"Isn't she lovely, isn't she wonderful? ..."

What a whirlwind our life has been since ... oh, I don't know, 2007? Seriously though, this last weekend was keerazy.

I was all prepared to go and host the games portion of Melody's baby shower on Saturday afternoon. We packed up, and were heading out to Georgia on Friday morning, when Laura called to tell us Mel had been admitted to a tiny little hospital in Podunk Alabama (where their doc normally delivers). The bed rest wasn't doing the trick, and her urine protein levels had shot up overnight. Her doctor was on the ball, and that's a good thing.

We went on down, and really enjoyed our time there. Squish came with her Mom and Dad, to provide the entertainment for the weekend, and let me tell you, she earned her paycheck! She couldn't have been sweeter and more fun if she tried.

Here's Squish sitting in her new favorite chair at Grandma's house:

And here she is, trying to decide whether to answer her cell phone,

or listen to Grandma read a story:

Jimmy and his brother Michael spent a good portion of Friday evening moving furniture for my mom. And you know that any time spent moving furniture means beer must be consumed. Only Jimmy chose to drink some 40-year-old homemade wine he found at my Uncle's house as they loaded the furniture to be moved. I think it was supposed to be red, but it wasn't. It was muddy brown, and smelled like poisonous death in a bottle. Jimmy loved it. And he lived, too.

On Saturday afternoon, we loaded up our baby gifts and drove to Podunk Alabama, where Melody and Laura were holding court in a teeny hospital room.

We visited as long as we could, and Squish got reacquainted with her Great Aunt Laura:

After we said our goodbyes, the real party started. Mel's protein shot up once again, and her doctor rang the alarm. She was to be transported to the big neonatal unit at a hospital in Columbus GA. Stat. Thank Jeebus.

Frances and I went for a visit there on Sunday afternoon, and while I was thrilled to see them in a much nicer facility, I was worried. Mel looked worn out, and so did Laura.

Jimmy and I drove back home Sunday night (after stopping for a quick picnic at West Point Lake with Michael, Patti, & family) to begin a new week, with exhaustion in our bones.

At 1:22 AM today, my phone rang. Laura was calling to say they'd have a baby within the hour. The baby's heart rate was dropping, so the doctor said, "Now!" And at 2:22 AM, she was born. She's the tiniest baby ... only 2 pounds, 13 ounces, and 14.25 inches long. But she's breathing on her own, crying, and looking around. Her name is Etta Jayne. And I'm her Aunt Dawn. Hee!

I feel so much happiness for this new family.

Isn't she lovely?

"That little spot on the ground is my hometown ..."

Look, I'm flying an airplane!

Not really ... he was doing all the work.

And I was glad of it too. Look at all that:

This is downtown Greenville,
and I know this because the pilot told me so.

It's Death Valley! (I knew this all by myself.)

I was trying to get a shot of Tillman Hall on the Clemson campus,

and I did. Sort of.
Is that it in the lower left corner?

Lake Keowee ...
where do all those people with the fancy lake houses and boats get their money?

(I'm buying a lottery ticket today.)

This is a scary black-haired lady with her pilot-son.
She's pretty proud.

Thanks Adam. I will always remember yesterday morning. I've added it to the multitude of happy memories of you I store in my heart. In fact, I'm putting it right next to the memory of you, in the driveway at about 2 years old, pointing excitedly into the air, saying, "Heh-cop-er! Heh-cop-er!"

I'm a lucky mom.

-----

So, yeah ... black hair. I was worried that I might scare Miss Squish yesterday, but she didn't seem to notice. She's got good social skills already.

I've had highlights all summer long, and this week I decided I'd tell the hair girl to put me back darker again. Wow. She follows instructions too well. My hair is solid black. Almost blue. And she cut the living daylights out of it too. I look ridiculous. This was at a salon with a great reputation too ... with the reputable prices, as well.

Seriously, I cried. And I spent the entire first day in the shower, trying to wash it out. No luck. Since then, I've pulled it away from my face with a hairband, and pretended I was one of those crazy old ladies who think they look young with blue-black hair. *whimper*

Today, I will try again at yet another "reputable" salon. Please send me some good hair vibes. I have to go out in public again next week.

-----

This weekend, I'll be working on my resume. We have to submit them to the instructor for approval next week. It might take me all weekend to try to make my sketchy work history seem like a good thing to a potential employer. I'll take some happy vibes in that department too.

We also have the big "Medical Terminology" test on Tuesday next week. And it's not open book. We did play a review game last week, split into two teams ... and my team won. The prize was an extra five points on the test. Score!

-----

Speaking of good vibes, I'm using all mine up by sending some to Brandy's Pawpaw (Adam's & Squish's, too) who is in the hospital, dealing with some rough times. He's such a sweet man, and I send love to everybody who is worried about him.

Also, to Sisters Melody and Laura ... Mel was put on bedrest this week, due to some high blood pressure and stuff. I know they're scared, but I have every confidence that they will have a happy ending, just like I did with the whole pre-eclampsia thing when I was pregnant with Adam. Love , love, love ... to all three of you.

-----

And the walking begins ...

There's a video of some of her first steps over at her Daddy's blog, if you want to see the momentous stuff in my life these days.

September 14, 2008

This is her "sleepy face", which totally turns me to mush.

She spent last Saturday night at our house, and I took this just after she woke up.

(She's sitting on the hearth, which I finally covered with an old comforter to lessen the chances of a trip to the ER.)

Yesterday 9/18/08

See? She wasn't scared of Black-Haired Nana.
And finally ... her new face, guaranteed to get her anything she wants.

She does this randomly, and I think it's the cutest damn thing ever!

-----

If anybody knows how to fix the Blogger glitches that plague me to death every time I add a picture to my page here, I hope you'll share the knowledge. When I add pictures, my spacing goes to hell. My paragraphs are gone, and no matter how many times I try to edit and put them back, when I click "publish", everything is all smooshed together again.

Also, why are some pictures "clickable", meaning you can click to see a larger version ... and some aren't? I have looked and LOOKED to find a way to solve these issues, and Blogger won't cooperate. The bastard.

Maybe this means I'm too stoopid to have a blog.

Hush, you.

"Everything old is new again ..."

The Daddy (10 months old in 1981)

& The Daughter (10 months old in 2008)

... and corn.

(You can click on the pictures to see a larger version.)

"You're young until you're not ..."

It's Birthday Season again! At least it is in our house. Yesterday, Brandy celebrated Year 29 (for real). Tomorrow, Adam will see #28. And then, before we get all the cake eaten, it'll be November and time to celebrate Emilie, Squish, and Jimmy.

Have I mentioned how much I love this time of year? I crave Fall. It's not here yet, but we've had a couple of days in the 70's, and I am anticipating it like crazy! Of course, the weekend temps are forecast to be back up to the 90's, so whatever. I may go ahead and hang my fall wreath on the door anyway.

-----

Looking forward to my first flight with Adam next week! I had hoped he could take me up on his birthday, and I could get all mushy and sentimental: "28 years ago today, I could never have imagined what a fine, smart, incredible man you'd be ... now look at you, piloting this plane and taking your old Mom for a ride!" Eh, he'd hate that.

Anyway, the plane was all booked for tomorrow, so he has scheduled us for an early morning flight on Wednesday. I'll be waving, so look up on your way to work.

-----

Yesterday, during my regularly scheduled Squishy time, since the weather was so nice, we loaded up the stroller, and walked to the park. She spotted the ducks (geese?) as soon as we got there. Sooo excited! She kept saying, "Duh! Duh!" What a smart little bug she is. I sat on the swings with her in my lap, and she almost fell asleep. She watched a man who was fly-fishing on the mudhole (that's what I like to call our little lake in the park), and she never let those quackers get out of her sight. Later, I put her in the baby swing ... she wasn't too sure of it at first, but loved it after she got the feel of it. Next time I'll take the camera.

She will be walking on her own in the next few days, it seems certain. And she's pretty excited about that!

-----

Still plugging along at the class I'm taking ... still pulling down those 100's on the daily tests. I took the first of three non-open-book tests last week, and scored 100 on that too. I'm a freakin' genius, no? (That was sarcasm, in case you can't hear my voice.)

-----

Today, I'm off to plan a birthday dinner for Squish's Mom and Dad, and then I'll make a run to Publix to buy what's needed. After that, some serious time with the Dyson must be spent. The cat hair is taking over our world.

-----

Here's what you came for:

Taken August 29, 2008

She loves to sit on Nana's stairs.

Only they're off-limits with a gate now.

Looking at herself in the mirror, with her new shades on:

(pay no attention to the scary Nana behind her)
September 7, 2008

10 months old:

If you're a family member, this picture will cause a time-warp in your brain. We have this exact same shot of Squish's Daddy, chewing on a corn cob. One of these days, I'll take the time to scan it and do a side-by-side comparison.

"Ooooh Mama, your hat is the bomb!"

-----

P.S. There are some pictures of her week at the beach over at her Dad's blog. The links on the right, if you need it.

"Breathing just to breathe ..."

Did you think I forgot about making a "regular" Friday update here? Yeah, well.

How was your Labor Day weekend? Mine was a'ight. A lot of driving, a lot of wine, and a little bit of visiting with family ... we drove to Georgia on Saturday morning and drove back late Monday night.

I was embarrassed that the food I took to share with Michael and Patti was horrendous. I guess the carrots I used to make the yummified carrot cake were old. I can't think of any other reason that they baked in the cake and turned out tough as a chicken gizzard. You couldn't chew those damn carrots.

And then I baked Applesauce Bread from a Paula Deen cookbook, which proved that not everything with her name on it tastes good. Blech. Even Jimmy -- the eater of all unwanted food -- said, "I want to like it, but I just can't."

Maybe I'll give up cooking for awhile. Oh wait. I've already done that.

It was good to see everybody, and I guess I'll see most of them again in about 3 weeks when I head back down there again for Laura and Melody's baby shower.

-----

Thinking tonight about Em and Jud, who will weather their first tropical storm/hurricane when Hanna heads into Wilmington about midnight. Hopefully Ike will keep his distance next week.

-----

No baby pictures ... our Squish was at the beach all week. I think they are making an early drive home tonight, again due to Hanna. I am having Squishy withdrawals!

-----

Didn't watch the pathetic Clemson loss to Alabama last Saturday night ... I was knee deep in a vat of wine and my sister-in-law's swimming pool. Maybe my rapt attention is what they need, and this week will be a better game, with me watching, and all. One can hope!

-----

On Sunday, Miss Squish will be 10 months old. 2008 is flying.

Next week, my first-born baby-child will be 28. My LIFE is flying.

"Sad to say, I miss my friends ..."

August is determined to fly on outta here, is it not? I swear. I know I was in Wilmington when it began. And when I came home, I started those infernal classes 3 nights a week. Other than that, I can't figure a good reason that the month has all but disappeared for me.

Yesterday would have been my Dad's 84th birthday. I can't imagine him at that elderly age. I did think about him many times yesterday, especially during my hours with Miss Squish. He would have simply adored her. I like to think that some of his love that was left floating around overhead has landed on her.

I miss you, Daddy.

-----

Other than going to class, and ... uh, nuthin', I've been doing the same old, same old since I updated here last week. I did get another nice chance for some time with Miss S. last Saturday when her Mama and Daddy went boating with friends. And then Sunday, we cooked dinner and took it over to their house to share a meal together. Well, I prepared a meal ... Adam did the actual grilling of the meat. It was a nice weekend!

-----

Now that the Olympic games are over, what the heck are we going to do with ourselves? Ohhhh yeah, the conventions are starting. (blech) Somehow I don't think that's going to work for Jimmy's high-def fix every night.

-----

Congrats to Michael and Patti, celebrating (I don't know how many) years of happily-ever-after tomorrow! I do remember that they got married the same August that Greenville had "the big flood" ... I just don't remember what year that was.

Happy Anniversary, you two. We'll celebrate THAT next weekend, too.

-----

MAN. I wish I had something to write about.

But since I don't, let's move on to the newest pictures, shall we? I left our camera over at the kids' house on Sunday, so I missed an opportunity to get some pictures from yesterday. (She was awesome, as usual ... she played hard, she napped hard, and she rang the living daylights out of Daddy's old brass bell that hangs in our kitchen. I thought that was pretty cool, since it was his birthday.)

The first pictures were taken last Saturday ... she was standing at the table beside my chair, and pretty damn proud of herself.

New Trick Alert! If she's in a mood to play along, you can now say, "Gimme a kiss!" And then make a kissy sound ... and she'll think a while, and then kiss right back. It's guaranteed to make my eyes get all misty. Still haven't had luck getting her to actually kiss my cheek, but I have no doubt she'll figure that out soon. I was lucky on Saturday to actually catch her doing it:

(Sorry about the overexposed face on those last 2 ... there wasn't a lot of space where we were sitting, and I had to hold the camera too close to her face.)

"I will not 'kiss' again, Nana! Deal with it."

This was taken on Sunday, over at her house. She'll be walking on her own, soon!

-----

And yeah, I really do miss my friends.

"Why would you care to get out of this place? ..."

Greetings from The Land Of Denial.

Oh, before I start rambling, I'd like to send some very warm and sincere wishes for a great day today to my brother-in-law, Michael. Today is his *cough*ty-eighth birthday! He is one half of my very favorite in-laws. And I miss them both. Happy Birthday, Michael!

-----

So how's my class going, you ask? Eh. We "learned" to put in eye drops on Wednesday. We practiced. And practiced. My eyes were dripping the next day, even.

Why am I taking this class, again? Someone remind me. Wasn't my life just fine the way it was?

-----

Looks like a quiet weekend ahead. No plans so far. Maybe I'll howl at the full moon on Saturday night, just for old time's sake.

-----

Are you watching the Olympics? Jimmy watches a little every night, and I usually catch up on things by watching The Today Show.

Again, eh.

That seems to be the theme for the Dawn's Summer of 2008: "Eh."

Of course I'm watching Big Brother ... wouldn't be summer without it. For the record, I'm pulling for Dan, but wouldn't be upset if Renny went on to the end, either. She's a hoot. I was pulling for the old guy, Jerry, until he opened his mouth. What an ass.

-----

Oy. I'm so boring.

-----

As always, the highlight of my week is Thursday Afternoon With The Squishy One. The nickname stuck, but she's not as squishy as she used to be. She's growing so tall, so fast! Yesterday, she wanted to crawl, and she was serious about it. I crawled around after her, to make sure she stayed safe from Maggie The Cat.

Carpet-crawling, I can do. Once she hit the foyer or the kitchen though ... ouch. My knees can't take the abuse, so I settled for scooting on my butt behind her. I'm sure we were a sight.

The theme for this Thursday was "LOUD"! She was trying out her volume settings, and was truly entertaining herself by seeing how loud she could talk. Heee! She totally amazes me. I know I'll blink a couple more times and she'll be walking. And then the next day, she'll be moving into her dorm at Clemson.

Some pictures from yesterday:

Everything must be tasted:

Including baby feet:

There's not much better in the world, I'm telling you the truth.

"Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah ..."

Oops. (I did it again.)

I am here with a quick post out of the goodness of my heart. I made a mistake in the posting of the recipe on Friday, and wanted to let you know ... on the off chance that anybody actually printed it or copied it down.

I typed it wrong. I had garlic salt in there twice, and left out the tarragon. And the tarragon is really quite important in the scheme of Steak Rolly Things. You'll just have to trust me on this.

See how much I like you? I could have just as easily let you go on your merry way, grilling the Rollys with far too much garlic. And you would have said, "Eh. I don't see what the big deal is about these Rolly Things."

But no. I care. I care about you, and I care about tarragon.

(The recipe below is now correct.)

"And nothing else compares ..."

Nope. I'm not going to go through the whole "I can't believe it's been so long since I updated, and here's why" routine.


You're welcome.


-----


First things first:


Rebecca wanted the Steak Rolly Thing recipe, and so I shall share. Actually, I can't remember now whether Adam called them Steak Rolly Things or Beef Rolly Things, so I guess that'll be up to you, Rebecca. The true name is "Grilled Beef Rollups", and the recipe comes from my copy of the Greenville (SC) Junior League cookbook, "Uptown Downsouth". I got this book in 1989, soon after our move to Greenville, and have used many of the yummy recipes in it.


I can't recall exactly when I first made the Rolly Things ... but when I did, Adam let me know pretty quick that he really loved 'em. They are a little time-consuming, but most of the work is done the day before you plan to eat them. And one word of caution: I made them one year at Christmas time (when my house was full of Lees and Starks), so I doubled the recipe. Whoa, Nelly ... plan to have half a day and an extra refrigerator available if you ever do that.


Without further ado ...



Grilled Beef Rollups
serves 6


2 0.6-ounce packages dry Italian dressing (Good Seasons)


Olive oil


Water


Red wine vinegar


3 pounds top round steak


Unseasoned meat tenderizer


2 teaspoons garlic salt


1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper


1 pound bacon, partially cooked


4 Tablespoons dried parsley


1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon


Prepare Italian dressing according to directions, using olive oil, water, and red wine vinegar. Pound steak to an even thickness, about 1/2 inch. Use tenderizer according to directions. Sprinkle meat with garlic salt and pepper. Place partially cooked bacon lengthwise on top of steak. Combine parsley and tarragon, and sprinkle over bacon. Roll up meat, beginning at narrow end. Secure with toothpicks at 1-inch intervals. Cut into 1-inch thick slices using a serrated knife. Marinate in Italian dressing for 24 to 36 hours, turning meat several times. Grill over medium coals until desired doneness. (Don't overcook!)


-----


I went to Wilmington last weekend to see my girl, and had a really nice time. We ate out, and shopped, and played XBox with Jud ... and spent the entire day on Sunday at their beach house on Topsail Island. (Well, it's not really theirs, but I can call it that if I want to. It belongs to the family of one of Jud's school friends from Ohio, and they just leave it sitting there for Jud and Emilie to enjoy.) The beach was perfection ... not crowded at all, and it was only hot until noon, when the breeze changed and the temperature was ideal. You know I wanted to stay.


But I behaved and came home on Monday. Thbbt. I'm already wondering when I'll be welcomed back.


-----


I started my class this week ... and information was quickly crammed into my head concerning the anatomy of the eye. We also started learning some of the things that can go horribly wrong with it. I now know that my horrible sty (or external hordeolum) was a thing of little consequence, compared with a detached retina.


On Monday, we will take our first field trip, to Jervey Eye Group, where one of the doctors will talk to us for about an hour. We are supposed to be "in uniform" for that, and I still have to shop for some white shoes. I've already bought my white lab coat and pants.


I've made all 100's on my daily tests so far. But people, the day I make less than 100 on a damn open-book test (that covers material I've read already) will be the day I know my brain has turned to mush. It's not that hard. If I had to do it without the book, then yeah ... hard.


-----


Look who turned 9-months-old yesterday at Nana's house:



Isn't she something? We celebrated by eating some bananas and peaches with granola, and taking 2 naps, in between lots of crawling and cat-chasing.


The celebration was topped off with a giant goose egg on her forehead, thanks to a fall onto Nana's foyer floor. I could hardly stand to look at her afterwards, it broke my heart! (Just in time for her weekend trip to see the other Grandma who loves her more than life itself, her MawMaw.) Hopefully, it looks better today than it did last night.

-----

So yeah, I'm off to buy white shoes. Everybody try to enjoy the weekend!

"Excuse my manners if I make a scene ..."

A quick Sunday entry here, to say "haaaaay" to you, and to show you this:

See those new pearly whites she's sporting? Breaks my heart, how fast she's growing. But as long as she stays the squishy angel that she is, she can do just about whatever she wants ... including grow a little.

She's crawling a little bit now too! (A few tentative inches forward with a break to sit up and reassess the situation is how it goes for now.)

It goes without saying that my week with her, while her Mom and Dad were in Jamaica, was heaven for me. We played, and we kissed, and we napped ... and then we did it all over again. I did take her into daycare for about 3 hours every day, per her parent's instructions, so that she would stay in a semi-normal routine. That gave me a little while every day to run whatever errands I needed to run. She slept great every night, and woke up grinning every morning. I wish her Mama and Daddy could take a vacation every month!

-----

Brandy and I kicked some butt last night in Trivial Pursuit. First time we've played a board game in ages, and I enjoyed it.

Adam and Brandy cooked a tasty dinner for us last night: a beautiful crisp salad, hot baked potatoes, and the ever-popular "steak rolly things". That's what Adam called them the first time I made them, years ago. I guess the name stuck! I'll share the recipe one of these days, they are YUM.

-----

Jimmy was all packed and ready to go through airport security this afternoon, on his way to Puerto Rico for the week. And what do you know, yet another flight cancellation. It's raining here, and between here and Atlanta, but I was under the impression that those big planes could fly in the rain. What do I know?

He's back home again, and we'll get up before Gawd in the morning and drive back to the airport.

*sigh*

-----

Looking forward to some "Sister Time" coming up this week, with Kay due to arrive from GA sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Clean sheets on the guest bed: check.

Bathrooms scrubbed: check.

Plenty o' chips and salsa: check.

Wine chilling: check.

I think I'm ready!

"To better days ..."

Welcome to the monthly edition of "What's New In My World". In other words, I'll be posting a few new Squishy pictures and calling it a blog entry.

For real though, I apologize for the lack of content here. I don't pretend to know what my issues are. I just know I can't think of a damn thing to say anymore.

Here's what's happening anyway:

Looking forward to a good weekend coming up ... Emilie, Jud, and the beast will be coming in on Friday mid-day, and we'll celebrate the 4th with something on the grill, and the fridge in the garage is already full of beer. Yay, America.



I'm already aware that the main reason Emilie is making the 5-hour drive is to do some major baby holdin'. And I can't blame her.


Miss Squishy was as sweet as always when we saw her on Saturday night, but she's not feeling 100%. We're calling it "teething" unless something else shows up with another name. Her bottom two chicklets are already poking through!

On Saturday AM, bright and early, Squishy's Mom and Dad will jet off for almost a week of fun in the sun and relaxation. I can't even tell you how much I'm looking forward to taking care of Miss Squish while they are gone! I hope they enjoy their time away, and won't worry about us.



Then, at some point during the week of July 14th, my sister Kay will actually take some time off work (gasp!) and drive herself up I-85 for some down-time with ME! I'm so happy!


Between now and then, I've got some housecleaning and grocery shopping to do. That's my specialty, right?

-----

Here's what else is new:

I have registered at the local technical college for a class in "Ophthalmic Medical Assisting" ... to begin on August 4th. It'll go through the end of October, when I hope to be hired by an eye doctor who totally overpays his employees, and works 3-day weeks.

Yeah, I know. I don't have a great track record with the whole job thing. But now I really AM bored around the house for the majority of my days, and I'm wanting to feel like I'm a real part of the world. So let's all think positive and maybe I'll be a real, live money earner for my golden years. Heh.

-----

Without further ado, here's the latest of our sweet one. She'll be 8 months old next week!

This was taken last week on "Thursday Afternoon With Nana" 6/24/08:

That same day, she discovered the Yummy that is teething biscuits ... she was intense about it!

Last Saturday, we went to her house, to help her Daddy celebrate his new Pilot's License! As I said earlier, she wasn't herself with the teeth breaking through her gums, but she was still as sweet as she could be:

"Teeth hurt."

(Edited to add: Blogger always screws up my spacing and paragraph breaks when I add pictures. I tried to fix the mess, but was unsuccessful. Sorry about it!)

"Never forget who you are, little star ..."

Is everybody ready for their nice, long, three-day weekend? I'm just hoping I can get something productive done, instead of letting the old procrastination thing win, once again.

Look who is sitting up, all by herself, these days!

Papa's hand is back there just for show ... she really can sit up and play with her toys. See?

I know I'm all about the babeh pictures these days ... but I have to show you a couple more. (All of these were taken yesterday, by the way.)

After I picked her up at daycare yesterday, we came in and sat in the rocker to catch up with each other. Emilie soon called to say hello, during her lunch break. I put her on speaker phone so that they could talk to each other, and so that Emilie could cry a little. (MAN, she misses that baby!)

Well, after a bit, the Sweetness started chewing on her "caterpillar" ... a toy she's had over here since Day One. She sank lower and lower, until her head was on my arm. I looked at her and smiled ... she smiled back, her eyes rolled around a couple of times, and CONK. She was out like a light, still hanging on to the bug. Of course I had to snap a picture:

If THAT doesn't melt your heart, you've got problems.

"Remember to always think twice ..."

Count me in among the David Cook Fans. I thought all along that little David Archuleta would be crowned the new Miss American Idol. And that was OK with me, since he was deserving. (And cute as a buginarug.) I knew that David Cook would end up with a nice, fat recording deal anyway ... and not be tied to the AI bigwigs in the process. Hell, if it could happen for Clay Aiken, surely someone as talented as Cook would be a star, even without the crown.

But in the end, Cook won. Now my hope is that the big American Idol machine doesn't kill his career before he gets started.

Because I lurrve him.

"For Emilie, whenever I may find her ..."

Yeah, I know. Simon and Garfunkle spelled Emily with a Y.

But this is my blog. And my Emilie, too.

Not a lot of time today ... but I wanted to post these new pictures of Miss Squishy for her Auntie Em, who I know is missing her some babylove this week.

Em's move to NC went about as smooth as it could possibly go ... and she's hopefully "enjoying" her first week at work as I type this. I miss her, that goes without saying. But knowing that she's where she wants to be, and happy ... well, that goes a long way towards a Mama's happiness.

Without further ado, here are a few pictures from my weekly "Afternoon Of Love" with the Squishy One :

(Emilie, stop crying! I know you are. Now stop ... and smile over the fact that you have such a beautiful niece who will love you forever!)

"All I got is 4 minutes ..."

Crap, I suck at this, no? I don't know what my problem is.

If you had asked me 15 years ago, when Adam was going on 13 and Emilie was almost 11, what I thought my life might be like in 2008 ... I'd have pretty much guaranteed you that I'd have "more time". Certainly being a Mom in 2008 with a (nearly) empty nest would mean some down time, when compared with the carpooling, laundry, errand-running, and general Mom Duty associated with my life back in 1993.

Would I have been anywhere near correct? Er, no.

Problem is, I can't really put my finger on what's filling my days. All I know is, the day is half-gone before I know it. And there's always something else I need to be doing.

Currently, the Project Of The Week is "The Big Move". Above, I mentioned this nearly empty nest of mine ... in nine days, Emilie will be moving to the beach in NC. Which will make my nest officially empty. And you know me, I'm not too happy about that. Although, I do realize it's what needs to happen. She's MORE than ready to fly away, and everything is working out so perfectly for this move, that it's obvious it's the right thing. Her true love has taken a marvelous engineering job there, and she was hired by a bank after her first interview. Her new job is literally a 2-minute drive from their new apartment. I'm so happy and excited for them both.

But damn, my house is going to be so quiet. (Glass half empty.)

But that's why there are grandchildren, right? (Glass almost full!)

Now I'll have more time to hug this little droolbug!

"So much more than I deserve ..."

She's five months old today!

Every time we get to see her, I'm always struck by how it just keeps getting better. She's interacting more and more; and now she watches us with such interest, you might even start to think we had something interesting to say. I have so much love for this little girl, it hurts my heart sometimes!

I know every grandmother since the beginning of time has said it, but you're just going to have to trust me on this one: She's the BEST baby. No, really. She's good.

And she's getting better every day.

Here are some pictures from Saturday evening ... not especially good ones, but they are the latest we have ---

She slept in my lap for awhile after I gave her a bottle:

Here she is, practicing her new trick of "standing up", using Papa for balance:

And finally, putting the "Nom nom nom" moves on her Daddy's head:

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I'm off to get my aging eyes examined. All the better to see you with, my dearies!