ChattaBaby

Aargh!

The only thing missing is her "pirate eye" (which is what she calls the eye patch Nana and Grandpa also got for her in the Carribean)

looking ahead and such

First things first - My gratitude to all those that were so generous to my family over the Christmas holiday.  A special shout-out goes to my unsecret Santa, Kimmy Maguire.  I LOVE MY GIFT!

Sarah's sick...again - Respiratory virus.  Lots of fever, coughing, tantrums met with pacifiers, marshmellows, Bunbun, and Care Bears The Movie II.  Maybe she'll be cuddly tonight.

New Years weekend - Megan works New Years Eve so it is just Sarah and I this year (and Seacrest).  Sarah's almost 3 and it might be time for her first champagne.  Whadya think, Mama?

Resolutions!? - My main resolution this year is to really get my temper in check.  I'm still working on the tactical/practical side of this.  I want to radiate joy and femininity.  Some other resolutions are as follows:

1. Get a sixpack. (seriously)
2. Lose about 20 pounds. I'm heavier than I have ever been.
3. Drink waaaay less alcohol.
4. Drink waaay more water (non alcoholic).
5. Keep a cleaner Escort.  My car has more Krystal boxes on the floor than Kobayashi's practice facility (see #2).
6. Eat less Krystals (see #2 and #5)
7. Ween myself of caffeine.
8. Ween myself of swearing.
9. Ween myself of Ween. (kidding)

on lap, content

Chattababy Hollah-day

Some Chatta-Christmas highlights:

Enchanted Garden of Lights - Combine 5000 Christians in red sweaters, a couple hundred elves and some festive lights and spackle them in to a mountain crevasse.   Enchanting, isn't it?  (Pictures to come)

Churching on Christmas Eve Morn - G-pa invited us to his church which has been known to have live donkeys.  No donkeys this year but there were a few movies and (fanfare please) "chasid cups".  That's right, communion in a creamer.  Yippee!

Christmas Part 1 - Nonnie served up some Goose and Ham and I demonstrated why gluttony should remain one of the deadly sins.  Sarah now substitutes the word "Ham" for "Dradle" in her favorite Hannukah tune.  Probably would have been better to keep the "Dradle" part intact and insert "Ham" elsewhere, like "dradle, dradle, dradle, I made it out of HAM!"  Everyone in my family spends way too much on each other with the gifts...but you can never have too many sedans.

Christmas Part 2 - At home, Christmas morn.  Our first Santa charade (prounounced sure-rod).  We might post the vid on this one.  She seemed pretty excited; perhaps a tad taken aback by a creepy little antique Santa "statue" from Nick and Allie hiding behind her NEW DOLLHOUSE!  Sarah, sweetie.  We are just preparing you for life.  I hope this will be the last time a 3 ft tall bearded man will be waiting for you behind some kind of extravagant gift...but who can be sure.

I gotst tagged by Meegs.

The rules are: Once you've been tagged you have to write a blog with 10 weird or random things, facts, or habits about yourself. At the end, you choose 10 people to be tagged, list their names and why you chose them to be tagged. Don't forget to leave a comment that says, "You are TAGGED!" on their profile and tell them to read your latest blog. Hope you enjoy!

1. I might have leprosy,  That is, er, I seem to be having weird skin problems lately.  Frustrating, considering I have enjoyed a baby-smooth countenance for most of my life.
2. I am fake-organized.  Somewhere, buried deep within is a compulsive cleaner with CFS.
3. I love Christmas music but i fear I started listening a little too early this year and alas, it has expired.
4. I am convinced that if I met myself at a party, I would think I was a bit of a prick (unless I had a little Jager in me, in which case I would most likely cuddle and spoon myself).
5. I like big butts and I cannot lie (wildly inappropriate for this blog, but like I said, I cannot lie).
6. I used to want a vanity license plate inscribed with the letters, "JCCAIDC".  Initialism for___?  If you guess right you get a cookie.
7. I compulsively read words backwards.  My fave: Smoortser.
8. 70ºF in December is f*%!ed up.
9. I sneak cigarettes when I'm drinking.
10. I sneak booze when I'm smoking.

I tag Megan S, Mary T, Jen W, Kimmy M, and Master P.

Merry Census

The Census Bureau's 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States is out and the New York Times has extracted some interesting facts about our great people.  Did you know?

• Americans drank more than 23 gallons of bottled water per person in 2004 — about 10 times as much as in 1980
• We consumed more than twice as much high fructose corn syrup per person as in 1980 and remained the fattest inhabitants of the planet, although Mexicans, Australians, Greeks, New Zealanders and Britons are not too far behind.
• Americans spent more of their lives than ever — about eight-and-a-half hours a day — watching television, using computers, listening to the radio, going to the movies or reading
• For the first time, the abstract quantifies same-sex sexual contacts (6 percent of men and 11.2 percent of women say they have had them)
• The abstract reveals that the floor space in new private one-family homes has expanded to 2,227 square feet in 2005 from 1,905 square feet in 1990
• More than 24 percent of Americans in their 70s are shorter than 5-foot-6. Only 10 percent of people in their 20s are.
• More people are injured by wheelchairs than by lawnmowers
• More Americans were born in 2004 than in any years except 1960 and 1990.
• The national divorce rate, 3.7 divorces per 1,000 people, was the lowest since 1970. Among the states, Nevada still claims the highest divorce rate, which slipped to 6.4 per 1,000 in 2004 from 11.4 per 1,000 in 1990, just ahead of Arkansas’s rate.
• Virtually every job category registered decreases except pharmaceuticals.
• From 2000 to 2005, the number of manufacturing jobs declined nearly 18 percent.
• Americans produce more solid waste — 4.4 pounds per day, up from 3.7 pounds in 1980.
• As recently as 1980, only 12 percent of doctors were women; by 2004, 27 percent were.

Muchas Gracias

Nana and Grandpa hit the road this weekend and as usual, left things in much better condition than they found them.  Nana kidnapped Sarah giving Megan some rest and a night out with no nanny-fees.  Grandpa did some drywall muddin' and got our downstairs plumbing finished.  We now have 3 working toilets so if your in the neighborhood....

Thanks, guys.  We don't deserve you.  We really don't.

James Kim 1971-2006

My callouses are very thick.  Megan and Sarah are my gooey center but not much else gets to me. 

The story of James Kim and his family has devastated me.  I'm not sure why.  News resources broadcast and print hundreds of sensational and horrific stories per day, rarely even making it to the water cooler.  What's different about this one?  I guess it is such an easy hypothetical.  I am certain that I wouldn't have been half as resourceful as these two amazing parents.  It is hard to talk about what a spectacular father and husband James Kim was without acknowledging that it is that much more of a loss to his beautiful family. 

Santa time

Alright, I have to end my hiatus. Barry has been nice and has not threatened to boot me off the site. I don't know what happened lately, but work has been so busy. And now it's December and the Halloween pictures aren't even up. I promise pictures will happen soon, but for now my problem is with Santa.

I am a terrible liar. I can't do it without getting all red in the face and feeling awfully guilty, too. So I am already sweating the Santa charade. Sarah is only 2, but the time is going to come when she'll have questions. My parents were so smooth, so I was asking my mom today for some tips. Like, should Santa use different wrapping paper than the rest of the gifts? This year that didn't happen, but I'm already regretting that decision. This is so stressful! I mean, how do you explain how Santa can deliver presents to EVERYBODY in one night? Maybe travelling against the rotation of the Earth? And what about when she notices Santa is at the mall and a whole bunch of other places, too? And they don't all look the same either. Help!