Minnesota is Heaven, But Virginia is Home

Oh and one other thing: a BIG Happy 31st Birthday to my favorite and dearest sister Genevieve! I hope that you have a good day and especially, a good NIGHT! There are things I can't live without, and let me tell you, you are in the top tier of that list! Thanks for being a good sister, a fabulous friend, the perfect confidante, advisor in all things parental-fashionable-ethical, and a true inspiration. You do it all and you do it all well, Gen. I'm thankful to have you as a part of my life!

The name of a book by Shannon Olson, the sequel to "Welcome to my Planet (Where English is Sometimes Spoken)". I bought these books a long time ago when I was a single woman searching for love and found Shannon to be a kindred spirit. Plus, there is the added bonus of the fact that Shannon is from Chaska and the book is pretty much autobiographical, so she talks about growing up in a small town in Minnesota, going to St. Olaf College and eventually for graduate work at the University of Minnesota. Oh, and going to Target. She goes to Target a lot and suffers from the same syndrome as I do: go in for paper towels, come out with candles, a plant, some nail polish, a new shirt and a DVD. Anyway, if you're ever looking for something funny and lightweight to read, check out these two books. Even though my single struggles have ended--well, I guess I'm kind of single right now, technically--I still identify with Shannon and remember the struggle to find that perfect ...

No, Madison Brianna is not the name we've chosen for the new baby, should it be a girl. This is Madison Brianna: In the name of all that's holy, is that not the ugliest thing you've ever seen? Annika got it in her Burger King kid's meal today. I was unprepared for the level of hideousness that emerged from that paper sack. This is the second one that she has gotten. The first one was thrown about 2.5 hours after she got it. As soon as she forgets Madison Brianna somewhere, she will be joining her fellow disturbingly disturbing Cabbage Patch sister in the trash. I mean, really? Pink streaks in her Elvira-ish hair? Oooooh, she's so edgy. Of course, with a skim milk name like Madison Brianna, she's got to do something to stand out from the other 1.6 million Madisons out there, right? I am not sleeping with that evil thing in the house!

Sing with me: "it can happen to you...when you're yooooounnngg at hearttttt". Hans used to play a lot of Sinatra-esque music for me back when he was trying to woo me, so I always equate that type of music with our early dating days. I shouldn't say "trying", I am pretty sure that I was woo'ed within moments of our first meeting! Anyway, he was very honest about his music tastes...he didn't even try to hide the fact that he owned the soundtrack for "The Powerpuff Girls". Where am I going with this? I have no idea. Bear with me while I rearrange my thoughts. Oh, I was thinking that we will be celebrating the seventh anniversary of our engagement here soon. Or possibly it has already passed. I know it was a day in the latter half of March. It wasn't exactly a surprise since the always-subtle-as-a-sledgehammer Hans had asked me earlier what sort of engagement ring I might like, you know, if I was to inexplicably become engaged? An...

I love "Song for a Winter's Night" from Sarah McLachlan's "Wintersong" album. I've been listening to it for a couple of winters now and every time I hear it, I can't help but think of someone's wife, waiting at home, staying up late with worry, wondering if her loved one is as lonely as she is. A soldier's wife is always what I've imagined, in those quiet hours before dawn, alone, worrying, wondering and reminiscing: The lamp is burning low upon my tabletop The snow is softly falling The air is still in the silence of my room I hear your voice softly calling. If I could only have you near To breathe a sigh or two I would be happy just to hold the hands I love On this winter's night with you. The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead My glass is almost empty I read again between the lines upon each page The words of love you send me. If I could know within my heart That you were lonely too I would be happy just to hold the hands I ...

I wish I knew why I get these sudden brilliant inspirations..."Hey, we haven't done anything different for awhile, it's time to try something new!". Sigh. Couple that with Josiah's sudden desire to see dinosaur skeletons and the fact that it was a warm a sunny day today in Stuttgart and we had an outing on our hands. I Googled "Stuttgart dinosaur museum", because I had heard from someone that there was a dinosaur museum. Probably Jen, since her guys are so into dinosaurs. Got everyone dressed, packed us a lunch, brought the camera and the 756 pieces of necessary miscellaneous junk that we might need, and we were off. Things were going swimmingly until we got downtown and suddenly, Dora decides to play that fun game with me. You know, the one where she suddenly blurts out "Turn left NOW or turn sharp right NOW"...with no advance warning? So it looks like I'm recreating a scene from Ronin all on my own, squealing around corners? I swea...

Well, hello, how was the middle of your night? Peaceful? Ours? Why, thanks for asking...it was a bit out of the ordinary because we got a surprise visit from die Feuerwehr! That's the fire department, if you haven't already figured it out. Yes, the fire alarm was triggered at the beautiful hour of 1:30 a.m. this morning! Wow. Holy hell, are the alarms loud in the building. I think my eardrums may be pierced. The funniest thing is that when I went in to grab the kids, they were both sleeping through it. I can't even crack an eyelid without them waking up in the morning and jumping in bed with me, but they're sleeping through a KISS concert-loud fire alarm? Wait, the funniest part is how I happened to be sleeping in a very skimpy tank top and a pair of Hans' boxer shorts...and how I have a big pimple on my upper lip that I was "treating" with a large dollop of diaper cream (hey, it works). I actually had presence of mind to stop in the bathroom and ...

Today was our first day of ballet. We missed last week due to the Evil Virus, and apparently, I missed out on the 206 ettiquette points of three-year-old ballet. First, let me say that she was not the only girl in class with a tutu. I felt a great deal of relief upon entering the studio and seeing that of the dozen or so girls there, probably nine of them had fluffier and more fantastic costumes on than Annika. I was a little worried that I would be the dork who had her overdressed. I was not. Sigh of relief. I thought that we mommies would be able to sit on the sidelines and watch. No, we were summarily dismissed by the teacher. So I found myself sitting there with nothing to do...next week I will bring a book. I sat and sat and eventually decided that maybe I could take a little peek through the window on the door. Bad idea. Annika saw me peeking and stopped what she was doing (working on jumping at the barre) to run over to the door. One of the teachers came to the door and...

We are still hanging in there...we're about 85%, I think and getting better with each night of good sleep. I can't put us at 100% yet because we're all still coughing, tired and experiencing the odd battle with snot. What is it about snot? Because seriously, I have been dry and clear for the last two days, except for an hour before bedtime, when I start stuffing up and running! I hate that. These are the times (the very few times) that I thank God I'm a mouth-breather. It does come in handy from time to time! We have gotten out of the house exactly three times this week. I picked up mail on Wednesday because I have this mail compulsion...I have to know what's in the mail...and no virus is going to keep me from my box. Well, and I'm always expecting packages too, so I was dying to know if anything from my friends at Gap had appeared to brighten my gray day. Friday, Josiah and Annika were supposed to have school, except that (oops) I forgot that it was ...

I'm reading the internet after a night spent doling out the Motrin/Tylenol cocktail, listening to two intermittent and barky coughs and cleaning up vomit. My parents always said things like "That which does not kill us only makes us stronger" and "The Lord only gives us as much as we can handle". So, I'm pretty impressed at how beefcake strong the Lord must think I am. Dear Lord: I have not been working out. Please do not send anymore "endurance" type exercises my way for at least a couple of weeks, OK? In case you hadn't heard the hundreds of prayers floating up around the world, I am going it alone here and could use a break. Amen. It's one of those viruses that is not so bad as long as the Motrin/Tylenol keeps being pumped in at the right times. The problem being that I ran out of Motrin at some point during the long night. I'm hoping to beg one of my friends/neighbors to run out and pick some up for me since I'm not sure...