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Turns out I’m not all that good at keeping up with this writing a post everyday thing.

Yesterday, I had a post all ready to write about Danica Patrick’s PEAK commercial, but I couldn’t find the commercial online. I couldn’t remember exactly what she said so I couldn’t write the post.

I’m using Windows Live Writer, part of the new Windows Essentials Pack to update today. It appears to be a very efficient update method, but we’ll see how it handles images.

Today I….

Dyed my hair. My roots were showing. Ew.

Inserting pictures seems to be simple and I’ve noticed that in addition to calling out possible misspelled words with a red line, the application bolds them. There does not seem to be an autocorrect in place, but that may just be a lack of proper settings on my part.

I just reviewed the proofing settings and there does not appear to be an autocorrect feature. I’m surprised at the lack of a simple autocorrect such as i to I.

After dying my hair, cleaning up the mess and myself; I got dressed and headed out meet some friends to help them look at houses.

I stopped at the Quiktrip to grab a cup of coffee as I usually do in the morning. I have a routine for coffee getting.

1) Get cup

2) Put approximately 1/4 cup of crushed ice in cup

3) Add 2 teaspoons of sugar

4) Add two presses of the Non Dairy Creamer button (each press equals one of those little plastic things) from the machine second from the right.

5) Swirl cup

6) While swirling cup, add Original coffee; decreasing the swirl motion as the cup fills to 1” of the top of the cup. (This is important. Any more than that and it spills out of the little hole in the lid. Any less than that and I feel like I’m not getting what I am paying for.

7) Take cup to first coffee finalizing station, stir to ensure the removal of all hotspots.

Take lid from 3rd row and close cup.

9) Walk to the right, around the coffee finalizing station and through the center aisle to pay for coffee.

I know it seems like I should be on medication (don’t worry, I totally am!) but I am a person who craves structure. I need to do the same thing every morning. If I don’t, my entire day is off just a little.

This morning as I was standing at the counter paying for my obsessive compulsive cup of coffee, I heard the strains of “Welcome to the Jungle” wafting through the air. I briefly thought that it was the radio/music system in the mini-mart but dismissed that due to the less than stellar quality of the sound.

To my absolute delight, it was a cell phone ring tone belonging to the guy who was buying lottery tickets and cigarettes at the next register. Normally; this would not have elicited such a tickled reaction, but the cell phone belonged to an 60ish year old man who looked like a farmer of some sort.

He wore a plaid red/black flannel jacket, a hat that looked to be 20 years old if it was a day and jeans that had spent many a long hour doing the dirty details of farm work. He spoke in short clipped sentences; not using anymore words than were necessary to convey his point. His face bore the tale of a man who worked hard to care of his family, land and animals. The deep creases laid across his cheeks no doubt held the tension of years of stoic resolve and unwavering dependability.

The stark contrast of the strong yet unassuming farmer and the loud, unmistakable screeching of Axl Rose brought a smile to my face.  I don’t know this man and I doubt I will every see him again but I think that I was in the company of one of the good ones. I’m pretty sure of it.

Coffee in hand, I got back in the car. I had woken with a tinge of migraine so I took some Excedrin Migraine with the rest of my morning pills. I learned long ago that it was always wise to keep some Imitrex and painkillers with me when I went out. I have been caught without them on occasion and suffered the consequences. I took an Imitrex and started to make my way to meet my friends.

I was looking forward to not only seeing them but also to seeing my Realtor Josh:

Josh was extremely helpful when I was buying my home so I was quick to recommend him to my friends. If you’re in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and looking to buy, look up Josh Van Meter.

I was also looking forward to meeting the kitties that I had heard so much about!

I of course got a little lost in the apartment complex, but it was brief and painless. A parking spot was easily found and up the stairs I went (I hate stairs).

This is Butch. He’s…..butchy.

A very affectionate, carefree kitty; Butch did not bat a whisker at my presence. He recognized me as a lap and potential source of food.

Fancypants (Fancy is her real name but I like Fancypants)

This little darling initially hopped up on the coffee table and walked toward me as if she were calm. Mid-stride she realized that she didn’t know me and this meant I was there to kill her. She took off like a cat with a bottle rocket up it’s ass and remained hidden for some time. Eventually she got brave enough to poke out from under the couch and cuddle with her humans. She sniffed around me a few times and nosed my fingers but pulled away at my attempt to scritch her chin.

I left my hand stretched out and soon enough, she was rubbing against it and allowing me to pet her head.

Josh soon arrived and off we went to the first house. It was a charming place, but had obvious foundation issues and was pretty much an immediate no go. It did however have the most awesome paint job in one of the bedrooms.

After 10 minutes of internal debate (and facebookery) I’ve decided that the paint job warrants me getting up to get the camera so I can transfer the pictures in order to post it here.

Just sat down after getting camera and finding USB transferry thing. All of a sudden have to pee like a picked up toad. Gah.

The photos are being batch resized/renamed. I can’t just pull one picture out; they all have to get organized.

Ok, back to the paint job…

I lol’d.

The next house was good, save the fist hole and body shaped dent in the wall.

Back to the apartment where we bid Josh farewell. Lunch plans were made and I headed onto my most important errand of the day.

On Friday this:

left this:

here:

which resulted in something reminiscent of this:

I’m kidding; he just told me that he he forgot it and looked upset.

He asked me to go back to the office on Friday to get it, but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t shrivel up and waste away if he missed one night of gaming. He watched some age-inappropriate comedy special on Comedy Central and fell asleep by 1030. Hah!

After retrieving the memory card, I headed back home. I asked another friend for his address so that I could send some Happy 40th Anniversary flowers to him. I’m sure he has no idea that I’m going to do that because my “What is your address and no I won’t tell you why I need it”? was super subtle.

Arriving at home, I told Luke that we were going to lunch with the aforementioned friends.

He got dressed while I hemorrhaged over the cost of flowers (I decided not to have them arrive today, opting for a local shop and a Thursday delivery instead). It occurs to me that this friend may very well read this post prior to said flower arriving but I’ve already typed it and I’m not deleting it.

Luke and I headed to Johnny Carino’s for lunch. I had a delectable Shrimp Scampi while Luke wolfed down a 10” pizza.

After lunch we parted ways with our friends and headed to Ross to pick up a poster frame. I want to frame the faceplates we drew at work because their current location is not optimal.

We left Ross without a frame but with a mirror for the half-bath downstairs. Target had the frame I was looking for so we grabbed it and headed home.

I had grand plans to finish taping off and starting to paint the bathroom but i was weak and my back and shoulder were complaining.

So here I sit, on the couch; watching various documentaries and food shows.

Wild Saturday night. Woooo.

Inserting and putting a border around the pictures seems pretty easy. The preview shows well, with no changes in formatting. Here’s hoping that it stays that way when I publish it.

1. Learn to sew

2. Learn to knit

3. Lose 60 pounds

4. Save 10% of each check by year’s end

5. Eat meals with Luke, without the TV on and at the table

6. Walk at least 1 mile, at least 4 times a week

7. Visit Mom2 at least once a week

8. Visit my sister and get to know her family.

9. Watch more movies

10. Attend/Visit one educational/cultural event a month

From the website…

The Mütter Museum was founded to educate future doctors about anatomy and human medical anomalies. Today, it serves as a valuable resource for educating and enlightening the public about our medical past and telling important stories about what it means to be human. The Mütter Museum embodies The College of Physicians of Philadelphia ’s mission to advance the cause of health, and uphold the ideals and heritage of medicine.

The Mutter is filled with medical oddities. When I told Luke about it, he expressed a great deal of interest. Not only is it interesting, creepy and icky; but it is very educational.   I’ve always wanted to visit the Mutter, but even when I lived in PA I never went.

Thanks to Sherwood, Luke and I did not have to pay admission which was nice. The only disappointment regarding the museum was this:

No photography allowed :(

Despite the bitter temperature, I did want to get some photographs outside and in the lobby.

The entrance to the Mutter Museum.

Jam outside the Mutter Museum. It was so cold. There was also a smell. A horrid smell.

Luke outside the museum. He was not only cold, but overwhelmed by the "smell of the city".

The lobby of the museum was beautiful, marble everywhere!

I wish I could have take this chair/loveseat thing home with me!

As I mentioned earlier, photography is strictly prohibited in the museum itself. That said, I am rather ninja like in my photography skills and managed to snap a few photos…

The Soap Lady

The Soap Lady

In a process called human saponification, a woman’s body was discovered to have turned into soap. Sometime in the 19th century, a woman who was rather fat died of yellow fever. After her burial in a Philadelphia cemetery, the fat of her body turned into adipocere. This is a fatty wax composition similar to lye soap.

She became saponified in this way when her body fat reacted to the combination of chemicals in the soil. She has been on display at the Mutter Museum since 1874 when Dr. Joseph Leidy, a prominent University of Pennyslvania anatomist, donated her body to the museum. According to Dr. Leidy, the “Soap Woman” died in 1792 in Philadelphia. Her body was uncovered by workmen removing bodies from an old burial yard.

In 1942, the museum curator, Joseph McFarland, determined that the “Soap Woman” actually died much later. Eight pins and two four-hole buttons of the clothing she was wearing when buried were dated as being from the early 19th century.

The brain of a cat (in the middle)

I am fairly certain that this is what my spine looks like.

 

The brains of epileptics.

 

The tracing of Rayford Lee Johnson

Rayford Lee Johnson, a timber cutter from Lauderdale, MS stood at 7′ 3/8″ tall at 22  years old. Some websites state that Johnson was a member of the Harlem Globetrotters as well however finding valid documentation has proven to be a challenge.

A 9 week old fetus and 9 week old twins.

 

A 16 week old fetus.Conjoined twins

 

The first slice in a series of thin slices of the human head.

 

Carcinoma of the penis

After we were finished reviewing the museum’s collection, Luke and I made our way back to the entrance. There was a guest book that we signed, documenting our thanks for Sherwood.

I wanted to take a photo of that as well, but given that the pedestal was directly in front of the security desk.

Being the rule abiding person that I am; I went over to the security desk and asked oh so sweetly if I could take a picture of the the guest book.

As the ninny behind the counter tried oh so hard to make my big words fit in her tiny little brain the maintenance guy who was chatting her up said “Sure, you can do that.”

He proceeded to walk over to the pedestal that the guest book sat on, picked it up and moved the entire thing into the lobby so that I could take a picture of it without violating the rules of the museum. I took my photos and thanked him profusely. That was very sweet of him.

A photo of our signature in the Mutter Museum guestbook.

With our Mutter Museum experience at it’s end, we prepared ourselves to walk back to the Jeep and head to Mom’s house. Earlier, I mentioned that we had passed a titty bar on the way…

Boobies!

The guy behind the glass in the outdoor booth knocked on the glass and waggled his finger at me. Hahaha….I took the damn picture anyway.

Back to the Jeep and warmed up, we drove around a bit more before heading to the frigid frigid temperatures of Andreas, PA.

Downtown Philadelphia

Drexel University Science Center

Pink Food Truck

Fruit Truck

We headed out of Philly towards Mom’s house. The realization that I had no way to charge my phone forced us to go off course to find a store. After spotting an Utz truck, we also realized that we were hungry. We spent a few minutes devising a plan to hijack the truck but then realized it would be easier if we just bought some damn chips.

An Utz truck. This truck contains the most delicious potato chips in the known universe.

 Plotting….

I know we can get those chips...

We stopped at a store and picked up some of the world's best chips. It was easier than hijacking the truck.

These transformer things are fantastic.

We also picked up some gloves, scarves and hats because it was FREEZING.

The rest of the trip was rather uneventful. The Jeep had satellite radio, so we listened to NPR and the comedy stations for most of the drive.

Luke was looking for something here...I can't remember what it was but he was getting pretty pissed at me for taking pictures of him.

Luke. Decidedly unhappy.

Once we hit 309, we were almost to Mom’s house….

Almost home!

We stopped to get gas, some Guer’s Iced Tea and Tatsykakes and then got to Mom’s house…

It was quite an interesting 2 weeks in the magnificent North East.

Luke and I left home on November 21 to spend Thanksgiving with my family. We were scheduled to fly back on December 1; giving us plenty of time to spend with family and friends.

Everything was going well until we left the house to get in the cab to go to the airport.  

The driver arrived 10 minutes early (and yes, he did try to charge me for the waiting time) and huffed impatiently when Luke and I finally came outside.

He asked me where we were going information I had already provided to the dispatcher). I told him we were headed to DFW to the Delta terminal.

He said, “Do you know how to get there from here?”

I replied “Um. No. I thought you’d know that as you’re driving the cab.”

Snottily he said, “Well, I don’t cover this area, I had to come pick you up from Dallas. You live here, you should know the way.”

Mentally stabbing him in the eyes with my keys, “I’ve lived here for 2 weeks. I don’t know the best way to get there from here.”

“Fine, but I’ll just have to take the long way.”

Smelling a ruse to charge me more from a mile away, I replied “Perhaps it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with this area if you have to work here occasionally so that your passengers do not have to pay more money when you take the long way.”

He did not get a tip.

Halfway to the airport, I realized that I had forgotten both my book and all ALL the DS games on the counter. Craptastic.

We did have time to go back and get them, but I wasn’t about to ask Mr. “I drive a cab but rely on the passengers for directions” to turn around and go back.

Luke had “Purrpals” in his DS and I had “Cooking Mama” in mine. Whee.

Arriving at the airport without incident, I handed the cabbie my debit card and he looked at me as if I had given him a broken crack pipe.

“No cash?”

“No.”

“This will take at least 15 minutes to process.”

“No it won’t. I have used credit/debit cards before and it takes about 2 minutes.”

“That is not true,” as he shuffles off to his car.

5 minutes later, he hands me the slip to sign and I made a noticeable “X” through the tip line, wrote in the amount of the fare and signed it.

I really wanted to stick my tongue out at him.

He was in a far better state than I.

We took our bags over to the curbside check-in and to my surprise, didn’t have to pay to check our bags there.

Boarding passes in hand; we went through a super quick security line and walked the 19 miles to our gate.

On the way, we passed one of those little airport stores that rented DVDs. That comes into play later.

At the gate, we found a place to plug in my phone and laptop to charge them up.

My mind wandered back to that little DVD rental store and I asked Luke if he thought they sold DS games…..

Turns out that they did!

Seven games and too much money later, I triumphantly returned with my treasure and we were both thrilled.

I picked up the following: The Price Is Right, Sims Creator, Sims My Kingdom, Crosswords, Word Games, Lego Batman and Spore Creature Creator.

New DS Games!!

 The flight to Hotlanta and then to PA were smooth and uneventful.

Getting ready to board the flight to Atlanta

Technological Entertainment FTW!

 

Look, I am on the plane and I'm not stressed out.

 Collecting the bags however proved to be a challenge of my vow not to kill anyone.

We followed to rest of the sheep to the baggage area and waited for the thingers to start up and deliver unto us our precious clothing and toothbrushes.

It started.

Then it stopped. Three airport “workers” came over to stand and look at it for a while. Two were 20 something wanna be gangstas and the other was a 30 something “I don’t comprehend that I’m not 17 anymore and can TOTALLY fit in these pants” diva.

They talked on their radios for a while. Loudly.

Finally, and older and clearly more competent gentleman came over and did some things and talked on his radio and did more things and then the thinger started again.

We waited. Bags came.

It stopped again.

They announced that the bags would now be coming on the thinger next to that one.

That one started. More bags came. Not ours mind you, but more bags did come.

After about 10 minutes, most of the people were gone and our bags still had not shown up. About 1/2 the people from our flight were still there, getting more and more agitated as the same duct taped suitcase rolled around the thinger.

I went over the diva to ask about our bags.

“Excuse me, but are all the bags from Dallas out? There are quite a few folks, including me still waiting.”

“Djoohaveyer baggage claim ticket?”

I pulled it out of my pocket and before I could even get a word out…

“You isn’t in the right place. You need to go ova dere,” as she points in the general direction of downtown Philadelphia.

*seethes*

“Where?”

“BAGGAGE CLAIM 4. Onthelef.” Partially yelled, partially dribbled.

*mumbles something about selective sterilization*

I grabbed Luke and we went over to the right baggage thinger, collected our bags and popped outside to catch the shuttle to Avis.

Holy. Mother. Of. Gawd.

Cold. Not chilly. C-O-L-D. I checked the temperature. It was 27 degrees. I checked the temperature at Mom’s house. 17 degrees. Crap. Frozen crap on a frozen stick.

This isn't chilly or nippy. This is yo"ur ass will fall off" cold.

Despite my overwhelming desire to go back inside and spend Thanksgiving in the Philadelphia International Airport with Diva and the Gangsta Boiz; we got on the shuttle to Avis.

Luke had a golly gosh heck of a good time on the shuttle.

 Got Jeep. Found hotel. Hotel was fine, plain and uneventful.

The door...

I was pretty tired....

 Nice view though. I do love the city lights at night.

The lights were pretty...

By this time, it was about midnight. Neither of us had eaten and we were starved. Tired and starved. Eventually starved won out.

Luckily, there was a Wawa (!) close by so Luke and I braved the frigid (shut up, I live in Texas now) temperatures to get something to eat.

I love Wawa. Although they are disappearing. The removal of the gas stations pretty much killed them I think

 I was driven by the fact that I knew there would be Tasty Kakes at Wawa. I would do just about anything for Butterscotch Krimpits.

Luke was immediately impressed by:

a) the number of people in Wawa at 12:30 in the morning

b) the number of cops outside (yay downtown Philly!)

c) the cups of salami and cheese next to the cups of carrots and celery

d) the tasty kakes

e) the tasty kakes 

I also picked up a bag of Herr’s Salt and Vinegar chips because Luke loves salt and vinegar chips and I knew these would make him have the vinegar equivalent of “bitter beer face”.

Back at the hotel, we watched an infomercial for that flat iron that straightens your wet hair while nourishing it and I think also feeding the world’s hungry and solving Sudoku puzzles.

We were due to meet my high school friend Sherwood at 10 the next (hah) morning so we got to sleep soon after the salami, cheese, tasty kake and chip fest was over.

The next morning we dressed and headed downstairs to put the luggage in the Jeep and meet Sherwood. Text messages confirmed that he was on his way (walking! nutcase) and Luke and I warmed up the Jeep while waiting.

There was ice. I don’t like ice that isn’t in my freezer ready to keep my drinks cold.

Ice. Cold, shiny frigid ice.

Sherwood arrived and we headed to a coffee shop because…well…no functiony without the caffeine and such.

Sherwood and I caught up over a nice breakfast of coffee and a muffin for me, hot chocolate and a sticky bun for luke and coffee and a breakfast sandwich for Sherwood.

The muffin was delicious and the coffee was coffilicious!

Luke's sticky bun. He enjoyed it.

Yummers.

The corner outside of the coffee shop.

He gave us some free passes to the Mutter museum and we parted ways. It was great to see him again. I always knew he’d turn out to be one of those “cool adults” that everyone thinks they are but really aren’t.

I don’t know why I don’t have a picture of Sherwood. It is awfully odd. Here is one that I stole from his Facebook page.

Sherwood! Isn't he a cutie?

Luke and I offered him a ride home, but he declined saying that he could catch a bus.

We drove around Philly for awhile so I could show a bit of the city to Luke. The last time he was in Philadelphia, he was a tad young

Beautiful murarl painted on the wall in a less than hoity toity area of Philly.

The two of us headed to the museum and found it without much trouble. Parking however proved to be a challenge and we ended up parking in a pay lot about 46 miles away from the museum.

I pulled into a spot and the attendant barreled out of his little heated attendant house and waved his arms at me as if I had just run over a puppy carrying the cure for cancer.

He told me to park in a different spot. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why, but I really didn’t care because I was rapidly losing both flesh and brain cells to the freezing cold.

Paid and still nutty, the attendant retreated to his steamy pay lot house and Luke and I headed to the museum. On the way, we passed a titty bar that had half-naked girly pictures in the window. That matters later.

We reached the museum where a completely new adventure began.

The entrance to the Mutter Museum. The architecture of the building was beautiful.

It’s been a few days, but t fear not; I have pictures to help me remember what the hell I’ve done.

On Saturday (11.15.08) we….

crap

I can’t remember what we did.

I know that I didn’t go to bed until 6 in the morning and consequently slept until 1pm. That was pretty awesome.

Pictures. Right ok. We went to Outback for dinner because earlier in the day I got a package of brownies in the mail.

This looks promising...

Closer to the yum!Mere plastic cannot keep me from the chocolately goodness

Oh yes - they were rich and dark and oh so delicious.

Packaged up for will power enhancing storage in the fridge.

The brownies were not without their purpose of course. Last month, for Luke’s birthday, we went to Outback for dinner. The service was horrid and the waiter was incredibly condescending to Luke.

I complained, as I am wont to do and received two $25 gift certificates. I was pleased and considered the matter closed.

Imagine my surprise when this little package of happiness and good showed up at my door.

Well played Outback Steakhouse. Well played.

So….Saturday night we went to dinner at Outback. I had eaten brownies. I had gift certificates. A nice hunk of meat seemed like it would round out the day nicely.

In my chocolate induced haze; I had forgotten that Saturday night meant that there would be people there. Lots of them. People and their whiny children. Loud talkers. Annoying teenage girls out with the boy that was just a friend but they secretly wished was their boyfriend.

Oh this girl. I wanted to throw something sharp at her throat.

 She didn’t shut up for the entire hour (H-O-U-R) we waited for our table. She rambled incessantly about her challenges as a popular girl, how long it took her to get ready in the morning and how she never had any time to herself because everyone always wanted her to hang out. She made it a point to ensure that her companion was aware that despite being asked out “like….god…ALL the time”; she still wasn’t dating anyone. Her verbal diarrhea was peppered with vulgarity and expletives. The expletives I didn’t mind so much, but she didn’t need to know that. At one point I looked at her and said “Hey! Watch your language. There are children here!” She didn’t even break stride to acknowledge that someone else had spoken much less apologize.

In a rather karmic moment; we were seated before them. She had been complaining about the length of the wait. As we passed by the young man moved his legs so we could easily pass where she left her legs sprawled out so we had to navigate around them.

I couldn’t stop myself any longer.

I stopped dead in front of her and bent over so she had to look at me. She had this half shocked half terrified look on her face and I launched.

“You know what kiddo, sooner or later your looks aren’t going to get you what you want.  You’d be wise to get over yourself and start making the friendships and partnerships you’re so desperately going to need when you’re alone in a sea of pretty girls just like you in the real world.”

That isn’t verbatim; but it is close enough. I didn’t speak loudly or harshly, just concisely and with precision.

I didn’t even wait for a response before turning, stepping her still outstretched legs and walking to the hostess stand (where I might add, Luke stood, impatiently waiting for me).

I never heard a response from her, but I did catch a couple whispers of “omg did you hear that!!” and “holy shit, she got told!” from the people that were in the immediate area.

Anyway…that made me feel good about being me.

Luke all glowly and stuff.

Courtesy of Luke.

French fries with cheese and bacon. Did I mention bacon?

Sweet sweet coffee.

MEAT. GOOD.

 

He said gross things about the dripping A1 sauce that I will not repeat.

 

Tired little boy...

Another young Delcambre masterpiece....

 

Freaking Peanut Butter Pie. OMG. Like eating a creamy Reese's cup. so good.

 Yeah….so after dinner we went popped over to the dollar store for hangers and whatever other dollary goodness I found.

Apparently I did not take any pictures in the dollar store. That is odd because there are so many things there to should be captured for posterity. I think that both Luke and I were stuffed and tired and just wanted to go home.

So home we went. Luke, true to his word, immediately went to bed. I…did not.

It was another all-nighter for me.

Woo.

It’s 1230 already. I’m beat.

Well - there is your 11.15.08 update. Tomorrow I will try to get caught up on the rest of the days.

In the meantime, I leave you with this adorable picture:

Eli being insanely cute.

wait. i can’t start this until i get my stupid latpop to recognize my Zune like it’s done for the past YEAR.

While unpacking, I came across a 6 page unfinished letter that I wrote to Luke when he was about 1 1/2 years old.

I haven’t read it yet so I thought I’d take the time to transcribe it here. I’ve put a couple pics in from when Luke was younger too.

                                                                            ♥

Lucas,

I am writing you this letter to let you know how things are going. Today is May 19th, 1999. You are 19 months and 9 days old. You have become quite the handful at home.

Your Daddy is in Moron, Spain right now. He has been gone since February 19th. Today is exactly 90 days. Hopefull he will be back in one month. There are rumors going around that he might not be back until August 19th. That means three more months instead of one.

Luke pondering something...

I really miss him and you do too. You haven’t been behaving very well. For some reason you don’t want to listen to me. You also like to throw all your food on the floor. You refuse to stay in your bed.

On the other hand, you are absolutely adorable. You got your first haircut a few weeks ago adn you look so handsome. You are very smart for your age. You are always doing something new. You have a great vocabulary and you learn new words everyday. Tou have started to learn body parts. You know your noes, eyes, mouth, belly and feet. You can undress yourself almost all the way now.

Right now you are playing with your friend Tawni. She live across the street from us. Right now we are in Washington state at Fairchild Air Force Base. It is about 15 miles from Spokane, Wa. You and Tawni play together all the time. She is about six months older than you but you usually get along well. I bought you a whole bunch of care the other day and taught you how to make a vroom vroom sound when you push them.

Luke and Tawni

Well, Tawni’s Mom just got here. I’ll write more later.
 

Right now I am talking to Amy Brown. She has a son who is about a month younger than you. You like to play with Mason. Sometimes you just like to play alone. You can be very solitary when you want to be. We put a gate up across the door of your room. You know how to open it but you are not strong enough to yet.

Luke, enjoying some tasty fingers.

You have learned how to do quite a few things that are not so good. You have learned how to climb on your changing table and pull everything off the wall. You als like to pull everything out of your closet. I bought some door knob covers so you can’t open the doors. They would work very well if I would remember to actually close the closet door when I am changing your diaper.

I keep your diapers in the closet because you were forever pulling them off your table. I am trying really hard to keep you in line. You are not an easy child to parent. You are already showing signs of being very independent and at times rather defiant. You are a challenge to me. Fortunately, I thrive on challenges.

Luke at the computer

I have been taking you to daycare everyday because I need some time to myself. Also, you need to interact with other kids. With your Dad away, things have gotten really rough. I got out of the military on April 14th of 1999. I actually took a vacation starting on March 4th so I have been home for 2 1/2 months now. I hate being at home all the time. I love spending time with you, but I don’t like being at home all the time. I need to work somewhere. I am just not cut out for the housewife deal. I hope that when you are married you will not have a problem with your  wife working if she wants to!

Of course, if she doesn’t want to, I hope that you have a good job when you get to that point in your life. I hope you do well, I really do. You are going to be an amazing person when you grow up. I hope that you realize that.

Life is not easy. Sometimes I know you must feel like nothing you do is right. I feel like that sometimes. Then I look at you and your Dad and realize that you are the most important things in my life. I love you both so much. I hope that you end up as happy as I am. Well, now that I got that off my chest let’s move on.

Luke is posing for the magazine covers!

You are taking a bath right now. I got you some foam rubber letters and numbers but all you will say is “i”. Oh well, it will come with time. You speak very well and are really polite. You almost always say please and thank-you. You talk all the time; although I still can’t understand what you say most of the time. The words you do say are very clear though.

You really are a good kid. I love you more than you could ever know. I want you to know that even though you may not like me very much sometimes because of the way I punish you or don’t let you do things, I really do know what is best for you. I want you to know that you can come to me with anything. I promise not to jedge you harshly. If you have questions about sex, drugs, alcohol, life, school…anything. I mean it. Whatever problems you might have are my problems too. I just want you to know that.

I just put you in bed a few minutes ago. Of course, you promptly got right out of bed. It has been a real struggle to get you to stay in your bed. My only consolation is that you will have the same problem with your child. That may sound cruel, but you will understand one day. Well that is all for today. I love you.

I loved this little swimsuit.

Well, I talked to your Dad tonight. I looks like he will be gone until August. He originally was supposed to only be gone for a week or so. That turned into a month and that turned into 4 months. Now that turned into 6 months. They also are not paying him as much anymore. He was getting 11 dollars a day. They bumped it up to 35.50 a day and now the want to drop it back to 11 dollars again. Also, they won’t keep him for 180 days, only 170 because if they kept him for 180 it would be a short your and they would have to let him go to any base he wants to.

He was talking about getting out early once I get settled in my job. I really miss your Dad. i am so lucky to have you here. You remind me of him. You are just as stubborn as he is. When you are stubborn though it is mostly cute. You know, sometimes I am really scared that i am going to do xomething wrong and screw your life up. I really hope that when you are old enough to understand this letter you don’t think I was a bad mother.

Luke and Daddy

I really hope you had a good childhood and you don’t have any bad memories. I just want you to konw that I did the best I could. I was young when you were born. You were a suprise for us, but don’t think for one minutes that you weren’t wanted. We loved you from the moment we found out that we were going to have you. We didn’t know if you were a boy or a girl. We wanted a boy and we got one! Were we ever happy!

Well, your Daddy just called so I have to go….

                                                                            ♥

How did we get from that little kid to this….

Growing up...

I am tired. This is all you get.

the boy was annoyingly slapping his shoes on the floor like he was goosestepping through walmart. i warned him that if he did it again i would make him take them off.

he did it again.

Oh yes. I follow through.

He was so embarassed.

i put some paint swatches on the wall to see what the colors looked like. I did take some pictures with my point and shoot camera but I don’t know where my card reader thing is and I don’t want to look for it.

Dark Brown for the kitchen...

Light Green for the bathrooms

I did a swatch of grey in Luke’s room too and it looks pretty good. I just didn’t take a picture of it because it is upstairs and I am not.

oh. saw a limo at walmart. was so hoping it was BritBrit, but some stereotypical jogging suit with gold chain wearing mobster wannabe got out instead. I wasn’t fast enough to get a pic of him but you can see him to the right there.

It was an older limo…but still…a limo at walmart is funneh.

Don’t talk to me about how awful walmart is. I know how awful walmart is. I know that my dollars condone their actions and that my patronage allows them to operate in the manner they do.

I don’t care right now. I care about me and my own right now and walmart is cheap. If I didn’t have to worry about prices growing and packages shrinking maybe it would be different.

This animation is old but oh god we laughed sooooo hard.

He tried to go over the fence and caught his shirt…

this made me happy. yes i have a long way to go but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen that number

slowly but surely

this is where I worked from all week, when I was able to be at work

The comfy chair and my makeshift desk.

worky worky. you can’t see the heating pad bursting into flames behind me

the shirt says “meat is murder. tasty tasty murder”

I am still hurting a lot and as of right now i am still running a low grade fever. I’m not concerned about the fever unless it consistently hits 101 or higher. it hasn’t gone above 100 so ok for now.

I have a love/hate relationship with hydrocodone. i am grateful for the modicum of relief it provides me but I am frustrated with how it affects my sleep. i’m frustrated that I even had to take it at all.

someday...these will be out of my life.

I should’t have to. i shouldn’t have to be in pain or worry about if i’m going to be able to do the things i need to.

if you don’t have chronic back pain you do not understand. this is not a “weekend warrior strained my back” kind of pain or a “over did it at the gym” pain. this is a constant overbearing pain. it is a pain that won’t go away with a couple tylenol and some stretching. i can’t look to next week and know that my pain will be gone.

it is both physically and emotionally painful and it is all. the. time.

it does not stop. ever.

it gets better sometimes but it never goes away.

so don’t look at me like that when I say that my back hurts. don’t patronize me when i tell you that i can’t do whatever it is that i want/need to do.

meh.

To end. 2 Cats, 1 Cup.

If you need to ask why this is funny beyond the cuteness of 2 kitties trying to get in the same cup; don't. I don't want to explain it to you.