Bad Dreams

The other night, in the middle of the night, Owen came into our bed. He was really, really upset and crying. He told us he had a bad dream, so we asked him to tell us about it. He said, "We were in an elevator and Sierra said she forgot her hat and ran off the elevator and I didn't make it off,..." and then he started bawling. "So you got left on an elevator by yourself?" we asked. "Yes," he said. So we comforted him and got him back to bed.

I found it very sweet that what was so scary to him was not monsters, or things chasing him, or stuff like that, but it was being alone without his parents. We did assure him that yes, getting left in an elevator would be a little scary, which is why we're always so careful to not let that happen, but that we would be able to find him again very quickly and he would be ok.

The Grand Canyon

It's been a month since my trip and I still haven't posted any photos! I put together movie/slideshow with what I consider the best of the photos. Unfortunately, I think almost all the photos are good, so my first version was more than 20 minutes long and wouldn't upload! So I created a shorter version (<5min). I keep meaning to sort the photos (they're a bit out of order,) but I'll post this and update it if I ever make improvements.



And, in case you don't feel like watching the whole thing right now, here's just a couple of my absolute favorites:

MJ -- Just My Opinion

Wow. Michael Jackson died. Shocker.

Do you hear the sarcasm?

It's not that I don't respect what he did for the music and entertainment industry, or that I don't think he was extraordinarily talented, or that I don't think it's profoundly sad that he died. (It's profoundly sad when anyone dies.) It's just that I really feel that what was sad was his life.

MJ was clearly emotionally disturbed. He exhibited bizarre behaviors, he had severe self-image problems that led to anorexia and severe self-mutilation (yes, all that disgusting plastic surgery was a form of self-mutilation,) and he was addicted to drugs. What did people think was going to happen? Why do we wait until something tragic happens to decide to mourn? Why didn't all the people that profess to love him try to save him?

I know, I know, it's really not that simple. When someone is alive, his life is private and not for us to intrude. Everything only becomes public and sad after their death.

But honestly, MJ's death was not a shock to me. I have been sad about his life for a long time. I certainly hope that he is at peace now.

Take Her Advice!

Steve overheard the kids talking this afternoon. Owen was telling Sierra that his friends were going to be going to Kindergarten next week (we think he meant next year at a different school) and he wouldn't have any friends at school anymore. Sierra said, "If you just say 'hi' to people, then you'll make new friends!"

She's a genius!

Mother's Day

I had a good Mother's Day. We took the kids to the Natick Collection Mall to have pictures taken with their cousins and Grammy. Then we had dinner with all of them. The kids were well behaved the whole time and they both ate their dinner. You can't ask for more than that.

But wait... there is more. Here are photos of the gifts they gave me. Every year at their pre-school, every kids paints a silk scarf. They each pick three colors and the scarf gets pinned down to a long piece of rice paper, which becomes the card/wrapping paper. Here's what I got: (Click on the one with the rice paper scrolls so you can read what Owen answered to "What is a mother?")

Levitating Charm

Yesterday we went to my nephew's birthday party, which was a Harry Potter party. The activities were extraordinary -- buying wands and capes on Diagon Alley, attending a sorting ceremony complete with talking sorting hat, taking a potions class, practicing Quiddich, reading tea leaves in devinations class, and having a feast. While buying a wand they got to try out the levitating charm, "Wingardium Leviosa," and a lighting charm, "Lumos." (My brother-in-law rigged up a candle light to a remote and a coke can on a string so the kids could make the charms "work" with the right wand. Cool, huh?)

Later on, after dinner, Sierra went to the bathroom on her own. My sister-in-law went in there a couple of times asking if she needed help, but she said "no." She was standing on the potty stool with her pants down in a puddle of her own pee, repeating over and over, "In gardium mariosa!"

I believe she may have been trying to levitate her pee into the toilet....

The Tenth Good Thing About Nikita

1. Nikita picked me at the animal shelter.
2. She always used the litter box.
3. She played fetch.
4. The tip of her tail had an inch of orange and white stripes with the cutest white tuft at the end.
5. She was so soft and loved to be scratched in the downy fur behind her ears.
6. She was affectionate and snuggley (but not annoyingly so.)
7. She helped me through a very hard time in my life.
8. When I had kids, I thought she would be jealous and spiteful, but instead she was fiercely protective.
9. She was my friend.
10. Nikita is in the ground and she’s helping grow flowers. You know, that’s a pretty nice job for a cat.*

*Taken from “The Tenth Good Thing About Barney” by Judith Viorst.


RIP Nikita. You were loved. I will remember you fondly. You are now at peace.