Happy Mothers Day!

I had big ideas of gifts and flowers for all the surrogate moms who continue to make our crazy life possible. But turns out I would have needed one of you to babysit while I accomplished this. (Luca had to come shopping with me for his birthday gifts! really fun actually. ; )

A very Happy Mothers Day to all the ladies in my beautiful family. You can't know what you mean to us.

Especially you mom, but of course. I honestly don't know what we'd do without you. I love you so much.

4 Months Old

I'm 3 Months Old!

And 10 lbs...



...2 of which are in my cheeks.


Treasure.

Blue Jean Baby

My little boyfriend...

... who's doing better after surgery than before. 10 days post-op, he still has some apnea spells, but consistently much fewer. The vote is out on whether he comes home on the vent full time, or just at night.


Weird picture, but it's the one and only time I've seen him without tape all over his face, so I snapped it quick before my battery died. What a punum! Luca in the eyes, Leo in the mouth and chin. And all sugar.


Confession: we DO call him Paulie... Best intentions, but well, when it fits, what can you do? He's just a little baby.

And the shirts are off!

Clare, I don't know how to tell you this, but people are really going nuts with the news of your success story. I told you it was madness, but this is wild. Just wild.

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I'll Have a Farm in Somers

Ok, not a farm. A garden. But the title's better.

In any event, I don't know what most of you all dream about (besides a trip to Disneyworld for Mojo). But I dream of growing an organic garden, of canning and fermenting and preserving and freezing.


Bell peppers, celery, carrots, onions, zucchini, Italian green beans, broccoli and broccoli rabe. Probably not kale, because who really eats that. But spinach yes, and lettuces. And definitely tomatoes, perhaps potatoes, sweet if they'll grow (these are the things I need to learn.) Fall veggies too, pumpkin and winter squash. No gords, by edict of the Duke of Brooklyn.


The kids will help weed and pick our loot, and we'll work hard to preserve it for winters' use. Because organic produce is just so expensive, and everyone knows that local produce is the gentlest for this earth and our bellies.

Oh, and did I mention the raspberry and blueberry bushes?


And the deep freezer? Yes, there will be a deep freezer. But that's the easy part, so that will probably come first. Call me my father's daughter, I'll be proud of it.

You're all invited for supper. We'll have a big table. I dreamt of that before I dreamt of the garden.



p.s. I won't go so far to dream of egg-laying hens. The garden has to come first.

Fun pass

Clare, here is the story I was telling you today: Brooklyn's forgotten subway, the world's first. How's this for an opening:

"Unbeknownst to the thousands of people who walk and drive along the busy streets of downtown Brooklyn every day, they are treading on a 170 year old secret. At 17 feet high, 21 feet wide and 1,611 feet long, it is a big secret indeed, and one filled with greed, murder and corruption. Not long ago, M and I had the chance to go down a manhole in the middle of Atlantic Avenue and find out more. What we found was truly unbelievable."

And

"Using the cut and cover method, the street was dug up for roughly 12 blocks, a wooden frame was built, a barrel vaulted brick roof put in, and the street relayed, all in the astonishingly short time of seven months. The work was done almost entirely by Irish immigrants. When the Irish workers were told by a British contractor they would have to miss church and work on Sundays, according to an 1844 Brooklyn Eagle article, an Irishman pulled a gun, shot the Brit, and the group buried him behind the wall of the tunnel-where presumably his body still resides today."

Try and beat THAT fare, Clare.

For more about the tunnel's history, how it was rediscovered and what secrets lie within it, follow this link right.......here.

OMG!

Annie sent me some new updated pictures towards my xmas project for the chillens (thank you Nora and Ann...hello to Cathy and Mary?) Just wanted to brag that this is my desktop for awhile....

Love Bites

I feel like I'm back to my Hanson years.. pining over a young male I've never met. Hoping he's thinking of me too... day-dreaming of us together, running through open fields, hand-in-hand. Sigh, young love.

The difference this time, is that I'm 23 and the boy is a fictional vampire. Life just isn't fair!

It's a problem, guys. I'm obsessed with the "Twilight" series. And I'm not alone. Hoards of tween girls are reading the books and getting ready to see the movie that comes out IN-JUST-SEVEN-DAYS. How can we resist? It's got romance, battles, danger, vampires, wearwolves, a young heroine that I would give ANYTHING to be, and a heart-stopping, dreamboat: Edward Cullen. I read the first two books in 4 days.. that's a thousand pages. I'm on the third. It's sitting on my desk, just staring at me, but I'm doing everything in my power to hold off. Once I read this one, there is only one more left.. that's it. Then it's done. Forever.

It doesn't help that the movie is coming out and the actor playing Edward Cullen is British and gorrrrrgeeeeouuuussssss. How did I do this when I was 12?? How did I get past the longing, the day dreaming, THE OBSESSION?? When I'm not reading the books, I'm googling them.. looking up the author, the actors, the pictures, ANYTHING I CAN GET MY HANDS ON! It's sick, sick, sick.

Anyway.. for those of you that have too much time of your hands, like moi, I'd suggest reading them. They're the new "Harry Potter." Also.. I might suggest listening to Def Leppard's "Love Bites" while reading. I've always been partial to this song, but "Twilight" gives it a whole different meaning..

Good Morning!

Well, it's been a few hours since I posted something about my sons. Time to get back in the swing of things.

He's not much of a sleeper at night. But BOY does he make up for it in smiles and laughing.

You wish he was yours.

Lucky #53!

I can only assume this article was written because Somers is building the "Shady Lake Retirement Center," (Probably the creepiest name -- it's bound to be haunted. Did that boy really die from diving into the lake??) and has just added a Geislers (Yahoo!!! Mom doesn't need to go into "town" anymore to get bread and butta!). Either way, I thought this article might make Dad appreciate living in a town he hates, yet has been residing in for over 25 years.

Probably not, though.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0707/gallery.BPTL_top_100.moneymag/53.html

"The Cultural Commission hosts everything from art shows to tea parties to an annual concert series." Mom, we missed the tea parties! SHIT!

Introducing...

Since I spend 9+ hours a day wasting away in a vomit-colored cubicle, I have done a great deal of blogging (browsing, not commenting). Most blogs are pretty narcissistic: "I'm a poet, mother, wife, lover of animals, and ardent liberal." A lot of blogs are celebrity driven: "Jennifer's turmoil over Brangelina's ever-growing baby bump!" And then there are the poor souls that just want to keep in touch with their family members: "Look! Chuck turned one and Mexican Hat Dancers came to serenade him! GO STAGS!"

However, if you search hard enough in the blogosphere, you'll find some gems. My gem? Design*Sponge. Man alive, this site makes me salivate with the great interior design examples, and if anyone else is bored at work (oh, you all like your jobs? Whoops.) I highly suggest this blog for window shopping. My fav is the "before and afters" and the "sneak peeks" into other rich interior designers homes.


Example #1:

Yowzaz! Ok, so this isn't the inside of a home, but I still think it's G-R-E-A-T. I'd probably offer up my first-born to own this bookstore in Denmark. I'd even break-up with Mike.. he's pretty dispensable.

Example #2:

I didn't even know there was such a thing as phone-stands. Thank you Design*Sponge!!! I'm on my way to replicate this lime-green dream RIGHT NOW!!

Example #3

Alright, maybe this one isn't that crazy-cool, but I had to add it for Dad. He's thinking about getting a dog but refuses my request that it be a wiener-dog. Dad, if, say, you ever change your mind, I'll certainly go to the Salve, get an old suitcase, and turn it into a doggie bed for you -- free of charge!

So, in conclusion, I recommend this site: http://www.designspongeonline.com/

You all can thank me later for finding it. And for those of you who actually do things with your life and don't waste hours upon hours browsing the net -- congratulations, you're life is that much better than mine.

Getting it right (where your heart is).

In West Hartford, weekend before last, Martha, Aloise and I went shopping for Martha's wedding dress. It was a beautiful Indian Summer day; everyone out for a stroll. And as the 3 of us walked in search for a place to have lunch, Aloise remarked on an elderly couple ahead of us, holding hands. "Look!", she said, "They're holding hands!" And then, "I love seeing that, it always makes me so happy when I see older couples holding hands. I'm going to be happy all day because of that".

I don't think anyone would disagree; there's just something magical about seeing an elderly couple, strolling along, holding hands.

This afternoon I was going through my closet in an attempt to empty it of clothes and things I don't wear or need anymore - including a plethora of purses. Emptying out the purses, I found all sorts of goodies, including 28 packets of Splenda, pens, nail filers, lip glosses, odds and ends...and a folded piece of paper. Peeking from the top of the page, I saw the word "Dad" in my handwriting and was intrigued. It was an email sent to all of you on July 23, 2000, from the Nantucket Shoals. I had written on the top, "From Dad, in case some of you haven't seen it". I have no recollection of why I had this email in my purse, although I remember it quite well.

Subject: To all of you beautiful girls and boys.

Content:

I was just looking at a family photo. As I looked at each of you I realized how right I am to be proud of all of you. Everyone of you has his heart in the right place. I will remember this when I get down. It was all so worth it!!!

For those of you who know the whereabouts of wayward son #1, see that he gets this.

All my love,

Poppie.

An elderly couple holding hands; that image, along with Aloise's comment, immediately entered my mind as I read Dad's words. I don't know why the two go together, but they do.

St. Paul told us: Where your heart is, there you will find your treasure.

There's just something about love....