I made this!

Okay, so I had some help. It was exactly 7 years ago today that I produced this child from my very loins. Yes I did. And you may notice that his head is the size of a large melon. It was off the scale since the day he was born- September 10, 2001 at 12:30 in the morning. He weighed 8 pounds and he was 19 inches long. He was a chubby thing with a round, large head.

He was an adorable baby. Okay, not at first. 2 hours of hard pushing a Charlie Brown head out a small opening left Joshua with a puffy, featureless face with eyes that he refused to open. He didn't get cute till he was a week old.

Still, I recall being in the hosptial, the morning after he was born. I was enthralled with this scrap of life that I, yes I, had brought into this world! This miraculous thing had happened to me. The nurses came in and mentioned that I might want to turn on the news. I did. I am a little embarassed to say that I watched the news but didn't grasp what was happening. I guess no one did at first, but I was wrapped up in my tiny bundle of life, and I wasn't really interested in the fact that planes were crashing into things and that other people were dying.

During the next few weeks I got to see every second of news coverage, as they showed it over and over again. As a new mom, I was up all hours of the night. Joshy ate frequently, and at night it was always 2 hours- 30 minutes to feed him, 30 minutes to play and then an hour of trying to get him to sleep while he puked all over me. So I watched a lot of tv.

As the country remembers 9/11 tomorrow, it still pales for me in comparison to the wonderous thing that preceeded it. My very first child, who started me on this incredible journey of motherhood. This amazing child who makes me cards and wrote me the funniest poem. This kid who is excited to get to bed so he can stay up reading, who takes care of his sisters, who has the softest peach-fuzz hair, who loves garlic pasta, likes to "extercise" and read on the elliptical machine, and makes up funny lego stories involving guns and destruction. That's my boy!

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Just Kill Me Now

Dan left on Sunday for a lovely training trip for 2 weeks. Callie started preschool (co-op with 5 other moms in the ward) yesterday, and Joshua and Marian are on their second week of school. Add to that the fact that we've nearly reached our month mark for being here, and that spells time for trouble.

Callie has had several complete meltdowns. Marian is sleepwalking a lot more, which worries me and wakes me up at night. Delaney has whined twice as much and did so for a solid hour tonight. Actually, she spent most of the day whimpering and crying. Joshua has been great, although he hates Spanish. I'm so tired of all the drama!

As an aside that's fairly random, I stayed up to watch a season premier of a show I'd never heard of- "the Fringe". Or maybe it was just called "Fringe"; Either way, I should have gone to bed. But I didn't. That's what I do when Dan is not home. I stay up late. I had gotten a season of a TV show that I love and Dan mocks me about, and I will not mention it here, but it came in Netflix, and I stupidly watched all 4 episodes on that DVD in one night. Yep, a 1am bedtime for me. So I think you get the picture that I make poor decisions when I am left without adult supervision.

Add to that a crummy diet. Come on, who wants to cook good stuff for 4 kids who don't care and mostly won't eat it. Its hard on my ego and makes too many leftovers. We had Kraft Mac & Cheese and hot dogs tonight. I did make Garlic Pasta and Chicken Enchaladas as well this week. But there is the slight matter of Chocolate Truffle Pie, also. The kids each had 2 small pieces- one for snack and one for dessert to celebrate Joshua's birthday. I have had 3 large slices and there is one piece left. Its for me, in case you were wondering.

All these poor habits have caused me to get sick. Yep, I have a head cold and I am miserable. My nose is runny, my head hurts and i feel yucky. And I'm alone. did I mention that?! Yeah, Dan left and life fell apart. That is why I blog. So I can do my own complaining. And now maybe I'll go eat the last piece of pit and rot my brain in front of the TV. Why? Because I am alone.

Chocolate Truffle Pie

Joshua's birthday is coming up, so I thought I ought to do something special for that day. I figured he likes Chocolate Truffle Pie; I like Chocolate Truffle Pie; Dan's gone; I can pig out and not share much... a win-win situation everywhere but my hips. And hey, I ran yesterday, I ellipticalled today, I'll run tomorrow. Why do all that if not to allow myself to enjoy fattening up?!

So I made my incredibly rich and fantastic pie. And I learned something today. If you don't read the recipe beforehand and forget to melt the chocolate chips with the cream, and you try to do that later, after you've added the powdered sugar, it doesn't work so well. Fortunately, its chocolate and cream! You can't ruin it! Its just got extra chocolatey lumps in it!

Rich Chocolate Truffle Pie
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (milk choc works great too)
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream (I use 2 cups)
1/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) prepared chocolate cookie crumb crust (ANY pie crust works. Its just the vehicle to get it into your mouth! I used a regular bake-before-you-use crust and its delish!)

In microwave dish combine chocolate chips and 1/2 of the cream. Cook on high for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. (Or melt on very low on the stove- that's hat I do) Cool to room temperature. Stir in sugar & vanilla. Set aside.

In small bowl, beat the rest of the cream until soft peaks form. Beat in chocolate mixture on high speed 1/3 at a time. Mix well and spoon into crust.
Refrigerate at least 8 hours before serving

Hurricanes, and school, and parties....oh my!

We got our share of hurricane Hannah today. Lotsa rain and then a bit of wind this evening. It put a slight damper on the day, but not much. We celebrated Joshua's birthday today. Dan has to leave tomorrow for 2 weeks of training and he'll be gone for Joshy's real birthday. Plus Joshua wanted a surprise party and a lego theme. Tough to do when we just moved here. It worked out okay.

My Uncle Steve and Aunt Kathy were in the area and dropped by. And I was able to invite a boy from Joshua's Sunday School and his regular school class to come over. Dan took Josh and Callie to Mt Vernon while I got everything ready. So the party was a surprise and they had a great time. I had purchased a bounce house (50% off on Amazon!!!) and I set it up in the basement. It was too wet even on the screened in porch. The bounce house was their replacement for all the stuff we sold at the garage sale before we left NC.

So, in no particular order, we have some pictures.....

I got punching balloons for the party. They were a big hit- literaly and figuratively. Check out Delaney's face! And yes, those are 2 boxes I have to deal with still. I think they are full of shoes I need to sort through.

This is how bad I am- I only had 6 single candles, and a #6. No #7; no 7th candle. The kid is turning 7! Yet there are only 6 on his cake. Its a lego cake, by the way. And he thought it was perfectly fine to have a candle on each lego thing, and a #6 in the center. He was also okay with his sisters assisting in the blowing out of them.

The bounce house in the basement! Sesame Street was not my first choice of theme. And it has a ball pit- also not on my first choice list. 50% off puts it on my list! It was a good size and could accomodate 4 kids at once, although Joshua and Marian both got bonked by flying apendages. It inflates in 2 minutes and deflates nearly as fast. I'm happy with it so far.

Oh yeah, here is the shot from the first day of school. You can see their bus stop in the very back right hand of the top. I snapped this shot and was ready to walk them down, when the bus pulled up and they bolted for it. So no sweet getting-on-the-bus shot. Still, they are cutie-patooties, aren't they?!

And I appologise, I really should go to bed at a reasonable hour and not try to prolong my night by blogging when my brain has already left for the evening. Please excuse typos and random, incoherent thoughts here.

Political Commentary

Thanks to Uncle Steve who sent me this, and thanks to Sharon who motivated me to share!

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Whether you be a democrat or a republican, these are interesting facts and I sincerely think that it is time that we AMERICANS take back our country from the politicians and make them work for US as they should be doing. Its time that THEY have to live by the rules that they set for US.

545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts – of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way. There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people and they alone, are responsible.

They and they alone, have the power.

They and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

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And now my commentary. It took me a while to figure out that this is right. Its not just good reading and its accurate for either party. Part of the problem is that there is too much corruption in office. When the new guys come in, they can't buck the system. One or two, or even 10 guys with morals and ideals can't go in the face and win against all the rest who are taking money and/or using their position to use their power unwisely. So, what can we do? That's the hard part. We actually do need to pay attention and DO something.

We need to know who our senators and representatives are and we need to know what thye are doing. Do you? I don't. Not yet. We need to find out if the people we are electing are doing what WE want them to. If not, we need to vote them out. Yes, we have that power! Find out what they are doing and get rid of them if you are not happy with their results. If every one of the 545 people was replaced, what do you think would happen?

All the change they promise could happen. They would be able to start fresh and ignore the lobbyists and high interest groups. So, no matter what your political affiliation, get on this! Read this commentary again, see if it makes sense to you, and then check out your state government's websites. You don't have to know about all 545 people, just the ones in your state. You can do that! Take advantage of this voting year. This is OUR government. Let's make sure it represents US.