy
* Crescent Rolls

Dessert

* Pumpkin Pie (with whipped cream)
* Apple (or Cherry) Pie à la Mode

(18:02)

This Song is For You… You Know Who You Are

To me,
Coming from you,
Friend is a four letter word

End is the only part of the word
That I heard,
Call me morbid or absurd,
But

To me,
Coming from you,
Friend is a four letter word

To me,
Coming from you,
Friend is a four letter word

End is the only part of the word
That I heard,
Call me morbid or absurd,
But

To me,
Coming from you,
Friend is a four letter word

When I go fishing
for the words
I am wishing you would say to me,
I am really only praying that
The words you’ll soon be saying
Might betray
The way you feel about me

But to me,
Coming from you,
Friend is a four letter word

(Friend Is A Four Letter Word ~ Cake)

And… this too:

You Brought This On Yourself Lyrics

Falling in Love… Again

There are two kinds of fathers in traditional households: the fathers of sons and the fathers of daughters. These two kinds of fathers sometimes co-exist in one and the same man. For instance, Daughter’s Father kisses his little girl goodnight, strokes her hair, hugs her warmly, then goes into the next room where he becomes Son’s Father, who says in a hearty voice, perhaps with a light punch on the boy’s shoulder: “Goodnight, Son, see ya in the morning.” ~ Letty Cottin Pogrebin

I woke up about 10 minutes ago to find Jon feeding Katey her breakfast. It was such a touching sight to see him feed her a bite and watch her eyes light up as she ate. The interaction between them was so sweet… my heart swelled with love for the both of them.

(Jon has also let me sleep a lot this weekend, which has greatly improved my mood.)

I was going to write more, but I’ve lost my train of thought. Me thinks it’s time for my breakfast and maybe a bit more sleep.