If I Were Helen Keller....

This week Lisa, our newest member to the PSS forum asked her first question "If you had to choose, would you give up your sight or hearing? Why?"

I would like to say neither, but since I have to answer the question, I would rather lose my hearing. I already know some sign language and have been involved in the deaf culture before. I even thought of becoming an interpreter at one point, but gave it up due to the teacher, therefore, hearing makes more sense for me. I really would have a harder time not seeing, particularly since I am such a control freak about my surroundings and who/what is around or close to me.

Eight is (Not) Enough

I am feeling free to talk at will about the Olympics now that I know that Shane is boycotting. So this will be a very girl perspective on Michael Phelps and his amazing feat of 8 Gold Medals in this Olympics and 16 overall medals (14 gold). Considering that the odds for any athlete of getting a gold medal are pretty slim, this is an unbelievably amazing thing that he has done. I seriously wish I could tell him how proud it makes me off him and how happy I am for him, particularly when I consider that he has probably 2 more Olympics in him with more chances for gold!

Watching him swim, and the reactions of his mom and sisters has brought me to tears with every win. It is so interesting to me how many of the athletes are the product of single mothers. I have to wonder did she get Michael into swimming to save herself some sanity, only to have it become one of the most amazing gifts? Michael seems like such a grounded young man too, every interview and medal ceremony shows him being very sincere and appreciative of the experience and support from everyone. His mom should really be the one with the gold medals for doing such a great job of raising him.

And talking of Michael, those swimmers and their physique...woof! It reminds me of why I dated a few swimmers and divers in my younger days. I am really enjoying that part of the Olympics on so many levels.

Look What the Cat Dragged in!

Last March our cat, Cleopatra Jones (Cleo for short) died after a great life of 17 years. She was a very cool cat, D had her trained to come when he whistled, she could fetch, and she seriously never let D out of her sight for more than 30 seconds (yes, we timed it). Anyway, that left us with just Isis and so we had promised Missy G several years ago that when we lost Cleo, she could get a cat of her own. On 8/9/08 we made good on our promise and she and her dad went down and picked out this cutie.

Missy G named her Isabel, or Izzy for short. She is so far a great little kitten, very affectionate and well behaved. We did have the girl trauma of "she loves me - she hates me" that went on for two days or so.

Intelligent Women = Stupid Husbands?

I saw this the other day and could not believe it. Mr. Limbaugh is an ass (Kudos to Keith for such an awesome piece) and I cannot believe that anyone listens to Rush. I am not in any way condoning Mr. Edwards behavior as I take issue with people who have affairs (if you feel the need, do everyone a favor and leave the relationship first) and two I really take issue with him doing that while his wife is terminally ill, and three I feel so bad for everyone who worked so hard for him while he was running for President, only to have the whole thing blow up in their face. I have lost all respect for Mr. Edwards, which is a shame as I used to really admire him.

One Ring to Rule Them All

For Mothers Day this year I received something that I have always wanted, a mother's ring.

I am a big ring person, always silver or white gold, and in typical me fashion all of them have a story or meaning behind them. I have thought for a long time that the mother's ring would be the final one as that means that I wear 5 rings all the time, since I simply cannot (read will not) take any of them off. We will see how long the idea of this being the final ring lasts however.

I wanted a ring that was simple and elegant. Since my first two children were born in October (and so was I...woohoo!) I wanted to use the pink tourmaline for my daughter and a blue opal for my son. With our last daughter coming in April, that rounded it out nicely with the diamond (lucky her!) I believe that my husband, as always, did a wonderful job of finding just the right thing.

Update - Photos

Too much text and I finally got my photos off the camera, so here are some photos from July.


This cute dress came from my friend in Ireland and I just love it. She has hardly had the chance to wear it, but I know it will be something that I will never get rid of. Well, maybe if they have girls of their own.



This is Missy G and one of the Painted Horses on 25th Street. This one was her favorite as it was all bejeweled, but it is also cool that it is a Breast Cancer support horse.


Missy G, this is a typical nightly scene as she has to, has to, (HAS TO!) read before she will go to sleep. I love that she is such a reader, but this is just such a funny nightly occurence.




This is the little Feisty Spice giving the octopus and the elephant the what for!

Momma Said There'd Be Days Like This

Feisty Spice's diaper leaked and pee was all over her back, the mat on the floor, and soaked into the carpet.

Went to dinner for a friends birthday and Missy G was not feeling well, so she did not eat. We gave her chicken soup when we got home, which she proceeded to throw up all over the carpet.

While D was cleaning that up with out wet vac, he spilled her remaining milk all over the table and onto the floor (good thing he still had the wet vac out).

In the middle of all this, Feisty Spice has a massive poop explosion in her diaper.

Finally, the topper to the evening was our cat hissing, running away, and hiding from the new kitten that Missy G now has.

Good times at our house, I guess I should not have taken God's name in vain huh? Damnit!